Hi, I know this probably should be posted in the HW forums but I don’t see much activity there.  I’m currently on a i7 7700k with a GTX 1070 and a Dell curved ultrawide 3440x1440 @60hz (non gsync).  I’ve been planning on doing an upgrade once the new Nvidia cards came out.  I was thinking about a 4080 16gb and Intel i5-13600 or i7-13700/ddr5.  I was also thinking about doing this in an ITX case (i.e. Meshlicious) with an AIO.

Any thoughts on this?  Like everyone, my goal is to have a ultra smooth experience with ai traffic/weather/clouds with Fenix/PMDG/ large airpots as stutter free as possible with ultra settings (if possible)

With this upgrade, would it be recommended to get a Gsync ultrawide or is my non gsync good enough?

Has anyone gotten a 13600/13700 yet?  I know a 13900 would give more fps, but can’t tell how much more. 

I read a lot about waiting for amd 7800x3d but I don’t want to wait any longer.  I’d appreciate any comments/advice.

 

Thanks

Bill

Apologies in advance for the long reply, but I had trouble summarizing, so here we go...

If you can find a 4080, I don't see any real reason not to buy one.
However, the first question has to be, can you even find a 4080 16gb?
If there isn't enough inventory to buy one, it doesn't do much use in us debating what to buy.

For the CPU, get the best one you can afford, Intel is fine but be aware over time it will cost a bit more as they use quite a bit more watts than the 5800x3D, so most of the Intels are going to increase the electricity bill just a tiny bit.

I don't disagree with your decision in not wanting to wait (whether talking about the CPU or even if considering an AMD GPU). For arguments sake, let's say you consider an AMD GPU, well the chances of even being able to find a 7900xt in Dec are not that great. With the release being right before XMAS and all, it's going to be a SUPER HOT item, especially given how much cheaper it's going to be than the 4090. You will have to be very "alert" on the first few hours it is released and try to snipe one most likely, the scalpers are going to be out in full bloom for XMAS sales. 

I personally would buy a 3080 12GB or TI, or an AMD 6950xt or 6900xt, but that's just because I'm more budget oriented and I don't care about the DLSS feature at all. The 6950xt can be had for $750 to $800 right now, and it is basically as fast as the 3090 (3090 is a tiny tiny bit better), which is actually about the same as the 4080 (excluding DLSS differences). So the 4080 is said to be about 10% faster than the 3090 in SOME games, but I am not sure about in MSFS.  On the other hand, the slightly faster 3090 TI beats the 4080 in raw speed.

What I would do might not be what most would want to do, but my specific plan would be to wait 1 week, buy a 6950xt from somewhere that allows returns. Use that until the 7900xt come out, and then TRY to buy the 7900xt and if you find one, use the 30-day window to return the 6950xt. If you cannot buy the 7900xt, just keep the 6950xt. That said, that is because I am not a believer in DLSS, I think it's basically a gimmick. That is my opinion, some would disagree.

You certainly cannot really go wrong once you get up to at least a 3080/4080 to 3090/4090, I mean it is not like one is going to be massively superior to the other when we are talking raw FPS in MSFS I believe. I am not going by DLSS benchmarks, but by what users here with the 4090 have said. I believe GSalden said about 10% faster and Capt Piet maybe up to 25% faster or a little more, so as you can see it just depends on how much load you are pushing the CPU vs. how much to the GPU.

For the G-synch, what you have is fine. I don't think G-synch adds much to be honest, it also varies for each specific implementation and depends on your settings. You don't need it and there are better ways to spend the money than upgrading a perfectly good monitor.
 

Edited November 5, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

If you really can’t wait go AMD AM5 and get a 7700x cpu. Build your system for the future, then get an AM5 X3D cpu later when they are available. I would also go nvidia on the GPU. So many people use it. I have a 3080, but buy what you can afford…and find. 

59 minutes ago, Alpine Scenery said:

.......You will have to be very "alert" on the first few hours it is released and try to snipe one most likely, the scalpers are going to be out in full bloom for XMAS sales......

Is "scalping" a serious issue in the gaming industry? If so, is there anything that can be done about it (other than home gamers demonstrating solid discipline by not paying a single penny more than the MSRP)?

Edited November 5, 20223 yr by Christopher Low

22 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Is "scalping" a serious issue in the gaming industry? If so, is there anything that can be done about it (other than home gamers demonstrating solid discipline by not paying a single penny more than the MSRP)?

Yah, it's a big issue. Nope, the manufacturers are fully compliant and in on the scalping. The scalpers pretend to be crypto-miners needing to buy 50-100 cards at once, and they buy them directly from Nvidia, AMD, MSI, etc.. MSI was the worst offender I believe.

