Most critical bit of kit to improve graphics

[NZAA 18]

So looking at what it would take to ramp up my scenery experience 

CPU

GPU

Power

Memory??

Currently I have 

3600X

2x 8GB DDR4

2060Super

500W

[Republic3D 1,229]

The CPU will help with complex scenery, like cities or complex airports. 
You can swap a 5600X into that AM4 slot, you might need a BIOS update though. 

That would be a big improvement. 

Getting another kit of 2x8 8 GB DDR4 could also help, especially if you have 3600 MHz ram and enable XMP in the BIOS. (You should have XMP / DOCP enabled anyway). 

The video card is still a good card, and upgrading GPU right now is super expensive. 

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

23 minutes ago, Republic3D said:

Getting another kit of 2x8 8 GB DDR4 could also help, especially if you have 3600 MHz ram and enable XMP in the BIOS. (You should have XMP / DOCP enabled anyway). 

Before buying more memory, check current memory usage... I rarely go above 80% on 16 GB..

[109Sqn 1,554]

And make sure you have a powerful enough PSU to run everything! No point upgrading components if nothing works. Do a search for "psu calculator" and enter what you intend using in order to find out if you should also upgrade the PSU.

[RaptyrOne 1,398]

I made a move to 32 GB RAM and feel that it did make a difference to stability, especially on longer flights between two detailed airports. It is not an expensive upgrade but think long term and buy 2 x16 and sell what you have now.

Your GPU is just fine, you won’t get much improvement there but it will cost a ton so the cost vs. reward will be extremely poor on that upgrade.

PSU, again, think longer term and improve that. 850W.

CPU, can’t comment much, being an Intel guy, but yes, if you can upgrade this without a new motherboard, that will definitely help.

If you upgrade with decent kit, it will possibly be able to go into your next PC upgrade too.

DDR5 RAM is far off and DDR4 will be around for some time. The same with a PSU.

Oh, and don’t forget Nvme drives are probably the single best bang for buck PC upgrade. Won’t improve FPS but it will overhaul your entire PC experience in general.

[NZAA 18]

Will directx 12 make much of a difference next month?

 

should I wait and see how the effects things first? I’m not unhappy just looking ahead for when sales happen 

[RaptyrOne 1,398]

I don’t think it will improve FPS. That was the comment made by the Asobo team recently. It just opens up new possibilities but won’t be a game changer in itself.

[abrams_tank 7,393]

2 hours ago, NZAA said:

Will directx 12 make much of a difference next month?

 

should I wait and see how the effects things first? I’m not unhappy just looking ahead for when sales happen 

DirectX 12 will probably not make a difference.  From what I understand, they are using a wrapper for DirectX 12 - that is, they aren't really using any native DirectX 12 calls, but using the wrapper indirectly to communicate with DirectX 12.  If this is correct, it will be future updates beyond SU7 where we would see benefits of DirectX 12, when they start using the native DirectX 12 calls.

[psolk 3,037]

G-Sync monitor...  Extremely expensive still and not really available in large format but the best bet for taking an aging system, adding a single component and getting game changing results.  

I cant see a single component that would make as big of a difference as adding a G-Sync ultimate monitor to an existing system. 

[Bobsk8 12,551]

7 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

Before buying more memory, check current memory usage... I rarely go above 80% on 16 GB..

I have 16GB ram and right now it is showing 60% usage. I need 32 GB ram like a fish needs a bicycle.