Lost On CPU/GPU Upgrade Path For MSFS24 & Need Advice Please

[WarmEngine]

Would it be possible to stick with the current CPU and just upgrade the GPU to run 2024 at High to Ultra using add-ons (Airliners, Busy Airports, Traffic, etc) or do I need to do a platform upgrade too?

I was originally thinking about going with a 7800X3D or 9800X3D but started wondering if I could use my existing setup and ONLY buy a new GPU?

If I stuck with the i5-12400F what GPU upgrade options would make sense?

I keep reading that 2024 is VRAM heavy and 16GB doesn't even appear to be enough?  Is that true?  At what point am I spending money for no gains?  The AMD 7900XTX with 24GB of VRAM started to sound appealing at less than $1,000 once I started reading about the VRAM but I'm also seeing a lot of people recommending NVIDIA for Flight Sim but I can't seem to find a reason why.  I know NVIDIA has better RayTracing but is that the only reason to go with NVIDIA over AMD for MSFS?  Most of the comparison videos I've watched between RT on or off make it hard to tell the difference.

Current Setup:
i5 12400F
NVIDIA RTX 3050 8GB
32GB DDR4 3600Mhz RAM

 

Edited February 1 by WarmEngine