yeah, i know it’s cheaper building one myself but I’d rather have it done right than go into it not being 100% sure I could do it correctly and mess it up or break something. the other option I was looking at was a CLX custom build through Costco Next, the Costco direct buy program. and this is the option from them.
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They’re not hard to build, especially with all the help you can find and videos . Places like microcenter will also do it for you. Their iBuyPower and powerspec rigs that are pre built seem to use some rather smart combinations at reasonable prices, may want to check some of those out.
What is the target resolution you’re intending to play at?
Problem is, for 2020 we all think we need lots of vram even though the CPU is choked down. 2024 may run great on an 8gb card. Building to run 2020 with the current consensus may not be the path needed. I mean, you’re not going wrong with a 4090, in 2020 still going to stutter when a few origami aircraft or a pile of shipping containers load in …
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If it’s for MSFS, I would skip the 7700X and get a 7800X3D instead. WELL WELL worth it, it’s fantastic in MSFS.
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that’s fine and all, I just plain don’t want to build it myself. same reason I don’t shop at IKEA, it rather have it built correctly and ready to go.
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That’s something I need to take to heart, as I realize it’s somewhat foolish to speculate about FS2024 before I hear the facts.
That’s the real question, isn’t it? Can a pre-built budget PC be “built correctly” for this sim? I suppose the answer is “Yes.” But I wouldn’t do it. I trust myself to do it right, based in part on recommendations from others on this forum.
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I am sure you would put together a wonderful build.
Also, if for any reason one does not have the inclination to do it, there might be the possibility of paying a local shop to do the assembly, or post an ad on craiglist, and have a local kid do that for a fee. It’s not rocket science.
The CostCo option seems like a good idea for your needs.
However, I would wait to see whether the HW requirements for MSFS 2024 are made available by the end of this month before spending cash on a new computer.
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Just following the logical path of development modernizing 2024 for XB architecture to be utilized, we should see a huge boost in performance.
The core being removing the single thread CPU. Currently, no matter what we buy, it will still be constrained to hanging up on getting even rudimentary objects injected. In theory, modernizing this game will make settings count where you can tweak all preference settings to the hardware’s max capability and find a smooth experience. A 5800/30 series card is still plenty powerful. Top hardware just bullys through it better, but those red spikes are still there.
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Yes, in fact I am wondering whether it will give a new life to older gear. The new requirements may help size a build more tightly, saving cash in the process, but we won’t know that for sure until they are made public.
Of the three pre-builts, that’s the best one. But I would immediately sell the GPU for a loss and buy one with 12GB VRAM.
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I’d wait a few days.
One of the big questions will be if it finally unleashes AMD cards. Cards like the 7900 should of been one of the best choices ever considering the parallels to XB, but they’ve never developed software as well as Nvidia, which theirs work well despite bad game code.
All I know is the first few original choices above were frankly awful.
If I were in the market now I’d build for 2024 and endure 2020 for the time being. We just don’t know what the heroes per dollar will be. We have been buying way too much hardware for 2020.
For general gaming computers, it’s budget versus intended native resolution. 4K is the big squeeze.
What’s missing form the single thread is the ability to build a proper bubble around it, especially the great distances(in the game world) that needs to be processed or ready to.
Currently 2020 has never been able to truly ‘purge’ data, essentially it’s always a memory leak. I don’t even think the bandwidth is enough right now to even let what you’ve already passed go away. It can’t even handle jumping into new planes and starting completely new flights.
Multi thread/core should stop all the staging and cpu hits dropping items.
The settings that are there don’t really work, but you can see what the developers want to work. Precashing, LOD. You have your general settings which apply to your hardware levels, such as reflectioions, or texture map sizes, or geometrical detail, etc. If you’re card can’t run ray-traced reflections, or larger texture maps, you turn it off/down and in THEORY you’d get a smooth result. Just like any other game. Except it doesn’t work. Everything visible should be pre-cashed, with the levels of detail or number adjusted to your hardware, and that ready to go bubble just ‘appears’.
I’m sure the developers have had it up to their eyeballs with 2020. Now the ‘lod’ just drops in layer by layer. KMIA ground textures(BURP) shows up, terminal buildings(BURP), static aircraft(BURP), moving aircraft(CHUG CHUG CHUG), gates(CHUG)… And all the ‘stabilizing’ code they’ve used is dropping trees and terrain lod in the bubble where you’re not looking. Good luck flipping around in quick views…Oh wait, HERE’S the world to the left of me slowly drawing itself back in… All chugging through that tiny little pipeline. With real multi-thread bandwidth it should be a new world of fluid as long as you stay within you’re hardware’s limits. All that drop-kicking now affects any and every system no mater how fast. And it’s laughable at how small the items are now that chug it down, there’s just no other way to get it into the sim currently.
Everytime you add something to the current sim, they have to trade or adjust what can funnel through. It SHOULD be a consistent level of demand, throttled only by how far you push your hardware by asking for more or less candy. Little gates 5 miles away or a few injected planes should not make our current systems cry mercy. They’re really not, the SIM is.
