I've had my i7-8086K, 1080Ti, 32Gb RAM for 3.5 years. Running P3D v5.3HF2 in 4K on a BenQ 32" (VSync enabled on native 30Hz monitor). No plans to buy MSFS.

HT is enabled in BIOS.

I fly PMDG738NGu (50%); Xtreme Prototypes Lear 25 (40%); GA (10%) primarily out of large airports with as much AIG Ai as the sim will allow to maintain 30fps.

I use Hi-Fi ASP3D / ASCA with EA and HDR disabled.

I've excluded FS Labs Concorde as I only fly the 32-bit and settings are compromised to keep VAS < 4GB. But I will be flying the 64-bit when it's released this autumn. Performance in 4K unknown. Hopefully similar to PMDG.

Using the PC-Builds calculator to check for bottleneck issues results are shown below...

When I enable GPU intensive options the1080Ti does struggle. EA for example and the lights on the XP Lear 25 are especially hard on performance in 4K. The Lear developer has no issues in FullHD so it's a problem only a faster GPU will solve. Nighttime flights are also hard on performance but most of my flying is in daytime.

From the results below it appears I could swap the 1080Ti for a 3080Ti or 3090 and keep my i7-8086K for a balanced system.

But illogically a faster CPU would unbalance the performance with a state-of-the-art GPU not fast enough for an i7-12700K or i9-12900K CPU. That seems bizarre.

So here's the conundrum. Do I just swap the 1080Ti for a 3080Ti / 3090 or buy the faster CPU and GPU which necessitates a new system? I could get a decent price for my existing one to offset the cost.

Finally, does limiting fps to 30 with VSync make a mockery of these numbers?

Good question Ray  i  thinking  the  same  line  since we  got  simliar  set ups

Edited May 23, 20224 yr by pete_auau

27 minutes ago, pete_auau said:

Good question Ray  i  thinking  the  same  line  since we  got  simliar  set ups

Hi Pete. The oldest rule when it comes to flight sim hardware is you buy the fastest CPU you can’t afford. 😉

That logic seems to have gone out of the window with this performance bottleneck calculator. Half of me wants to believe it because it only involves a relatively cheap upgrade.

But my instinct tell me something seems wrong.

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

But my instinct tell me something seems wrong.

Just for interest, I checked mine and it says my basic GTX1080 is being held up by my 4.4 o/c i7 6700k.

That doesn't seem right either.

One of the machines in my secondary lineup is an 8086K (at 5.3 GHz) and a 2080Ti.  It's a dedicated X-Plane box at the moment, but it was my primary P3D box a few years ago.

I've run P3D on it with the 1080Ti, 2x1080Ti in SLI, and the 2080Ti.  Moving to the pair of 1080Ti boards gave me a solid ~35% boost in GPU throughput, and the single 2080Ti was just a bit better than the SLI config, but without all the issues that came with SLI configs.  The 2080Ti was able to power through more layers of heavy clouds, precip, shadows and other GPU-intensive features noticeably better than the single 1080Ti.  You can still max out a 2080Ti pretty easily when you start jamming up the sliders (4K 30Hz TV for a monitor).  So I think a 3080Ti or 3090 would probably still present a good opportunity for improvement in graphics-intensive features paired with an 8086K.  The 8086K is a very good CPU.

I have run P3D VSynced to a 30Hz monitor for >5 years now, and the main thread on the 8086K typically ran at ~75-85% with some headroom for spikes in usage.  Adding more cores (moved up to a 10-core 10900K) diminished the occasional stutters when flying into range of a complex airport, and CPU utilization on the core running the main thread stays around 65-75% on the faster CPU.

Also, I found that HT off gave me a considerably smoother experience on the 8086K, but then I run my ancillary stuff (Radar Contact ATC, ActiveSky, Aivlasoft EFB etc) on a second machine networked via WideFS/SimConnect, so there isn't much competition from other programs for the cores on the 8086K.

 

By a used 2080ti and sell the 1080ti. Then when Nvidia releases the 4000series build a new system with all the latest top shelf stuff including a new power supply.

That will set you right for the next five years at least and by then western civilization will be over so you won't have to give a second though to the next system because there won't be one.

Edited May 23, 20224 yr by FBW737

43 minutes ago, Bob Scott said:

You can still max out a 2080Ti pretty easily when you start jamming up the sliders (4K 30Hz TV for a monitor).  So I think a 3080Ti or 3090 would probably still present a good opportunity for improvement in graphics-intensive features paired with an 8086K.  The 8086K is a very good CPU.

Thanks Bob. I'm not that fussed at having all the sliders full right. Seeing more Ai at a major airport is more important than seeing more buildings. But the main reason for a better GPU is to help the graphics where the 1080Ti struggles.

