Best possible CPU for the FSL A320 running on FSX

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Hello community!

I currently run FSX and FSL on an i5-7400 CPU, but has recently been thinking about changing my current i5 to an i7 - thus (possibly) also changing my motherboard.

After days of research I'm yet to find any solid answer as to what may be the best replacement. So, my question to you: Based on the fact that I want to continue using FSX and the 32bit version of the FSL, what'll be the best CPU to replace my current one?

I've done research on the H310 motherboard to pair with the i7 8700, i7 9700F, or else using the i7 7700, i7 6700 on the current MoBo.

Now, I do know that this may vary, but by understanding whether or not speed, speed on single thread or multithreading will be the MOST important factor when looking for a replacement is key. What is your take on the CPU? What's the most important factor when considering a new CPU, solely based on the fact that I want my sim to run smoothly?

Once more, it's multifaceted, but I'd appreciate as much input and feedback as possible, to further elaborate on the case - thank you in advance!

I wish you well.

K

 

[phil highton]

I can tell you Im running v5.1 using a 9700k with a maximus hero XI,  all 8 cores at 4.8 ( tried 5 GHz  but abit unstable causing terrain.dll ctd). I have all the well known add-ons running two monitors ( one ultra wide for the SIM and a second for charts / browsing / TV etc. I used to run all of this with a 7700k but it was getting very hot especially with HT on. I would say 6 cores would be minimum if doing other tasks when simming. Also be aware v5 uses more vram on your GPU than previous versions so a solid card to match the CPU is the way to go . Although v5 will use more cores  effectively it's still core 0 intensive. V5 is fanatic performance wise but sadly you do need strong hardware ( yes ssds/nvme) to get the best out of it. nothing changes there ofcourse , good luck with it and get back and let us know how your getting on tons of folks on this forum love this kind of stuff !

To add the best you can afford always . I don't know about AMD so can't comment , but fast processor i5/i7 or better and 1080ti or better . This is just my opinion others may say differently 

[Wilhelm Zwirchmayr]

Hi,
i already had several cpu in use.
Intel 9900K
AMD 3950 the 16 cores are useless, the 9900 k with 5 GHz is better
AMD 3900 was the same with the 9900 k with optimizations of the cores
AMD 3900 xt performed better than the 3900
AMD 5900 perfect performance al core 4.7 GHz

you also keep an eye on the graphics card.
special airports taxi the cpu is bored and with WQHD the 2080 ti is borderline.
i had massive improvement with amd 5900 and 3080 nvidia

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Thank you both! Very vital information.

At the end of the day, it's a balancing act between finance and performance. However, one solid contester may be the i5 10600k - 6 cores, 12 mb cache @ 4.1 GHz. What's your take? It's either that or the 9700F, judging by budget.

Once more - great response, thank you!

K

[phil highton]

I would get the 9700f 25% more cores !

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Well, that'd require quite some cooling to run it at high Hz. Correct? Because if so, we'd have to regard hardware wear.

K

[Wilhelm Zwirchmayr]

what resolution do you play with `?
Graphic card ?
Ram?

[Konrad Bergkvist]

1920x1080

Nvidia 1060 3GB

16 GB RAM DDR4 @ 2666 MHz

GPU is subject to change, although not now during current market disruption. Although, from my basic understanding a solid CPU will have better impact on performance. At least so'd be case if FSX and FSL is more dependent on the performance of the CPU. But hey, once more, some may argue it's a case of every component working in harmony, but with great respect for my wallet, a complete hardware swap out won't happen overnight.

K

[Wilhelm Zwirchmayr]

OK, full hd a 1080 ti is enough
i made the experience myself.
16 GB could run out  - the price performance is 3200 mhz optimal
the best thing to do is to download MSI afterburner and have the loadings displayed so that you can see exactly what is running into the limit.
Both are important with FSLABS, airport the graphics card mostly runs at 100%, CPU 10%
in flight CPU up to 80%, graphics card 30% + -
depending on the settings

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Yes, by all means. From what you're saying, my short-term thesis would conclude to offset some heavy graphics, hopefully invest in a 9700F CPU, and later invest in a good GPU. For now, I want to achieve higher FPS through the CPU. 

