I currently have a 7800X and was thinking of moving to a 7800X3D. But with 2024 being multi-threaded I wasn’t sure if that would still be the best option for the future.
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We don’t know anything for sure about how the performance profile will change in MSFS 2024, except that something somehow in some way will make better use of multiple cores. In particular, we don’t know whether the common situation of being limited on the main thread in airliners at large airports will be lifted.
A Ryzen 7800X3D, which is an 8-core/16-thread processor with a large cache, will work fantastically on both editions.
Hmmm, do not use AMD anything. But some comparisons can be made, I think.
Laptop-old-Intel I-7-9550 CPU, with RTX-2070 GPU, it runs sim fine with medium graphics settings. Used powered hub to power all flight controls, no issues. Heat in GPU was in low 80’s but ASUS said designed for those temps. Fans started to make noise, changed them, and second HDD went south, replaced under customer appreciation from vendor.
New PC - Intel I-9-13900K and RTX-4090 - all settings on Ultra, no heat issues, no dropouts either. Sim seems to run fine on it too, guess I see high 50’s for CPU/GPU temps in game. Comparison in X-Plane see a few degrees less in heat, but I have NOT optimized that sim for my hardware. I let it make what setting choices it needs and have not tweaked them.
Some testers have noted, Intel is more adapt at gaming, than AMD. I cannot speak to that. BUT, if it was me, I would not buy anything now until the specs for 2024 are published AND, someone who really knows what they are doing, can test those specs and make sure they are valid. One such person - Michael Brown, XForcePC - YouTube - does testing all the time, mostly x-plane but some MSFS, there are others and lots of “flight simmers” on YT will no doubt test 2024 ad-nauseum to verify what you will need or want.
Me-aint going to worry about it, either my present hardware will work it or not. I am not going to buy it until I know it’s been fixed and is better than 2020 is now.
FWIW-This game/FSX and X-Plane have necessitated that I get good quality hardware to fly with. Over the past three years, I have spent 3400 old laptop in early 2020, Virpil VFX Joystick and controller 500, Virpil TM-3 Throttle Unit, and associated hardware to desk mount, 600. Then it was the Monster Tech Flight Chair, and tables/brackets/mounts so I can use what I have now on it, 1600. Then needed Virpil ACE Rudder Peddles and that was 500 with shipping etc. Then laptop started to be weak in sim, so new Desktop at 3500 for that. And purchased for 4 months Honeycomb Throttle Quadrant/sold did not like/too big for desk/cumbersome to me and did not like that those take over various mouse actions which cannot be undone. So well over 10,000 in the last few years. So at my age, and level of enjoyment, done chasing the hardware horse.
But all in all, wait, let some testing results come out, let some required minimum specs be published, then you can get on the horse.
That’s expensively impressive.
However the game can be run with a simple XBOX controller, or so I’ve heard. A new gamer might be a bit frightened if they read your post first!
No doubt, I’d at least be maxed out on MSFS 2020 for my motherboard. Which was top of the line 1.5 yers ago. 
You’d be shocked as the recent gains they’ve made. The 5800X3D is one of the best gaming CPUs on the market and it’s solely because no other CPU has an L3 cache as big as that chip does. I have not done much research on the new chips from AMD but i heard they are giving Intel a run for their money and becoming a completely viable option for gaming. This isn’t 30 years ago where we’re finding out that Intel won the CPU race and the only people who actually produced a decent product. That said, both companies now rely on each other to create products. I believe one of them figured out smaller architecture (i think it was the 7nm) and shared it with their competitor, either as an act of capitalist cooperation or they were having issues their competitors could probably figure out.
OP, whatever chip you go with, keep in mind a high base clock per core. You could have 10000 cores but if they all run at 1.6ghz and the game only uses 2-3 of them you’re gonna have a bad time. '24 probably won’t have as much an issue with multicore but for '20 you want something with a high single core clock speed.
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I’d wait. We don’t know what will it be. Current engine kills anything when ultra and TLOD/OLOD maxed out. You have a top of the line processor, which only lacks the 3D cache of X3D variants. That processor should run anything else fine and usually would be a CPU good for at least a couple of years. I’d stick with it until MSFS 2024 is released and we have an idea of what it needs.
In other words, it’s futurology. Rumors are that MSFS 2024 engine will run multicore and not single core, but… imagine it still behaves like today (maxing out anything), then it will need an Epyc CPU with a zillion cores and threads and we’ll all be looking at servers (same as today it needs the best possible performance out of a single core).
In the meantime you’ll gain AM5 platform maturity.
Sometime next year we should be seeing some interesting benchmarks!
I probably won’t be jumping to a new MB for myself next year. I need to do a build for my son and that will be an AM5 or 13th/14th Gen Intel.
