Could an i9 11900K with an RTX 2070 fix my CTD issues?

User Support Hub Hardware & Peripherals
1

Hello,

I’ve been flying with medium settings for a while with i5 9600K, RTX 2070, 32GB of DDR4 3000 RAM, and 650W PSU. After the latest updates I have CTD constantly, and sometimes in the menu/setup screen. I’ve talked to the devs on zendesk and done all the troubleshooting on this forum but no luck (seriously I’ve done it ALL).

I have two options:

Wait until July 27th update to see if that restores stability
-or-
Throw money at the problem and get a new z590MB with the latest i9 11900K and 850W PSU and see if that helps lol

When my sim is going to crash I get lights dancing around, like strobes all over the screen, it’s quite strange. I don’t have this in any other game and I play some resource-intensive games.

So, my question is, do you think me throwing money at the problem in this fashion is foolish or worth a shot? I realize I will still be GPU limited but perhaps the new CPU will bring system/memory stability?

Of course, I’m looking at an RTX 3080 or 3090 once the prices normalize at the end of the year or so, but I’m against paying nearly double at the moment, which is why I figured let me consider this CPU angle for now.

If you think this is totally foolish and that I should continue seeking software issues for my CTD that’s fine, I just wanted to get people’s opinion.

Thank you!

2

Your CPU is reasonably fast and recent and your RAM quantity and speed is adequate, so I would do this.

3

I appreciate your feedback, thank you!

4

As above, because your system spec is fine, you only want to replace hardware if you can isolate the cause to hardware.

That is sometimes easier said than done. There are some unstable motherboards out there which cause random crashes / BSODs at much higher frequency even when RAM, Disk and similar and common system checks succeed.

5

The things I would do with your system, in this order, is:

01 - Get the latest motherboard BIOS and the latest drivers for you motherboard on-board devices like audio, USB stuff, LAN stuff, etc. You can get this from the MB website.

02 - Turn off any CPU or Memory overclocking in the BIOS.

03 - Use “Display Driver Uninstaller” to clean out all remnants of the display driver then install the latest Nvidia driver.

04 - Make sure windows is completely updated and also check for updates in the Microsoft Store app.

If that don’t help, Re-Install windows then MSFS after you get windows updated.

One last thing, you mention you have a 650 Watt PSU. PSU’s can sometimes fail slowly and may not be supplying enough power to the GPU or CPU and this will be apparent under a load, such as gaming. I do not know of an easy way to check that. I just swap out to a known working PSU and see if that fixes things.

Good luck.

2 Likes
6

For the love of God and your wallet, please wait. You have no idea, yet, if it’s your computer or the game. You’re definitely not the only one with CTDs.

7

The first thing on this list which needs to be upgraded is the Power supply.

Also, check your case intakes for dust and clean them if blocked. Random flashes very much sound like an issue with GPU/VRAM hardware and possibly power or cooling related.

8

What’s resolutions your display, as others have said I don’t think it’s the lack cpu/gpu power, I ran msfs on an i5 3570k and 1660ti at 1080p with relatively no issues and then vr on i7 3770k and 1080ti so I don’t think it’s your spec, cooling and psu replacement are all relatively cheaper options, upgrading from 650w is worthwhile anyway given current gpus are quite power hungry

9

I have the same hardware, except my CPU is a much older i7 4790K and my PSU is 850W, and I’ve had zero crashes, ever.

I’m no expert, but the symptoms you describe point more to the GPU than the CPU as far as I can tell, possibly caused by heat or unstable power.

10

Interesting. This sounds like the GPU was artifacting before giving up and crashing, could possibly be faulty. I know you say it’s ok on other demanding games but flight simulator play sessions are probably a lot longer?

It would be worth adding some runtime statistics to your play sessions to check temps. Fans are working on the GPU? have you opened the case during a play session?

Double check you are not overclocking the CPU and GPU. Reinstall the Nvidia drivers with the advanced option to clean out the existing drivers which is most important. Also clear the shader cache from Windows.

You could also download the Heaven benchmark for a stress test if the GPU to see if that runs ok.

I don’t understand how it’s happening but you graphics card is bolting and just gives up, thats why artifacting happens before the crash. Probably replacing the GPU (and therefore PU) could fix this but it’s best to do some more tests to be sure.

11

@RH2MD I upgraded from an RTX 2080 Super to RX6800xt and my CTD got worse, Its not your system its the Sim wait until the 27th

12

I would blame the GPU as well. Had a similar experience with RTX2070 in P3D V5. Sim crashed with artifacts and flashing images. I replaced it with RTX 2980 TI and all was gone. Tested before with all the benchmarks with no results. But for now I would wait for the performance upgrade.

13

additional to what @blueline308 recommended … don’t forget the easy things:
blinking, etc. sound like GPU issue. It can be faulty or simple run into overheating. Did you done a test with open PC case ? ( I know some friends where this simple test brought the “aha” moment :wink: ).

14

Oh, and do not underestimate the value of:

Turning off and unplugging the power cable,
Opening her up,
Remove and reinsert the RAM, the GPU and any other add on boards in there along with making sure all the wires and cables are properly seated.

Best of luck.

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15

If your CPU has the intel GPU (some models don’t), pull out your GPU card to isolate. The sim may run terribly, but you should be able to repro crash or not with or without the nVidia card. You’ll need to plug monitor cable into your motherboard ports for this test.

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16

Hi all, sorry for the 2 month delay in response but I have GOOD NEWS! After you all responded I decided not to waste any money and send my card in for RMA (since it was artifacting). I took about 6 weeks but I got it back and it’s totally fixed! Turns out the RTX 2070 bit the dust in some way or another.

With the new updates I play on mostly ultra and a few high settings and have no problem locking at 30fps, no more CTD. Thank you all for taking the time to give me ideas and talk me out of wasting 3K on a new setup lol.

1 Like
17

I must confess that I haven’t read this entire thread.
I stopped when I arrived at the first post that IMO is the most logical way forward.
That post is by blueline308 It is the fifth one down.

His/her advice could save you a ton of cash.
And yes I agree, that a 650 watt PSU is near, if not on, the limit.

PSU’s are too often treated as an afterthought when considering a system as a whole.
This is flawed thinking!
A good, quality, well and appropriately specced PSU is as important, and as integral [albeit perhaps
not as glamourous] to a given systems performance and long term reliability as the
Mobo, CPU and GPU etc.

So if, or when, you get a new, replacement PSU, future proof yourself:

i. Source one made by a known and respected maker, from a known and respected supplier.

ii Just as a car engine - specced for say 120 mph - is, when doing 30 mph, under far less stress
than when doing 100 mph, make sure your PSU is over specified for the job!
And by specification I mean in terms of Volts and Amps. Just remember this:

Volts x Amps = Watts. And Watts is what it will say on the box!

iii Make sure your PSU has two busses/rails [effectively two PSU’s in the one case.]
As far as I know all modern GPU’s require ,split rail supplies to run reliably [your very problem?.}

iiii And finally do yourself a big favour. Buy a PSU that has non-tethered [plug-in-able] cabling
Such a ‘cleaner’ installation.

You will pay a little more for all this PSU goodness. But what price reliability.
And by way of an example I bought my own [1000 Watt] PSU 4 years ago! It was then, and
remains now, well over specified. But it has delivered countless hours of quiet, reliable,
peace of mind performance. And will, I expect, continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

I hope this rather rambling post proves useful to you. And hey, if not it might help others.
Good luck with your system.

Addendum:

Haha. Even as I posted this post, I saw your own latest post.
Doh!!!
Ah well, maybe someone will profit by it.