I fly P3D v5.4, FSX (SE) and XP12.

The machine is dual boot: Windows 10 with Linux for XP12.

Current spec is:

ASUS Rog Strix Z370-F gaming; AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT 4GB; i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70 GHz 64 GB RAM; NEC Multisync EA243WM -LED 1920x1200 at 60 Hz (made in 2012).

Storage:  C drive is 500 GB SSD;  G drive (P3Dv5) is 4TB SSD.

Also, two other large HDDs with FSX (SE) and XP12.

In truth, the system is a mongrel, formed by the accumulation of bits and pieces from previous machines.

Thoughts:  W10 support will disappear in a year's time. My C drive is nearing capacity even after clearing out redundant files. 

I would like to run P3D v5 and XP 12+ in years to come. I will not buy v6.

I am not sure if this current PC has enough in it to warrant spending money on upgrading.

The graphics card is pretty awful with P3Dv5 - stutters, pauses. even with 64GB! 

My monitor is poor by today's standards for current sims.

I'd be grateful for advice - upgrade or new build?

 

 

Edited September 20, 20241 yr by betelgeuse

There are sooooooo many opportunities for major improvement with a new build.  If budget permits, that's what I'd choose.

You could upgrade your video card and monitor and have a much-improved system with the software you listed.  Something like a used 2080Ti or 3080/3090 and a 3440x1440 monitor would be a big step up, and an 8700K can still hold its own in that scenario.  You won't be able to upgrade past Win 10 with an 8700K, but W10 won't turn into a pumpkin and die, either.  If the system is used only for simming, lack of future security updates in W10 doesn't strike me as a big priority.

I ran an 8086K (a top-binned 8700K) at 5.3GHz with a 2080Ti into a 2560x1600 monitor and it performed adequately with P3Dv4.  I would expect P3Dv5 to perform a bit better still.

All that said, a new build puts you multiple generations ahead of where you are now.

Thanks very much for all this, Bob.

I've a mind to do a small upgrade - graphics card and monitor only to start with.

In the past, I ran two PCs - one for FS9 and FS2002, and the other for FSX and XP9 or was it 8?  I used a KVM switch to switch monitor, mouse, keyboard between the two PCs. I still have the switches but the wiring was clumsy and took up a lot of space. I am not planning to use it again.

I will see how the upgrade goes, but I will have to do something about the C drive - more than two-thirds used. 

Maybe in the future I will use the upgrade for FSX and storage, and buy/build a new PC for P3D/Xplane. 

Monitor

I noted your two desktop setups.

I wondered about the curved screen and edge distortion - is this not an issue nowadays or do you get what you pay for?!

Also, I like to have a second mon for navigation etc. I wouldn't have space for an ultrawide main screen. 

Given the huge variation in price, is there anything I should look out for as essential - quality is more important than ultrafast responses - I am not a gamer!

Is it best to have a G-Sync monitor, given that i might use this same monitor for a new build? 

Graphics card

I spotted this on a UK site I used many times:

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra Gaming 10GB GDDR6 Refurbished Graphics Card.  (approx £550 - say 700 USD).

Again, I could pay twice as much for what seems to be almost the same thing!  But I would rather spend extra on the monitor to future-proof it a bit.

Sorry for all the questions! 

 

 

 

9 hours ago, Bob Scott said:

...Something like a used 2080Ti or 3080/3090 and a 3440x1440 monitor would be a big step up...

Hmmm - are you sure about that? OP has a AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (that is a 16GB card btw) - that's in the 3090 league already and can easily run a 3440x1440 monitor. I know because I am using one right now...

6 hours ago, GGLurch_2 said:

Hmmm - are you sure about that? OP has a AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (that is a 16GB card btw) - that's in the 3090 league already and can easily run a 3440x1440 monitor. I know because I am using one right now...

Well, the OP said he had a 4GB card...that's what I was going on.

7 hours ago, betelgeuse said:

Thanks very much for all this, Bob.

I've a mind to do a small upgrade - graphics card and monitor only to start with.

In the past, I ran two PCs - one for FS9 and FS2002, and the other for FSX and XP9 or was it 8?  I used a KVM switch to switch monitor, mouse, keyboard between the two PCs. I still have the switches but the wiring was clumsy and took up a lot of space. I am not planning to use it again.

I will see how the upgrade goes, but I will have to do something about the C drive - more than two-thirds used. 

Maybe in the future I will use the upgrade for FSX and storage, and buy/build a new PC for P3D/Xplane. 

Monitor

I noted your two desktop setups.

I wondered about the curved screen and edge distortion - is this not an issue nowadays or do you get what you pay for?!

Also, I like to have a second mon for navigation etc. I wouldn't have space for an ultrawide main screen. 

Given the huge variation in price, is there anything I should look out for as essential - quality is more important than ultrafast responses - I am not a gamer!

Is it best to have a G-Sync monitor, given that i might use this same monitor for a new build? 

Graphics card

I spotted this on a UK site I used many times:

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra Gaming 10GB GDDR6 Refurbished Graphics Card.  (approx £550 - say 700 USD).

Again, I could pay twice as much for what seems to be almost the same thing!  But I would rather spend extra on the monitor to future-proof it a bit.

No problems with 21:9 monitors and edge distortion.  I have a friend with a 32:9 49" Samsung G9, and that does present significant screen-edge distortion issues.

I have been a believer in hardware G-Sync versus the so-called G-Sync compatible displays.  I don't know that it makes so much difference now with frame generation able to keep frame rates well above the 30Hz minimum refresh rate of most of the "compatible" display panels.  Where G-Sync really makes a difference is when the frame rate of the signal going to the monitor drops below that 30Hz mark.

I gave up on multi-monitor configurations a long time ago...too much hassle, even with identical monitors.  Seemed like every new driver threw a new wrench into the gears.  Instead I use multi-PC configs now--when running P3D on my 13900KS system I use my general-purpose 8086K desktop off to the side to run ActiveSky, Radar Contact, and a moving map.  On my 10900K MSFS box I have my laptop positioned off to the side running Pilot2ATC and a 12.9" iPad Pro doing the moving map.  I honestly have no idea how or even *if* a G-Sync monitor could play nicely together in variable refresh rate mode along with a fixed refresh rate monitor in a multi-monitor setup.

$700 for a used 3080 strikes me as pretty expensive, and I wouldn't consider any GPU with less than 16GB of VRAM to be future-proof.

Regards

13 hours ago, GGLurch_2 said:

Hmmm - are you sure about that? OP has a AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (that is a 16GB card btw) - that's in the 3090 league already and can easily run a 3440x1440 monitor. I know because I am using one right now...

EDIT

Apologies the card has 16GB, not 4GB as in my OP.

 

I am worried about my RX 6950 XT. I bought it secondhand on eBay in its original box. There was a return option.

For a while it seemed to run quite well but when running P3Dv5.4 I began to get stuttering and pausing. At times the sim would not load.

Even with FSX the output stutters with a lot of shimmering and jagged lines. I never had this with a GTX 1070 Ti.

Maybe my old NEC 1920x1200 60 GHz just can't handle this AMD card - like putting a Ferrari engine in a lawnmower...

Unfortunately for a simple chap like me, there doesn't seem to be a Radeon equivalent to Nvidia Inspector. I am sure I do not have the best settings.

I ran a GPU-Z test. Not being any kind of expert, I am not sure what is going on, but it doesn't look good! .☹️

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 20241 yr by betelgeuse
Stupidity