I7 4790k upgrade??

[tomcatman24 15]

I have been using my i7 4790k for flight simming since 2016 and it has served me very, very well in fsx and p3d v4.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how well my i7 4790k, rtx 2070, and ddr3 32gb ram system handles msfs. It gave me new life in the fs world!

That said, I have been contemplating upgrading to something like an i7 12700k and ddr4 ram while sticking with the rtx 2070 for a while.

My question is has anyone done a similar upgrade? And how much performance improvement can I expect, especially in heavy scenery areas? 

I'm trying to decide if the improvement will be worth paying $700-$900 US to upgrade...

Fyi, I fly with most settings on high with a few turned up to ultra and fly a combination of ga and airliners. 

[sidfadc 1,344]

I also have the i7 4790k but with a 1070 and 16GB.  I've been in the "looking to upgrade" camp for a while.....never took the plunge due to various issues.  My rig does "ok" under load but there is definite room for improvement.

One thing you didn't mention is what resolution you running at - this plays a big part in performance.

[tomcatman24 15]

30 minutes ago, sidfadc said:

One thing you didn't mention is what resolution you running at - this plays a big part in performance.

True. Resolution is at 1080p (24in 1080p monitor) but I set render scaling at 140.

[kkbelos 64]

Following this topic closely, I am in a very similar situation (but with a RTX 2070S instead of a 2070) and with the same question. I have been investigating for some time because my rig is running MSFS with pretty good performance. Still, in some demanding scenarios (photogrammetry + payware airport + FBW A32NX + AI traffic), it shows some limitations and it's not smooth anymore, taxiing is sometimes a bit painful. Normally I am CPU limited below 40 FPS and playing at 1400p. 

But a new CPU means probable a new motherboard (current one has a LGA1150, not compatible with the newer CPUs which have LGA1200) and cooler, and with that potentially new RAM modules. All in all we are talking about 700-800 EUR upgrade with the downside that, with a slight increase in CPU performance, I will be limited very quickly by the GPU. A new GPU means to sell my firstborn, and I am not in the mood.

So really interested in which CPU could give us some bang for buck in this case

[CarlosF 1,241]

1 hour ago, tomcatman24 said:

That said, I have been contemplating upgrading to something like an i7 12700k and ddr4 ram while sticking with the rtx 2070 for a while.

I upgraded from a i7 3770k and ram (see sig) kept my 1070, best decision I made. Previous setup ran wonderfully well but when I decided get PMDG DC-6, I then realized I needed more raw cpu power. Im very very happy with the results. 120Hz 27" curved monitor at 1080p

Edited February 22, 2022 by CarlosF

[alanlj44 117]

I went from the same i7 4790K (which I had overclocked pretty high) to a Ryzen 5 5600X. The I7 was used with a GTX 1070, then with my GPU upgrade to a RTX 2070S. And then I switched to the Ryzen, so I can really compare.

Performances between 4790K 2070S and with the Ryzen were night and day, plain and simple. The 2070S wasn't used to its full potential due to the i7 massively bottlenecking it (the infamous Main thread Limited syndrome). MSFS was then much more fluid whereas I had a lot of stuttering with the i7 and not nearly as much FPS. Also, remember the I7 4790K runs on DDR3 only and that also makes quite a difference. It's clearly an obsolete architecture for intensive next gen software like MSFS.

The Ryzen hits a sweetspot for MSFS as AMD (at the time at least) were more focused on single core performance (higher frequency) than Intel and higher IPC (instructions per clock).

I would suggest the same or even a better one if you can afford it. Just remember the golden rule: the more the numnber of cores IS NOT the way to go when gaming!! Quite the contrary!

6 cores up to 8 cores is the max. Anything beyond that is purely money thrown out the window, as we say in France. Games in general and simulation in particular are more sensible to higher frequency per core than the sheer number of cores, simply because how a game works. In the end, no matter how much you manage to spread all the processes needed for the simulation to separate cores, all these independent processes will all have to be synced through a single core before the game can render a frame (this is the infamous Main Thread Limited, it's the thread that is responsible for syncing everything to display the frame and that can only happen on one core as of yet and that will probably never change).

Favor high frequency and IPC as much as possible, don't go higher than 8 cores (unless you happen to use softwares on the side which relies a lot on true parallelization, and there are very few. Like doing 3D CGI and pre-calculated renderings)

The I7 12700k is a 12 core but it works differently than AMD's with the new introduction of the Efficiency / Performance cores. Intel is back with a slightly superior build than AMD and its Ryzen 9 5900X. I would favor the i7 if you can afford it, better heat management overall (runs cooler than AMD). Slightly better performance than the Ryzen.

