TheFamilyMan

The only advantage I see in regards to a 10900k for MSFS is that it usually can OC to 5.2Ghz or higher with HT disabled, which gives you 10 of the fasted cores you can get, all dedicated for MSFS. This is what Bob Scott, aka w6kd, does with his 10900k build for MSFS. I also got a meh SL draw 10700k (Asus SP 51) that (just barely) reasonably clocks to 5Ghz with HT enabled; that OC runs MSFS very well, no regrets at all (considering its meh status). I also agree that a rtx 3090 is not a good choice for its price. It's more of a workstation/productivity card than a gaming card anyways. There are indications that Ti versions of 3070 (16GB) and 3080 (20GB) are in the wings and could be released in a month or so...I am holding out for one of those cards to fill out my recent 10700k build (see my sig). BTW, I did get a 5.2Ghz OC that I use with FSX-SE, though at the cost of AVX offset 2 and HT disabled. Though without a doubt, FSX-SE is quickly loosing favor on my system. Edit: The OP should consider if that 240 AIO will be adequate for a 10700k or 10900k build. It'll need to knock down 220W or more for a 5Ghz or higher OC. Without an OC it'd be fine. The 10700k with its default turbo mode runs "stock" at 4.7Ghz as long as it stays below 125W. If it exceeds 125W for a little less than a minute (or instantaneously at 240w), it automatically starts downclocking until it's running below 125W. Overclocking disables this feature, or it can be tuned to prevent an OC from cooking out your CPU. And here's a shameless plug for my Adaptive Mode OC guide.

Seems that you are implying that this is all a big hoax: "oh look...sorry if you though MSFS was really going to be a sim". I can't imagine the motive to half bake so many features that the average xbox gamer would not ever think to use, nor even know about their existence, if the whole idea was to fool those that did into thinking "it'll get better someday".

Can't go wrong with any g.skill 32GB DDR4 kit (2x16GB or 4x8GB). Their customer support is good. Speed and latency comes down to how much you want to spend, and if it's available where you live (newegg has a very good selection, that's where I bought my kit). I'm very happy with my 2x16GB 3600 kit, got it running stable at 14-14-14-30 2T at 1.42v (XMP 3600 16-16-16-32 2T 1.35v).

Guru3D has done a performance oriented review of MSFS 2020. Great reading for those looking to upgrade. I hope it gets periodically updated: https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/microsoft-flight-simulator-(2020)-pc-graphics-performance-benchmark-review,1.html Interestingly it sort of dismisses the 10900k as not necessary. One of their final comments is telling: Reading between the lines here, why the meager performance of the 2080ti at 1920x1080? Definitely not a gcard issue. Perhaps the Cloud access...if so, would manual caching alleviate this problem? My gut tells me this: Is MSFS going to be just like it's always been with M S F S...always chasing rainbows for that elusive "perfect settings with perfect performance"? BTW, I got my sights set on a 20GB edition of the 3080 when it hit the streets eventually. Until that time, my 4 years old gtx 1070 will get me through adequately well using "High-End" and externally limited to 30 fps.

Decided that I wanted to swap my dedicated FS drives, such that MSFS gets a NVMe and FSX-SE a sata ssd. Standard stuff...right? Did a image backup of my FSX-SE drive, then used a partition tool, which I used in the past with complete success to clone system drives, to clone my MSFS drive onto the FSX-SE drive. After that, I set the drive letters appropriately, reformatted the old MSFS drive and installed the FSX-SE image backup onto it. All is now as it should be and as it once was. Ran FSX-SE, worked as if nothing happened. Ran MSFS and it immediate proclaimed "the install is missing". Rechecked everything...right drive letter with the same content at before (at least at the 10K' level). After much effort and gnashing of teeth, I ended up having to reinstall MSFS on the NVMe drive. Not a huge deal since I have a really fast internet connection, but still irritating and time consuming. At least my controllers configuration was preserved through the reinstall. So now the big question that I could not find an answer for: What sort of monkey business did MS toss into MSFS such that this common and traditional "move to a new disk" operation fails for a MSFS install? BTW, that move button was grayed out for me as well. Also, I had the good sense to target all the install stuff onto the same drive for the original install.

Your work is wonderful. Thanks for being a contributor to the Flight Simulation renaissance. It's been FAR to long in coming. Take off from 6CL4, a really rustic dirt runway which ends with a drop off, and flight straight due north a ways...you can't miss it, but do watch for those mountain sides along the way there 😄. Breathtaking views, almost as good as being there. THANKS!!!!

No problems here with my 2006 vintage Saitek X52 Pro in Windows 10. Just finished a MSFS flight around Kenai Fjords in Alaska and everything about my 'stick worked perfectly. BUT...years ago I found that its USB chipset, at least in the one I own, is incompatible with USB XHCI...period! Even though XHCI "supports" USB 2.0, plugging my X52 into such a XHCI port always hung my computer. I ended up buying a pci-e adapter card which sports a USB EHCI chipset years ago, which solved that incompatibility problem. Thankfully that card works fine in my new 10700k build running Win10 Pro, using the latest logitech supplied X52 Pro drivers.

