New PC with 9800x3d, thats for sure
I want to see what the 9950X3D brings/costs, love that I can just plop them in my AM5 motherboard
I’d love to know the total cost of PC hardware and peripherals bought world-wide since 2020 solely because of MSFS.
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The last time I bought a pre-built was a DELL system maybe 15 years ago. I didn’t play PC games back then. I just used it for other general PC “stuff.” I think it had a first gen Intel “Core” CPU, I think an i5-650. I think I still have the CPU around here on a shelf. That system was made up of proprietary DELL components, so nothing was really standard… Motherboard, PSU, case…
When I thought I wanted to start gaming, I bought a used i7-870. Two more cores! (LOL). My first GPU was a used nVidia GTX 960 with 2GB of VRAM. I actually did play a few games on that system.
Since then, I’ve built two complete systems. i7-10700, 32GB, GTX 1080 was the first system on which I first played MSFS2020. After a couple years, I built system #2 which was i5-13600K, 32GB, RX 6800XT (since changed to RTX 3090).
I think I’ll be staying here for at least another PC generation. No plans to move to latest AMD or Intel processors and no plans for a 5000-series GPU. Prices have just gotten crazy, and the cost/benefit ratio isn’t worth it to me. I actually prefer an N-1 strategy.
Built 2 in the last 2-1/2 years, both for research into low vision solutions:
#1 - 12400, 128gb kingston 3600 ddr4 ram, corsair HX1000 ps, deep rock 4 cooler, 6 140mm be quiet case fans, fractal design define r5 case, 2 x bluray burners, 8 x 4tb WD NAS drives, 2 x gforce 1050ti (needed 6 x video outputs and they were all that were available during the chip crisis), asus mb; currently runs linux.
#2 - 12700k, 128 gb kingston 3600 ddr4 ram, corsair HX1000i ps, corsair a115 cooler, 5x corsair 14mm case fans, 1x 120mm case fan (140mm couldn’t clear a115), 5 x 4tb drives, 1 x kingston 2tb 3000 nvme (7000/7000), gigabyte mb, etc.
Displays: 4 x samsung 50" 4096x2160, 2 x lg 65" 4096x2160, all running at 4096x2160
Accessories: 2 wifi keyboard/mouse combos, 1 bluetooth mouse & keyboard, 24 port network switch, 2 x yokes, 3 x quadrants, 2 x hotas, 2 x ruder pedals, 4 x game controllers, 4 x cougar mfds, 2 x wireless headsets, 2 x 10" tablets with bluetooth mice/keyboards, lots of led daylight lighting, a dozen security cameras, a couple of kvm switches, gigabit fiber internet, etc.
Was totally dissatisfied with the useless offer of a craptop to help with low vision (had already tried screen magnifiers on an old laptop, ended tossing it as a useless distraction) and decided to build the absolute best low vision computing setup in the world. Mission accomplished!
The sim was just an idea to show that people with low vision can also have fun - with a big enough set of screens, even someone who’s legally blind can go sight-seeing (and work like a normal human being, coding, running blender, doing graphics, etc.
To publicize it, I’ve bought a ton of airports in the marketplace, and I’ll be doing a sort of “world tour”, making 5 minute videos going from airport to airport, etc. (kind of hard running OBD on a craptop along with the sim using a screen magnifier). Just to show people that if they know someone who’s low vision, there are better solutions than a craptop and a screen magnifier.
Edit: pc2 graphics is 2 x arc 770le in master/slave mode, 32gb total vram
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My very first PC was a pre-built with 14" crt. Quite some time ago. That’s the one and only time I never built my PC’s. It’s clear that self build gives you what you want and is usually cheaper. If you have the required skills and time it’s a no brainer. Heard some bad stories of issues with pre built systems from supposed pro’s who should know better .
Built my gaming PC primarily for MSFS and simracing.
- AMD 5800x3D
- NVIDIA RTX 4080
- 32GB DDR4
- 3 x 27" 1440p 155Hz Monitors
- 1 x 24" 1080p 60Hz monitor (upper monitor)
Simrig
Racing
- Rig TREQ One with Triple Monitor Stand
- Seat LCD-Pro Drift
- Wheelbase Simucube 2 Pro
- Wheel GSI Formula Pro Elite
- Pedals VRS DirectForce Pro
- Monitors 3 x AOC Q27G2e 1440p 155Hz & 1 x Dell 24" 1080p (Upper monitor)
- Cam Logitech Brio 4K
- Buttonbox Elgato Stream Deck Mk. 2 & Stream Deck XL
- Headset Linsoul KZ ZSX In Ear Monitor
- Microphone Devine M-Mic XLR BK Condensator
- DAP Behringer UMC22
- Arm Røde PSA1+
Flying
- Flightstick VKB NXT EVO Space Gladiator Premium
- Throttle STECS Mini Plus
Older pictures without the new flying hardware.
Will upgrade to AM5 platform with 9800x3D, NVIDIA RTX 5XXX series and DDR5 RAM once available.
