Budget Video Card

[zaf66]

Could I ask you for some help. I just built a new system (AMD 5600X, SSD, 16 RAM) and will be using it for MSFS 2020. I installed an older graphics card for now and would like to upgrade it. I have about $200 to spend. Would you recommend a GTX 1650? AMD 6500? or should I wait for the prices of the Nvidia 3050 cards to come down? Just looking for decent performance but don't want to spend nanobucks. I have a 450 watt PS which I would have to upgrade for a 3050 card. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[amberdog1]

If you are wanting to run high graphics or better you'll need the nivida RTX 3070 or better, the 3050 is good and the gtx 1650 will work at the low settings. I see them (RTX 3070 ) starting for around $500 USD and up depending on the amount of ram and such... If you have the 1650 I'd use it and save/wait for the lower price and then upgrade.

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[RI_Red]

I have an nVidia RTX 2080 11gb, and mine is awesome.

[JSkorna]

I just purchased the RTX 2060 12gig and I now run MSFS on Ultra at 40 FPS. Awesome card.

[KiloWatt]

$200 for a new card is probably stretching it. You may need to look at the secondary market. Regardless, I think the best bang-for-buck card at the moment is the Radeon RX6600. It seems to be roughly the same price as the 3050, but performs better.

 

Your 5600X supports PCIE gen 4, so it should also be ok with the 6500XT. That said, it doesn't have great reviews at all, so avoid it if you can.

 

What GPU do you currently use and how does it perform?

[zaf66]

My current GPU is an old GT 610. I put it in when I discovered the current prices of new cards.

I have not installed MSFS yet..not until I get a new card.

[plainsman]

I agree with the above, save up for the RX6600 or a GTX 1660ti.

[N069NT]

Like a lot of others, I have been building gaming/simming PCs since FS98 in the late 1990s and this is by far the worst GPU market in that quarter century span (to put that into perspective on time flying as you get older, back up 25 years from 1997 and you get 1972 - I was barely potty trained lol).

 

First of all, as mentioned above, you will have a real hard time finding a $200 GPU even on the eBay used market that is worth the buck/performance ratio for MSFS. And that even means a 200-series Nvidia card. I get daily updates from NewEgg where I get a lot of my PC build hardware, and currently they have a $400 RTX 2060 (https://www.newegg.com/asus-geforce-rtx-2060-dual-rtx2060-o6g-evo/p/N82E16814126349?Description=RTX%202060&cm_re=RTX_2060-_-14-126-349-_-Product&quicklink=true).

 

For a little more you can move up to the 8GB VRAM $439 ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 XT there on sale and in stock. MSFS uses every bit of VRAM your GPU has even at 1080p. I'd go that route over the 6GB 2060 (would not recommend the 4GB 6500XT which can be had for $250 on the same website).

 

^^That should be good for 45fps at 1080p and high quality settings according to both Tom's Hardware and Guru3D tech review sites (https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/ms_flight_simulator_(2020)_the_2021_pc_graphics_performance_benchmark_review,6.html).

 

I would recommend saving your money and getting more GPU. There's no hurry unless you really have that bad of an itch. I waited and saved up for a full year after release before landing my 3080 Ti and that purchase was on a lot of luck winning a buy lottery at retail price called a shuffle. By the way: do not go cheap on your power supply. Buy the best rated one you can afford. You don't want to spend all that money on your core hardware only to have a cheap PSU ruin it.

 

EDIT: also do not forget that that Asobo at some point in the future may push MSFS to DX12 full time and more powerful GPUs will take better advantage of the eye candy.

Edited April 14, 2022 by N069NT