The 4080 user benchmark shows a 20% increase over the 4070 Ti Super in performance, including 36% better reflection handling, which might be important if FS2024 enables (at least some limited) ray tracing.
But is it worth the 25% cost difference?
I can probably sell my 3090 Ti ( and its water block) pretty easily and recoup a good chunk of the cost.
I’m also thinking keep the 3090 Ti and invest in AM5 (Asrock Taichi Nova when it’s released, a 7800X3D, and some DDR5-6000 - all of which are getting quite budget friendly.) Then again, if FS2024 prioritizes core count over V-cache, it might not make sense to buy AM5 until 2026 either…
I’m pretty happy with the 5800X3D and 3090 Ti, but I know I’m leaving some fun on the table.
I would say if it’s on sale the 4080s is worth the jump, the 4090 is still a huge plunge.
The only thing uncertain is if 2024 is going to take better advantage of the 7900XTX, it seems like that card has more potential in it than it shows. But the software is just never as good as Nvidia, who always seems to find something in their GPU’s that we didn’t realize it even had.
I don’t’ know about fancy versions of motherboards, but I would say the 7800X3D/~$200 various AM5 MB/6000 ram would be my first upgrade in the ‘for now’ and sell the old combo off. Maybe a 670 chipset MB for the future?(I didn’t bother and only went 650 since 2024 is probably going to be a 5-6 year adventure in this updated engine-who knows what comes next). Unless you’re planning on a future power user move to VR or play AAA tiltles that will always leave you chasing new tech.
Hard to say if the ‘amazon prime day’ is going to beat the atypical MicroCenter combo package. Grab a GPU you actually want if they have stupid deal in that case. If not, it always gets less expensive as a whole if you wait it all out until 2024. Amazon’s return policy on all things electronics(or tools) usually sucks on ice though.
I wish I had a MicroCenter near me. The closest is a 5 hour drive.
The ‘soon-to-be-released’ Asrock Taichi Nova WiFi for AMD CPU’s is an X670E motherboard. I’m pretty much locked into wanting that one for my next build. Their top of the line Taichi X870E is around $450, but the Nova should come in around $300.
ASRock will also have the X870E NOVA WIFI on display which is the top Phantom Gaming offering. The motherboard wasn’t displayed when we visited the ASRock booth but the specs card revealed a 23 power phase design (110A SPS), a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, 4 DDR5 DIMM slots, 4 M.2 slots (1 Gen5, 3 Gen4, 1 Gen3), dual USB4 Type-C ports, 5 GbE LAN, WIFI7 and ALC4082 audio codec. In our review of the Z790 Nova, we found it to be a very attractive value for the features it had on offer so we can expect the same from the X870E variant.
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I thought micro center would ship in-stock items? Not quite sure how much difference a MB really makes for a 7800x3d outside of proper current MB’s. The 670 would just in theory make it so you could jump to the next series of CPU’s. But usually if you’re good out of the gate for your needs(i.e. 4k or VR ready if planned), for Flight Simulator, usually you just build the system for the entire multi-year run. Again, unless you’re chasing new games over the horizon.
May not need all that much more for 2024. If not some systems may be overkill already. That’s the big unknown. Being that a notably large improvement on XBSX is the main goal, we’re likely to see an effective ‘complete game performance’ boost as it is. I’d say future updates to VR would be the main reason for jumping on the next latest and greatest generation.
A solid 2k or 4k build is pretty much just going to remain a good build through the entire game life cycle. FS is such a broad spectrum of users that include many non-gamers so they don’t really swing for the fences for the absolute bleeding-edge gaming PC’s out there where everything available is already ‘outdated’ on release day.
I’ve broken the $30K mark on Amazon on more than one year, but I’ve backed way WAY down the past couple. And anything electronic from kid’s jellyfish tanks to power tools to TV’s kind of sucks to buy there vs a local Best Buy or MS or Costco or Home Depot. You’re often SOL after 30 days on Amazon. Costco you can bring your outdoor house lights back 3 years later if half of them break. I’ve gone back to a lot of brick and mortars and direct from the MFG these days.
Once in a while you get lucky, like my same chinesium heating pad with a 5 year warranty still has the vendor around. If you consider replacing it twice as a ‘good’ thing. Not sure if I’d buy my gaming hardware from them. If it’s a solid vendor ‘store’, they already have their own store.
I have no issues running MSFS fully maxed out with a RTX 4080 Super paired with an i9-14900KF. This is at 2560x1440p on a 27" 180Hz monitor. Using Frame Generation and Lossless Scaling I am hitting 180 FPS.
IMO it’s very important to have a motherboard with a high-quality VRM design, as well as a really good memory controller/fabric (especially for AMD.) Also, I use WiFi 6, so having that is a purchasing factor.
The rest, like PCI bus, number of different USB types/ports, audio chipset, etc. are secondary.
