New AMD Build suggestions please.

[coopville 0]

Hello. Im looking for advice on building a flight sim computer. It’s been several years since I built the last one with a 1090ti. It will be used for flight sim, gaming, no work functions. Currently using a single 55” tv for a monitor.

• Run MSFS 2020/24, X-plane and maybe DCS.
• Possibly grow into either a triple monitor setup or a VR setup.
• Air Manager is of interest.
• OC a bit. PBO and Expo.
• Would like to build as quiet and cool of a system as possible. The current one is very loud and generates a ton of heat. Enough to overheat a small bedroom.
• Would like to run other apps while flight simming. Traffic, Flight Planning, Navigraph, Foreflight, Weather mods
• PMDG 737 and Fenix A320 and ORBX.
• No RGB.

So far, I’m leaning towards:

• AMD 7950x3d
• ASRock X670E Tachi EATX AM5 Motherboard or the Gygabyte X670E Aorus Master. Seems like the choice comes down to (2) 4 USB slots & (1) M.2 Gen 5 with the Tachi or No 4 USB & (2) M.2 Gen 5 with the Master.
  • How important is USB 4?
  • Do I need 2 M.2 Gen 5 sockets? Maybe an upgrade down the road. Seems the Gen 5 SSD just aren't that much faster...yet.
• Asus ROG STRIX GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB.
• G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO RGB Series (AMD Expo) 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin SDRAM DDR5 6000 CL30-40-40-96 1.40V Dual Channel Desktop Memory F5-6000J3040G32GX2-TZ5NR
  • Is there a faster 64gb setup? I saw there was a bios update that allows ddr5-7200.
• Cooling?
  • CPU?
  • Case?
• Case? Just looking for a simple closed case with good airflow.

Totally open to suggestions, modifications and thoughts. Thanks!

Coop

[Virtual-Chris 682]

My thoughts after building a system last month…

- 7800x3D is much simpler and just as fast. You don’t need to juggle cores. A 7950x3D essentially turns off 8 cores while gaming anyway, making it a 7800x3D. Just get a 7800x3D and use PBO and curve optimization to boost clocks as high as possible.  With a 670E you also have access to ECLK for even more overclocking options.

- Gen 5 M.2… one slot is plenty. Drive choices are limited, expensive, and don’t actually perform much better in random I/O workloads anyway. I bought one but certainly don’t need 2. For MSFS, setup Windows to use a 2nd Gen 4 drive (500GB?) as your downloads folder and then extract scenery etc to a addons folder on your Gen 5 C drive (2TB) for maximum performance when adding scenery

- USB4? Does anything use it? Not a consideration for me 

- IMHO 64 GB is way overkill. 32 GB is still overkill. Crucial has a 32GB DDR5 kit that’s got tighter timings: CMH32GX5M2B6000Z30K

- I love my Arctic Freezer II 280 - very effective and quiet  

- I would buy the cheapest 4090 you can - IMHO, the extra you spend on factory OC is a waste. You can use Nvidia’s performance curve optimizer to overclock it just as well.  

- In my experience there’s no such thing as a closed case with good airflow 😛 I would plan on getting one with panels you can leave off.  I personally have the Thermalright v21 Cube Case as it makes it super easy to work on and is fairly compact, and very modular panels and fan/rad mounting options. I prefer a case that draws cool air in from the sides or bottom and exhausts it out the top for best efficiency and not fighting natural thermal tendencies for hot air to rise.

 

[turbomax 3,290]

agree 100% with everything Virtual-Chris said except I don't see the need for any overclocking experiments/stability issues with this type of super high performance CPU/GPU.

I am not familiar with any 1090 Ti, if you upgrade to an 7850x3D + RTX 4090 your fps will about double/triple with Nvidia frame generation.

my case is a Fractal Design Define 7 Gray TG which I always leave open, even the top cover can be removed partially or fully. especially during the recent hot weather. I also recommend a special 12VHPWR pci power connector for the RTX 4090 like this or a similar brand from Amazon:

