A Fool And His Money...or, MSFS runs great on an old PC

[steve310002 1,198]

I run MSFS in 4K using a 7 year old GTX 1080, 6700k CPU and 32 GB and use 80% resolution and a mix of mostly high and some ultra settings. I get mostly between 25 fps and 30 fps locked with the odd dip in very complex scenery (maybe 22fps  in the FBW A320 if I am at an urban based complex payware airport). Even with the dips, generally once at altitude everything is smooth and often 30fps locked or close to 30fps on the ground in non-urban locations. I could get even higher fps if I reduced some of my settings to medium but I prefer the eye candy.

Now, here's the thing. I actually had bought a new PC about 6 months ago with an RTX 3080 and a 10700k CPU. It was a pre-built PC and I was very excited to run MSFS at mostly Ultra settings in a smooth manner as one would expect. My experience was really not good to say the least. It was a complete stutter fest and literally more stuttery than my old machine even when I reduced the graphic settings.

The performance of MSFS was hardly any better than my old PC which was rather infuriating after spending an absurd amount of money for inflated PC parts. The culprit to some degree appeared to be the way my pre-built was made and the various limitations imposed on the motherboard which certainly didn't help. After much discussion directly with the manufacturer, I eventually got a refund (Swiss consumer laws leave a lot to be desired when it comes to returning goods). 

Since that experience, I frankly see little value in buying a new PC at this moment given the current prices, the fact new GPUs are due out this year, and the limitations of how MSFS is programmed in terms of benefiting from new hardware. Even if prices don't return to 'normal' anytime soon or ever, I would rather wait for the 4000 series of Nvidia GPUs at this point (unless I see a super duper special offer on a PC).

For example, recently, I considered buying the new HP 45L series with a 12700k processor. I was holding out for it. However, in Switzerland they so far are only shipping them with either 3070 Ti's, 3080 Ti's or 3090s. And they are charging significantly more for the 3070 Ti setup than they were for the RTX 3080 version of their previous generation PCs (30L series) which is a bit of a joke (the 3070 Ti is barely better than the 3070 and certainly not worth what they are asking IMO). 

So for the moment, I have said no more! I will wait at least until a good offer comes around or more likely until the next GPUs come out in Q2 or Q3 to at least feel I get some value for money in the whole 'performance to price ratio' versus the hardware I already have. 

My rather long 2 cents 😀

[BillC 135]

I think the message in this thread is: before blindly spending fortunes in order to "run" MSFS - try it on what you've got first because you might be pleasantly surprised.

[GaryK 201]

28 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

PC-purchases and upgrades are rarely rational decisions but are driven by irrational wants , PC-manufacturers' ad campaigns and youtubers.

More importantly, great games are great games, no matter at what resolution you play. Nobody really remembers Half Life, or Deus Ex for the "great graphics", which in the latter case were abysmal, even by standards 20 years ago.

Also, there are plenty of games that look abysmal, play like a wet dog, and are still great (Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, for example).

Very little is rational when it comes down to it. Certainly much less than the average punter believes.

Resource wise: If there is some spare room in top end PC's .......software developers will strive to use it. Be interesting to see what happens.

[Republic DC9 234]

20 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

That's interesting.  Are you using a lot of add-ons in P3D and XP 11 to enhance it graphically? And I assume you are running P3D 5.3?

So far, everybody in this thread is saying MSFS runs better than P3D 5.3 and XP 11, when you use the add-ons to enhance the graphics of P3D 5.3 and XP 11, plus any ortho required for P3D 5.3 and XP 11.

Yes, I did add a great many add ons to both XP11 and P3D5.3 with all of the latest hotfixes.  P3D5.3 was much smoother but would throw unexplainable fits where it would go to one frame a second every so often then back to smooth, XP11 with Vulkan as a clean install no add ons medium settings still won’t run smoothly running open locking frames whatever - one big microstutter.

But I shall try both of these again on the old rig for fun to see if their enhanced programming helps there as well...I have the licenses and add ons for both so why not.

I’m wondering if there is a Nvidia vs AMD element here too (old GPU is a 1070, new one is a RX 6800).