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Same boat.
If the 5090 can produce 50% better performance, im in. And if the Ryzen dual chiplet design is bridged with no latency and V-cache on both, im in too.
If that all fails, i might buy the 9800x3d in January when things have calmed down. a 15% uplift in MSFS and in VR is a tasty prospect, because then i can run 45 or 60fps solid, with very high settings.
Thats the thing with VR. We have to hit either 45/60/72 for acceptable gameplay. Anything inbetween is a “no-go”.
Ive come to understand why most stutters happen. And its simply frame-timings. Those pesky 0.1% and 1% lows produce horrible frame pacing. So the new x3d chips having much better performance in the %lows is really underrated.
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Built the original PC for FS2020. It has been upgraded multiple times since. This PC is only used for flight simming. I upgraded the memory, the CPU, the hard drives and the GPU so all that is really left from the original PC is the motherboard and the power supply. I am ready for FS2024 but still on the low end of what is required. I do not anticipate anymore upgrades. FWIW
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That is gorgeous.
I need to work on bettering my Streamdeck mounts (XL and Plus.)
I use these mounts with RAM Mounts:
Streamdeck Mk2: KGL Stream Deck Mk2 behuizing
Streamdeck XL: KGL Magnetische Stream Deck XL montagebeugel
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I have built several and am constantly swapping components around. I’ve played the sim on the following variations of hardware:
Xeon E5-1620v2, GTX770 4GB, 16 GB DDR3
Ryzen 3 3100, GTX970, 16 GB DDR4
i5-3570K, GTX1660, 16GB DDR3
i7-3770, RX5700, 16GB DDR3
Ryzen 5 3600X, RX5700, 16GB DDR4
Ryzen 7 5700X3d, RX5700, 32GB DDR4 <— current build
All of which I built myself. In the above, I swapped various hard drives, power supplies, networking devices, etc. Not even close to being done, but I might just buy a decent monitor next.
Built mine from the ground up especially for msfs and decommissioned my old PC.
Since doing so, I have upgraded my CPU twice, upgraded mmy GPU and added two Nvme drives to my 2 SSDs.
I’ve also upgraded from a 1k monitor to a 32 inch curved 2k monitor, added a further 16k of RAM and replaced a PSU that failed on me.
How a 5800x3d with anRTX3080 will run msfs2024 is yet to be seen, though will probably upgrade to a GPU with more VRAM and native FRG in the near future.
New computer, built 3 months ago. AMD7800x3d, Asus 4070 supper, samsung 990 pro m.2 ssd. GIGABYTE X670E AORUS PRO X motherboard.
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I built my pc last year from the ground up. I9 13900k, msi 4090, all solid state drives, 64 gig of ram, three 27 inch monitors.
Upgrade to 9800x3D will arrive today. 
Combined with ASUS ROG STRIX 650E-F Gaming Motherboard and G-Skill Trident 32GB 6000Mhz CL30 memory.
Will be using it with the RTX 4080 until NVIDIA 5090 launches.
Been building all my rigs since 486 times. For MSFS I started with a mostly new setup which has evolved considerably since 2020.
Currently RTX4090 with AMD 7900X3D and 64GB Ram
Edit:
7950X3D (thanks @DiabolicalBroom )
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Some 4 years ago I purchased a Lenovo Ideapad ( laptop) but that was not with MSFS in mind.
With most settings put on low/average it was somewhat doable but after a while it’s performance began to irritate.
So, I decided to empty my wallet invested €2600 and ordered a bunch of parts.
.Bare midi tower without the RGB hussle ( not interested in RGB)
.Z790+Wifi motherboard
.i5 13600k
.32 GB DDR5 RAM ( 2x16)
.RTX 4070ti
.1000Watt platinum power unit
.32" Liama 4k monitor
The case came with 4 pretty big low/rpm fans and to date I don’t feel the need to move to liquid cooling.
Actually, it’s very quiet.
I also have an older 23" tv/monitor attached for other FS related apps ( simbrief, discord, little navmap etc.
To me, there’ll be no hurry to upgrade ( unless something goes 7700 earlier then documented as normal)
Happy 
I first played MSFS on a PC I had built some years before, but the stress of playing MSFS at the highest settings it could cope with seemed to break something as the machine became unstable and would randomly completely trash the C drive. I think my cooling arrangements were inadequate. I then bought a PC from Overclockers that was specified for MSFS, used largely stock but I did add a couple of drives. The machine came with a mild overclock but that’s reset in the interests of stability and longevity.
For MSFS2024 I’m contemplating swapping out the 3080 for a 4080 Super, and I have considered upgrading RAM 32GB to 64GB but I’ll see how it runs first.
In 2020 I allocated $1,400 for a gaming PC.
That bought me a 5600X / 3080 / 64GB.
Since then needed to upgrade PSU from 650W to 750W.
Overall pretty satisfied with performance.
Hopefully the 6 cores will suffice for fs2024. 