When getting a new gaming PC for MSFS2020, is 32GB RAM sufficient, or is it worth it to get 64GB RAM?
Since SU5 32 is plenty IMO
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32G is enough and it can be easily extended later.
Important is fast CPU, fast RAM and best get a big Nvme drive. Sure best GPU you can afford. And don’t start skimping on the PSU.
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Yes, 32 Gb is more than enough.
In fact, 16 Gb could be faster still, while 64 Gb could be slower.
Like mentionned above by @SierraHotel2873 the rest of the system is as important.
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I upgraded to 64Gb recently to support unrelated applications I run. I didn’t notice any change at all in the performance of MSFS.
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I would get 32 GB for MSFS unless you have another reason for 64 GB.
I have 64 GB of RAM. Before SU5, I occasionally saw my total RAM usage creep up to 32 GB while using MSFS. However, after the optimizations of SU5, I’ve never seen my RAM usage go beyond 20 GB. Increasing RAM capacity rarely results in increased performance unless you’re truly limited by RAM capacity. If I were you, I’d invest in a solid 32 GB kit with low latency (CL <16) and higher frequency (depending on if your processor can support that). That would be far more impactful to performance.
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Thanks. I’m leaning toward the following rig:
- Latest Gen i7
- RTX 3800 or RTX 3080 TI
- 32GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
The following options are available, but they add significantly to the price:
- i9
- RTX 3090
- 64GB RAM
-2TB SSD
I’m essentially using that exclusively for the sim. If I were to upgrade anywhere, would think getting 3080 Ti over the 3080 would be best choice over the other upgrade options.
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Truly up to you. If you can afford 64gb, go for it!! It will never be a bad thing. I have 32gb and have no real issues (graphics wise) in 4k (w/ a RTX 3080)
And 100% agree on 3080 vs 3080 Ti.
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Nice. Are you 100% Ultra across the board with 100% render scale in 4K with your 3080? What is your processor?
32 is enough though if get 64 gb can set up a ramdisk and use the spare ram to store the rolling cache data as you fly.
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Make sure those drives are NVme
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Thanks - yes, indeed. Will probably wait to see what 12th gen intel and Ampere Supers look like before purchasing anything.
I thought about trying this. Does it work? Do you have to re-create the rolling cache file every time you start the sim.
32gb is more than enough, 64 won’t make any difference even if you run a few programs in the background.
To be honest im not sure it makes much of a difference might depend on your internet connection too. You can store the rolling cache data if you wish but myself I rarely fly the same place over and over so isn’t worth it.
In order of Cost vs Benefits for MSFS I think this would be the priority list.
- CPU (single core performance)
1.1. CPU (cores) - GPU
- SSD
- RAM (frequency and latency)
4.1. RAM (storage space)
While they all improve performance they have diminishing returns.
Interesting with the CPU vs GPU. Right now you can get a gaming laptop with 11980hk that, if well ventilated, seems somewhat close in performance to 11700k or even the 11900k. But even the best Max-P 3080 16 GB mobile is not close to desktop 3080 let alone a 3080 ti.
Plus with laptops you never achieve the cooling to run it as fast as you are able to run an equivalent PC. And MSFS is really power hungry and therefore needs all the cooling you can get.
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The CPU and GPU priority can vary depending on what resolution you use. If at 4K, the GPU is usually the bottleneck and you’ll get little benefit of having a beefed up processor. If running at 1080p or 1440p, the CPU will usually be the bottleneck.
I would also prioritize RAM latency and frequency over SSD any day. Most average SSDs will have no issues running MSFS. Aside from faster loading times, the performance difference between average and high-quality SSDs is pretty negligible.