Upgrading my GPU

So my current specs are

CPU: Intel I5 quad core 4460 @ 3.2ghz
GPU: Nvidia Geforce 750ti
Memory: 12GB
HD: 2TB SSD

Never in a million years would I have thought that I could run MSFS on my machine, but I decided to try it through game pass, and even though I get a warning that says I don’t meet the minimum specs, I am actually able to run the game and get around 25FPS over Los Angeles with most settings on medium or high. The only thing I have turned low is the Object LOD and Terrain LOD. According to the FPS viewer in the developer console, my GPU is the limter and the only graph which flashes red.

I was thinking of getting a better GPU but don’t know what the best option is. I know there expensive right now but I don’t know if I could get one for $200 or so. The 1060’s I were looking were all closer to 300-500 for a new one so I’m sure a better one than that will be even more expensive.

So would it be worth it to upgrade my GPU and is there one you would recommend for that price?

Thanks

GTX 970 on eBay look like they are going for just less than $200. That would be a significant upgrade to the 750 Ti.

Make sure you have the proper power connectors available (I think it is usually 2 6-pin power cables needed) for the ~150W needed.

You’re stuck in an awkward situation. You’d need to upgrade virtually all of the components apart from the SSD. Essentially you’re looking at a new PC depending on the chipset of you current motherboard to get to a spec where you can get acceptable frame rates in MSFS.

I’m pretty much in the same situation but I have slightly faster components (GTX 1070, i7-7700K)… Fortunately I can get an enjoyable level of performance from MSFS. Upgrading anything is prohibitively expensive given current prices of new and old GPUs.

Probably the best you can do is get the best GPU you can that is supported on your system, sell you old one to offset the cost, but don’t expect massive improvements in the price range you are talking about. You could then save up for a decent mid-spec gaming PC for the future.

GPUs, new and old, are massively overpriced at the moment due to people using them for certain activities not related to gaming. Used ones fetch a premium too.

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I run the sim on GTX 970 and i7-5930K 16GB and with all settings on ULTRA I have fps 20 over small/medium islands and water around. I am happy I can play the game, however, I’d better have something starting from GTX 1070/1080 minimum. If you have FPS 25 over LAX on your settings spending 200USD on 970 will improve your situation only slightly, just a bit.

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If you use the Tech Powerup relative performance table, which is a reasonable guide to ranking performance, the 970 is nearly 250% of the 750 Ti.

This doesn’t mean you’ll get 250% improvement in FPS as other items may limit performance, like your CPU, but that’s probably the best you can get for $200 used.

As @BigCow74 mentioned a GTX970 sounds like a good choice, but should realy not cost more than ~100$ in max… As example I bought a " Asus Nvidia GeForce Strix GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5 Gaming Grafikkarte" in year 2015 for 280EUR !

A 1060(3GB) should be comparable with a 970, is bit better but not sure whether the system can beneffit from that… in case you get it also for ~110$ it would be okay, may you get the 6GB type. The 1060 was initial priced much cheaper than former the GTX970…

But as mentioned, the beneffit may vary… The CPU , the memory, a hard-disc, may be the mainboard, etc… are all limiting factors…

PS: my personal recommendation: don’t hurry and don’t let you force to buy overpriced hardware.

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1000s series has HAGS?

I would strongly suggest saving money for a prebuilt with at least an RTX3060. Buying a more powerful GPU will just put you in a main thread limited situation depending on the gpu.

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I run an Asus GTX 750 ti with just 2gb memory at primarily medium settings, with a couple settings on high. I had upgraded in late summer to a 5600x cpu, Asus x570 TUF Gaming Pro Wifi and 32 gb ram. I 've limited fps to 30 and MSFS runs quite well on it. I even added face tracking using droidcam, a smart phone, AiTrack and OpenTrack. So, although I had an RTX 3060 in mind, I’m in no hurry and will wait until prices are realistic. I’ve thought about a 960-970, but will probably wait and buy a much better card when prices are reasonable. MSFS
works just fine and exceeds my expectations considering it is below the minimum recommended.

One thing to keep in mind is the 7xx series only supports a partial DX12 feature set… The 9xx series supports full DX12.

No big deal since MSFS is DX11 optimized now and DX12 is only in beta. But if they do release an optimized DX12 you may need an upgrade to take advantage of any improvements.

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Yeah, I think you’re right. With the current cost of GPU’s being so high, it’s probably better to just to save up for a whole new computer and in the meantime just enjoy the fact that I can run it at all on my current system.

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Just upgrade the 1070 graphics card

To be honest I’'d sav3e up and try for something a little better in the GPU area and maybe add some more system medmory too.

I’m not the best comparison as I take it pretty seriously, so much that my wife banned me from talking about MFS at all lol.

My system Was designed from the ground up to run MFS, and since I build my own, motherboards, cpu and Ram were easily sourced, but as you can imagine my issue was the graphics dept.

I had a 3070 which was ok and would probably be fine fokr most folks, buy I really wanted to have a system that I could max out, drag all those sliders to the right and not get a single stutter.

I waited and waited checking our UK based suppiers every day until it was axctually my wife who found a 3080ti at MSRP…Must have been sitting on the shelf and they caved in and dropped the prices. We have since found stuff for other family members too.

It’s just about how much performance you want out of the sim. It’s definetly worth gettinmg the best, even if it takes a while. I check micro centre in the US too but I wound up with the spec. below and it really does work perfectly with no c ompromises at all.

Hope you get yours sorted out too, but the day’s of true MSRp are pretty much gone I think, and saving and looking is the way to go I think.

System:

Gigabyte Aorus elite mainboard
32gb of corsair vengance Ram
AMD 5800x cpu
Gigabyte 3080ti

I run a 32 inch Benq curved as my main display, and 2 smaller screens for the garmin stuff.

I won’t bore you with the long list of periperhals I have connected, but it’s the usual yoke, MFD etc.

Hope you get yours going like you want it too.

Mine is just what I wanted and it runs the sim without missing a beat. Guess I should have put the NVME ssd’s in too, and you could get a pcie card that would work just fine in your present system That I5 is still a very capable cpu.

Jeff

Here are a couple of recent articles relating to the graphics card shortage that might help you with your decision:

What to Expect From the GPU Market in 2022 | Digital TrendsArticle 2

Not that it did much but if my old passively cooled gt1030 had it then I think it’s safe to say a 1070 does

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