You don’t have to spend a lot for the important stuff. I paid $120 for my MSI B550 board and it’s been very solid. I bought it because it was reported to have a VRM section that punched above its weight class. It has some limitations, to be sure. But I’ve heard so many good things about the Asrock Taichi, and not wanted to pay for the elite model. The Nova is very appealing.
I really thought MicroCenter was an in-person retailer only. I’ll have to look into that.
I hear you about Amazon’s return window…
ETA: Microcenter will ship, but the prices are just…OK…if you don’t shop in-store. Their return policy is better than Amazon, though, and they are slightly cheaper. Thanks for the prompt.
Thanks, but I’m not looking at buying either of those components.
4080 and 4080 Super are more or less the same. The latter just a bit better.
Home Depot has a policy that lets you buy a plant, kill it, and bring it back for a full refund within 90 days.
My Mom got a refund for a Hibiscus she killed. 
I recently went from a 3080Ti to a 4070 Super. Paired with a 5700X I get between 24/25 and 45/50 fps on mostly Ultra settings, and it’s cool and quiet, the 3080Ti was a hot noisy beast.
I wasn’t prepared to got to a 4080 as the cost step was significant and the gain probably marginal with my current system architecture.
Yea and you know it’s coming from a ‘real’ place and not a fly by night drop shipper on amazon or ebay. There’s a ton of other online legit retailers too of course.
The 4080S is just a slightly tweaked 4080, it was mostly to cycle in a price drop to break the stigma of the higher prices and get it in line with the 7900XTX. They pretty much did ‘something’ new to call it something different.
Unless you’re feeling froggy if you’re happy where you’re at now you may want to hold the line until 2024. 5800 is a perfectly good system, it’d be different if it were woefully slow or making a big change to VR or 4K. You’d be tinkering with the new setup for a while as per usual with such things. And even going to the top 4090 does not suddenly make 2020 perfect.
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Just make sure to check prices elsewhere, I’ve got my eye on a M.2 2GB drive, it’s dropped in the deal but it’s been lower in the last 12 months.
Nooooo, don’t do it!!
Nah, seriously, I’ve also been considering a 4070ti Super, but the price still has me twitching over the ‘buy now’ button. The thing that gets me the most is when I got my 3070, it was 150% performance over my previous 970. I could just about stomach the lockdown price I paid for it. The reality, in terms of FS2020, was more like a 40 or 50% increase, but things were so much smoother, until I started adding traffic, bumping up scaling, letting it rip etc. I did get an excellent boost in other titles and games though, which was nice.
Now, with the 4070ti Super, it’s more like 50% across the board, yes I know, frame gen etc, but I just don’t know. At least this will be a good thread to drown our sorrows if we do take the plunge. 
In the UK, we don’t have many physical stores to buy PC parts, Currys and Scan (which has just one store), there’s others I’m sure. If Microcenter ever came to the UK, it would be my new home… and I’d probably be single LOL.
And then there’s of course AM5 parts… oh man, I’ve confused myself even further. I’m just hiding my phone until Prime day is over, with fingers in my ears, “la la la la la”.
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We can at least be consoled by the fact that waiting until 2026 to buy the current generation will ease the sticker shock a little.
The question is, “Can we hold out that long?” 
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Ha ha, though being careful not to become a member of the, “don’t bother, xxxx series is releasing around the corner, you’re better off waiting” crowd.
I have noticed that the 4070ti Super has been hovering around the 759 to 799 (in the UK at least) mark for a good few months now, even without Prime day, so I think I’m just going to do the sensible thing and hold off.
In my head “Yes, you just keep telling yourself that.”
Well, I have no impulse control. None. Zero. Nada…
I just bought this package on Amazon Prime Day. I applied for and was approved for an Amazon Visa. 12-month / no interest, plus I got a $200 Amazon gift card with the Visa and applied it to the purchase.
- Ryzen 9 7950X3D
- Gigabyte Aorus X670E Pro X
- G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6400/CL32 (I checked the motherboard memory support QVL.)
I’m going to keep the 3090 Ti cooking for a while.
Total including tax (free shipping) $795.00
It all arrives tomorrow. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…Mostly reinstalling Windows. 
I’m unclear about reinstalling the sim. It’s on the D: drive, but Microsobo does weird stuff, like installing duplicate (but empty) package folders on the C: drive. I need to research that process.
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Now I’m super jealous!!
Looking forward to the full performance review in FS. 
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It was interesting that Amazon Prime Day Deals had the 7900X3D and the 7950X3D, but not the 7800X3D.
It’s a conspiracy.
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I wonder if you could install the drive on your old rig, move FS across using the app, then put back in your new rig? I did something similar when I switched machines back in 2020, but with a SATA SSD, which worked great. Just like a USB stick I guess.