Stick with Intel or switch to AMD For MSFS 2020?

[WarmEngine 0]

Hello Everyone ... I'm getting pretty serious with MSFS these days and also would like to explore City Skylines 2 once it's not as broken which I know is another resource intensive title.  I'm fine with my current setup at high settings in General Aviation aircraft but if I use add-on scenery combined with an airliner near say NYC or LA I struggle to get 30FPS and also get frequent stutters (the worst part) so it's time to upgrade the CPU and GPU.

From what I've been able to tell researching GPU's a 4090 is likely overkill for me just wanting to do 1440p at Ultra Settings so I'm eyeing the 4080 Super as my GPU upgrade.  First, would everyone agree the 4080 Super is the way to go here or should I really go with the 4090?

Where I'm struggling the most is with the CPU upgrade.  Do I stick with Intel and do a 13900K or 14900K or do a platform change and get one of the AMD X3D CPU's like 5800 X3D, 7800 X3D, or 7950 X3D?  AMD seems to score higher on the various benchmark charts I've seen but that would require a motherboard change which I'm guessing is another $150-$200 cost.  The fact the AMD chips run cooler is appealing though so there's that...

Current Specs:
Intel i5-12400F
MSI RTX 3050
ASUS Prime B660M-A AC D4
32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3600mhz
1TB MSI M371 
2TB Samsung 980 Pro 

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated especially if you're a MSFS user yourself.

Thanks!

Edited February 5 by WarmEngine
Edited order of things in post.

[ZLA Steve 375]

I switched to AMD for gen5 to take advantage of the 3d cache these chips provide and I am very happy. Not only is my performance as good (if not better) than my OC'd 12900K was but it runs much cooler and draws far less power.
I have the 7800x3D and use it primarily for VR flight and race simming and some occasional AAA gaming. It's a beast of a chip and the total board/ram/CPU cost was comparable to what a 13900K would've been. (I bought last spring)
In hindsight, I'd do it again and again.

[WarmEngine 0]

36 minutes ago, ZLA Steve said:

I switched to AMD for gen5 to take advantage of the 3d cache these chips provide and I am very happy. Not only is my performance as good (if not better) than my OC'd 12900K was but it runs much cooler and draws far less power.
I have the 7800x3D and use it primarily for VR flight and race simming and some occasional AAA gaming. It's a beast of a chip and the total board/ram/CPU cost was comparable to what a 13900K would've been. (I bought last spring)
In hindsight, I'd do it again and again.

Great information.  I'd like to try iRacing or another driving SIM at some point so this is helpful.  Have you ever wished you would have gone for the 7900X3D or 7950X3D or is the 7800X3D more than enough enough?  What GPU are you pairing with it by the way?

Edited February 5 by WarmEngine

[ZLA Steve 375]

I have an MSI 4090 Suprim Hybrid, mainly to get the vram advantage for VR. (It's a seamless experience now) 
I actually started with the 7900x3D, but for my use case, the 7800 is more than enough and actually edges out the beefier chip since all the cores are on 1 CCD. I downgraded and put the difference in to better RAM.
If you can afford it a 7950x3d is the ultimate experience but it's like driving a mclaren to go get groceries.

[Ixoye 1,823]

I switched to AMD 7800X3D and i'm very pleased with it's performance, and I will wait probably upgrade to an AMD 7900 XTX when ASOBO implement FS3 in the sim, it's much cheeper than 4090 and have enough VRAM for the future.

Edited February 5 by Ixoye

[WarmEngine 0]

12 hours ago, ZLA Steve said:

If you can afford it a 7950x3d is the ultimate experience but it's like driving a mclaren to go get groceries.

Is there a noticeable difference in MSFS vs the 7800X3D though?  From the benchmarks I've seen the 7800X3D was in-line or even edging out those higher end chips all due to the cores being on the one CCD like you mentioned.  I didn't realize that until I re-watched reviews last night.

 

6 hours ago, Ixoye said:

I switched to AMD 7800X3D and i'm very pleased with it's performance, and I will wait probably upgrade to an AMD 7900 XTX when ASOBO implement FS3 in the sim, it's much cheeper than 4090 and have enough VRAM for the future.

Any indication when that is happening or how it will compare to FrameGen/DLSS from NVIDIA?  I thought the 4090 was still way ahead of the 7900 XTX in terms of performance and the 7900 XTX was more in-line with what the 4080 can do?

[Ixoye 1,823]

3 hours ago, WarmEngine said:

Any indication when that is happening or how it will compare to FrameGen/DLSS from NVIDIA?  I thought the 4090 was still way ahead of the 7900 XTX in terms of performance and the 7900 XTX was more in-line with what the 4080 can do?

Nothing more than that Asobo said they should implement it in the simulator, you are right, the 7900XTX has about the same performance as the 4080, but has more VRAM and that is more important for me.

[ZLA Steve 375]

6 hours ago, WarmEngine said:

Is there a noticeable difference in MSFS vs the 7800X3D though?  From the benchmarks I've seen the 7800X3D was in-line or even edging out those higher end chips all due to the cores being on the one CCD like you mentioned.  I didn't realize that until I re-watched reviews last night.

It won't really make a difference in the sim. What it will enhance is any background apps you run alongside. There will be far more headroom and processing power for things like Volanta, external flightiness, streaming content. etc etc.

 

[G-RFRY 1,712]

RTX 4080 SUPER vs RX 7900 XTX - Test in 9 Games (youtube.com)

[carguy4471 19]

I'm in this same loop right now.  I currently have a 9 year old PC build running an i5 6600k and am going to build a new with my tax returns.  

I'm looking at the 7950x3d vs the i7 14700.

So far to me I'm leaning towards AMD because it's on a newer socket and not one that's nearing end of life, has way better thermals, and better gaming performance.  I do some photoshop/lightroom as well so I'd prefer the higher core count of the 7950 over the 7800.  Saving some money on cooling would be great, I'm not keen to need an AIO to keep my office at a tolerable temperature.  

I'm also debating 7080 super vs 7900 XTX.

I'm keen to hear more opinions on the topic.  

[mikeymike 366]

I just moved from intel to a 7950x3d 

And what can I say !!! 🤩 wow.

great performance .

paired with. 3080ti and 6000mhz ram.

will Def be getting the 8960x3d ig my mobo supports it. Fingers crossed.

 paired with. 4090

 

[Noel 4,507]

What ram do we need for 7800X3D?  I'm pretty much sure I will go with this CPU as I'm bent on air cooling though have been Intel since forever.  Using Noctua D15S or whatever works I probably will need low profile ram.  What's a good solid low profile ram that will work well with 7800X3D?  Or....a good air cooler that will allow access to DIMMS on an MSI motherboard for 7800X3D?  Doesn't need to be the fastest ram out there it just won't matter, but stability does.

[ErnstB 13]

Hi Noel

I am also just about to select the components for my new build. I have chosen   Kingston D5 32GB 6000-36 Beast EXPO wh K2 KFY AMD EXPO (KF560C36BWEK2-32) since the are just 35mm high which allows for e.g. a Noctua NH-D15 Chromax air cooler (with a slight replacement of one cooler section).

Should get my components with 7800X3D  and a ASUS TUF-RTX4070TIS-16G-GAMING etc within the coming 2 weeks for a WQHD system.

 

[Luke 782]

Do not buy any RAM for AM5 CPUs that is no on the QVL.

Cheers

 

[G-RFRY 1,712]

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