I've always been a Intel/nVidia customer, but while researching a new build for a return to flight simming last year, AMD looked like it provided the best performance for my mid-range budget. I haven't regretted my decision one bit.

 

I upgraded my 10900K PC recently. I've used Intel for many years now after a bad experience with AMD back in the very early 90's, but after hearing about Intel's recent issues, decided to go for a 7800X3D. With the recent price drops I managed to get the CPU and motherboard for little more than a 14900K CPU, and with the sale of my old parts, it was a cost effective upgrade. Other than new RAM, I did keep the rest of my existing parts including a 3090 graphics car. As previously mentioned, AMD will be supporting the platform for a few years yet, so could potentially throw in a new CPU in a year or 2 and not have to worry about replacing the motherboard. With most settings on high or ultra, with a 3440x1440 monitor, I went from around 40 FPS to 60 FPS. The only issue I have is with slow boot times using EXPO even though the memory was showing as compatible, so haven't enabled that, but overall, very happy.

9 minutes ago, andym001 said:

 The only issue I have is with slow boot times using EXPO even though the memory was showing as compatible, so haven't enabled that, but overall, very happy.

Have you update to the latest BIOS for your motherboard? My boot times have been fast and stable with EXPO since i've been using AGESA 1.1.0.2 and forward, I use AGESA 1.1.7.0 now and it's rock solid.

The undisputed best CPU for MSFS right now is an X3D from AMD.  I am one generation back and love it.  Had been intel for 20 plus years.  No reason being loyalty to CPU's.  They are literally little pieces of silicon that you can't see once built.  Every build I base on the best CPU available for simming and go there.  

Almost a year ago, I decided that Intel and Nvidia were not looking out for my best interests and were positioning themselves for other markets. MSFS was becoming more hardware agnostic with the XBOX initiatives, so I went AMD all the way with Ryzen 9 7900X CPU and Radeon 7900XT GPU. Learning how to undervolt the CPU for max performance took a little time and there has been one glitchy driver for GPU. Otherwise, especially with Nvidia going all in AI and Intel fab problems, things are feeling and working right well.

i9-13900K is what I would combine with an RTX 4080 & a 4K monitor if I were building a new system today.

Having said that, I built a budget 12600K with my Titan and MSFS performs great with a 1080P monitor. The new sim will probably perform even better.

13 minutes ago, CFIJose said:

i9-13900K is what I would combine with an RTX 4080 & a 4K monitor if I were building a new system today.

Having said that, I built a budget 12600K with my Titan and MSFS performs great with a 1080P monitor. The new sim will probably perform even better.

I would never recommend a 13900 or 14900 to anyone right now with the issues Intel and the MB manufacturers are struggling with.  That's why I stayed on a 12700K 

 

3 hours ago, Ixoye said:

Have you update to the latest BIOS for your motherboard? My boot times have been fast and stable with EXPO since i've been using AGESA 1.1.0.2 and forward, I use AGESA 1.1.7.0 now and it's rock solid.

Yes, that was the first thing I did when the system was up and running, current version is AGESA 1.2.0.0a, although they released a new Bios a couple of days ago (Update AGESA version to Combo AM5 PI 1.2.0.0a Patch A), so may try that at some point.

40 minutes ago, andym001 said:

Yes, that was the first thing I did when the system was up and running, current version is AGESA 1.2.0.0a, although they released a new Bios a couple of days ago (Update AGESA version to Combo AM5 PI 1.2.0.0a Patch A), so may try that at some point.

If you're having slow boot times, look for "Memory Context Restore" under the memory timings. That will get your boots nice and fast since it doesn't need to re-benchmark the RAM each boot. My 7800X3D now boots faster than any of my Intel machines did.

Cheers

Great topic! I am also looking to change out my system in the next couple of months. My 10700K is getting old and I am having intermittent power issues with random shutdowns from time to time.

I have also been an Intel customer for a very long time, having had one very bad experience with an AMD chip back in the early 2000s but agree with the general sentiment here that it is best to avoid 13 and 14 generation processors at this time. I would stick with Nvidia, however. And, yes their 5000 series cards are in development but have also been rumored to have problems and the commercial versions have been pushed back to the first quarter of 2025; so who knows when the gaming versions will become available and if they will be stable.

