new computer for msfs

which way to go ????

 

all else being equal, Ryzen 3900XT or i9 10900K ???????

 

 

thanks

The I9 will give better performance with FS2020 at this point, but if you are running a 1440p or less monitor, it won't really matter, as the GPU is by far the more worked component, unlike previous FS series. At 1920x1200 (between 1440p and 1080p), my cpu is only using about 16 % of capacity without turbo mode. The GPU is running 55-85% of capacity and ram about 40% of capacity. Maximize your GPU power!!

BTW, I just did a little math problem in my head. If demand is a linear function of pixels, then you would definitely need more than an RTX 2070 (mine is about a year old so isn't the super). I need 85% of GPU capacity at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. That is for 2304000 pixels. A 1440p monitor will display 3686400 pixels. That means my processor would only require 62.5% of the pixels yours would need. So under the same conditions, and the same math assumption, you would need 135-136% of the capacity of an older RTX 2070 or probably more than 125% of an RTX 2070super. I would think a RTX 3080 or better would be the way to go when those are available.

My CPU is still idling at 16-17% even in St. Louis Lambert International Airport. And at this point, I believe Tom's hardware concluded only about 6 cores were effectively used by the sim at this point. You probably would not see much difference in a I9 and a fast I5 based on that. That is also why AMD doesn't do as well, the program isn't yet optimized to effectively use all the Ryzen 9 cores. There has been mention that Asobo is working to optimize for AMD eventually.

As to memory, Even in St. Louis Lambert International Airport, my memory demand barely budges (it goes from about 40 to about 44% of capacity). There has been testing that this is a program that will benefit from faster memory if XMP is enabled. I would go with DDR4-3200 memory for best performance (other testing seems to indicate little benefit to anything over 3200).

Edited September 21, 2020 by plainsman

so am i correct in assuming i can do just as well with a 9900K but spend the money saved on a better gpu ?

Unless you have other programs that need it, I would go with a 10700K and spend the savings on the best GPU you can find. The 9900K might be a consideration if you plan to go to 4K, as everything is challenged by the program at that resolution. Just my thoughts??