Hi everyone,
I am considering purchasing a new desktop computer. I don’t currently use MSFS, but am considering to jump into it again after simming a lot as a kid. The budget would be 1500-2000 gbp (hard max). Besides simming, it would be used for programming/data analysis, so a fast processor and a lot of memory are essential (34 to 64gb).
I am wondering the following:
- Is it feasible to get a great experience on MSFS in that price range? I mean PMDG at a large airport on high settings, though maybe not in 4k. With great I mean that you wouldn’t be aware of any stutters in that setting. If not, please share that too: I prefer not to spend the money in that case.
- Any examples of the ideal setup in that case? Any views on custom built vs off the shelve?
- What are some of the general things to be aware of at the moment when it comes to flight sim pcs? What are the typical bottlenecks and dos/donts?
Any help is much appreciated!
My only advice is don’t go for the latest/greatest GPU. I’m running a 3070 and with my graphics tweaked for a balance between looks and performance, I’m averaging around 75-80 FPS, with dips into the high 40s in bad weather and 100+ with just the plane and sky in the frame. See my profile for a full settings list.
With your job description, go for the 64GB RAM to help with handling large files. Also, try for a hand-built system - especially if you have a shop near you that can do it. There’s a local outfit where I live that will sell you all you need to do it yourself, or you can do what I did. For an extra US$150, they built the system, installed the OS, ran and tested everything, then gave me their own warranty in addition to the warranties on the different components. It’s also completely upgradable, where many prefab systems are not.
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With that budget you can get a nice rig for the sim especially if you are keeping your current keyboard, mouse and monitor.
If you plan to get into VR with a full throttle, stick and rudder setup, you will need plenty of USB ports (or a powered USB hub) and likely a USB-C port for the VR headset depending on your choice.
I have the i7-11gen CPU with the 3080Ti GPU, and this is working very well for my full VR rig.
I agree with tclayton above, since you said you most likely are not going 4K, then you don’t need a 4090 card which would blow up your budget anyway.
I would though, try to get into the nvidia 4-series cards for Frame Generation.
So that all said, go for the fastest cpu for your budget for MSFS. If it’s solely for MSFS then I’d look at the AMD 7800X3D or the last gen 5800X3D if budget is really tight. The motherboards for the old gen are cheaper, too. But if you can swing it, a 7800X3D would be quite the deal and their motherboards have dropped in price in recent months.
If you’re building for other things too (not just MSFS) then Intel may be the way to go, 13600K is a great value.
I’d go 32GB memory in your stated scenario.
There is no magic pill for tremendous performance at major hubs with say iniBuilds JFK and high FSLTL AI settings and 3rd party aircraft, where you can overload any cpu. BUT the upper end cpu’s can come close especially if you’re conservative with your TLOD (150 or less) and AI settings (keep them a bit lower to save cpu). But in ALL other scenarios you’re looking at unbelievable smoothness w/ Frame Generation with today’s upper end cpu’s.
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Personal Comments and Observations
Or you might want to wait until MS2024 specifications get settled and decide then. But I get it, it’s a cost-opportunity thing.
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Thanks a lot veryone for weighing in. Any thoughts on the following specifications (as a baseline, I’d need to upgrade the RAM):
CPU (Processor): Intel® Core™ i9-11900KF - 8-Core 3.50GHz, 5.10GHz Turbo - 16MB Cache, Ultimate OC Compatible
Graphics Card (GPU): MSI GeForce® RTX 4070 12GB - Ray Tracing Technology, DX12®, VR Ready, HDMI, DP - 4 MIN. Monitor Support (Single Card)
CPU Cooling: MSI MAG Coreliquid 240R V2 240mm RGB Liquid Cooler, Extreme OC Compatible
Motherboard: ASROCK Z590 OC Formula: ATX w/ Wi-Fi 6E, USB 3.2, 3x M.2
Memory (RAM): 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4/3200MHz Kingston Fury Beast Memory
Video Capture: None Selected
PSU (Power Supply): MSI MPG A850G 850W 80+ ATX 3.0 Gold Modular Gaming Power Supply
NVME Drive: 1TB (1xTB) Intel 670P M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD - 3500MB/s Read & 2500MB/s Write (Single Drive)
That’s higher spec than mine, and the sim runs fine on mine.