CERRXIAN 12VHPWR 180 Degree Angle Adapter, PCI-e 5.0 12VHPWR ATX3.0 600W 16 Pin 180 Degree Angle Female to Male for Graphics Card GPU 12+4pin RTX 3090Ti 4070Ti 4090 (Ti Type A)

product/B0C4PGS4QL

  Fractal Design Define 7 Gray TG Modular Silent E-ATX Mid Tower

 

be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 1000W, ATX 3.0- and PCIe 5.0 compatible, 80 PLUS Gold, modular power supply, includes 12VHPWR-cable

 

Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black, 120mm Single-Tower CPU fan

Edited August 27, 2023 by turbomax

[Swe_Richard 1,174]

I went with the Lian-Li 011 Dynamic Evo for my 7950x3d (cooled by a 360 AIO and with a -15 CO) and 4090. Replaced the front glass panel with their mesh one as I was planning on installing more case fans. However temps have never been an issue for me so I have delayed installing said fans. Went with a motherboard with 4 M.2 slots as I decided to ditch SATA altogether. OS on one M2. MSFS on it's own. P3D/XP shares one M2 and the last is dedicated to the Steam library. 

My CPU as I write this (while flying the PMDG 737-600 in MSFS) has a temp om 63 dg C. GPU at 55. Very happy with the build to say the least.

[coopville 0]

Thanks for the replies.

Swe_Richard: What made you go with the 7950x3d vs the 7800x3d or 7900x3d? Was there some future proofing for MSFS 2024 or other use issues? Mine will only really be used for Flight Sim. Other's have mentioned that the 7950x3d is better when using other programs with the sim like AI Traffic and Flight Planning software or other addons. Looks like about $270 price difference between 7800 to the 7950. 

VirtualChris and TurboMax: Thanks for the nudge on the RTX4090. If I'm understanding you guys, the difference in the factory OC isn't worth it considering I can do it myself or not do it at all and still achieve similar results? Saving $300-$400 is always welcome.  Tom's Hardware mentioned that the ROG Strip OC will produce the best test results but really may not result in actual use noticeable better results. 

Thanks for the rec on the 180 degree connector for the video card. I saw some were having issues there. I like that cube case too. 

Generally, why do some I see go for 64gb of memory? 

Keep the recommendations coming. Thanks, I'm learning a lot. 

Coop

[turbomax 3,290]

33 minutes ago, coopville said:

Generally, why do some I see go for 64gb of memory? 

because we can. 😊

honestly, because RAM is so inexpensive and I wanted to populate only 2 RAM slots. the fewer components the better when dealing with such high frequencies, and I normally have lots of web browser windows and other apps open in the background.

I have had no issues with the angled 180 degrees PCI power connector plug whatsoever. you have to select the right version for your specific GPU model though re. location of those new special sensor pins, some call it version 1 or 2, others version a or b. you really need such a connector to avoid bending the GPU cables.

7950x3D won't help with games. Windows shuts those other 8 cores without cache down anyway during gaming, thus creating additional OS overhead, which has created problems with the windows task scheduler. RTX 4090s have a tiny mini switch for overclocking, but that is more placebo thing. overclocking is a placebo thing of the past, not worth the hassle and no noticeable fps increase with these high end chips anymore.

"7950x3D - Was there some future proofing for MSFS 2024 or other use issues?" there is none, exept for Blender, photoshop etc.. if all you do is MSFS then the 7800x3D is the best choice, otherwise I would have gone with those other models myself.

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by turbomax

[westman 257]

the 7950x3d is a higher binned chip and ccd0 the ccd with extra cashe used for msfs, is have a 200mhz higer clock

if you mimick a 7800x3d disable ccd1 in bios you get a approx 4% faster cpu in msfs 

the only way to oc is with eclk need a 670e MoBo that support eclk 

my 7800x3d run at bclk2 106mhz boost to 5350mhz the 7800x3d runs at max multiple 50.5 the 7950x3d 52.5

coclusion the 7950x3d is faster but cost the extra 300usd is up to the user , for me not.

ram 32gb is  ok i have a 48gb set its hader to get to 6200mhz with desent timings on amd

4090 some vendor have the swich silent or normal and other normal and oc basic the same bios with differnt fan curves, my card run at 3100mhz watercooled with the silent bios

Edited August 27, 2023 by westman

[turbomax 3,290]

1 hour ago, westman said:

you get a approx 4% faster cpu in msfs 

which boils down to 0 fps increase.

[C2615 321]

As my reading it seems MSI has the best cooling on 4090.

