Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler - Need Help to Upgrade My 3 year old PC

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | Need Help to Upgrade My 3 year old PC

DVA13105
Captain, B737-800
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Joined on October 14 2016
B737 50 Club
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Century Club

"Can't Soar with Eagles if you Hoot with the Owls"
Colonial Heights, VA

103 legs, 214.0 hours
103 legs, 214.0 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on November 02 2019 12:40 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

Hey Everyone,

So back in February 2016 I built my first PC from scratch and even today it runs well.

I fly FSX Steam and P3Dv4 and dabble in X-Plane 11.35 (fps suck). I'd like to get my fps up. Right now for instance at KATL Gate B4 Medium Realism No Traffic Default Graphics in the cockpit I am at roughly 16 to 18 fps which is not bad at all and 28 to 30 fps outside with no AI. If I add AI to the mix ( 50% Airline, 25% GA and Medium Vehicle no land or sea ) to add more realism I get 8 to 12 fps in the cockpit and 18 or less outside.

I run Active Sky and Rex Skyforce 3D and FSUIPC.

I fly A2A, PMDG, Carenado, MADDOG.

Here are my PC Specs.:

Windows 10 64-bit

AMD FX-6300Six-Core Processor

HyperX FURY 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Memory Model HX316C10FB/8 (x4=32.0GB RAM)

AMD Radeon R9 380 Series

GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P (rev. 2.0) AM3+ AMD 970 6 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

RAIDMAX XT series RX-500XT 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

I have three monitors:

A Samsung 24" C24F390, HDMI curved monitor for my main monitor and two other monitors for maps and things. ( Asus VS207,VGA 19" and an RCA MStar Demo HDMI 21" TV )

Saitek yoke, throttle and rudder peddles and a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro on the side for extra buttons. Also a UtechSmart Laser Gaming mouse

I am on a "Wife" budget if you know what I mean so I don't have a ton I can spend. I would like to upgrade my CPU and GPU. I think that is the way to go with what I have.

I doubt I will ever afford something to run X-Plane at any decent fps with medium settings. And God knows what we'll need for the new Microsoft Flight Sim.

Realistically I can only afford one thing at a time so after all said and done with my Motherboard and Power Supply does anyone have any suggestions?

I have read so much online my eyes are crossed and can't think straight.

I used PCPartsPicker to build my current PC but I just wanted to get some ideas from others.

So with that I just want to say thanks in advance for any help.

Remember " Great things just don't happen. You have to make them happen!"

Brooks Ingersoll

Brooks Ingersoll (DVA13105)

DVA13608
Captain, A320

Joined on January 26 2019
Moose Club
Century Club
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Toulouse Century Club
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Edmonton, AB Canada

143 legs, 242.3 hours
140 legs, 235.1 hours online
140 legs, 238.3 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on November 03 2019 09:05 ET by Gerard Beekmans

CPU is going to have the single biggest impact on flight simming. GPU is used but not as much so I would invest more money in a CPU than a GPU unless you also want to use it for other games. I upgraded last year to an Intel Core i7-9700K which, at the time, was near top line without spending thousands of dollars on that single item. It's not a hyperthreaded CPU which is more beneficial for flight sims such as P3D and FSX (though you will find arguments for and against it). I have not regretted the purchase and it's still going very strong. Some very heavy airports and flying addons like FSLabs A320 will drop my FPS down to the 10s and 20s but typically I'll get 30-60 fps. When flying at night, in pitch black, at 36000, I'll get 120fps because there's nothing to render. wink

Gerard Beekmans

Captain, A320

Posted onPost created on November 03 2019 12:41 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

Thanks Gerard that is sort of what I was thinking as well.

Everything I have is AMD so I was thinking of going with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or the AMD Rezen 7 2700X. Price wise they are close.

I think my PSU is ok with the 102w. I like the 8 core processor. What do you think?

Brooks Ingersoll (DVA13105)

Posted onPost created on November 04 2019 00:19 ET by Gerard Beekmans

Despite 6 cores, the Ryzen 5 3600 actually scores better in benchmarks than the Ryzen 7 2700x. The 3600 is almost more power efficient. If all you are looking to do with it is flight sim type stuff, the 3600 is a better bet. You may get 2 fewer cores but it outperforms the other one regardless.

Gerard Beekmans

Captain, A320

Posted onPost created on November 04 2019 11:21 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

That’s the info I needed. Thanks. I did see a used Ryzen 7 2700 for like $79. Any thoughts on used/ like new from Newegg?