For those of you with the 7800X3D, how is it with other tasks, not flight simulator related? I have heard these chips struggle with productivity software but I am not sure what that means. I have one computer for everything and use it extensively for work -- offices, databases, PowerBI, etc. Is there any drawback using it for these kinds of tasks over Intel?

10 minutes ago, Cognita said:

I have heard these chips struggle with productivity software but I am not sure what that means. I have one computer for everything and use it extensively for work -- offices, databases, PowerBI, etc. Is there any drawback using it for these kinds of tasks over Intel?

Not at all.

Cheers

7 minutes ago, Cognita said:

Great topic! I am also looking to change out my system in the next couple of months. My 10700K is getting old and I am having intermittent power issues with random shutdowns from time to time.

I have also been an Intel customer for a very long time, having had one very bad experience with an AMD chip back in the early 2000s but agree with the general sentiment here that it is best to avoid 13 and 14 generation processors at this time. I would stick with Nvidia, however. And, yes their 5000 series cards are in development but have also been rumored to have problems and the commercial versions have been pushed back to the first quarter of 2025; so who knows when the gaming versions will become available and if they will be stable.

For those of you with the 7800X3D, how is it with other tasks, not flight simulator related? I have heard these chips struggle with productivity software but I am not sure what that means. I have one computer for everything and use it extensively for work -- offices, databases, PowerBI, etc. Is there any drawback using it for these kinds of tasks over Intel?

I don't run heavy productivity task with mine. It does all normal things with no issue. I think if you need serious productivity power a non X3D with higher core count would be better. Or you could go with the 7950X3D but this gets more complicated with the duel chiplets situation. It sounds like the drivers for core parking are more mature so might not be a problem and make for a CPU well suited for both sim and productivity tasks. 

12 hours ago, fppilot said:

Lost my system early this week. Blue screen, Windows login authentication error.  All the remedies fail to restore and the consensus is now a failure in the system.  Hardware.  Was planning for a new system for MSFS 2024. This event forces my hand now.  I am "superficially" aware that MSFS is not great at utilizing multiple processor cores.  I am not a systems person and do not know what is more optimum in core counts.  I want to stick to Intel CPU choices.

Looking ahead to MSFS 2024 what is the general feeling of CPU.  I will be using either an RTX 4080 Super or a 4090, and a Thermolake View 71 case (non-RGB).

Thoughts?

Fix your PC and wait a few months. Bring it to a best buy or a Microcenter or a reputable local PC shop (Im assuming Microcenter fix PCs) and replace whatever is defective and carry on ( I personally suspect your NVME failed)

If your motherboard is the component that failed then consider a new build.

Reasons for this recommendation is twofold

Your CPU Preference is Intel. I note that almost everyone here is recommending for you to switch to an AMD  X3D CPU. I agree with them but i don't need to add to that. Currently the latest (and fastest) intel CPU's are suffering from increased failure rates. Intel has just released a fix a few days ago and pretty much everyone in the PC Building community is trying to see if the fix is going to work.

The second reason is that we are very close to CPU hardware release season and also close to launch of MSFS2024. If you can just repair your system and sit on your hands for a few months you may benefit from a faster system and have a better perspective to see if the X3D chips still maintains its performance advantage for the new sim or sticking with Intel is justified. 

 

On the issue of Graphics Cards

Your running 4k ? 4080/4090

1440P ? 4070TI Super

I wont bother recommending the Radeons because i'm the only weirdo that seems to like using them around these parts. (All about respecting peoples preferences)

Edited August 14, 20241 yr by Maxis

5 minutes ago, Maxis said:

I wont bother recommending the Radeons because i'm the only weirdo that seems to like using them around these parts. (All about respecting peoples preferences)

Hey, I represent that weirdo remark 🙂

22 minutes ago, Cognita said:

For those of you with the 7800X3D, how is it with other tasks, not flight simulator related? I have heard these chips struggle with productivity software but I am not sure what that means. I have one computer for everything and use it extensively for work -- offices, databases, PowerBI, etc. Is there any drawback using it for these kinds of tasks over Intel?

FWIW, I am an amateur user of Blender and PhotoShop. Based on Gamers Nexus analysis, I went with the 7900X. Yes, it was more expensive then X3D.