I got their 4080 and it almost never got over 60C and I never heard it's fan as it only got to like 1600RPM at high load.

Of course 4090 could be different, but from what I have reading online they are still the best out there.

[klamal 282]

Here is the system that I have currently in my shopping cart.  Can anyone offer any experiences, thoughts, recommendations please?

CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Raphael AM5 4.2GHz 8-Core Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included
$379.99

Motherboard
Gigabyte B650 AORUS Elite AX AMD AM5 ATX Motherboard
$219.99

RAM
G.Skill - Trident Z5 RGB 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6400 PC5-51200 CL32 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit F5-6400J3239G32GX2-TZ5RK - Black
$229.99
 
Case
Lian Li LANCOOL III RGB Tempered Glass ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case - Black
$149.99

Power Supply
Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1350 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular Power Supply
$229.99

Video Card
PNY - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Verto Epic-X RGB Overclocked Triple Fan 24GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card
$1,629.99
 
M.2 / NVMe SSD
Samsung - 990 PRO 2TB Samsung V NAND 3-bit MLC PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe M.2 Internal SSD - With Heatsink
$149.99

CPU Cooling
Heatsink
Corsair - iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT 360mm All in One Liquid CPU Cooling Kit
$219.99
 
Operating System
Microsoft - Windows 11 Home 64-Bit FPP USB - English
$139.99

 

Total: $3,349.91

[turbomax 3,290]

looks very good. liquid cooling is overkill for this CPU, mine is air cooled, stays at around 68-75 celsius during MSFS. I paid ca. $ 250,- more when I built a similar system just 4 months ago. 🤣

[odourboy 1,290]

Save some money on Windows. I bought a Windows 11 Pro key  for about $30 through these guys:

vip-cdkdeals.com

It's legit. These are surplus bulk OEM licenses purchased from MS.

In fact, save even more and buy a W10 key. Upgrade to 11 is free.

Edited August 29, 2023 by odourboy

[turbomax 3,290]

1 hour ago, odourboy said:

It's legit.

no address, no telephone, no company information, no legal contact, notice or web site admin. buy from them at your own risk. its only rock'n roll and only $19. 😊

"In fact, save even more"

and upgraded from my old windows 7 pc via windows 8 and windows 10 to windows 11, all free upgrades.

Edited August 29, 2023 by turbomax

[odourboy 1,290]

2 hours ago, turbomax said:

no address, no telephone, no company information, no legal contact, notice or web site admin. buy from them at your own risk. its only rock'n roll and only $19. 😊

"In fact, save even more"

and upgraded from my old windows 7 pc via windows 8 and windows 10 to windows 11, all free upgrades.

Laugh it up all you want, but they were recommended by a very popular and well known YouTube MSFS VR vlogger who had nothing to gain and a reputation to destroy suggesting them. I was skeptical too but I took a flyer and the experience was flawless. I used a key checker to verify legitimacy before I tried to use it. It checked out fine. I authorized my most recent windows install with it and it's been perfect for 8 months. What can I say?

[turbomax 3,290]

I am not laughing, just saying buy at your own risk.

CD-Keys: A reputable matter?

"Meanwhile, there are a large number of so-called key resellers, which often seem dubious.

• It is important to know that the key reseller market is a grey zone. It is not illegal to buy the games through such providers, but often the origin of the keys is not apparent. This means that you may purchase illegally purchased keys.
• This also means that you generally always buy the keys at your own risk. Therefore, take a look at the description of the products and pay attention to "Regionlocking", i.e. games that can only be activated in certain regions.
• Keys often come from countries like Russia, because they cost particularly little there. However, Steam blocks the activation of these keys in other countries, so you have purchased a key, but you cannot legally activate it on your Steam account.
• An important difference compared to other key reseller pages, such as e.g.  G2A is that at CD Keys you do not buy the game license keys from third parties, but get directly from cd keys. You will then receive the keys via e-mail in the form of a scanned image or in writing.
• According to cd keys, these keys come from partners from all over the world and are offered at a lower price thanks to savings that arise from digital shipping. In addition, they are subjected to a "fraud check" before the sale - according to the company's own information.
• The risk of falling victim to a scammer is higher, especially with pages with third-party providers, and security is not guaranteed by the platform."