What is the best CPU for MSFS?

[chickster25 153]

10 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Ryzen is making Intel a second choice. 

I had read somewhere that Intel was the preferred choice for MSFS as the game isn’t optimised for multiple cores.

Im happy to be told this is incorrect as you can’t believe everything that you read online 😀

[hanhamreds 592]

Ryzen 3rd gen is ahead of Intel in single core performance atm.

[Bob Scott 7,725]

2 hours ago, chickster25 said:

Hi, I know this has probably been asked a load of time already, but as MSFS is a moving target, what CPU is best for the game?

Intel i9-10900KF 3.7GHz 10 core, 20 thread

Intel i9-10900 3.7GHz 10 core BOX

Intel i9-11900 3.5GHz 8 core, 16 thread

I wouldn't go with any variant that is not K-suffixed, as those cannot be overclocked, so the 2nd and 3rd options would both be non-starters.

The 10900KF is a 10-core CPU, the 11900K is 8 cores with theoretically somewhat better IPC, though how much that is realized in an actual application (e.g. not a cherry-picked benchmark) is questionable.  

My question is whether it's worth losing two physical cores and 20% of your L3 cache for the slightly better IPC.  I'm not convinced.  So I think the 10900KF is a good choice at the moment still.

AMD's CPUs and GPUs have disappointed me every time I've tried them in the sim environment.  I've developed enough of an aversion from the many years of disappointments that they are pretty much dead to me at this point.

[Maxis 1,877]

5900X For me. When i started doing the research Intel wasn't cutting it. And it was more than just a chip decision but also the entire platform and the interconnects

Maybe next round intel will redeem itself. 

 

[chickster25 153]

Does AMD suffer from the same heat issues as Intel CPUs do?

[bean_sprout 1,201]

1 hour ago, chickster25 said:

Does AMD suffer from the same heat issues as Intel CPUs do?

Not even a factor but I guess it depends on what you are running.  Intel always disappoints in the heat department. 

Regards

bs

[Spit40 197]

Think i will wait a bit longer 

https://www.pcgamesn.com/intel/i9-12900k-benchmark-vs-rocket-lake

 

[Emerson67 248]

6 hours ago, chickster25 said:

Does AMD suffer from the same heat issues as Intel CPUs do?

There's no heat major concerns with Ryzens because TDPs are low compared to Intel (only 105W for the 16-core 5950X), and on top of that you can control by BIOS the maximum temperature. Just type the number in Celsius, as easy as that.

With AMD Precision Boost Overdrive you can set the maximum temperature the Ryzen is allowed to reach, so that it dynamically controls (1000 times per second) the Precision Boost 2 (PB2) clock/current curve to never exceed the given temperature limit. No more worries with temps as on Intel systems. The better the cooling and current supply from motherboard, the higher the clocks PB2 dynamically sets to cores.

[John Glossop 10]

Seriously, I think that going for an i9 is an overkill for MSFS 2020.

As for the GPU, find the fastest single threading CPU that you can get your hands on.

The sim doesn't use more than one core at this time, and I would go for the latest gen i5 that you can get. Spend your money on the GPU, and you'll find that you have a MUCH better experience all round.

Save some for all the RAM you'll need, as well - 16gB isn't going to cut the mustard.

There has been some talk around the traps of MSFS 2020 being reworked to use multiple cores, but I don't see it happening any time soon, and when it does, there will be more multi-thread CPUs available to replace this year's model.

 

[sonny147 579]

12600k/12700k seems to be the new sex pots on the block !

[GCBraun 2,392]

Just changed my overlocked 10900k for a much more efficient 12400 and my frames at 4K are exactly the same. At that resolution, the CPU is not so important.