[Krakin 5,748]

You need to buy a new monitor with a higher resolution to take advantage of your new PC

[flying_carpet 657]

5 hours ago, steve310002 said:

I run MSFS in 4K using a 7 year old GTX 1080, 6700k CPU and 32 GB and use 80% resolution and a mix of mostly high and some ultra settings. I get mostly between 25 fps and 30 fps locked with the odd dip in very complex scenery (maybe 22fps  in the FBW A320 if I am at an urban based complex payware airport). Even with the dips, generally once at altitude everything is smooth and often 30fps locked or close to 30fps on the ground in non-urban locations. I could get even higher fps if I reduced some of my settings to medium but I prefer the eye candy.

Now, here's the thing. I actually had bought a new PC about 6 months ago with an RTX 3080 and a 10700k CPU. It was a pre-built PC and I was very excited to run MSFS at mostly Ultra settings in a smooth manner as one would expect. My experience was really not good to say the least. It was a complete stutter fest and literally more stuttery than my old machine even when I reduced the graphic settings.

So then, does it even make sense for me to install MSFS on my new PC which is like yours prebuilt with an RTX 3080 and Intel 11700? Could you provide some screenshots or even better (short?) videos how it looks on your PC? For me it is more important to have a good fluency than graphical appeareance (i.e. antialisaing etc.).

[Noel 4,493]

46 minutes ago, flying_carpet said:

So then, does it even make sense for me to install MSFS on my new PC which is like yours prebuilt with an RTX 3080 and Intel 11700? Could you provide some screenshots or even better (short?) videos how it looks on your PC? For me it is more important to have a good fluency than graphical appeareance (i.e. antialisaing etc.).

I'm confused--why ever would you pose the question if it makes sense to install MSFS on your new capable PC.  Are you thinking you're going to get better performance on a lesser machine?  Yes, it makes perfect sense IMO!  

My build is 2y/o now, initially with a 2070 Super, and decided to upgrade to 3080Ti and this is when performance, smoothness, detail improved amply enough for me to feel good about the very pricy upgrade.  I sensed 3080Ti would support MSFS going forward for the next 5 years w/ the addition of more scaling in weather detail, PMDGware, etc.  With the 2070 Super I had to stop and readjust settings regularly, or settle on lesser settings at flight start.  When I fly into Fly Tampa's KLAS VRAM goes up to 11.6Gb, and even w/ that I need to dial back LOD O & T to 170 or so--because my CPU isn't quite up to the task despite 4.9Ghz on all cores.

I think what's being said is you can have a satisfactory experience out of lesser hardware that has largely to do with the fact MS/A has tuned MSFS to run on a full array of hardware and a console--but the controls are there for higher end hardware to support.  I have liquid smooth performance everywhere in any plane in maximum detail and would not want to trade that in.

[Maladoror 89]

When MSFS 2020 came out I was running it on a 3930K, 980ti, and 32GB or ddr2. It ran great (vsync 30) at 1080 med/high settings. I then got a 9700F, 2070 super, and 32Gb of ddr4. It ran great and smoother (vsync 30) at 4K 70% renderer scaling high/ultra settings. For Christmas my wife went behind my back and bought me a new computer. I told her not too... She bought me a 12900K, 3080Ti, 64GB of DDR5, 2TB NVME, and a 2TB SATA SSD. I am running (still vsync 30) 4K 100% and everything cranked up in game. The new system is better, but still if it was me I would not of done it. I think the 9700 and 2070s system was just fine and probably the sweet spot for MSFS. Sure the new one is smoother and looks better, just not that much better for the cost. There is bigger difference in other games though. Do not get me wrong I love it and the flying has never been better.

[turbomax 3,284]

6 minutes ago, Maladoror said:

my wife went behind my back and bought me a new computer. I told her not too... She bought me a 12900K, 3080Ti, 64GB of DDR5, 2TB NVME, and a 2TB SATA SSD.

imagine we still had harems and each wife would buy you such pretty christmas presents, you could sit in your brand spanking new full fledged home cockpit by now. those were the days.

[Maladoror 89]

1 minute ago, turbomax said:

imagine we still had harems and each wife would buy you such pretty christmas presents, you could sit in your brand spanking new full fledged home cockpit by now. those were the days.

And I would be broke or really rich as my wife makes more money than me.

