After about two years with the same CPU + GPU combo, I’ve just made a solid upgrade, taking advantage of the still relatively high resale value of my previous parts.

Out goes the 7800X3D, in comes the 9800X3D (purchase price: €399):

 

Out goes the Zotac 4090 Trinity, in comes the Zotac 5090 SOLID (purchase price: €2,399):

My old components are already listed on eBay. I estimate my total upgrade cost will end up around €700.

I’ve already started testing the 9800X3D and got a stable curve of -30 across all cores. Compared to the 7800X3D, performance in Cinebench 2024 improved by about 30%.

Finally, here’s a video of a quick MSFS 2024 VR test I did using the 9800X3D, still paired with the 4090. In addition to noticeably more stable frame rates, you can see that stutters have pretty much disappeared with the new processor:

 

I still need to run some tests with the 5090, but I believe the 32GB of VRAM and MFG will make a noticeable difference. 

im thinking of switching out my 4070 ti strix for either a  

XFX AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT  
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 
ASUS GeForce RTX 5070Ti GAMING ROG STRIX

my choice is purely based on budget, and Id be interested to hear your thoughts (running ms2020 in 4K) 
 

3 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

im thinking of switching out my 4070 ti strix for either a  

XFX AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT  
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 
ASUS GeForce RTX 5070Ti GAMING ROG STRIX

my choice is purely based on budget, and Id be interested to hear your thoughts (running ms2020 in 4K) 
 

Swapping your 4070 Ti for a 9070 XT or 5070 Ti sounds more like a side‑grade to me.

The only card that might give you a real step up is the Radeon 7900 XTX. Doubling the memory is a major gain for MSFS as the sim seems to be able to use it all the VRAM it can get, especially if your are looking to jump to 2024 later on.

4 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

Swapping your 4070 Ti for a 9070 XT or 5070 Ti sounds more like a side‑grade to me.

The only card that might give you a real step up is the Radeon 7900 XTX. Doubling the memory is a major gain for MSFS as the sim seems to be able to use it all the VRAM it can get, especially if your are looking to jump to 2024 later on.

Thanks alot. Much appreciated 

4 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

im thinking of switching out my 4070 ti strix for either a  

XFX AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT  
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 
ASUS GeForce RTX 5070Ti GAMING ROG STRIX

my choice is purely based on budget, and Id be interested to hear your thoughts (running ms2020 in 4K) 
 

The 9070XT is excellent for 2k and ultra wide resolutions  in MSFS2020. For 4k in msfs2020 in directx 12 mode it should work but i don't think would be fully optimal as in some use cases i can see the 16gb of VRAM being gobbled up (INI EGLL+maxed out addon traffic+lousy wx+ complex addon running 8k textures). I also experience even VRAM issues in 2024 at ultrawide resolutions so this is not a future proofed card and it would be worse at 4k.

I will be upgrading to whichever manufacturer comes out with a card with more VRAM later this year.

I would NOT purchase a 7900XTX as it is last gens card. It has the VRAM but you are essentially purchasing older tech. My advice is to wait until later this year if you intend to purchase a GPU that you intend to keep for a bit as it is expected that the 5070ti Super and 5080 Super should have additional VRAM.

If you must purchase something now .. i guess you can do the 7900xtx.. again i personally did not and would not do it .. but then again i am on a lower resolution 3440x1440 and have slightly smaller VRAM requirements than 4k so i went with the newer tech knowing fully that this is a stopgap until updated cards arrive and plan to sell my present card to recoup.

 

14 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

im thinking of switching out my 4070 ti strix for either a  

XFX AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT  
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 
ASUS GeForce RTX 5070Ti GAMING ROG STRIX

my choice is purely based on budget, and Id be interested to hear your thoughts (running ms2020 in 4K) 
 

I have a 5080 and smashing 4k

With my 7950x3d

16 hours ago, Maxis said:

The 9070XT is excellent for 2k and ultra wide resolutions  in MSFS2020. For 4k in msfs2020 in directx 12 mode it should work but i don't think would be fully optimal as in some use cases i can see the 16gb of VRAM being gobbled up (INI EGLL+maxed out addon traffic+lousy wx+ complex addon running 8k textures). I also experience even VRAM issues in 2024 at ultrawide resolutions so this is not a future proofed card and it would be worse at 4k.