Knowing I little bit of what’s going on with Intel 13th 14th, do you think we can get a better choice in regards picking up a cpu that can benefit from the 2020, 2024 sim?
Up to this date, I’m looking for answers, (July 2024)
I have two PCs one with an i9-13900K and the other with an i9-14900KF. I got an RMA for both and then set the upper and lower power package limit to 253 and haven’t had a single crash since. I’m running MSFS fully maxed out and sometimes my sessions last for hours on end.
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The 7800x3d is still the best processor for MSFS 2020 and the 9800x3d most likely will be at/near the top for the sim when it comes out this fall.
Can’t verify, but I’ve heard the 9800X3D will have exactly the same V-cache profile as the 7800X3D. The main advantage to the 9000-series will be much more robust overclocking.
there’s currently a lot of confusion about this subject
as others have noted, don’t put your money on some heaven sent magical multi threading for 2024
At the time of writing, the current information is that 2024 will bring improvements in thread load distribution for sure, but just that, improvements. The extent of those is yet to be seen. Besides, whatever improvements there will be, it is possible that the now free capacity will be taken over by new workload brought upon by new features, so we may very well end up back where we started.
The notion that 2020 is single threaded is a mistaken one. It is not single threaded. EDIT* What it is, is a code not written to fully utilize all available cores, and one of those threads, aka, the main thread, is excessively overworked and is a serious bottleneck. This situation needs to be improved. And in 2024 it will be.
Regarding the x3d chip. I’m pretty sure it will deliver the same proportional improvement over a non-x3d chip wether you use 2020 or 2024.
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FS2020 like all games is linear process.
They require a single main thread to process the linear application.
If you are sitting on a runway and pull the throttle to max, the plane does not just lift off and start climbing.
That’s a game.
The main thread must be sure the RPM is up, brakes are off, scenery is being displayed, and the rolling speed is sufficient for rotation and then it can liftoff.
This is a simulation.
You can throw all the multi-threading that you want at it.
That Cessna 172 will still go down the runway and liftoff the same.
Hopefully, like a RL C172.
They have to go to multi-threading to shoehorn all these new features into xbox. XB is single thread bound just like a PC, and 2020 completely under-utilizes it just like PC. It forced them to stop and rework the engine. If it were PC only, they’d just up the specs required and tell you to buy more computer. Just cleaning up the PG process completely changed the way the game looks now, more FPS and recognizable buildings 15 miles away, CPU still at 24%.
Most PC-only games don’t get truly optimized. On consoles they have to be to keep selling games-which is why the console is typically better after 5 years than where it started. There’s no magic to it, developers can’t just be lazy and demand everyone gets a Cray. Unique time for MSFS where they needed to stop and modernize the entire package. The new game is going to ‘fly’ on PC, especially for those that bought 4080/7900xtx and above to try to beat 2020 into submission in spite of itself.
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Yes, so MS/Asobo is inferring the sim will be using more threads (up to most likely some type of limit) and will provide a better sim experience.
Yes, this may very well be the case however the bottom line is that the work is still going to be spread across more cores.
Not sure which cpu you have but on my 7900x3d the task manager looks like the pic below while running the sim… and no other app/3rd party add-on. So the sim is obviously using more than 4 cores (at least on AMD x3d processors) however I think we all agree the main thread (1st thread below) is not optimized and therefore creates a bottleneck.
5700
huh.. thats interesting, that doesnt match my testing at all, i wonder whats going on here, maybe some layer of virtual thread load distribution or something.
i will edit my post to avoid spreading misinformation
anyway…, the issue of untapped cpu capacity remains, i think we all hit our mainthread limit and watch our general cpu usage not reaching the higher levels we would like to see
Here is a pic of my previous AM4 based cpu - 5900x. Same thing with the mainthread on cpu thread 13:
Found this interesting video.
I would have sworn I wouldn’t upgrade my AMD 3900x to anything but a new 5950X which can use same motherboard and RAM etc, but the 7800 X3D really looks pretty superior..
Who wants to use money on a holiday in a fancy country anyway 
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They shouldn’t test with clouds enabled. I stopped watching when I saw that.
In the case of MSFS there isn’t a significant difference between Ryzen 7 8700X3D and the i9-13900K. After correctly configuring the BIOS there’s no notable difference in average FPS - this is based on my experience with the i9 13900K and a MSI Z790 Tomahawk WIFI motherboard and MSI X670E Tomahawk WIFI with Ryzen 7 8700x3D. The difference only becomes apparent if you throttle the Intel processor power in the BIOS settings. Overall, the Intel CPU might have an edge but unfortunately Intel 13th and 14th generation CPUs are not currently recommended. Therefore, the Ryzen 7 8700X3D is a good choice for playing MSFS and is considerably more affordable compared to the i9-13900K or i9-14900K.