Toying with hardware change, will I see a benefit?

[MagicQuasar1176]

Hi all. I’m looking for thoughts and comments from folks who have swapped from Intel to AMD or vice versa, as I am toying with changing CPU and mobo. I’m not sure on component choices, and also as to whether there is any benefit in making this change at all, so thoughts would be gratefully received.

Current setup is: 13900KS, RTX 4090, 32GB DDR5 6400, MSI Z790 Carbon Wifi, Samsung 990 nvMe M2 for the O/S & 2TB Crucial nVme M2 (running in PCIE5) for MSFS, 1,200w PSU & Be Quiet AIO plus lots of BQ fans. Display is a 32in 4K monitor with tobii 5 eyetracker, and I am not interested in pursuing VR. I tried it several times with different headsets and I can’t get over the compromises, so the head tracker and monitor are staying for sure.

Performance I think is currently good, especially in the SU15 beta. It’s very smooth at my current settings, which are are all at ultra with TLOD set 250 out of 400, and Object LOD maxed out at 200. I’m not a frame counter in the least, but whenever I have checked it typically gets 70-90 in quiet areas and 50-60 at the busiest airports in the PMDG 738 or Fenix A320. It is of course limited by mainthread, and if I try to up the settings any further, or if I turn on Live Traffic and Live Weather simultaneously, then I get stutters.

I have seen the graphs of comparative performance and reviews, but would changing CPU to a 7950X3D or 7900X3D actually make a meaningful, noticeable and substantial visual difference? Or would it be minimal, and not worth the outlay? I am aware the L3 cache should make a big difference in theory, but I don’t know what it means in practice. Also, I have also seen people have operational issues with core parking, and struggles getting the benefit from the increased cache, among other things. Is there anything I should be aware of with these AMD CPU’s, or looking to avoid here?

Mobo wise, I have been very happy with the performance and functionality of the MSI board (this was my first from that maker, having mostly used Asus & Gigabyte in the past) so my instinct is to look at the X670e Carbon wifi, but if there is a better choice then I would be interested in hearing the reasons why.

RAM wise, I was thinking that I may as well use the opportunity to go from 32 to 64GB, even if it won’t make much practical difference. I’ll need to get EXPO compatible ram anyway, so I might as well go the whole hog. According to the MSI compatibility list, the quickest 64GB set I can reliably find in the UK will be the Kingston Fury 6,400 mhz CL32. Again, if there is a better choice (that I will actually be able to find here) then I’d welcome recommendations and reasons.

If I do make the changes, the CPU, mobo & RAM will be going into my son’s gaming / university PC, which could benefit from some upgrades.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[WingWarper1]

From what you described above, you absolutely have a top end PC which I doubt you would see any noticeable improvement if you build a new one.

If you are looking for a deeper level of immersion, then perhaps your monitor is an area to be considered (you only mentioned a 43" 4k monitor above). A larger high end TV with Qled/Oled technology, HDR, higher refresh rates (120-144Hz) & gaming features such as freesync can make a noticeable improvement.

Trying to chase a couple more fps with your high end PC probably isn’t worth it however there are other areas to improve your immersion.

[MagicQuasar1176]

Thank you for your thoughts, much appreciated.

I did wonder how much difference I could make to it by going AMD instead of Intel, but I’m not sure if the gains would be all that much. I guess I wanted to see how the gap in performance in the reviews with benchmarking might actually translate in real life.

The goal is definitely more immersion and realism if possible, so maybe a 3 screen setup is the way to go instead. Food for thought definitely, so thanks again.

[SmotheryVase665]

@MagicQuasar1176: If you have not already read these posts, they might be of interest:

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[ncbartschi]

@MagicQuasar1176

I have seen the graphs of comparative performance and reviews, but would changing CPU to a 7950X3D or 7900X3D actually make a meaningful, noticeable and substantial visual difference?

You would likely see at least a 10% performance gain in CPU-limited scenarios from switching over to a Ryzen X3D, but the cost required to buy a new motherboard and CPU would not make it a worthwhile purchase. At 4K, you will likely see no difference due to mainly being GPU-limited.

@MagicQuasar1176

RAM wise, I was thinking that I may as well use the opportunity to go from 32 to 64GB, even if it won’t make much practical difference.

Stick with 32 GB, regardless if you decide Intel vs AMD. Running with 32 GB is still plenty for MSFS, and you will so no performance benefit from increasing to 64 GB. Dual-rank 64 GB sticks at 6400 MT/s can be difficult to get stable on both Intel and AMD platforms with a subpar IMC. Expect to possibly spend time stability testing and tweaking voltages if you go down this route.

[MagicQuasar1176]

Thank you SmotheryVase665! I have indeed been looking at those threads, among others. I think monitor improvements is definitely the way to go, I just need to work out how best to use the space I have available.

[MagicQuasar1176]

Thank you ncbartschi, much appreciated, especially the tip on RAM. I’m going to stick with the current hardware and look to improve the monitor setup instead.