I would maybe question the 11900KF. You won’t be able to upgrade the CPU since 12th gen upwards uses a new socket and chipset. On the AMD side, with AM4 you’d be able to upgrade (depending on what you go for initially, and assuming motherboard support), although of course Zen 4 has gone to AM5 so that’s the same issue. Also, depending on your specific use case, having the onboard GPU might be useful for extra monitors, so the K might be better than the KF. I’ll echo the recommendation for the 7800X3D - I am an Intel guy but TBH I sort of wish I’d gone AMD rather than Intel for my most recent sim rig build. Using AMD for my desktop and really liking it.
The 4070 might actually be too fast for that 11900KF with MSFS. You’d be heavily main thread limited and your GPU would probably be under-utilised. Achieving a power balance between the CPU and GPU seems to be the best way to get stutter-free experience at a given settings level. I imagine you’re probably interested in the 4000 series particularly for frame generation? While it certainly works, in my opinion your overall experience in terms of stutters etc is more important than raw FPS numbers. Frame generation doesn’t ‘cover over’ stutters. I might pull back on the GPU a bit to up the CPU, maybe to 13th gen or AMD 7000 series. But that’s my opinion, YMMV.
Is that a pre-built system? If you’re comfortable with it, I’d suggest you’d get a better overall result by cherry-picking components and building yourself. But obviously then you don’t have a single point of support / service for anything that goes wrong.
And then of course @CasualClick’s comment makes sense - the requirements for MSFS 2024 are likely to be different, and its performance profile certainly will be. It’s hard to future-proof, particularly at the mid level, when we don’t know where things are going yet.
PMDG 737NG in MSFS is very light, much lighter than the already light ToLiss A320 families on X-Plane.
FSLabs and Fenix are heavy and laggy, much like FlightFactor in X-Plane.
It is not hard to get a PMDG 737NG ran smooothly on iniBuild’s Heathrow with AIG traffic going 100% density. I can also do the same in JFK at night. FBW A32NX is noticably heavier and will kill more FPS. I am using obsolete 10 year old CPU with RTX2080 Super and 32GB of DDR4 memory.
On tips of upgrading or building, pay attention to what @FlyerOneZero mentioned, and also:
- CPU socket of your motherboard: choose your motherboard carefully. Best choose the latest popular ones, if not the latest socket of your processor choice (Intel or AMD). MSFS is one of the rare program that is heavy on CPU
- Use at least the home or gaming motherboard chipset class (e.g., avoid intel’s B chipsets - this is why I avoid branded gaming PCs)
- Read about RAM channel configuration placements to get optimal performance (e.g., get 2 sticks instead of 1 with the same total capacity)
- PSU: I am brainwashed by Tom’s Hardware elitists, so Gold is the bare minimum. You need to protect your assets - which is another reason why I avoid branded PCs (there is a reason why they come with warranty)
I am not too worried about MSFS2024 specs since it will run on Xbox Series X. What worries me is the complexity of future addons, since more and more repaints / liveries nowadays, or even sceneries are utilising 8k HD textures.
Okay, thanks a lot for the additional info. Points taken on the custom built.
Let me ponder over this. It looks like the prime system in the price range right now would have something like a 3080Ti/4070Ti and an i7-13700FK? It seems right now that, with good PSU etc that brings you in the 1900-2200 GBP range, but I guess I can see how prices develop over the next weeks and check again…
You can never have too much storage - I’d go for at least 2TB for the C: drive. I really don’t have that much in my sim, but my 2 TB drive is already over 25% full, which in a 1 TB would be more that 50% and I’d be starting to worry.
The 11900KF is two generations old. If you find it at a big discount then fine. Budget is budget. But I would think you could find something a bit newer on the cpu-side than that.
What ever you get please do not get any GPU with less than 12gb. 16gb is the sweet spot ATM.
7800x3D or 7950x3D if your budget allows it