K

[Ray Proudfoot]

Konrad is running FSX. A 1080Ti would be pointless as it would offer no advantage over a less powerful card.

As an example when I had a 780GTX 3Gb card I swapped it for a 1080 8Gb card and the fps at a busy Heathrow never changed. Resolution was 1920*1080.

FSX is CPU bound and cannot take advantage of a decent graphics card.

Whilst a faster CPU will help a faster graphics card will not.

Moving to a 64-bit P3D would mean graphics become more important as it takes a lot of the work off the CPU.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Ray Proudfoot
Extra info

[Konrad Bergkvist]

What CPU would you recommend, Ray?

K

[Ray Proudfoot]

3 minutes ago, Konrad Bergkvist said:

What CPU would you recommend, Ray?

K

The i7-9700K would be the best option from those you listed. And then overclock as much as you can whilst maintaining stability. The K suffix means it can be overclocked.

This site is useful for comparing hardware.

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-9700K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-9700F/4030vsm816132

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Thanks a bunch!

K

[phil highton]

16 hours ago, Konrad Bergkvist said:

Well, that'd require quite some cooling to run it at high Hz. Correct? Because if so, we'd have to regard hardware wear.

K

a good AIO should be enough 

[Ray Proudfoot]

2 minutes ago, phil highton said:

a good AIO should be enough 

What does that mean? 

[Peter Hastings]

5 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

What does that mean? 

AIO= 'all in one'.  It's a sealed CPU liquid cooler system.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Peter Hastings

[Ray Proudfoot]

Just now, Peter Hastings said:

AIO= 'all in one'.  It's a sealed CPU water cooler system.

Thanks. It’s always best to spell these out in full. Too many acronyms these days.

[phil highton]

Hi Ray just downloaded AI companion and saw your name in there , thanks for your work. Could   AI Companion be a replacement for the x3 little programmes i use at the moment (AIcull, AIflow and AIground ), i think we were both speaking in a thread about these programme's on avsim? rgds  

[Ray Proudfoot]

@phil highton, Hi Phil. AIC could probably replace Aicull. I haven’t used that program but I guess it removes Ai to meet a user-defined target.

I used the other two but never got much benefit from them. Probably me not reading the readme. 

AIC can be used to limit Ai and it works well with AIG.  I assume that’s the Ai package you’re using. I also use it to show other Ai in the sim and by right-clicking each entry there is an option to view that aircraft which is a nice feature.

Well worth trying especially if you run Radar Contact as there is lots of communication with other aircraft.

[phil highton]

hi Ray sadly ive tried to get AIG installed more than once , I just cant seem to get it working for me ?, I know everybody that's uses it raves about it . I keep  swapping between UTlive2 and Traffic global both of which have there flaws  , trying to get the best out of them , don't know if you recall , we had a conversation some time ago about this very topic , and I seem to remember you said you could help me install AIG . if this swapping in and out of UT and TG goes on much more as I said to " I may take you up on that offer " lol 

[Ray Proudfoot]

Hi Phil, I followed a tutorial supplied with the package but accept it is quite complicated. We could do a TeamViewer session which would allow you to watch how I set it up.

It is miles better than UTLive. Earlier this year I flew around the world and there were aircraft at every airport. The range of liveries is second to none.

[phil highton]

sounds great Ray its the immersion isn't it , that's what we are seeking !, but i don't want you trouble you and i am a little embarrassed that after maybe 3 attempts over the last couple of years I cant get it installed properly ! 

[Ray Proudfoot]

Phil,

Once I’ve done the installation and loaded a couple of airlines I’ll leave the rest to you. You don’t need to install every airline but the more the merrier really as it guarantees you’ll see Ai at every airport.

Install TeamViewer (free download) if you want my help. It’s no trouble. Send me a PM here if you wish to proceed. Next week is fine. You’ll need logins for AvSim library and flightsim.com. Easy to set them up and it aids installation.

[Marc Ehnle]

I ran FSX on a sandy bridge (i7 2700k) at 4 point something GHz with a GTX670 I believe... Absolutely fluently. I don't think that ANY of today's CPUs are "the best" for FSX. It's prehistoric... They are optimized to run with a matching GPU., not a DirectX 9 programm.

[Konrad Bergkvist]

The response has been great so far, thank you all. I've researched two possible solutions. 