It’s a tricky time to build a computer right now. If it’s go-for-broke, spare no expense, sure. I sure as heck wouldn’t upgrade because of 2020 performance yet.
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Also in the market, I’ve only ever used Alienware desktop, current one is 5 years old. I’ll probably go with the Alienware R16, but does anyone have thoughts about the MSI Aegis R2 from Costco? I’m not opposed to switching brands but I’m not a technical expert so a lot of the grainy details are lost on me.
https://www.costco.com/msi-aegis-r2-gaming-desktop---intel-core-i9-processor-14900f---geforce-rtx-4070---windows-11-home.product.4000252786.html
Is this a solid choice for MSFS? This and the R16 are at the top of my budget, but I definitely don’t have the knowledge or skills to build my own.
Thanks for your advice!
The consensus on this forum is to build your own is the preferred option. We can help you select the right components, and you can give them to a local shop for assembly.
If you want to go the Costco route, I just took a quick look at their website, and this seems to me to be the better fit for MSFS, among the products they offer. It will be enough to run the sim at 1080p, probably 1440p, not ideal for 4K due to the graphics card:
Also, given MSFS 2024 is scheduled for a November release, and new CPUs will be available by then, it may make sense to wait a bit to make a purchase.
Thanks for this! My current setup is starting to go downhill but I’ll try to hold out. I’m not sure where to even start with building my own? But I’m willing to look into it, especially if it might save a little money. Where would I begin? Thanks again!
My pleasure.
Start by giving us an idea of your location (in case you are not in the US), your min/max budget and what you are looking to purchase within that budget (full system, monitor, peripherals? at what resolution do you intend to run the sim -1080p, 1440p or 4K).
We will then propose a list of quality parts that you can order online.
I volunteer to do that, others can chime in to help with tuning it.
Then you can look into finding a local place for assembly, or we can share with you youtube howtos. It’s not that difficult.
Meh it’s easy to build them.
Step 1: remove only mobo and power supply from boxes, flash update motherboard.
Step 2: put PC together
In California, SF Bay Area. Don’t really have a minimum, max around $1500 if that’s sufficient for a good system. If it ends up being a couple hundred bucks more for the “right” system that will last several years, that’s fine.
I have a 4k monitor but my current computer can’t seem to handle that (gets very stutter-y), so I’ve doing 1080 (I think). Don’t need any peripherals, so just looking for the main system to replace my Alienware Aurora (circa 2019). What I like about having always bought a pre-built is that everything just “works” fine, I’ve never had to worry about some esoteric components that throw off the games, and Windows 11 has automatic updates, things like that. Is that an issue with what you’re describing? I assume I’ll need to order Windows 11 separately, etc?
I don’t care about looks, so I’m not concerned with having a super slick looking tower. I do care about storage, I’d like a 2TB SSD because I run a few other games in addition to MSFS (Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, etc). So a system that can also run those games at a high level is also necessary. I only use this desktop for gaming.
I’m excited about this, super intrigued. Definitely interested in assembling it myself if it’s not that hard, I think that would be a cool accomplishment. Thanks again, appreciate the generosity!
Regarding Windows, in theory and for most people it is possible to reuse an existing Retail license on a new computer provided the older one is no longer in use. For OEM licenses, it may not be possible, see the below posts for more details.
The installation of Windows is very straightforward, and whoever assembles the PC would have to install some Motherboard & Graphics card related drivers and software.
It’s easy to do.
Here is a suggested list of parts that is intended to fit your requirements and budget. The parts contained in this list would result in a system that is of much higher quality than what Costco offers in the links above. The total price as I am writing these lines is 1625 dollars.
This is a baseline that can easily be customized to address your brand/budget preferences, etc.
Each component was carefully picked with an emphasis on quality and bang for the buck, the main point of discussion being, as always for MSFS, the graphics card.
I picked an AMD card that I know would provide an excellent price performance ratio, with 16GB of VRAM, that would enable you to enjoy the sim at 4K with great visuals. But you may want an Nvidia card for their special features, in which case I would recommend a 4070 Ti Super, or an AMD card with even more VRAM in which case I would recommend a 7900XT 20GB.
Others are welcome to chime in with their recommendations so this parts list baseline can be improved further:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YJswBL
As was previously mentioned, new CPUs, Motherboards and maybe GPUs will be available between now and Xmas. MSFS 2024 is expected to be released in November.
It’s up to you to decide whether you want to take the plunge now, or wait.
The above system is intended to provide a good experience with MSFS 2024 as well, the folks at Microsoft have indicated that current systems should provide a similar or better experience with the next iteration of the simulation.
Edit: corrected the post to reflect the advice given below by @FlyerOneZero re: Windows licences.
Well done @kido007dz - I think your choices are spot on! I do have 2 comments:
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I’d like to see @BegottenPoet228 feedback as I believe he has indicated in the past that the Corsair 4000 series cases are a little tight for airflow and a 5000 series case may work a little better.
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I didn’t search very hard but I couldn’t find above what gpu @PericlesLavi is currently using. I know you were trying to hit a specific budget number however just wanted to make sure the 7900 gre would be a sufficient improvement over what he currently has. I do think that the AMD cards provide the best bang for the buck.
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