I currently run the game on a RTX 3070 with 32 GB of RAM at 3,2 GHz on a 1440p monitor. I have it capped at 35 FPS and can run it fairly well on high graphics settings. I want to run it at approx the same FPS but on even higher graphics settings, ideally Ultra if possible. My motherboard can’t handle DDR5 RAM-sticks or higher than 3,2 GHz. Thinking of upgrading to 64 GB RAM or even higher. To witch degree will additional RAM help?
You will not use more than 32GB RAM, even in VR, unless you’re multitasking some other RAM-hungry apps like Photoshop while you’re flying. 64GB is overkill, unless, like me, you use a RAM drive.
Also, some MOBO’s don’t play nice with 4 RAM sticks. Not that it doesn’t work, but 2 stcks is sometimes better than 4 sticks.
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you need a better GPU and faster CPU, not more RAM.
I’m not saying what you have is “bad” or not good enough. But what you’re trying to do, you need more beef
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This, with the exception of very narrow use cases more RAM is always quickly diminishing returns. 32GB to 64GB you are unlikely to even notice. You did not say exactly what CPU you have but a new MB and CPU would likely be the best starting point for upgrading. After the CPU you may want to look at the GPU depending on your performance.
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As @Skedge7226 says, we need more system details please good sir.
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Thank you all. More specs: Win 10, game on regular HD drive (5400 rpm), i9 10850K 3,6 GHz CPU not overclocked, RAM: 2*16 GB sticks Corsair CL16, MSI Z490 MEG Unify motherboard. I will look into if a CPU/GPU would be the better option for what I’m prepared to pay. I saw somewhere that MSFS was a RAM hungry game, but perhaps 32 GB is enough after all.
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Yes, I think a full upgrade would be better than shelling out on a GPU at this time. The GPU will still be relevant for another year or so, you’ll notice a great benefit from a more recent CPU. As for the hard drive, NVME is the route to take. I’d look at some of the threads on here to help you choose either AMD or Intel, every use case is different.
An easy way to achieve your goal with your current hardware is to set your desired game settings, and then play with Render Scale Resolution and AMD FX sharpening. Try 80/20.
Defnitely drop the game on a SSD first. Your load times will be much better and may even see a general performance increase on your current system. You may not even need a new GPU/CPU.
Yes while this is true, it depends on what kind of flying you’re doing. 2 hour long scenic tours of Manhattan in a black square plane with photogrammetry on will take up lots of ram. Your Object and Terrain LOD as well as your render distances will affect RAM usage as well.
If you’re doing a 2 hour hop in the FBW a320 between two non-PG cities, you will use
THIS. You will see more gains, even in just the loading times.
I have an SSD as well, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB, but it is quite full. Reason I installed on the regular HD was that I had the game on trial via Game Pass before deciding to buying it now that I don’t have Game Pass no more. Took forever to install, but if the upside is big I’ll clear space for it. Is NVME much better - not familiar with the tech?
Leagues better. Mainly because it allows for higher read/write speeds
I would install the game fresh on the 970 to avoid any potential issues. It sucks to have to reinstall everything but assuming your download speed remains relatively consistent it would actually take less time than the spinner (the HDD you have FS currently installed to)
Did a quick check and a NVME drive of reasonable size wasn’t that expensive all things considered. Maybe my chassis can fit another drive - will check with the firm that custom built it for me.
most modern motherboards will support two m.2 slots. I bought a 980 Pro 1TB for just a shy of $100. After i filled up my 970 500gb
As others have said, 32 → 64GB it won’t make any difference.
Re which bit you should upgrade, you should try out your desired Ultra settings and then look at Developer Mode FPS view which will tell you what thread is currently limiting performance.
Post a screenie of what you are seeing. A recent one of mine looks like this, which shows I am GPU limited:
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To turn on Developer Mode:
- In MSFS ‘General Options’ → Experimental → Developer Mode
- When in the plane, Click on ‘Debug’ in the menu at the top.
- Select ‘Display FPS’.
Here’s a screenshot of mine flying over NYC. I’m definitely CPU-limited in these heavy object-laden areas. Note how little RAM is being used.
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Here’s a screenshot of a low stress flight. Big difference when it’s terrain, and not buildings.
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AMD 5800X3D
RTX 3090 Ti
64GB (49GB usable, 15GB used by a RAM drive) DDR4/3600, CAS14, using XMP2
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Ran tests in Developer Mode and will post screenshots tomorrow. One interesting thing I noted was when I turned DLSS Performance Mode off and ran resolution at native 1440p the game seemed to run better than with DLSS on. I ran tests over Barcelona both in clear and rainy weather and got pretty much 50-55 FPS on average which was more than I would have thought after bumping up the graphics settings even more.
Sounds like your GPU was being under worked with DLSS performance, so it is good you are now getting more out of it.
First example: Takeoff loading at El Prat / Barcelona, notice several dips in FPS and generally low FPS.
Second example: Relatively slow speed flight over Chicago, FPS very much up struggling.
Third example: Compared to above, similar kind of plane/speed, but even denser urban area (Barcelona) but better performance.
Fourth example: Same as above but high speed fighter jet and performance is stable/good. It was worse just after takeoff, even before the urban area had loaded.
Fifth exampe: Also over Barcelona in a jet but for some reason much worse than above.
In general, performance seems to drop whenever I pan the camera around or make sharp turns. Tested also in rainy thunderstorm weather over Barcelona but didn’t notice any significant drops compared to clear/sunny weather.
based on these screenshots, your CPU is your biggest limitation right now (in addition to the spinner if you haven’t resolved that yet)
That said, i’ve heard DirectX 11 is “better” than DirectX12 right now
Now “struggling” at 34fps is completely subjective. My question is: Is it smooth or choppy?
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