I’m currently on an old Intel i7 7700k (OC to 4.8GHz) 4 core processor that has served me well and still does for DCS. I am wondering what sort of benefit I might get by upgrading to a i9 11900k for example which has a boost clock speed of 5.3GHz and 8 cores without OC.
When you’re getting perhaps 35FPS while using a 2080ti with 32G and XMP enabled, if the performance increase is likely to be something in the vicinity of 12.5% then perhaps I need to wait for a later generation of CPU and or GPU. I am sure there is much that I do not understand though.
Would anyone have any insights to this. FPS in game indication is of course indicating that the main thread is the limiting factor at this point but I am not sure what other benefits the recommended 8 cores might be with my HP Reverb headset. Not doubting there would be just trying to get a better understanding of what a new CPU and mobo might buy me in terms of performance because an extra 4.3FPS alone doesn’t sound terribly exciting for the money involved.
I have just gone from an I5 4690k @4.4 to a 10700k running at stock speed ( for now ).
I am using an hp g2.
There was some improvement in fps but the biggest improvement was in smoothness.
My gpu (amd 6800) was and still is the limiting factor in my setup as far as I am concerned.
I can vary the fps from less than 20fps to well over 50fps depending on the graphic load I put on the gpu with the various settings.
To me this means it is the gpu that is the limiting factor not the cpu.
For amd gpus the latest update seems to have helped get rid of our ctds.
I will probably try overclocking my system once I am happy with the way it is running at stock.
I have already set the ram to XMP and that doesn’t seem to have changed much but it certainly hasn’t hurt.
Yeah, but it’s still risky. Your CPU will be running hotter even if you have decent cooling and it does reduce the lifespan of your CPU since it’s working a lot harder than it actually designed to do. I agree with @AthenaGrey1, I’d avoid overclocking for stability reasons. I’d rather get a higher stock speed from a newer generation of CPU than overclocking an old CPU, a CPU that’s already past its prime too. Pushing them harder than what they’re designed for is something that I avoid.
Just upgraded from a RTX2060 to and RTX3060ti. Saw fps go from 45 to 60 on the same MSFS settings, which is plus 33%. Userbenchmark.com lists the improvement of the RTX3060ti over the RTX2060 as 34% better, so pretty accurate. Even after I upped a whole heap of MSFS settings I never get below 40 now even in cities like new york or London, with heavy cloud cover. And this with a very average i5 9400F.
This is a myth. Overclocking does not damage modern CPU nor reduces their lifespan (your PC will be so obsolete long long before the tiny little reduced lifespan might even become a factor). Plenty of info and scientific studies on the web, which I not repeat here. I have all my PCs OCed in the past 15 years, none failed due to CPU. But to each it’s own.
But yes OC can cause CTDs. But try it out. When it CTDs reduce the OC a bit. Good cooling always helps.
If OC increases your FPS depends on the entire system, whether it is mainthread or GPU limited. Obviously only when mainthread limited a faster clock speed improves FPS (but not even then necessarily linearily to the OC increase).
If it’s worth it, is only up to you and your wallet ;-).
There is certainly a diminishing return on invest, meaning you pay overproportionally more for hardly any noticeable change. Plus just sticking a new CPU in an old system usually does not help much as then the RAM can’t keep up, the GPU is slow, the power supply is too weak and the cooler insufficient (the new CPUs require cooling and power way in excess to your old one). And finally your main board will not even be able to fit or run the new Intel CPUs.
So I would not do it but rather get an entire new system and until then lower the MSFS settings a bit until you can buy a new system (or even get a XBOx X for less the price of a single Intel CPU, if this is an option for you).
I tried overclocking my 2070 Super and it brought nothing but CTDs in this Sim (perfectly fine in other games), that was a few updates and Nvidia driver updates ago so I may give it another go one day soon.
Overclocking is like putting go-fast stuff on your car.
The main point is not generally the performance improvement, people do it for fun, to compete with their friends and as a personal challenge to see how far they can push things.
My experience with MSFS is this: neither overclocking CPU nor RAM will get me performance benefits in terms of FPS outside margin of error. However, overclocking my GPU does. The numbers: running my 11900k at all-core 4800MHz does not give me any less FPS (average/1%/0.2%) than running it at all-core 5300MHz. On the other hand, overclocking my 3090 (which is already factory-overclocked to 1850) by another 100MHz as well as VRAM by 600MHz will get me 2…3 FPS more in average/1%/0.2%. This sounds insignificant, but with my settings this is a plus of 10%! Benching was done with several runs of a pre-recorded bench flight and CapFrameX.
Something that CPU O/C might help with is in situations where there is a lot of AI involved or maybe even in multiplayer mode, maybe causing less stutters. But I did not do any tests with such scenarios yet.
However, as others pointed out, besides the extra thermals that need to be taken care of, there is a thin line between stability and instability which, the closer you get, may also cause CTDs and other issues. And that is my personal MSFS experience, too
I just saw you’re running a 7700k, which is 4C/8T. I guess any CPU upgrade would only be worth it if you’re actually CPU limited. Even more specific, limited by core/thread count, because as I wrote above, CPU clocks appear to make no significant difference. I’m certain that for most of us, MSFS will be GPU limited after SU5 anyway.
You could try to figure out if your CPU is actually capping by deactivating HT or 1…2 cores. And watching task manager during MSFS action. You could also just try lowering your clocks from 4800 to say… 4500 or even lower and see if you get any less FPS.
AMD and VR in the MFS is a disaster. I’m even dissatisfied with my 6900XT. Nothing runs smoothly. In Steamvr the picture is unclear and in openXR / WMR motion reprojection does not work.
I know that overclocks are not recommended for this sim but I overclock my i5 7600k from 3.8 to 4.6 (I oc GPU and memory too) and before SU5 I only very rarely had a CTD. I did have CTDs on SU5 but none yet after the hotfix (famous last words!). My overclocks though are fairly conservative and I have a large PC case and water cooling which probably helps too.
I understand people advising not to oc with this sim. However, so far so good on my system. As far as damage to the PC caused by safe overclocking, all I can say is that my system now is about 4 years old, overclocked about a month after purchase and it’s still going strong. The CPU in FS2020 runs below 60 °c and the GPU (2070 S) runs below 70 °c (three fan GPU).
Of course, your mileage might vary on your own system and each system can be very different.
I‘m running my 10700k with 4.9 ghz and undervolting without any issues. The higher the clock speed the better for MSFS due to the architecture of the system.
Not quite true as it stands IMHO. I’ve been overclocking my CPU/MEM/GPU for roughly 20 years, so I do have a bit of experience as well.
It is true that with “safe” O/C the degradation will happen on time scales well beyond that which most users keep their components before upgrading. But it is also true that particularly (unreasonably) high voltages will speed up degradation and yes - it is still possible to fry your CPU/GPU nowadays. However, that will happen mainly if you’re also loading your CPU/GPU. Which means that a CPU running at severely high Vcore but sitting idle during office work 24/7 would still be less affected.
What’s more, there are semi-permanent degradation effects that can be observed during tuning your O/C that you will most likely have observed yourself as well: after several hours of optimizing O/C and benchmarking / stability testing (which means heavily loading it for extended periods of time), it just so happens that the settings at which the system was stable in the morning would just not work anymore, even if you crank up the cooling. Give it another day and usually everything will be fine again. Semiconductors can be tricky
The CPU does not get warmer with a higher clock rate, but with a higher voltage. The service life is reduced under 1.4V voltage so little that nobody uses the CPU for so long that it becomes noticeable. The processor will still last for years. But you’re right, a new processor brings significantly more than OC for architectural reasons.
