Would Adding 16GB RAM Help Much?

[Mac6737]

Not always one to leave the well enough alone, I am wondering whether I would be appreciably better off with 32 MB of RAM.

 

MSFS is running better these days (unlike back in September, soon after I received it as a birthday present) and my CTDs are few and almost predictable (e.g., loading a saved flight crashes the sim about half the time). I have most sliders on High, but would like to see what Ultra is like.

 

My specs are below.

 

What about replacing the graphics card? With the same CPU, would it matter much?

 

i7-8700 3.7 GHz

GeForce GTX 1070 Ti; 8GB onboard

AORUS Z370 Gaming 5 LGA 1151 ATX motherboard

16GB RAM

2 TB hard drive

27” MSI gaming monitor

[sfojimbo]

My intuition tells me that any difference would be hardly noticeable (you certainly won't be able to use ultra settings with your current hardware). Going from 16 to 32G would probably allow you to run other programs simultaneously with FS (Browser or Google Earth etc).

 

Let us know how it changes things for you.

[KiloWatt]

From what I've seen, upgrading to 32 GB may improve the 1% and 0.1% framerates, but the average will be much the same. So it may feel slightly less stuttery, I suppose. There's a few youtube videos out there that will give you an idea of what to expect.

 

My gut feel is that your CPU will be good for almost any GPU. But take a look the on-screen dispaly, included in MSI afterburner, to see exactly what your computer is up to. If you notice that your CPU usage is kinda low in your current setup, then it probably has some capacity left to feed a more powerful GPU. Word of caution: Make sure to look at all individual cores, because one core may be at 100%, even though the overall usage is say 25%. In that case, the CPU may need an upgrade too.

 

Ofcourse, this is all moot, because GPUs are as scarce as chicken teeth.

[loki]

For the sim itself another 16GB may not help much, unless maybe running at 4k resolutions. Give the article below a read for some comparisons.

 

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/ms-flight-simulator-(2020)-the-2021-pc-graphics-performance-benchmark-review,1.html

[W2DR]

I agree with all of the above. I don't think you'd ever notice a difference.

[Kapitan]

No, I have 8gb ram DDR4

 

get 50 to 60 fps in 1080p

 

flightsim is about processor, video card and ssd hd...if you have a top range of these 3 you are ok

[Mac6737]

Thanks everyone.

 

To sum up:

 

The additional 16 GB won't make much difference.

 

GPUs are scarce as hen's teeth.

 

I should get into overclocking after downloading two additional utilities, at risk of overheating my CPU.

 

Nah.

[g7rta]

Personally I’d be very cautious when it come to overclocking. MSFS isn’t keen on it & some have had CTDs as a result.

 

Regards

Steve

[Apollo212]

There is an old saying ( If its not Broke don't fix it) I personally have 64gb ram but MSFS 2020 is not the only thing I play Some games benefit from extra memory.

 

regards

Andrew

[neilends]

To echo what the others are saying...

 

I am close to computer illiterate. But my brother is a hardware engineer (in aviation to boot, and he has game design experience too from EA). I asked him if my personal setup for MSFS was optimal or should I consider buying additional stuff to somehow boost performance. His answer paraphrased: "Technically it's true that there are things you could add to this that would in theory give you slight improvements. But I doubt you would notice those slight improvements, and you would be paying a huge amount of money for them."

[jparnold]

I too have 16Gb RAM (and usually get a decent fps with virtually no stuttering) and have considered if I should get more even just another 8Gb however the other day looking at memory usage while MSFS2020 was running it showed that I was using much less than 16Gb (could have been as low as 10Gb) and so I then considered that more RAM would probably have little effect and so I will leave my money in my bank.

MS suggest the optimal PC to run FS2020 has 32Gb memory and I wonder why. There must be a reason.

[Raven Flight]

While your GPU determines your maximum possible graphical fidelity, your CPU determines your maximum possible framerate. A simple way to determine if and where you have a bottle neck. Stutters generally equal GPU. FPS is a function of CPU. MSFS is largely a single core program. It isn't unusual that one core is close to 100% and the rest are close to idle. Don't quote me on this but if the program runs out of ram it begins using the HD as a back up which could be a problem especially if you have a spinning drive. Again generally the program will stay in 16 GB but if you like to tinker and have want to spend $150 or so of your stimulus money then you may or may not see any difference. Some claim that all the ram sticks should come from the same set. Failing that they should be the same make and model and speed. I added two additional same set sticks from G-Skills to make up 32 GB. Then the computer wouldn't post. Played around and discovered that there was a problem with one stick so I sent them back. When the replacements arrived they worked fine. My computer was new and so identical additions were no problem but may not be available for your older magic box.

[CLE_GrummanTiger]

It's not so much increasing the performance for FS as it is by being able to do more on your PC with the added memory. I have 32gb and I find it useful because I'm running a few other things in the background (Little NavMap, FSEconomy, Firefox with a bunch of tabs with YouTube tutorials, Acrobat Reader with PDFs open for the handbook, etc...and, er...my VPN for work, lol!).

 

Now if you want to up your performance, the GPU is the way to go, but good luck finding one. I have a 3060 Ti and it does the job admirably considering I use a 3440x1440 ultrawide monitor. I'd say look for at least a 3060 Ti or 6700 XT if you're of a mind to go with AMD.

 

Now I'm considering VR, but not sure which one to get and not wanting to break the bank either!

[g7rta]

“Now I'm considering VR, but not sure which one to get and not wanting to break the bank either“

 

The best one for the price is probably the Quest 2. It can be connected to the pc or untethered and is a good all rounder.

You do need a Facebook account though & for that reason I wouldn’t get one myself. (My “Quest 1”will lose some of its functionality in a year or two, thanks to Facebook.. changing their promise of not needing an account)

 

However, the best VR headset for MSFS is clearly the Reverb G2. It has the best resolution, superb audio, comfort & works very well. You can also use it with other games of course. It is a lot more expensive though.

 

Regards

Steve

[sfojimbo]

The Quest is not the best one "for the price" if a person later decides to buy the Reverb G2 because it provides a superior experience. In that case, the money spent on the Quest is wasted.

[neilends]

The Quest is not the best one "for the price" if a person later decides to buy the Reverb G2 because it provides a superior experience. In that case, the money spent on the Quest is wasted.

 

True, but I am pretty happy with my Quest 2.

 

If I were to start over, I may have opted for the G2 instead. But since I got the Quest 2 and love the experience, I'm not paying $600 for only an arguably better experience that will likely be outdated by yet another new device by the end of 2021.