Thanks for that link. Excellent information! Guru3d does it again, as it has for years now: top rate performance analysis. Here's a clickable link for all readers that follow: https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/microsoft-flight-simulator-(2020)-pc-graphics-performance-benchmark-review,1.html This answers my question, I definitely want at least 16GB. With MSFS 2020 10GB is only now-proof, it that. Though interestingly even with adequate vram in the super-dense terrain area they used to pull in +10GB, it still stuttered irregardless. One of their final comments is telling: Reading between the lines here, why the meager performance of the 2080ti at 1920x1080? Definitely not a gcard issue.

Anyone got an idea of what amount of VRAM would be sufficient for MSFS 2020? I did a flight around Paris, which completely consumed the 8GB of my gtx 1070 and also seemed to completely wreck smoothness, with fps diving into the low 20's at times. I am using a single 2560 x 1440 res monitor. Flying over the Los Angeles area uses about 7.3GB while holding a solid and decently smooth 30 fps, at which it's externally locked using the Nvidia Profile Inspector. Looking to get a gtx 3080, but now I'm thinking that its 10GB may be not enough in the long run. I might wait it out to see if the rumored 16 or 20 GB version of it gets released.

Nice to see the interest, obviously. An equally interesting stat would be what percentage of those new virtual pilots got there via the $1 1 month xbox game pass. At that price, giving MSFS air time on you computer is a "no brainer", and comes to a matter of available disk space and internet bandwidth.

Nice find, eliminates the artifacts seen looking through a spinning prop and along the egdes of the glass instrument panels in the VC. I like the smoother look of the scenery too, definitely a keeper. Using a single 2k panel with a thoroughly overstressed GTX 1070. Thanks

Installing the latest nvidia driver, 452.06, fixed my lack of smoothness. I've been able to tune the settings up a bit from "High-End" to get really nice eyecandy, render scaling 120, terrain lod 125, objects lod 165, while maintaining 30+ fps with no vsync. Enabling vsync causes stuttering with lower fps for me. I also agree that it seems MSFS 2020 is NOT running with exclusive fullscreen, for more that once I've had to click in the "full screen" window to get the input focus for the sim. This can't be happening if is were running exclusive fullscreen. I guess sort of related to this is that when I start up, I shrink the MSFS window down considerably so I can access other things on my screen easily. Upon entering sim execution, an alt-enter kicks MSFS back to full screen, just like it does for fsx-se. But when kicking it back to windowed mode via another alt-enter, the sim has forgotten its prior pre-fullscreen size and I have to again resize its window for accessing items on my desktop...most annoying since that's a feature I've used for years managing my fsx-se execution environment, such as like having a look at plan-g.

I don't use vsync. Most surprised that I can do this, for I find screen tearing (which is what vsync prevents from happening) is most irritating but it's not happening. My hopelessly over-taxed GTX 1070 is pegged at 100% in MSFS 2020, struggling along at about 40 fps. Smoothness does not exist, micro-stutters do. Tried everything, even fooled around with sneaky Nvidia Profile Inspector frame rate and vsync settings: in the end no vsync, nor anything else, gave the best (but far from best) results for my rig. My 10700k isn't even breaking a sweat, no core ever goes much past 80% if that, usually in the 30% to 40% range.

How many other virtual pilots out there have discovered airports whose tower building is nonexistent? My home field is KPAO, in Palo Alto, CA USA. I've been virtually flying from there for about 20 years, and this is the first version of MSFS I've owned which did NOT have its tower building present. Rather surprised about that omission, figured that if any building should exist at an air field, if it has a tower it should be there. Definitely a bit annoyed about this, but at least the tower does exist as far as the radio is concerned. General editorial: One problem with attempting to create so much detail is that flaws in that detail are that much more jarring when noticed. Overall what bothers me the most about the MSFS 2020 terrain engine, at least when using the High-End preset, is the presence of "flash" sticking up all over the place, just like a badly molded polystyrene model airplane kit. I've found that any preset lower than High-End makes the autogen look like the aftermath of WW3...absolutely worthless IMO. One is much better off with P3D/XP/FSX-SE in that situation.

My 10700k with a 5.0Ghz OC seems to handle MSFS fine with lots of compute headroom remaining, though my evga gtx 1070 SC is completely choked by it, running at 2K res using the high-end preset (IMO anything lower looks awful). Smoothness is not there (at 40 to 50 fps, btw tried everything) and running at 30fps is of no help. Hoping that something in nvidia's soon to be announced 3000 series will take care of this problem for around $750 US. BTW, looks to me that MSFS actually uses hyperthreading properly and to its advantage...yay!

