Upgrading computer - Many questions

User Support Hub Hardware & Peripherals
,
1

(apologies if a double post - I may have deleted original post).

Well, “Hulk” has served me well for 4 years, but with a 2080 TI founders edition and i9-9900k processor and only two 1 TB m.2 drives I simply have to upgrade her.

IMG_1493
IMG_14931920×2560 423 KB

Since I have a ton of custom loop water cooling hardware (2 radiators, 2 Corsair Hyro Pumps running separate loops for the GPU and CPU), I’m going to replace the motherboard, CPU and graphics card and reuse the water cooling components and power supply (though may replace power supply as it is 1000 but pretty dated).

I will get the 4090 for sure and I prefer intel CPUs so will get a premium 14th gen there. My questions:

1) Motherboard. I typically stay with brands that have been trouble free so I’m leaning towards a MSI board. Any thoughts on the high end boards? I’m not getting the Godlike as obscenely expensive, but what about the ones below? My concern is I hear you have to flash the BIOS on the high end MSI for the latest intet chip, but perhaps not that big of a deal? Should I seriously consider an ASUS?

2) Transferring over MSFS (and DCS) to preserve as much as possible my add-ons and such. I have MSFS on one 1 TB M.2 drive and DCS on another 1 TB M.2 drive. I will get a board with at least 5 slots for M.2 drives. Suggestions on transferring over everthing? My two current drives are basically full already (60 gigs left on each one), so I assume I can’t just take the M.2 drives out and just put them on the new board. Any input on how to transfer everything to a new M.2 would be appreciated. Also, what brands of M.2 should I be looking at? Will either get multiple 2 or 4 TB M.2 drives.

3) Waterblocks. I will get waterblocks for the GPU and CPU as I loved having that on my current computer. Rarely if ever exceeded 70 degrees on my 2080 (had a Corsair block on GPU and EKWB on my CPU). I’ve heard the EKWB CPU blocks have fallen in quality, so thinking I’ll go with:

iCUE XC7 RGB ELITE LCD CPU Water block | CORSAIR.

For the graphics card, I see people hate on the Corsair graphic card water blocks but I had zero issues for the Corsair block on my 2080 ti (though some bubbles have come up of late). Avoid the Corsair and go with Heatkiller?

4) Power Supply. Any suggestions on power supply? I have a ton of USB flight sim peripherals and with the 4090 and top end Intel chip I suspect I’ll need a bit of beef. 1000 enough?

5) RAM. Will go with 64 GB of Ram. Can you recommend me some sticks? I currently have Corsair RGB ram and they’ve been fine, but I’ve read they are not ideal nowadays. Taking suggestions.

6) Add ons and software. Will I have any issues with moving to a new motherboard and M.2 drives with Volanta, Navigraph and TDS/PMS Garmin software add-ons? Any suggestion so I don’t have to purchase new licenses are are they tied to one computer?

Sorry for the novel but an expensive upgrade and will take a bit of work so asking the community for help. Will start acquiring parts over the next 30 days and then build the new and improved Hulk out soon thereafter.

Cost not really an issue - quality and ease of installation my biggest issues.

Thanks

​​

​​

2

I really wouldn’t recommend going Intel if you’re building a computer for MSFS specifically. If you do be aware you’re leaving about 25% performance on the table despite the higher cost (about $550 vs about $370) and much higher power draw.

image
image2054×1153 166 KB

In their earlier testing (in the 7800X3D review), the difference is about 40% compared to the 13900K, and the 14900K is often less than 3% faster than the 13900K in gaming, so something might have changed in their test sequence, but the difference could be closer to 40% than 25% even still.

There’s a reason the 7800X3D is incredibly popular on these forums. (Well, and everywhere else too, but especially for MSFS.)

3

Not to mention:

"13th and 14th gen Intel Core i9 processors face stability issues on unlocked/overclocked 600 and 700 motherboards.

Intel also confirms that a public statement will be released sometime in May 2024. The company plans to give an update on the status of the stability problems affecting the i9 processors in the public statement. What’s more, Intel plans on sharing recommended BIOS settings that will alleviate the stability issues as proper fixes are in the works."

Nice audio gear, BTW!

What speakers are you using with that?

4

Any x3d Amd CPU will smoke the intel cpus in msfs !

5

It isn’t just for MSFS I use it for work so lots of windows up, MS office suite and video editing. I always go exclusively intel chip sets.

6

This is a headphone only set-up – McIntosh MP1000 phono preamp and Woo Audio tube amplifier. Sennheiser HD 800 headphones and Marantz turntable.

2 Likes
7

If you’ve been running 4 years with your current set up I would recommend that you back up your personal files to the cloud and do a full re-install. This should clean out all of those old cobwebs and the sim typically tends to run better after being reinstalled.

Edit: I also recommend an AMD x3d processor if one of the main use cases is running the sim as it loves the extra 3d cache and helps smooth things out.

2 Likes