For P3D and eventually MSFS.

I have two parts lists that are similarly priced and I'm looking for opinions on how I may proceed. Common parts in both lists are the power supply (Corsair RM850X Gold), an Asus TUF gaming 3080 12GB card, the case and my old SSDs and HDDs. The differences are in the other components.

Option 1:

Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 72.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Asus TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME

Option 2:

Intel Core i7-12700F 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor
be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 CPU Cooler
MSI PRO B660-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME

One has the option to be overclocked whereas the other is 'locked' but has an additional 16GB of RAM.

My budget is limited so after a lot of research I have arrived at these two options (which are very similarly priced). Currently I will be using my old 1080p monitor but plan on eventually upgrading to a 1440p display.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Cheers!

41 minutes ago, speedyTC said:

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

A couple of thoughts.  Why only 16GB in option 2?  Ram is relatively cheap.  With MSFS that could be a bottleneck in the future.  
What case? I see the CPU coolers, but with the CPU choices and the 12 GB 3080 you still need to move volume of air through the case, especially with OC.
For PSU?  I'd recommend that 850 be considered your minimum.

Edited August 11, 20223 yr by fppilot

Thanks for the input, Frank 👍

The 16GB option is on the overclockable build. That way I keep the costs at more or less the same level. If I were to go with 32GB it would blow my budget in that option and I have to answer to a rather strict CFO. The extra 16GB can always be added at a later date.

The current case is fine. Two fans drawing in air from the front, one side intake circulating air over the mobo and graphics card, the standard rear ouflow fan and going the O/C way I will have the Arctic coolers vent from the top or, in option 2 (i7-12700F) there is a large exhaust fan on the top section of the case already.

My conundrum is between overclocking and stock. I am currently running P3D v4.5 on an overclocked ancient 3570K and temps are fine but obviously fps are a bit of an issue but the overall feel of the sim is smooth. I can only imagine how much more of a boost I would get with a cpu that is 5-6 generations newer.

So, to overclock or not?

Cheers,

Tony

Edited August 11, 20223 yr by speedyTC

4 hours ago, speedyTC said:

So, to overclock or not?

Overclock!👍

Firstly, Option 1 has a Z690 motherboard.  All Intel Z series motherboards are intended to be overclocked.  You stated that you'll use the system for P3D first, then MSFS.  The 16GB will do well in P3D, and you can upgrade to 32GB (or more) when you move to MSFS.  The GPU is fine up to 2K resolution (although I'm running one now on a 4K monitor and it's doing OK in MSFS).

Honestly, I wouldn't even consider Option 2. A limited motherboard (compared to the Z series MB in Option 1) and air cooling vs. liquid cooling.  The advantage of an extra 16GB of memory still doesn't get #2 close to #1.

Current Intel CPUs are not the overclockers they used to be a few generations ago. The times when Intel sold their CPUs clocked 500MHz below their actually possible clock speeds are over, nowadays they factory clock them to the max due to competition from AMD.

Also you don't need 32GB for MSFS. 16 are absolutely fine since the Xbox release which saw great memory efficiency improvements.

4 hours ago, rka said:

Current Intel CPUs are not the overclockers they used to be a few generations ago. The times when Intel sold their CPUs clocked 500MHz below their actually possible clock speeds are over, nowadays they factory clock them to the max due to competition from AMD.

Also you don't need 32GB for MSFS. 16 are absolutely fine since the Xbox release which saw great memory efficiency improvements.

I basically agree with your first point.  But I disagree with the ram.  I sim in 4k and also use other apps related to flying / browsing web.  I easily can go into the low 20's for ram usage. 

17 minutes ago, micstatic said:

I basically agree with your first point.  But I disagree with the ram.  I sim in 4k and also use other apps related to flying / browsing web.  I easily can go into the low 20's for ram usage. 

I sim in 4k as well. Having a lot of browser tabs open will surely fill up RAM quickly, but the sim itself has been very frugal in it's RAM use since that one SU, be it in 4k or not. I was just trying to point that out. Of course it is still possible to fill up 16GB RAM while running MSFS!

 

2 minutes ago, rka said:

I sim in 4k as well. Having a lot of browser tabs open will surely fill up RAM quickly, but the sim itself has been very frugal in it's RAM use since that one SU, be it in 4k or not. I was just trying to point that out. Of course it is still possible to fill up 16GB RAM while running MSFS!

 

even with not a lot of browser tabs I can fill it up.  just wanted to make the point so he can consider that. 

Just now, micstatic said:

even with not a lot of browser tabs I can fill it up.  just wanted to make the point so he can consider that. 

Of course one can fill it up. But running at 4k over NYC, Windows+MSFS uses 11.6-12.2 GB of RAM on my 32 GB rig. 20 GB completely unused. According to Task Manager MSFS alone uses around 8 GB. So IMHO if money for a certain build is limited, it's perfectly doable to go with 16 GB of RAM. I do this on my notebook without any noticeable issues.

My point was that MSFS will not profit from having 32 GB. Personal habits may well of course.

9 minutes ago, rka said:

Of course one can fill it up. But running at 4k over NYC, Windows+MSFS uses 11.6-12.2 GB of RAM on my 32 GB rig. 20 GB completely unused. According to Task Manager MSFS alone uses around 8 GB. So IMHO if money for a certain build is limited, it's perfectly doable to go with 16 GB of RAM. I do this on my notebook without any noticeable issues.

My point was that MSFS will not profit from having 32 GB. Personal habits may well of course.

Just because your system (and settings) only use 8GB does not mean others are in the same boat.  I personally would NOT be able to use 16gb with my profile for most flights.  I'm not saying you are wrong.  I'm just making the point so the OP understands that it is VERY possible to exceed 16gb when using MSFS.  

7 minutes ago, micstatic said:

Just because your system (and settings) only use 8GB

You know about that SU that came at Xbox release, don't you? The memory footprint of the sim has been reduced a lot, quite some time ago.

Well aware. My original point remains. I’ll just leave it at that. The op can now make his own decision from here 

this is without most of the programs running that I usually run with MSFS.  Just picked a random airport and loaded up.  Sure I could find one of my paywares that use more.  16GB would not be enough for me

23 hours ago, speedyTC said:

an Asus TUF gaming 3080 12GB card

Corsair RM850X Gold)

 

For 3080 series Id recommend a higher wattage. Transient power consumption spikes are a thing. Power consumption can more than double during the spike. OCP has been known to trip with spikes. I use an EVGA 1000 watt with no issue. 

 

 

Edited August 12, 20223 yr by martin-w

15 hours ago, speedyTC said:

So, to overclock or not?

 

You will probably be fine without. There's not much headroom these days in regard to overclocking. Pretty pointless a lot of the time. 

Lots of info to digest and I thank you all for sharing your thoughts.

The old brain cells are going to get a thorough workout. One thing is for certain though. Whichever way I go I will see a huge improvement over my current, one-foot-in-the-grave setup.

Cheers, guys!