However, now you'll discover your 2070 to be lackluster, sorry 😄

Edited February 22, 2022 by alanlj44

[alanlj44 117]

As for the LGA1150 architecture, there's no upgrade that exists possibly worth it, simple as that. The i7 4790K was the epitome of gaming CPU for that gen, there's simply nothing better. If you want some more performances, there's no going without a complete overall: CPU, motherboard and RAM. DDR3 based architecture is obsolete, you can tell in new games, differences in performance are really there when you make the change even with same GPU.

The only thing you can do is overclock the 4790K if not already, mine was running at 4.8 which gave a slight boost but nothing major.

Edited February 22, 2022 by alanlj44

[ryanbatc 12,857]

3 hours ago, tomcatman24 said:

I have been using my i7 4790k for flight simming since 2016 and it has served me very, very well in fsx and p3d v4.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how well my i7 4790k, rtx 2070, and ddr3 32gb ram system handles msfs. It gave me new life in the fs world!

That said, I have been contemplating upgrading to something like an i7 12700k and ddr4 ram while sticking with the rtx 2070 for a while.

My question is has anyone done a similar upgrade? And how much performance improvement can I expect, especially in heavy scenery areas? 

I'm trying to decide if the improvement will be worth paying $700-$900 US to upgrade...

Fyi, I fly with most settings on high with a few turned up to ultra and fly a combination of ga and airliners. 

I just did an upgrade...have not built it yet.  

Old system: 

4790K at 4.4ghz

32 gb ram

GTX 1080 ti

New system:

12700K

32gb ram

Same video card

 

Running at 1440P....I'll let you know

[Mace 1,927]

10 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

Same video card

I'm hanging on to my 1080ti also. 

At this point in the vidcard lifecycle -- if I'm gonna spend $1,500+ on a vid card then it will be on a next gen card.

[CFIJose 5,485]

18 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

I just did an upgrade...have not built it yet.  

Old system: 

4790K at 4.4ghz

32 gb ram

GTX 1080 ti

New system:

12700K

32gb ram

Same video card

 

Running at 1440P....I'll let you know

I have my eye on a Intel Core i9-10900K. Still contemplating if it's worth the investment. Looking forward to your review.

Raise the terrain LOD to 300 and pan while you taxi at some large airports. Let me know if panning is smooth.

[ryanbatc 12,857]

4 minutes ago, DJJose said:

I have my eye on a Intel Core i9-10900K. Still contemplating if it's worth the investment. Looking forward to your review.

Raise the terrain LOD to 300 and pan while you taxi at some large airports. Let me know if panning is smooth.

Oh I plan to hehe.... I run it at 300 right now and it's fine in the rural areas but pretty stuttery in cities especially with photogrammetry.  With nice payware and high-ultra settings (and clouds) I can even dip into the teens on my current rig.  I am running 2K though. (I mean 1440P for those who are triggered by the word 2k hehe)

[reignman40 450]

Even the i5-12600K at around $100 cheaper than the i7-12700K would do just fine. The i5-12600K appears to put my i7-10700K to shame.. The jump from 10/11 gen to 12th gen seems to be phenomenal. Its my 3070ti that does the most work by far though with lots of headroom at the CPU end. I'm running Ultra at 1440P.

[ryanbatc 12,857]

23 minutes ago, reignman40 said:

Even the i5-12600K at around $100 cheaper than the i7-12700K would do just fine. The i5-12600K appears to put my i7-10700K to shame.. The jump from 10/11 gen to 12th gen seems to be phenomenal. Its my 3070ti that does the most work by far though with lots of headroom at the CPU end. I'm running Ultra at 1440P.

I wish I could have found a new GPU.  Microcenter had a 3090 sitting on the shelf for 2400 bucks.  My wife would have murdered me....

[tomcatman24 15]

4 hours ago, alanlj44 said:

As for the LGA1150 architecture, there's no upgrade that exists possibly worth it, simple as that. The i7 4790K was the epitome of gaming CPU for that gen, there's simply nothing better. If you want some more performances, there's no going without a complete overall: CPU, motherboard and RAM.

Thanks for all the info about your Ryzen and cores, etc. The overhaul was part of my potential plan!

[tomcatman24 15]

2 hours ago, ryanbatcund said:

I just did an upgrade...have not built it yet.  

Old system: 

4790K at 4.4ghz

32 gb ram

GTX 1080 ti

New system:

12700K

32gb ram

Same video card

 

Running at 1440P....I'll let you know

OOOO! I'll definitely wait to hear a report! Thanks!

 

19 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

My wife would have murdered me....

Ha, yes... mine too!