Guys, my specs:
Asus ROG STRIX Z690E
Intel i7-12700K
Asus ROG 3080 12GB VRAM
32GB RAM DDR5
4K Monitor
The above runs MSFS2020 the way I want in 4K and I don’t feet the immediate need to upgrade. I am however starting to think that in a few months - not now ! - I may consider moving to MSFS2024 in which case I think my config might be a bit weak, especially in VR. So I would like to start thinking about what potential GPU upgrade would be available to me.
No need to discuss the 5xxx series, they are not available for purchase at a price I would be willing to pay.
I am wondering if it’s worth considering the AMD graphic cards, which are easier to find. For example the 7900 XTX, but I heard that a new card is coming soon (RX 9070 XT I think ?).
However, I heard from someone that AMD cards have drivers problems and they may not work great with MSFS2020.
I have never experienced a problem with drivers on any of the GPUs that I have used, in fact never had a problem of any sort whilst upgrading motherboards 3 times, CPU 4 times and GPU 3 times plus regularly updating BIOS. I often read of issues with Nvidia drivers though.
My grandson has been the recipient of my old AMD equipment and I know that he has also never had an issue.
I have zero issues and there isn’t all this driver fuss I see going on with the Nvidia crowd. (To be fair, their a so many more of them that the pool of possible issues means more commentary, but still…)
I wasn’t suggesting that people selected Nvidia because of driver fuss. I was saying that I see a tremendous number of posts about this driver doesn’t work for me, this driver does work for me, I rolled back to this driver and so on.
I do not see the same thing with AMD users and I haven’t felt the need to worry about driver versions myself.
On my Nvidia-based laptop, yes, I have had to fuss with drivers.
The other issues you feel are subpar on AMD haven’t been any concern for me with 2020 or 2024.
Of course, anyone can have a different experience…
Guys thanks for the feedback. Ok I I take it that drivers aren’t an issue with those AMD cards.
Here’s what I next wonder.
At the moment, I am using the frame generation tweak that allows me to double my frame rate. As a result, I am locking MSFS2020 at 60fps, all settings to max. This is a very comfortable experience.
But, AMD cards cannot use this tweak right ? So at equal processing power, shouldn’t I expect a sharp drop in fps with an AMD card ?
The discussion isn’t if anyone here prefers frame generation over whatever other rendering alternative there are: I am - myself - fine with the results I’m seeing.
So in other words, what I’m wondering is if, by switching to an AMD card, I won’t be robbing myself from quite a bit of the performance boost I’m presently getting on my 3080.
Kinda late, but 6800XT here and no serious issues running either 2020 or 2024. And you have frame generation in AMD cards, fluid motion frames (I personally don’t use it since I’m fine at around 30fps, and have the sims capped at 37fps). However I tried it and liked it a lot (just found no sense in running the sim at 90fps when cruising at FL370).
Personally I’ve never tried DLSS with FG but I’d take raw performance over frame generation every day (this is MY opinion of course, and haven’t testes DLSS since I swapped my 2060 12GB for the 6800XT).
I was going to get a 7900XTX, but haven’t found a reason. In your case, I don’t think the issue is your 3080 raw power, or DLSS+FG, but VRAM.
In my very humble opinion since I’m not a hardware obsessed user, AMD cards offer a better bang for the buck than nvidia. They are cheaper in models with 16GB VRAM or more, and their raw power is pretty good.
Yes, because the trade off in visuals for additional frame rate is very much worth it for me.
However, I wasn’t aware that AMD cards have this Fluid Motion Frames, this is important. I am very unfamiliar with AMD cards. That’s why I posted this thread actually. Do you happen to have a rough idea of the performance boost you get using AFMF ?
Me too, but only if cost was no object. And unfortunately, upgrading an nVidia graphic card involves a looooot of cost now.
And you hit the nail in the head: the price of these nVidia graphic cards have become utterly grotesque, hence why I’m looking at the better value for money that AMD cards appear to be offering. And also perhaps better availability because if cards aren’t available for purchase, there’s no discussion to be had about upgrading.
The 3080 I have has 12GB VRAM and I don’t need more. The rare instances where I’d be full is for example I fly at low altitude over NY or things like that, which I never do. For the flying I’m doing, I am rarely over 9GB VRAM so I’m good. That’s on MSFS2020.
I have not taken the time to do any sort of math nor am I concerned enough to bother do so — I’d rather be flying the sim.
All I’m telling you is that I’m getting more than enough FPS in nearly all scenarios and I run the sim at 4K native with all the graphics on Ultra minus some of the traffic settings since I use BeyondATC.
If you’re shooting for 60 FPS and have a system comprable to mine (7800X3D / RX 7900XTX / 64GB RAM) you should be able to continue to easily maintain that.
Unfortunately I don’t know if my system can be compared to yours (too many things are different), and I also don’t know what you fly, where and how. All this matter. Hence looking at the boost in isolation. But ok, noted that in your case, you have plenty power. It’s good to know.
I agree with what @NixonRedgrave mentioned. I doubt you’ll be out of frames with your system.
However, MSFS really really likes the 3D cache of X3D CPUs. I first upgraded the GPU, later the CPU, and saw what the GPU was capable of after jumping to the 5800X3D, and probably I’ll stay here because upgrading demands replacing everything (mobo, cpu, ram, etc). The jump from 32GB to 64GB RAM didn’t make really that difference, just now I’m easier having 150 tabs on Chrome on the side monitor. The other thing that I noticed is that in photogrammetry cities, with an airliner in approach, those 16GB VRAM are really valuable.
In any case, a high end AMD GPU should be fine for a later CPU upgrade, I don’t think you can go wrong with it (thinking about MSFS 2020/2024 only, other games might really benefit from Nvidia advantage in some areas, like RT or DLSS with FG, which I don’t use because the other games I like run at ridiculously high framerates)
Ok thanks for the comment.
I’ve had a look recently and my observation is that my CPU usage rarely goes above 30%. And I fly mostly the Fenix A320 which is supposed to be demanding. So so far, I haven’t felt compelled to upgrade my CPU.
I think the bigger problem is that I am using intel, my mobo was very expensive and I don’t think I am desperate enough for performance to buy another one at this point.