I'm greatly considering to leave my H110 MoBo and buy either a 6700 or 7700. With either, I'll run the turbo boost - not considering OC.

Second alternative would be replacing the H110 with a Z390 + buying a 9700.

What's your take?

K

[Ray Proudfoot]

@Konrad Bergkvist, I would think very hard about staying with FSX. The software is now 15 years old and there will be no further updates of the Airbus.

Given the situation in the world right now with extreme shortage of graphics cards etc. I would stick with what you have. Then when supplies return to a more normal state in maybe 12 months move to P3D. That will require a new mobo, CPU, GPU, RAM and power supply. In short, a new computer. And you would have to buy the Airbus again. Not sure if discounts are available for FSX owners.

Adding a more powerful CPU to your existing setup will improve things but by how much I couldn’t say. I know what I suggest is a considerable financial outlay but moving to P3D brings many advantages.

Just something to chew over.

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Right, one more option would be as follows:

AMD Ryzen 7 4750G

Nvidia 1060 3 Gb

16 Gb DDR4 3200 MHz

What's your take?

K

[Markus Burkhard]

10 hours ago, Konrad Bergkvist said:

I'm greatly considering to leave my H110 MoBo and buy either a 6700 or 7700. With either, I'll run the turbo boost - not considering OC.

Second alternative would be replacing the H110 with a Z390 + buying a 9700.

If you can get a 6700 or 7700 CPU for very little money (they don't have any real value anymore) then that might be a viable option for you to get some more perf. out of FSX.

Your other alternative, buying a Z390 board with a 9700K is better of course, but doesn't really make sense if you want to stay on FSX. You'd pay a lot of money now with a rather small performance benefit because of the old limited architecture of FSX. 

 

9 hours ago, Konrad Bergkvist said:

AMD Ryzen 7 4750G

Nvidia 1060 3 Gb

16 Gb DDR4 3200 MHz

What is your current GPU model? A 1060 3GB is not at all future-proof so might not be worth the effort of upgrading as it will be hopelessly underperforming a year from now.

Buying that CPU is a good choice if on a budget, however if you then select this GPU you'd get yourself a bottleneck right there. You'd need something like a 2070 GPU to fit that CPU. But then you'd be at the same spot as above, no real use for getting that hardware if you want to stay on FSX.

AND

As has been mentioned, due to supply shortage it is the worst possible time in recent history to buy newer generation hardware parts, prices are simply way too high right now.

[phil highton]

On 3/12/2021 at 10:01 PM, Ray Proudfoot said:

Phil,

Once I’ve done the installation and loaded a couple of airlines I’ll leave the rest to you. You don’t need to install every airline but the more the merrier really as it guarantees you’ll see Ai at every airport.

Install TeamViewer (free download) if you want my help. It’s no trouble. Send me a PM here if you wish to proceed. Next week is fine. You’ll need logins for AvSim library and flightsim.com. Easy to set them up and it aids installation.

Well good morning ray, i finally managed to AIG installed yesterday and yes everybody is correct it does look great, i instaaled around 40 ish airlins and installed AI comanion as well , just fiddling with that right now. happy days and thanks for your offer of help !

[Ray Proudfoot]

Well done Phil. Just another 960 to go.  I knew you’d crack it.

[phil highton]

thanks ray just a question , is there any way that AIG/AI companion could be turning off power in the flight deck of the FSL when iam trying to programme the mcdu for a flight ?

[Ray Proudfoot]

3 hours ago, phil highton said:

thanks ray just a question , is there any way that AIG/AI companion could be turning off power in the flight deck of the FSL when iam trying to programme the mcdu for a flight ?

I don't have the Airbus Phil so I can't check but it sounds extremely unlikely. Just disable the AIG add-on in the Addon menu, exit and restart. The Ai won't be loaded so that's a good place to start.

[phil highton]

hi again Ray, schoolboy error on my part ( key binding conflict) all good now

[Konrad Bergkvist]

Hello community,

The past week has been great, and I'd like to thank everyone of you for reaching out and trying to help. I didn't expect any replies as FSX is so incredible past its best before date. 

Nevertheless, since I'm not doing the switch to P3D, I've settled with an i7-6700K, that'll be run at 4 GHz. Thank you once again!

K