Brooks Ingersoll (DVA13105)

Posted onPost created on November 04 2019 11:58 ET by Gerard Beekmans

I personally try to stay away from used, refurbished, "like new" and other terminology used for products. You never quite know what you're getting but if the price is right, it's maybe worth a try. It's a personal decision based on budget and risk tolerance. I'd at the least find out about warranties. If they will give you the same manufacturer warranty (typically 1 year), then that is something. Do check into when the warranty is going to expire. In some cases a product is sold with "original warranty" which, sometimes (not always), means it starts from when the original person bought it, not when YOU bought it. If the product's warranty has already active for 10 months and you finally get it, you only get 2 months of the remaining warranty. This doesn't happen always so just check when you purchase.

Gerard Beekmans

Captain, A320

Posted onPost created on November 04 2019 17:22 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

Excellent advise Gerard I will definitely check into that.

I have to say the price is so good but sometimes you get what you pay for. LOL

I'll let you know what happens. The big test will be X-Plane 11 full bore! (No way you'd need a 4 thousand dollar PC for that)

Thanks again for all your advise I'll let you know in a couple of weeks.

Brooks Ingersoll (DVA13105)

Posted onPost created on November 04 2019 17:24 ET by Gerard Beekmans

Good luck with the decision making. smile

Gerard Beekmans

Captain, A320

DVA3680
First Officer, B767-300
OLP

Joined on November 01 2006
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Berthoud, CO

114 legs, 232.4 hours
97 legs, 212.8 hours online
106 legs, 215.1 hours ACARS
2 legs, 3.7 hours event

Posted onPost created on November 06 2019 14:33 ET by Kevin Williams

ouch, that FX CPU needs to go! Don't forget that you'll need new RAM when you upgrade too. I think a Ryzen 5 3600 and a B450 motherboard is at a great performance to price sweet spot. And while you're at it grab a cheap nvme ssd to throw in there with it smile

Kevin Williams

First Officer, B767-300

Posted onPost created on November 06 2019 15:22 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

Thanks Kevin, I have heard that the FX is out and the Ryzen is in. My budget is tight so I have to spread these things out.

I am very much a novice at PC building. I hope I don't blow something up LOL. The more I want to do the more questions I have. I would like to do the most with what little I have.

Will the Ryzen 5 3600 not work on my Mother Board? The only thing I found was I need check my BIOS.

32.0gb not enough ram? Update to 62.0gb. Is that to cover the CPU? Will that work in my MB? I have the slots.

I had considered a new build maybe next year or earlier maybe in the $800 range.

I'm not familiar with the NVME SSD. I do like the B450 motherboard.

Anyway food for thought. Thanks again Kevin.

Brooks Ingersoll (DVA13105)

Posted onPost created on November 06 2019 16:27 ET by Kevin Williams

Yeah the FX chip is AM3, Ryzen is AM4 so your current motherboard won't work, you'll have to get a new AM4 motherboard. And what I mean by new RAM is that yours is DDR3. Your new motherboard uses the newer DDR4, so you'll need to buy some. You shouldn't need more than 16GB, and can get by with 8gb.

Nvme drives and stupid fast compared to the old spinny drives and you can pick up a decent 512gb one for about $55 or a 256GB one for around $30.

Do you have a microcenter near you? They'll often give you $30 off if you buy a cpu and mobo together. If they have a lot of open boxes they'll let you get the discount with one of those too. I bought an open box B350 for $50, and with the $30 bundle discount it was basically $20 for the motherboard.

So things you'll for sure need will be a compatible motherboard, cpu, and ddr4 ram.

Kevin Williams

First Officer, B767-300

Posted onPost created on November 06 2019 17:21 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

Great info Kevin thanks a bunch. So with what I have left over I should be able to switch over. Case, power ect. ?

Brooks Ingersoll (DVA13105)

Posted onPost created on March 31 2020 07:19 ET by Brooks Ingersoll

All done!! Tweaking time.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six-Core CPU, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT GPU, 4x16gb Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-25600 3200MHz RAM,
MSI Arsenal Gaming AMD B450 motherboard with a Samsung 970 EVO SSD 500GB - M.2 NVMe and a 1Tb Samsung SSD SATA III.
P3Dv4 is at a mostly high setting. Haven't over clocked yet AMD Adrenaline is doing some of the work.
I am not that good at how to set things up yet but I'll get it soon enough. Thank Goodness for YouTube right? cool

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