Best memory size (answered thanks)

Is there any good information on best case for memory size for MSFS. I have a very high end system:
AMD 5950
Nvidia 3090
16GB memory @3800/1900 with 54ns (stability tested)
50-70 fps on 3840 X 1080

So I am pretty much in the sweet spot for min maxing on most games. I have been looking at memory usage for MSFS. It takes a huge amount for loading. I am being left with 250mb in some cases. But once the scenery etc is loaded, this drops to 10.2-12.8GB.

Is there anyone here with a 32GB set up, who can tell me how much the game is taking up when running. I can handle slow load times, but if I can improve performance while flying then I will look to change the ram. Obviously I don’t want to pay for memory to see there is very little gain to be had.

I do have 32 and the sim does use more than 16 often. I’d wait until the new version comes out which is supposed to use much less RAM.

I went from a 4790K, 1070, and 16 GB to a 5900X, 3080, with 32 GB. So, while things are running better and faster, I can’t tell if it was the RAM or just a combination of everything.

You may be fine with 16 GB after the update.

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The most overt bragging about improvements coming in the update in 2 weeks is the RAM usage.

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Best to wait and see, I run 32gb 3600mhz on a 5800x , again can’t tell you the difference because I upgraded cpu etc at same time. RAM usage does currently run in excess 16gb though sometimes

There was a thread I read a while back that 3090 cards benefited from 64gb ram, however I can’t confirm this, still I would wait a couple of weeks for the performance update ram isn’t cheap and I’m not sure what else would utilise 64gb of ram.

Hope fully save yourself a bit of money!

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Thanks. I wasn’t aware of this. Googled and found the blog. Quite excited about some of the stuff (especially the Directx 12 implementation later on).
I will leave it till the patch, and then reassess it.

Yeah going to hang fire for now. I would maybe head to 32GB. I would never think of trying 64GB. The latency hit on other stuff would annoy me. I would also have no other use for it; I don’t use that type of software. I am fairly confident at hitting 3600mhz with 32GB, while keeping low latency. @3800 and beyond latency takes a hit on that size.

I wouldn’t be too confident about 3600MHz it is right on the limit as far as MSFS goes and that’s just with 16GB, solid but I can’t get an ounce more out of it without lockups. Everything else seems to love it though … and more.

I played with memory clocks since Ryzen was released on an 1800x. One thing I have learned is that stability > Mhz. If memory has instability then it can jump clock cycles whiles it checks for the error. This can usually result in lower memory gains than if it was stable.
Non-error correcting memory is meant to have some errors, and there is resilience build into the system. But there is an obvious difference between correcting an error once every 20 minutes over once every few cycles.

I also read earlier today in another post that very heavy scenery addons pull a lot of memory, at least on loading times. Airport scenery isn’t so heavy but city scenery is. Maybe want to give that glance over too. I only add city scenery in the Comm. Folder when I’m going to pass that particular scenery.

It certainly runs better on 32GB! I have 64GB, but I fly with groups and often also have Discord, Little Navmap or Navigraph running along side of FS, so 16GB can’t handle that very well.

Also sometimes have browsers open and at time i was using more than 32GB and why I went to 64GB. But 32GB is a pretty sweet spot.

I held my test run in Paris with the latest update applied. The first time I flew over this area it stuttered crazily. I have turned down tree detail level since my first foray into the Paris area. I saw no difference in the trees doing this, but the effect looks to be quite large in my experience. I had zero issues this time around. I also saw the lowest memory usage while I was in Paris, strangely.

I read in the dev blog that a New York patch is being applied at some point. People were complaining the area was too heavy for them I guess. I remember seeing a slight stutter travelling into the area from quite far out. New York itself never gave me any issues.

I find that flying at low altitude makes the system work much more than high altitude. I only have one community scenery addon installed. I have the scenery packs that are available for free.

It is looking like MSFS makes use of any hardware in your system. I run a 5950 and all threads are in use when I run the game. 32GB looks likely, but I will wait for the next patch before I commit. That may also mean I buy slightly cheaper. People are looking to DDR5 with next Intel systems. I think they will be announced Q4 this year.

It also matters if you have 2 16GB cards to equal 32 or 1 memory card of 32. Oddly enough, 2 memory cards work quicker on your processor than 1 large one. It has something to do with memory being rewritten when processing and its easier in parts than in whole. I didn’t really expect that when I was researching for my new MSFS PC.

Flying low trees set at low morph like crazy, medium much less so and yet is still easy on the system. Buildings below medium are pretty much just naff looking blocks and those above just have better textures which I can also live without.

It depends on the board, the speed and the type of memory used. Single rank memory was reported to be best in 4X8GB @ 3200mhz over 2X8gb @ 3800. But this was early on with Ryzen 3. I would be inclined to aim for 2X16gb single rank and aim for 16,16,16,38 CL. That is being reported with the best results in here. I think I would have to take the hit with gear down mode. I have built a fair few Ryzen systems. I have never got 32gb to run without GD on.

Sorry I am a bit of a geek with memory tuning. It is a great thing to learn if you want to get the best from Ryzen systems.

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I am running trees on medium and building on high. The only issue I see are the filler buildings in cities. Paris/ London are terrible on my system. Cities in the USA not so much. You can easily land on Avenue de Friedland and then drive through the Arc do Triumph. The building are dreadful at road level, but then the game is supposed to be at an higher altitude, so you cannot really complain about filler housing. The Arc de Triumph is done really nicely, even close up.

Single-channel 2133 MHz DDR4 delivers 17 GB/s of memory bandwidth. If you have a pair of 2133 MHz DDR4 modules in dual-channel, your memory bandwidth doubles to 34 GB/s. The only way to hit that level of performance in single-channel mode is to use memory modules running at 4000 MHz or higher.

Slot A2 16GB Single Chanel
Slot A2 16GB and Slot B2 16GB Dual Channel = 32 GB

Slot A1 16GB Single Chanel
Slot A1 16GB and Slot B1 16GB Dual Channel = 32GB

Slot A2, B2, A1, B1 = 64GB Dual Channel

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No one with any knowledge would just buy 1 stick of memory.

Slot A2 16GB and Slot B2 16GB Dual Channel = 32 GB

As to how you populate the board, it very much depends on the board. This is a review from a guy called “the stilt”. He is very much respected in the overclocking community. He explains how to topology differs between two editions of the Asus Crosshair boards.

Ryzen is still being developed now. Best case scenarios can change between BIOS revisions.

There is sort of a sweet spot around 32gb.
At that size you can still see reasonably fast memory with tight timings on 2 sticks.

Once you get to 64Gb the timings get a bit lazy for 2 stick kits.

I find that 4 stick kits limit Intel overclocks and there is also less space around their heatspreaders so they can run a lot warmer.

Either way. However much memory you have windows and the game will both conspire to use it all.

I’m not entirely sure if I saw a benefit from upgrading from 32gb to 64gb - it felt like it at the time but then I upgraded during s period when the game had some significant performance issues.

A few months ago I have upgraded from 16GB to 32GB g.Skill CL14 3000MHz.
The performance plus was nice when doing quick camera turns etc. and it was not that expensive. (But now the same RAM costs almost twice the price, it is not a good year for you to buy hardware…)

But I have to admit that the flight sim ran well on the 16GB Patriot Viper too - you will get a higher performance plus if you install the sim on an NVMe drive (like Corsair Force MP600) instead of a rather slow SSD than you will achieve with upgrading to more memory.
But it´s your choice :slight_smile: