Currently on Xbox (Series X) and although I’m mostly satisfied, my curiosity about a gaming PC is getting the better of me. Please bear in mind that I’m far from a computer whizz and chose the Xbox due to its non-confusing plug ‘n’ play nature — so I’m a real beginner at this!
I guess the most expensive parts are the GPU and CPU (in that order?). I’m looking at an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or XTX, which seems to be the equivalent of the GeForce RTX 4090? It’s significantly less but I’m assuming that’s simply due to the brand power NVIDIA has?
CPU-wise, 7950X or X3D seems to be the Intel Core i9 13900K equivalent?
Would this be a good setup? Is the Intel/NVIDIA combo worth the extra in any way? Is it overkill, perhaps?
Now, let’s say I’ve just bought the above GPU/CPU — or whatever GPU-CPU you guys recommend — what else do I need, apart from 32gb memory? I have a 4K TV, which I’ve been using MSFS on Xbox with, and would like to be able to continue using it if possible (rather than forking out for a monitor).
Please remember, this is all new to me, so layman’s terms appreciated. Thanks.
You’re going to get recommendations from many depending on what they use, Intel or AMD or Nvidia.
I have an Intel i5-13600K and ASUS Z790 AORUS Elite AX motherboard with DDR5 7200 memory.
Intel A770 LE 16 GB GPU.
I also have a 4k 65 inch TV, 60 Hz that I use for FS2020.
I’m very pleased.
Probably 80% or more of the people here on this Forum are
Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU users, I guess. idk
I have an “old” AMD GPU (5800X) with RX 6950XT (similar performance to RX7900XT)…and i get around 55FPS all 4K in ULTRA, TAA with 737NG PMDG.
If you go with AMD 7800X3D (best gaming CPU today!) and RX 7900XT / RX 7900XTX you will get +60FPS ULTRA, 4K, TAA.
WIth RAM…recently i change 3600MHZ CL18 32GB for a new 3600MHZ CL14 16GB…MSFS needs around 6GB RAM, but the important thing is timing! CL18 vrs CL14 my system improve around +5FPS, and now my CPU 5800X use with MSFS is increasing around 5%.
Thanks. Forgot about the motherboard! I did actually build a gaming PC in the early 2000s. Well… I chose the components and the shop built it!
How important is the motherboard? Do I need top-of-the-range? How much are we talking for a decent one?
My budget is whatever it takes but I do want value-for-money. I won’t pay £500 more for just a 2fps increase, for example — any ‘additional’ cost must be justified by performance.
I will at least wait for FS2024 before deciding whether to cross from Xbox to PC. The tech we’re currently discussing, therefore, may have been superceded by then!
(Literally) just off the top of my head (could have missed a few things) you will need:
a suitable PC case
an operating system e.g. windows 10 or 11
an intel or AMD compatible motherboard depending on your CPU
cooling fans in the PC case to move hot air
a CPU cooling fan or water cooler
thermal paste
Storage e.g. SSD or hard disk drives
cables to attach components (e.g. SSDs) to the motherboard or power supply unit
an adequate power supply unit
a wifi dongle unless wifi is built into the motherboard
And as you have said a CPU, GPU and compatible memory modules
could be other things i’ve missed?
It can be a bit of a minefield to be honest if you are new to PCs and components since all the components need to be compatible. For example you cannot use an Intel motherboard with an AMD CPU and vice versa and if you decide to go for an AMD CPU the latest AMD motherboards won’t work with the previous generation AMD CPUs nor will the memory modules.
Bottom line really is that if you want to build the PC from scratch you will have to do a lot of reading/research to get yourself up to speed otherwise you will make a lot of mistakes which will be costly. Sites like PCPartPicker can help but they are no substitute for detailed research.
If this is your first PC then maybe consider looking at companies which build PCs for you for example (not a recommendation) cyberpowersystem.co.uk, cclonline.com or similar. You will pay a premium for getting a PC built for you but if you are new to PCs it may well be your better option.
Which ever approach you take you need to decide what your PC requirements are, establish your budget and then keep to it.
They can be equivalent to the 4080 in some aspects, but not to the 4090 at all. The 4080 has faster core clocks for instance while AMD has more VRAM and it’s a 384 bits one. Anyway core clocks depend a bit of the brand, as some come with a factory OC. However AMD has lower power consumption than Nvidia and it’s normally cheaper. On the other hand Nvidia has frame generation and AMD not. But as resolution is increased AMD starts to show its weakness. For 4K even a 3090 can behave better than AMD in some games. Prices have a reason at the end but anyway AMD can be still a good option in many cases.
The real basics of what component parts you will need would be…
Motherboard
CPU - fits directly to the mother board
CPU cooler fits on top of the CPU but is effectively attached to the motherboard.
Memory - fits directly to the mother board
Graphics card - fits directly to the mother board
SSD - fits directly to the mother board or via a cable to depending on type.
Power supply - fits inside the case and connected to the motherboard
Case - obviously everything above goes inside the case.
The CPU you choose will dictate which motherboards you can use, I.e. the “socket” into which the CPU attaches to the motherboard need to be the same type.
Memory needs to be compatible with the motherboard.
Whether you go Nvidia or AMD for graphics will be largely irrelevant with regards to compatibility with the motherboard.
The power supply needs to be sufficient to meet the power demands of all the hardware above. I generally prefer to go for a higher wattage PSU so it’s never going to run that close to the limits of its capacity and/or to allow for future upgrades.
Worth choosing a good case with plenty of room and designed well to allow flexibility in your build. Choose a good case and it may serve you well for many years and allow you to reuse it for future upgrades.
I would suggest looking at a few pre-built systems designed specifically for flight sims to see what component parts they have used. Be aware though some pre-built systems may have been compromised in some respects to hit a price target, e.g. speed/capacity of memory modules, hard drive capacity etc.
Given you are not looking to switch just yet I would now take the time to do the research and start building up the knowledge of what is currently available and understand what is compatible with what.
For example, determine if you prefer AMD or Intel for the CPU. Once you know that AMD what socket the CPU uses you can start checking out suitable motherboards. Check out reviews for recommendations of which motherboards are good or bad.
I would say you do not need a high end motherboard, but if you were looking to overclock the system you may benefit from spending a bit more for one that has been designed with overclocking in mind.
PC hardware changes regularly so by the time MSFS 2024 is available it is likely PC hardware will have moved to the next generation or will not be far off.
Other expenses you ought to consider would also be mouse and keyboard, plus hardware controllers for flying. Obviously you may have some for the Xbox that may or may not be PC compatible. Equally, the choices for PC flight controllers is wider so you may at least want to consider additional investment in this respect.
The advantage of using a 4K TV is that you can use the TV’s inbuilt motion smoothing to give you a poor man’s frame generation. I am currently doing this with my gaming laptop I am using temporarily while my main system gets fixed that only has a 3060 in it. I have adjusted setting to give 30 FPS locked and use the TV’s motion smoothing to bump it up to 60 and I must say it looks pretty good.
As I mentioned, I don’t really have a budget but, having had a look around online, here’s what I’d like to spend on each primary component:
GPU £700-900
CPU £300-400
Motherboard £200-300
I’m assuming everything else — memory included — is far cheaper?
Can I get a decent system for my theoretical budget? I’m prepared to go higher but there would have to be very noticeable differences in the way the sim runs.
With 3 4K displays you will be GPU limited. Direct as much as possible of your budget towards the GPU. This will probably mean:
cheaper CPU (5800x3D?) - but your upgrade patch to newer AM5 CPUs will be blocked
smaller disk - 1 TB NVMe for sim files, reused drives from your old PC for all else
cheaper mobo (midrange or even lowrange if you don’t foresee any OC, which requires knowledge and is not as spectacular with modern CPUs as it used to be)
no watercooler (really not needed for Ryzen CPUs)
chaper fans = more noise (can be reused from your old PC)
case wihtout bells and whistles, just big enough to accomodate 4090 or similar in the future (can be reused from your old PC)
power supply - 800W should be enough for Ryzen CPU and any GPU except 4090, for 4090 and Intel CPU you may consider 1000W (you can consider reusing from you old PC, if strong enough),
lower frequency RAM, just meeting the CPU requirements (2*16 GB)
If the slightly cheaper stuff is going to run the sim smoothly at max. settings, I’m happy. I only plan on using the PC for MSFS and downloading/storing photos, so a small hard-drive is ideal. I do, however, want it to be future-proof, with provision to upgrade.
Will I get a premium setup for the budget I’ve outlined above? I’m not overly concerned with having the absolute best/top-of-the-range but I do want pretty close to.
It all depends on your needs: If you’re trying to build a system that runs MSFS smooth without too much, you won’t need to spend more than $200 on a modern system board. It’ll have latest RAM and CPU compatibility, likely PCIe 4.0 support (which is useful for high end graphics cards and nvme storage and deals with how effective your CPU can talk with it’s components and South Bridge…high level explanation).
Do you plan on having a wired or wireless connection? I’d recommend a wireless connection as the game does better when packets aren’t as risk of being dropped getting beamed from the route to your computer.
How many expansion cards do you intend to have? Obviously your GPU but will you need a USB controller for all your future bells and whistles? How about a fancy sound card or capture card? Ensuring you have enough slots might be something worth keeping in mind while you shop.
Form Factor: Not all motherboards are created equally. Do you need a full size ATX board? Do you think you can get away with a Mini-ATX board? Are you trying to dabble with ITX boards? Researching the use cases for these will help you determine what motherboard you want/need (as well as what case you can buy; you cannot buy a micro ATX case and expect to fit a full size ITX board in it).
Here’s some other things i thought of not specific to motherboards:
Storage is disgustingly cheap right now. 1TB 980 Pro NVME m.2 is about $60-70 (american). Most modern motherboards can support up to 2 NVME m.2 storage drives. 2.5" SSD is also really cheap lately so go ham on storage. MSFS takes up a minimum of 150gb without world updates.
RAM: MSFS uses ~16gb of memory under most circumstances. Higher quality airports, airplanes, Live AI traffic, running browser with tabs, additional flight apps (volanta, vpilot, etc) will cost additional resources. Go for 32gb off the bat
Don’t bother with a big screen TV like you might find on the shelf at Walmart. They often have horrible refresh rates and just makes your system work harder than it needs to (cause performance issues). If you need a big hi-def monitor, grab yourself a 4K 34" curved. Sure they’re $800 but are you really saving money by spending the same amount of money on a device that’s not initially intended to be used as a PC monitor? Bonus: Grab TrackIR for extra immersion. Alternatively, go with 24s or 27s for your multi monitor needs, the smaller the bezel, the better it’ll look.
Personally, i go with the last gen stuff when i upgrade my computer. They’re not wildly out of date that i can’t play new games as they’re released but they’re not wholly unaffordable either. Couldn’t tell you what my machine costs based on the parts i have in since some parts i haven’t changed in 5 years and others have gotten something new every 2-3 years. I’ve replaced the CPU twice (now using 5800X) replaced the GPU at least twice (now using 3060ti) and changed out my memory out once or twice when they went bad for whatever reason. My system def runs a bit warm even with my chonky heatsink and pull/push fan setup. Don’t get me confused with used parts, i will never touch a used PC part (except for my GPU which i unfortunately paid retail and i still had to go buy the 12-pin adapter since it was a Founders Edition Nvidia (not that that alone justified paying MSRP)
TLDR: You want a fast af CPU, a powerful GPU but not so powerful it has to wait for your CPU to send data, lots of hard drive space, minimum 32gb of memory, 750-850 Watts (Modular + Platinum efficiency). Everything else is just user preference.
Final note: Please keep in mind it’s not a joke when MSFS is referenced as the Great Equalizer. It is the modern day Crysis. Just because you might spend $3000 on a PC doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed $3000 performance from MSFS; there are simply too many moving parts to achieve 120fps @ 4k on a big screen (40"+). Just don’t want your expectations set too high just because you bought high end everything (if you choose to do so)
Thanks. My 4K TV cannot do more than 60fps, but the Xbox version of the sim is currently locked at 24fps and runs surprisingly well. If I can get 40-50fps, with complex aircraft and scenery, I’ll be extremely happy. I’d basically be happy with Xbox Series X performance without the CTDs caused by that system’s insufficient VRAM — anything better would be a bonus!
To be fair to the Xbox, its GPU is equivalent to something between a 3070 and 4080, so it’s certainly no slouch moving frames around with fluidity. It’s just that memory limitation that causes console users so much frustration.
To put my needs in perspective, I’d like to run IniBuilds’ KJFK with minimum stutters. I know this is no easy task, even for a 4090, but some are having success with KJFK using higher-end (though not the very top) GPUs. I just don’t want to fall foul of the ambiguity of variables, which is why I love the sim on Xbox so much — plug it in… and it just runs, with no fuss!
As I said, I doubt I’ll upgrade till after the release of FS2024 — and if the new sim can largely negate the Xbox VRAM issue, I shan’t upgrade at all — however I feel it’d prudent to begin my research now. From what I’m reading here, a GPU like the 4090 isn’t always the best choice as there aren’t many CPUs that can keep up?
Is the AMD stuff really inferior or is it, as I suspect, marketing hype that pushes the cost of NVIDIA up?
Yes, that’s how you do it. With my main system (5800X3D & 4090) I have a 75" and a 40" TV connected via HDMI plus a HP Reverb G2 connected via display port.
completely subjective imo. I am running a 5800X and it runs the game just fine. It only runs warm because i have an old heatsink and ought to replace the thermal paste (now that i’ve since learned the “proper” way to apply it). It probably doesn’t help i’m running 140% object detail and 120% terrain detail (DX11 TAA), along with streaming whatever is on Sling at the moment. Lately the AMD stuff is able to go toe to toe with intel and even beat intel in some cases. afaik, Intel does not carry anything with a 96mb L3 Cache and this is piece can make a difference as the L3 cache is basically a slush of data the CPU holds onto before it pipes into the L2 and L1 cache respectively. The more “slush” you can have, the easier time your CPU has looking for, storing, calling and processing the data as it’s requested by MSFS. This alone, however should not be a deciding factor in your AMD vs Intel decision. Intel, historically speaking, has outperformed AMD. HOWEVER, recent history has shown us that AMD develops the tech and Intel just refines it. Is it one hand washing the other or is there any real competition among chip makers anymore? (rhetorical)
BlockquoteTo put my needs in perspective, I’d like to run IniBuilds’ KJFK with minimum stutters. I know this is no easy task, even for a 4090, but some are having success with KJFK using higher-end (though not the very top) GPUs. I just don’t want to fall foul of the ambiguity of variables, which is why I love the sim on Xbox so much — plug it in… and it just runs, with no fuss!
To be as brief as possible, inibuilds KJFK isn’t a good performer, although, if you can get your rig running decently there, you’ll be good anywhere. Maybe that’s why you mentioned it.
So…right to the point…if building SOLELY for MSFS, then AMD 7800X3D + 4090 allday. Period.
If building for games OTHER THAN MSFS, then the choice is yours. Intel 13600K/KF or 13700 are fine choices, or AMD 7800X3D.
If 4090 puts you out of budget, then 4080 is certainly fine for your stated use.
Thanks. The 4090 wouldn’t exceed my budget but of course I’d rather pay less. If it’s going to get me much noticeably better performance than the AMD equivalent, I’m game; but if the difference is only going to be very subtle, I’d obviously rather spend less.
This PC would pretty much be solely for MSFS. The only other thing I’d use it for is editing and storing photos.
Future-proofing is essential — I’d like to be able to upgrade to the next generation of hardware with minimum fuss.