[G-RFRY 1,710]

Some time in the future you may be able play MSFS in the car😁.

Elon Musk: Tesla Aims to Get All Steam Games Working in Its Vehicles | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

[Republic DC9 234]

5 hours ago, Maladoror said:

When MSFS 2020 came out I was running it on a 3930K, 980ti, and 32GB or ddr2. It ran great (vsync 30) at 1080 med/high settings. I then got a 9700F, 2070 super, and 32Gb of ddr4. It ran great and smoother (vsync 30) at 4K 70% renderer scaling high/ultra settings. For Christmas my wife went behind my back and bought me a new computer. I told her not too... She bought me a 12900K, 3080Ti, 64GB of DDR5, 2TB NVME, and a 2TB SATA SSD. I am running (still vsync 30) 4K 100% and everything cranked up in game. The new system is better, but still if it was me I would not of done it. I think the 9700 and 2070s system was just fine and probably the sweet spot for MSFS. Sure the new one is smoother and looks better, just not that much better for the cost. There is bigger difference in other games though. Do not get me wrong I love it and the flying has never been better.

You have a very nice wife!!! 🙂

I’m lucky too as she helps manage downloads/installs while I’m away at work, but also criticizes the sim “those clouds look fake...not real...fake fake fake!” along with stomach pokes to antagonize me 😂

But she’s patiently been putting up with my flight sim fetish since 1997 when on our honeymoon trip to Las Vegas (on an L-1011!!!) I saw the pre-release boxes for FS98 at the shopping mall and could think of nothing else (except maybe occasionally the gorgeous 23 year old new companion with me) the whole trip, especially when watching planes land from our Hotel San Remo (which is now the “Hooters” hotel for those with the nicely detailed Las Vegas scenery installed).

 

 

[flying_carpet 657]

On 2/23/2022 at 5:15 PM, Noel said:

I'm confused--why ever would you pose the question if it makes sense to install MSFS on your new capable PC.  Are you thinking you're going to get better performance on a lesser machine?  Yes, it makes perfect sense IMO!  

My build is 2y/o now, initially with a 2070 Super, and decided to upgrade to 3080Ti and this is when performance, smoothness, detail improved amply enough for me to feel good about the very pricy upgrade.  I sensed 3080Ti would support MSFS going forward for the next 5 years w/ the addition of more scaling in weather detail, PMDGware, etc.  With the 2070 Super I had to stop and readjust settings regularly, or settle on lesser settings at flight start.  When I fly into Fly Tampa's KLAS VRAM goes up to 11.6Gb, and even w/ that I need to dial back LOD O & T to 170 or so--because my CPU isn't quite up to the task despite 4.9Ghz on all cores.

I think what's being said is you can have a satisfactory experience out of lesser hardware that has largely to do with the fact MS/A has tuned MSFS to run on a full array of hardware and a console--but the controls are there for higher end hardware to support.  I have liquid smooth performance everywhere in any plane in maximum detail and would not want to trade that in.

It's your good right to be confused. I also was, because of what steve310002 wrote - that MSFS is running better on his old PC than on the newer one. You must know that my new PC is only 10 days old and I still have the old one. If the new prebuilt PC would run worse, I still could return it or - other possibility - sell it to a friend with some discount, as he helped me in something not computer related and he anyhow wanted to buy a new PC too. So, I can get back money, until in 2 or 3 years the hardware is maybe cheaper. It would be win - win.

 

[flying_carpet 657]

After reading some more posts here, it somehow makes sense (i.e. sounds logical) that even a slower PC is still good enough, when an Xbox also does. It's a pity, but is that really what it should be? Is that what progress is? OTOH, at least I saved some money as I will sell my new PC to a friend, as written above. Not this bad, right? 😉

[Noel 4,493]

21 hours ago, flying_carpet said:

After reading some more posts here, it somehow makes sense (i.e. sounds logical) that even a slower PC is still good enough, when an Xbox also does. It's a pity, but is that really what it should be? Is that what progress is? OTOH, at least I saved some money as I will sell my new PC to a friend, as written above. Not this bad, right? 😉

What exactly is the 'pity' you're referring to?

Edited February 27, 2022 by Noel