Think about it like this, let's say you were a millionaire and the stock market had a negative return. Well, it's really not much risk to pay MSRP for video cards, buying 100 at a time, and then trying to sell them. That's a potential 30% or higher return in just 30-60 days or even less. They usually pay just a bit under MSRP as well. It's a lot cheaper for the MFR to skip the retailer and sell 100 cards to a "crypto-miner", aka scalper. The MFR makes more profit and the scalper has very little risk overall.

The MFR can also pre-allocate a certain amount of supply directly to the third-parties, like MSI, when they both know that certain supply will be paid at a higher price because it's going to be sold to a scalper. So it's a way for AMD or Nvidia to avoid direct culpability, but still get away with supplying the scalpers.

Technically, this stuff falls under several anti-competitive market practices, because there are only 2 companies here, but our useless govt doesn't care anymore, they just let corps do whatever they want. 

Edited November 5, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

2 hours ago, BillStewart said:

Hi, I know this probably should be posted in the HW forums but I don’t see much activity there.  I’m currently on a i7 7700k with a GTX 1070 and a Dell curved ultrawide 3440x1440 @60hz (non gsync).  I’ve been planning on doing an upgrade once the new Nvidia cards came out.  I was thinking about a 4080 16gb and Intel i5-13600 or i7-13700/ddr5.  I was also thinking about doing this in an ITX case (i.e. Meshlicious) with an AIO.

Any thoughts on this?  Like everyone, my goal is to have a ultra smooth experience with ai traffic/weather/clouds with Fenix/PMDG/ large airpots as stutter free as possible with ultra settings (if possible)

With this upgrade, would it be recommended to get a Gsync ultrawide or is my non gsync good enough?

Has anyone gotten a 13600/13700 yet?  I know a 13900 would give more fps, but can’t tell how much more. 

I read a lot about waiting for amd 7800x3d but I don’t want to wait any longer.  I’d appreciate any comments/advice.

 

Thanks

Bill

The 4080 is a good choice. I personally don't recommend anyone get a 3000 series NVidia card at this point, unless they luck out and get one for super cheap. The reason is, the 4000 series supports DLSS 3, and from the tests I have seen, DLSS 3 can really help MSFS FPS a lot, especially at 4K.  I think even at 1440p, some tests showed DLSS 3 performed very well in MSFS.

Unfortunately, the 3000 series cards do not support DLSS 3.  And I own a 3060 Ti too, which I bought earlier this year.

Just to add what I said above about how the scalping works, when you first think about it...

It doesn't seem to make sense, like why would Nvidia and AMD play a direct part, when they could just raise the prices and sell them normally. Of course there is also the traditional retail scalping channels, where the scalpers buy direct from the retailers (but that is only to supplement their direct stock and to keep inventory low why they control the direct stock).

The answer is because if AMD and NVIDIA raise the MSRP too high all at once ONLY during initial releases of the cards to match what some of the scalpers were doing, well because governments (Especially European) are more likely to hit them with an anti-trust violation which would claim they are artificially keeping supply low to sell the first 3-6 months worth of cards at too high of prices. Large manufacturers like AMD and Nvidia in non-competitive markets are watched by regulators closely, so if they start shifting prices all around during launch phases to interim phases, they'll get antitrust.

So this is the dirty trick they figured out where "everyone wins", the scalper, the MFR, and the 3PD OEM's. It's very hard to prove what they are doing, because they will never put in the contracts that they "sold knowing the scheme". They all play dumb, but they all know what is going on. So there is no proof of any of it. The only real liability is if someone at Nvidia or AMD has one too many drinks at a bar and admits directly to a regulator what is going on, but it's a low chance, because it happens at the higher executive like levels (director and above), and these guys are used to being tight lipped. They didn't get where they are by running their mouths, so the whole thing will likely never be proven, because there is no paper trail or real concrete way to prove it. It's quite ingenius.

It isn't a conspiracy really, it was an accidental development in the market that they were able to continue to take advantage of. Actually, the OEM's don't like it, because they get a smaller inventory, and the brick and mortar retailers hate it too. They don't have any control over it though, and they play along because they either get some or nothing. I assume that is one reason EVGA was sick of dealing with Nvidia, the low inventory availability, the low margins, and the questionable business ethics.

Edited November 5, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

You could try something like this website to track items when they are in stock so you can try to jump on it.

https://www.restockify.com/product-trackers/computers/graphics-cards/

Thanks everyone.   What about getting an AMD 7600x now for $300/mb/ddr5 and then go with a 7800x3d when available and sell 7600x?  Clearly the 7600x has to be better than my current i7 7700k.  As far as GPU, it is disappointing that we are going through the same issue of availability at MSRP prices as during pandemic.  

I would recommend going with at least a mid atx case as the itx case can be restrictive with current and future part options that would benefit performance and price.  not only that but cable management difficulty and future maintenance is more difficult, so less likely to be done in a timely manner.  only go itx if you absolutely can not fit a mid tower on or next to your desk, actually you can even have the case in a different room if needed and have cables ran to where you will be sitting.  of coarse this is my opinion.