Bottom line for my 10700k buy decision: I wanted as many of the fastest cores on the market which a Noctua NH-D15S could handle with a reasonable OC. That being said, regardless of the nonsense lots of 10700k reviews say about getting "an easy" 5.1Ghz all core OC, don't count on getting one that you'd use day to day, unless you have top end AIO or custom loop cooling and are comfortable with the voltage/power consumption required to do so, or your chip was among the top 20% silicon lottery draws. Edit: IMO if you don't OC a 10700k to at least 4.8Ghz all core, there is little value in getting one over a comparable AMD build.

I think the primary cause of my T are damaged nerves in my neck, due to cervical stenosis that was surgically corrected successfully about a decade ago (both problems appeared at about the same time). I'm sure that all those late 70's to early 80's rock concerts I attended lent a considerable hand, and I'm still constantly on the lookout for anything that can make things worse. Back on topic: the stars of my hifi system are my speakers. I have a pair of two way monitors with Dynadio drivers, coupled with a stereo pair of subwoofers that each have 2 10" driver in a push-pull configuration. The subs are passive, their crossovers are designed such that they seamlessly integrate with the monitors which are directly connected to these crossovers. All these speakers are 80's vintage kits from Audio Concepts; I had to have the sub's surrounds replaced about 10 years ago. My CXA80 loves these speakers. Surprisingly, it does a MUCH better job driving them with its 80w than the NAD C370 it replaced ever did with its 120w.

The modern DAC hifi components on the market have made CD players irrelevant, as you've done with your system. I've also got a CXA80 amp and its integrated DAC has revolutionized the way I use/view digital music. When my ancient CD player finally dies, there won't be any need to replace it. But vinyl LPs and turntables will live forever, feeding analog line-level to my amp.

Sad to read about your tinnitus. I've been managing sever tinnitus in my left ear, and I'd imagine it would drive most people insane if they instantly had to deal with the noise level I now deal with 24/7...it almost did that to me. Curious if you are referring to jet engine sounds, and what sort of volume levels you find to be a culprit. PM me if you wish. Fortunately I've trained myself to not dwell on it and by and large I get by just fine (at least most of the time). In fact I've got audiophile grade stereo gear and still greatly enjoy listening to music. Nothing like being able to close your eyes, and the walls of your living room vanish as it becomes a symphony concert hall. Once you've experienced stereo imaging at this level, you are ruined for life and nothing less will do.

My guess is that when the NDA is lifted, there will be an almost immediate flood of reviews/posts discussing the merits of this platform or that for FS2020. I was beginning to have issues with my mobo and that was why I didn't wait. Went with Intel because speed is always king for my needs (of which FS2020 is not the only one).

I joined your new build parade, though about a month ago: i7 10700k, OC to 5.0Ghz all cores, 4.7Ghz cache, under a noctua NH-D15S and running Win10 Pro Asus Maximus Hero XII, g.skill 2x16GB 3600 @ 15-15-15-32 2T, Thermaltake Tough Power GF1 850W PSU, evga gtx 1070 SC (4 years old and still going strong) 3 NVMe drives: 2x 1T, 1x 500GB (in a PCIe x4 slot, used exclusively for my FSX-SE install and all its addons) FSX-SE runs and looks like a dream on it, using a 2560x1440 60hz IPS monitor. Awaiting the nvidia 3000 release for a gcard upgrade. OK FS2020, bring it ON! 😆

Yay! I would have been very disappointed if TIR support wasn't included. I'm addicted to it, even recently upgraded to a TIR5 when my ancient TIR4 finally died. As for the DIY alternative folks: yes, you saved money but not everyone wants to deal with DIY and don't mind the expense...get over it.

I'm an old-time-user of the DX10 fixer, going back when it was just a free set of files. I've got license keys for both the fixer and cloud shadows that date way back, but the installers for the versions I have get a cannot resolve server error when attempting to install on my new computer. I would most appreciate being able to update my installs to the latest and greatest, and being able to activate them. Please let me know how to proceed, I'll gladly provide any provenance as needed. Thanks.

TechguyMaxC, we're both saying the same thing, though I consider $100 or more for cooling as expensive. My barrier isn't the cooling, it's that the i9 10900k, right out of the box at its stock clocks, is pushed to the wall in both thermals and power consumption. I'll be mightily surprised (and also relieved) that on May 20 when the reviews hit the streets we learn otherwise. To me it seems like a rather desperate release, thus my hesitation.

Without a very large and expensive CPU cooler, the 10900k promoted boost clocks of 5.1Ghz to 5.3Ghz just cannot be reached. Intel even says this is so. The leaked article shows a heat test using Aida FPU. Running at its stock all core boost of 4.8Ghz, using a moderate AIO cooler, the temps hit 92c with an average of 87c. That is HOT. I too wanted this CPU too for a new built to retire my 4770k build, but I now seriously doubt it. Will instead be considering the 10700k, and maybe even waiting it out for Zen 3.