I will be upgrading to whichever manufacturer comes out with a card with more VRAM later this year.

I would NOT purchase a 7900XTX as it is last gens card. It has the VRAM but you are essentially purchasing older tech. My advice is to wait until later this year if you intend to purchase a GPU that you intend to keep for a bit as it is expected that the 5070ti Super and 5080 Super should have additional VRAM.

If you must purchase something now .. i guess you can do the 7900xtx.. again i personally did not and would not do it .. but then again i am on a lower resolution 3440x1440 and have slightly smaller VRAM requirements than 4k so i went with the newer tech knowing fully that this is a stopgap until updated cards arrive and plan to sell my present card to recoup.

 

Thank you, thats a huge help.  Ill ,heed your advice and keep my 4070ti , then wait till the 5070ti super/ 5080 super comes out later in the year.  Thanks again thats a huge tip.

I guess by the time these cards come out, they will of patched up ms2024 enough for me to consider buying it.  

6 hours ago, mikeymike said:

I have a 5080 and smashing 4k

With my 7950x3d

Thanks for the reply.

id love a 5080 but I just cant justifty the cost of it.   I get its an amazing card.  I just think they have overpriced it too much for the common gamer.  

Edited June 12, 2025Jun 12 by fluffyflops

5 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

Thank you, thats a huge help.  Ill ,heed your advice and keep my 4070ti , then wait till the 5070ti super/ 5080 super comes out later in the year.  Thanks again thats a huge tip.

I guess by the time these cards come out, they will of patched up ms2024 enough for me to consider buying it.  

Thanks for the reply.

id love a 5080 but I just cant justifty the cost of it.   I get its an amazing card.  I just think they have overpriced it too much for the common gamer.  

Yes absolutely overpriced.

But i upgrade every 3 to 4 years.

I can't understand people who upgrade every year.

Yeilding minimal gains.

If anything this 5080 will go to my son

If i can get a 5090 cheaper in future.

Too expensive, especially in Australia 

Six months ago I went from the 7900xt(20gig) to the 5070ti(16gig). Have never, at least so far, had an issue with the amount of vram.

Performance for me (cpu 7800x3d, 64ram, m.2) was a major jump.

My monitor is a 49" msi. I run it at max res.

Reason for the gpu change was when I upgraded to Win11 I and also my computer shop could not get the amd drives to play nice with Win11. Finally had had enough and sprung for the 5070ti.

On 6/4/2025 at 11:31 AM, GCBraun said:

Out goes the Zotac 4090 Trinity, in comes the Zotac 5090 SOLID (purchase price: €2,399):

I just bought the same 5090, but I only paid £1,929!!! 

2 minutes ago, kevinfirth said:

I just bought the same 5090, but I only paid £1,929!!! 

you got a link please.  thank you 

18 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

you got a link please.  thank you 

ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID 32GB Blackwell Graphics Card LN155049 - ZT-B50900D-10P | SCAN UK https://www.scan.co.uk/products/zotac-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5090-solid-32gb-gddr7-ray-tracing-graphics-card-dlss-4-21760-cores-2407-mhz?utm_source=webshare&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=share

3 hours ago, kevinfirth said:

ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID 32GB Blackwell Graphics Card LN155049 - ZT-B50900D-10P | SCAN UK https://www.scan.co.uk/products/zotac-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5090-solid-32gb-gddr7-ray-tracing-graphics-card-dlss-4-21760-cores-2407-mhz?utm_source=webshare&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=share

thanks alot 

On 7/17/2025 at 10:58 AM, kevinfirth said:

ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID 32GB Blackwell Graphics Card LN155049 - ZT-B50900D-10P | SCAN UK https://www.scan.co.uk/products/zotac-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5090-solid-32gb-gddr7-ray-tracing-graphics-card-dlss-4-21760-cores-2407-mhz?utm_source=webshare&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=share

this is still the cheapest 5090 at Scan - I have a Gigabyte Windforce OC on order for £2100 - and 1200watt PSU. Once the I have the money I'll buy a new Bundle and Case