Most graphics cards are out of my league these days. Even the RTX 4070 costs over £500

3 hours ago, mistolip said:

Had another look and boy, those prices... Perhaps I could convince myself to get the 5080 (the 5090 is out of my league) but compared to what some 4000 cards offer it seems the difference isn't extreme. I think it's best to wait for the first tests of these 5000 cards with MSFS2024. Hopefully someone will compare the 5080 with a few 4000 cards in our beloved sim.

Yeah, the problem I'm running into with normal articles on these cards is that they're all basically saying "this is way overpowered for gaming, even the 3-series cards are still fine."  Cool, but does that include flight simulators? I somehow doubt it, especially since my 3070Ti is absolutely wrecked when I try to run the Crystal Light on it in either version of MSFS.

I'll probably end up holding my nose and getting a 5080. I can afford it, but I also know it really shouldn't be that expensive.

I miss the days when the best graphics card cost about as much as a really good computer case.

 

 

1 hour ago, eslader said:

I miss the days when the best graphics card cost about as much as a really good computer case.

Honestly, they never existed. Sure, the graphics cards are unreasonably expensive nowadays, but never ever were the top graphics cards as cheap as a computer case. And dont forget what we payed for high-end processors 20 years ago. Now you can go and get a top gaming CPU for just over 200$ (5700X3D). Back in the days, you easily payed 1000$ for the top tier Intel CPU...

The balance is just different, 20 years ago you could easily spend 3000$ for a good top tier gaming rig, but the GPU made up only about 20% of the price, while CPU, RAM, MoBo and disks made up for the rest. Nowadays, you get a good gaming setup for 1500$, but then you need to add another 1500$ for the GPU alone. The total cost is however comparable...

Add to that the fact that 20y ago, every body was happy with 30FPS and nowadays, people want 60, 120 or even more FPS to feed those 4K OLED screens with 120, 144 or even higher refresh rates. AND: while it was absolutely clear to me that I will only be able to play Unreal with reduced settings, nowadays, all people know is "ultra". Games come with 20, 30 different settings to adjust the game for almost every available rig, yet all people know is "ultra" and then they complain about low FPS numbers. 

I remember buying the very first 3dfx Voodoo card that arrived in the Netherlands on some computer expo. Must have been around 1996. IIRC it cost more than the entire PC I put it in...! So not much has changed imho. 😉 

All this stuff about DLSS4 is certainly interesting, but I've made a pact with myself not to read/watch anything related to the RTX50-series (expect what's posted here on Avsim). It's interesting though that MSFS2024 utilizes the GPU significantly more than 2020 - both in terms of GPU core usage and VRAM. 

Selling a kidney to be able to afford the 4090 (upgrading from a 1080Ti) back in 2022 was probably *the* most significant hardware upgrade I've ever done in terms of simming (mostly because of frame generation I think). 

MSFS2024 is still CPU-limited though, even though multithreading capabilities have improved. 

Edited January 8, 20251 yr by Cpt_Piett
Forgot a word

I looked at a couple of videos on the 5000 series and all I ended up with was the urge to go watch an old Shania Twain video. 32Gb VRAM on the 5090 sounds good, but I don't want to have to go and do a Brinks-Matt job to buy another GPU card. Done that twice already (Titan RTX then 3090Ti) and I'll need a lot more convincing to do it again. Especially as the 3090 is working perfectly well still with both 2020 and 2024.

4 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

all I ended up with was the urge to go watch an old Shania Twain video

Possibly the more affordable option?

At 4:55 he shows what perhaps the new DLSS 4 (works on series 4000 and 5000) can do for glass screens. You won't need the new FG in the 5000 , only a 4000.

At 7:00, notice that MSFS 2020 and 2024 are both on the list of sims that can use the new features (except the new multi FG) which could mean clear glass screens.

 

 

4 hours ago, eslader said:

I miss the days when the best graphics card cost about as much as a really good computer case.

there is no law that says you can not purchase still today a $ 200 graphics card.

but they produce graphics with scenery that looked also like a really good computer case. 😃

and we were not even remotely thinking of 60" 4K displays, VR headsets @ 8 K resolution @ 90-120 fps, with 24 GB video memory (3 x more than the average PC had as main memory).

Edited January 8, 20251 yr by turbomax

Well, according to a well known Canadian tech YT'er, an RTX 5070 will have similar performance to a 4090. In some games I suppose. It has 12GB of RAM though, which might not be "future-proof" enough in terms of MSFS. 

Fun fact: apparently he they were the first to game on the RTX 5090. 

Edited January 8, 20251 yr by Cpt_Piett

45 minutes ago, Fielder said:

he shows what perhaps the new DLSS 4 ... can do for glass screens.

currently nothing but reading tea leaves.

in just 3 weeks, thanks to early adopters like Capt. Piett, who I am sure has placed his order for a 5090 already, we will see and know exactly what DLSS 4 will actually do for glass screens. the good news for us GA pilots:

"a 4090 with standard frame generation, 60-120 fps and 24 GB VRAM ought to be enough".

Bill Gates, 1985

9 minutes ago, turbomax said:

thanks to early adopters like Capt. Piett

My memory is a bit vague on this, but I might have ordered my 4090 on launch day back in 2022. I will do everything in my willpower to prevent something similar happening in 2025 🙂 As tempting as it is to have 500+ FPS in the MSFS2024 menu. 

Please understand this: I would use this RTX 5090 from a desire to do good. But through me, it would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine.

Edited January 8, 20251 yr by Cpt_Piett

1 hour ago, Fielder said:

what perhaps the new DLSS 4 (works on series 4000 and 5000) can do for glass screens

Linus demoing DLSS 4 with Cyberpunk - at 6:10

" it doesn't handle everything perfectly. text kind of jitters and blurrs. if I move around it is not as clear as the rest of the frame. .. brighter high contrast objects having little ghosts on them."

 

To get a bit more into the technical side of things, this is a video channel i always like.

Of course regarding MSFS, we first have to wait for the GPUs to arrive and for some benchmarks to show up 🙂

10 minutes ago, turbomax said:

Linus demoing DLSS 4 with Cyberpunk - at 6:10

Oh dear, you found the video. 

I'm waiting for a more thoughtful and elaborate review by tech *******. No offense 🙂

Edit: One word there apparently got hidden by Avsim. Oh well. It doesn't even replace the actual word with the same number of characters. I think his their name is Steve. Sorry mods!

Edited January 8, 20251 yr by Cpt_Piett