Howdy folks. I’ve been thinking about upgrading the CPU and/or GPU in my PC in my quest to gain better performance in MSFS, and I’m currently considering a couple of different paths. My current system specs are as follows:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950x
- Mobo: Asus ROG Strix X570E
- RAM: 4 x 16 GB (64GB)
- GPU: EVGA RTX 3090 FTW
MSFS is installed on a NVME drive I have dedicated for games, and my addons are stored on a SATA SSD. In most places my framerate is good to great but in more stressful areas (eg, iniBuilds KJFK) I can have dips into the 20s and occasionally high teens.
I’m currently debating between a couple options:
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Replacing my 5950x with a 5800X3D for the increased L3 cache (may or may not get a RTX 4090 as well)…I’ve read where some folks did this and were quite happy with the increased performance on MSFS, albeit at the cost of reduced multicore productivity performance.
-
Build a new system around AMD’s AM5 platform with a 7800X3D or 7900X3D, X670 mobo, and a RTX 4090. My current build is just under 3 years old.
Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations regarding either one of these options? Thank you very much!
you won’t get a better price:performance point with the 5800X3D. Drop a 4090 in there and you’re golden.
however the 7800X3D has a 128mb L3 cache. With a 4090 you’ll be good for another few years easy
I would also recommend dropping everything onto one drive, if possible. Just makes the game have an easier time instead of having to jump all across your file system to get what it needs. B&H has a 2TB 980 Pro (i think with too) for $100 last i saw
I also want to add that there is inherent optimization issues with the game when running high quality payware (airports, airplanes etc). I know that with 90 planes on the ground on vatsim i get hit kinda hard (20-30fps) regardless of what i’m doing, same goes for using AI traffic.
The latter isn’t an issue if you’re building solely for MSFS. Now, if you have other important apps that DO NOT use the L3 cache then your 5950X or equivalent current would be better.
For me I find that if a certain productivity app or compiler or encoder is slightly slower then it’s not a big deal, because I don’t use this PC for those tasks very often. It’s 95% dedicated to MSFS.
That’s what I did. I built a 7800X3D + 4090 on an X670 board.
I think it really comes down to budget, because as you know, the 5800X3D route would be cheaper.
I mean if the 7800x3D + 4090 is plausibly in your budget, what’s the big question? 
I have that combo and can highly recommend it (especially for high-end VR).
Thanks for the responses. Got some things to think about. This PC was built primarily for gaming…I actually got into MSFS mid-2021, almost a year after building the machine. I initially thought I’d try to get more into video editing / content creation…well, that has yet to happen. That said, sounds like a 5800X3D might be a good fit if I want to keep using the other components for a bit, say, the next 1-2 years.
On the other hand, I am hearing that the Ryzen 4 / RTX 4090 combo has given folks significant, if not massive, gains in performance…not gonna lie, it is awfully tempting. On the other hand, I remember having lots of memory related issues when I built my current AM4 system…not going to bore you with details, but it seems as if memory bugs/issues continue to be a “thing” with some folks on AM5.
Anyway, going to continue to think about these options. Thanks for the insight.