Given the cost of the 3080Ti I wouldn't want to be in a position in a couple of years when the CPU is holding back performance assuming P3Dv6 is then out and a more demanding sim. Having to then change the CPU would make things difficult as that requires a new mobo, RAM and resale value of the old kit is low.

I also run RC4, Aivlasoft EFB and LittleNavmap on a WideFS PC although ASP3D runs on its own thread on the P3D machine.

I suppose what I need to know is what you would do in my position. New GPU or new system?

If I wait until the 4000 series cards are out those could be very expensive and the attraction of my 1080Ti to a potential purchaser would be less attractive.

49 minutes ago, FBW737 said:

By a used 2080ti and sell the 1080ti. Then when Nvidia releases the 4000series build a new system with all the latest top shelf stuff including a new power supply.

That will set you right for the next five years at least and by then western civilization will be over so you won't have to give a second though to the next system because there won't be one.

I'm always reluctant to buy a second-hand GPU. You never know what it's been used for. Crypto use could hammer it.

I'm more inclined to sell my existing system (one interested customer already) and use that towards a i7-11700K or better and a 3080Ti which seems a very fine card.

Performance isn't bad at present expect for the situations I described. But if you hang on to a system too long it becomes unsellable. I want to avoid that at all costs.

Hopefully civilisation will be around for a while!

All my investigations using that calculator did not include a chosen game. I chose Microsoft Flight Simulator and low and behold... the i7-12700K / 3080Ti is now a perfect combo.

https://pc-builds.com/games/bottleneck-calculator/result/1cl197/3840x2160/1Z/microsoft-flight-simulator/

Although it’s not P3Dv5 there’s a reasonable chance that what works for MSFS will be equally good for P3D.

It looks to me that unless you choose a game the results are unpredictable and not entirely reliable.

55 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Thanks Bob. I'm not that fussed at having all the sliders full right. Seeing more Ai at a major airport is more important than seeing more buildings. But the main reason for a better GPU is to help the graphics where the 1080Ti struggles.

Given the cost of the 3080Ti I wouldn't want to be in a position in a couple of years when the CPU is holding back performance assuming P3Dv6 is then out and a more demanding sim. Having to then change the CPU would make things difficult as that requires a new mobo, RAM and resale value of the old kit is low.

I also run RC4, Aivlasoft EFB and LittleNavmap on a WideFS PC although ASP3D runs on its own thread on the P3D machine.

I suppose what I need to know is what you would do in my position. New GPU or new system?

If I wait until the 4000 series cards are out those could be very expensive and the attraction of my 1080Ti to a potential purchaser would be less attractive.

I generally do not consider resale a factor here--I keep my computers long past the point of marketability, as I can rotate them out for use in my ham radio hobby, or for other sims.  I'm quite happy with how the old 8086K/2080Ti and a 34" G-Sync 1440p monitor work with XP11.  Plus, after all the work building them and tweaking them, they're almost like kids to me.  😜

Were it me, I'd upgrade the GPU and then decide from there.  I don't know what sort of PSU you're running, so that might be a factor, too.  Personally, I wouldn't want anything less than a 1000W PSU running a 3080Ti/3090.  If you go for the full Monty, you can still transfer the new GPU into the new system, and sell the old system with the 1080Ti back in it. 

There will never, ever be a time that something mo-faster-better isn't right around the corner, so you just have to pick your time and go with what's current then.

1 hour ago, Bob Scott said:

I generally do not consider resale a factor here--I keep my computers long past the point of marketability, as I can rotate them out for use in my ham radio hobby, or for other sims. 

No room for any more computers. I used to relegate my fs pc to network duties but have a decent machine for that.

1 hour ago, Bob Scott said:

I'm quite happy with how the old 8086K/2080Ti and a 34" G-Sync 1440p monitor work with XP11.  Plus, after all the work building them and tweaking them, they're almost like kids to me. 

The 2080Ti is quite a bit more powerful than the 1080Ti. £500 more expensive when I bought back in 2018. I couldn’t justify the extra.

1 hour ago, Bob Scott said:

Personally, I wouldn't want anything less than a 1000W PSU running a 3080Ti/3090.  If you go for the full Monty, you can still transfer the new GPU into the new system, and sell the old system with the 1080Ti back in it. 

Mine has a 750W Gold recommended by the company that built it. But I’d probably go for 850 in a 3080Ti system. No one seems to recommend 1000W over here.

I feel that website is very misleading unless you include a game. It was telling me things I couldn’t comprehend. Probable plan is now to sell my existing kit in the autumn by which time details of the 4000 cards might be out. Then make plans for the next system.

Thanks for the advice. 👍