Hello,
Just taking a look at some of the RTX 3090 range of GPU’s - Apart from wincing at the prices of these cards even though they are cheaper now - still cringing - 
Asus have the TUFF range of the RTX 3090 - And this has 2 x 8 pin power connectors where as the Asus Strix ROG has 3 x 8 pin power connectors.
Are the 2 x 8 pins enough from a technical point of view to power the GPU for MSFS?
The strix cards have a higher power draw out the box and will boost higher, they also allow you to add 14% more power (i think), so you can make then pull 450w under load which will gain a fair boost in performance.
They are both very capable cards, just the strix is “better”. I had a strix, had to RMA it due to buzzing issue on the shroud they still have not sorted, so tread carefully.
What CPU are you pairing this with?
Hi,
The CPU would either be an Intel 10th Gen 10900 K / 10850 K or AMD 5900 X or 5950 X - Either would do.
I understand you mentioning to tread carefully with GPU purchase but Asus are very well known to make the top models of hardware whether this is a motherboard or GPU and for you to have a big problem with a product and for them not to sort it out in your favour would look very badly upon them if this is the case as it is a high ticket item.
Hi i Just thought I’d look into this:
It seems like this is a real issue - Thanks for bringing this up - When I saw a review of this card it did get the best temps and a very good review.
This would beg a question: Which is the best RTX 3090 GPU? - The Asus Strix has 3 x 8 pin and was the top model near enough - What is the best option for RTX 3090? - Thanks
EDIT - I don’t mean the most expensive model - But one which does not have any problems?
I think it’s generally the OC third party versions that have 3 x 8 pins. I have the MSI SuprimX. Some of these bigger GPUs need a little extra support. Mine came with a support stand to take some load off the PCIE slot. It works pretty hard in MSFS with the Reverb G2, so I’d go for the 3 x 8 pin.
I have a 10850k and a 3090 MSI Ventus with 2 pins.
It works fine. I actually undervolt and slightly underclock mine to keep the temps and fan noise down. Sounds louder than the planes I’m flying at default settings.
Hi - So you’re totally happy with the 2 pin RTX 3090 - No complaints FPS wise? - And do you wish you had a Strix 3090? - Great post btw - Thanks
I LOVE this thing. Absolutely no complaints. I’ve had it for a year, give or take a few weeks either way. I upgraded from a 2080ti.
That is the Strix 3090. The cooling on it is what got me to choose it over the others.
Hi - Very interesting you speak up for this card! - I saw a review which was very good but there seems to have been complaints about coil whine and another problem to do with the fans and noise under load.
A lot of the 3090s have issues of some sort. VRAM temp issues is a major one for lots of cards. My hot spot could go as high as 106 degrees before I undervolted it.
EVGA 3090s were infamous for being killed by Amazon’s New World game. There was no fps cap on the menu, and they would crank out so much fps that the cards fried.
This was back when they launched, and I got mine in 2020 so I suspect newer models have corrected some of these issues.
From your original post it looks like your putting a new PC together rather than just sticking the card in an existing PC?
If that’s the case I’d strongly advise holding off until the 4000 series launch.
I have a 10850k, 32 GB ram and a 3090 and I’m strongly considering buying a whole new PC in December with a 13900k, 4090, 64GB DDR5 ram machine as performance in MSFS in VR is still not where I want it to be.
Maybe Asobo can improve the performance of MSFS substantially once they get DirectX12 and DLSS working fully over the coming months but right now I still get frustrated with performance from time to time.
Ill throw my experience in:
I have had 4 3090’s, first was a 3090 Strix OC, which I RMA’d due to the buzzing shroud, 2 months later I get another, which was DOA (all the screws were loose and shroud was half hanging off). This issue still persists to this day, the Strix cards are way overpriced. (they “lost” the original card, this was back early 2020 so basically the middle man were selling the RMA’d cards on the market again, ■■■…)
My retailer then offered me a Suprim X (which lasted about a year) then it started to artefact and crash, so I had to RMA that, 6 weeks later I got the RMA one back and all seems to be okay.
In the waiting time between the Suprim X RMA, I picked up a 3090ti FE which just blows the 3090 out out the water on FS 2020, cooling on that FE model is insane, barely reaches 70deg at around 50% fan, crazy — I pair this with a 12900k as 32gb of ram.
(yes this does mean I have a 3090 just sitting in a box doing nothing).
The Suprim X has a really good backplate which massively helps the cooling of the VRAM, can’t remember what the Strix had (maybe someone else can enlighten).
The TUFF cards are built like barn doors, I would be happy with a TUFF card, but I like to tinker so ideally would like something which would allow me to push it harder, but given the issues with the Strix, id go with the TUFF.
Interesting that the 3090Ti is substantially better. Most people claim to be CPU limited but that is obviously not the case if GPU performance is still improved.
I thought I was a bit unlucky with my 3090 VRAM hotspot temps being high but maybe all the 3090 cards are suspect in some way.
most 3090’s have the issue, however, I believe most 3090’s stack the modules on the front and back, but the back hardly has any cooling, but the Suprim X has really decent thermal pads and a big backplate that acts like a heat sink.
The 3090TI FE (probably other 3090TI’s too) stack the memory all on the front of the PCB, so are actively cooled along with the rest of the card.
I’ve got an X99 machine all built up with Xeon E5 2698 V3 - turbo Xeon unlock @ 3.7 Ghz and could use this… Also I do have an Intel 10th GEN board & AMD X570 board with Ryzen 5000 CPU’s - These are all pre DDR 5 which is preferable -
It seems like this is the best card then? - because you are really impressed with it! - Someone wrote about an 8 K cable being needed for display port to get these to work - is this correct?
Hi,
It seems the RTX 3090 struggles with having the GDDR6X on both sides of the card making it hotter - Would it be technically possible for the makers - nVidia - to use double the density memory modules which would be twice the capcity? - So instead of 12 GB is makes it 24 GB - but still keep the memory on one side of the card only - and keep temps down? - I’m no expert at all but…
Yes, like the 3090TI ;-), but that costs a lot of money.
Regarding if the 3090TI is the best, currently yes, its the best card on the market, also insanely expensive (EVGA currently have a huge discount on their variant of it in the states that is).
Current rumours are the 4080 will be roughly same as the 3090TI in performance, but obviously will have much less VRAM.
If you can afford it, buy one, if not, just get a 3090 and be happy, most of the people complaining about hot modules were miners who were pushing it way too hard, if you have decent case and cooling you won’t have an issue (not to say all the issues were with miners).
I think some 3090’s are 30 percent below MSRP now, around $1000 which I guess could be appealing.
A 3090Ti is currently selling for what a 4090 will sell for in October so seems like an insanity purchase for most people unless money is just no issue.
Yes you’re correct to wait - Some places have RTX 3090’s in stock - and several of them or more so waiting would promote reduction in price when the new 4000 series arrives - But it’s good to talk about them to know the ins and outs for MSFS
