I've been asked to fast-track a build using Intel/AMD for Flight Simulator, help from the Council of [H] requested...

H

HeadRusch

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 8, 2007
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Had a quick ask to put together a 1k build (or thereabouts) for Microsoft Flight Simulator. .....I'm spending half the budget on a 4070, and I'm looking for a reasonable build to complete it. This is not for a gamer, this is for a retired pilot. This is 30 locked or 60 with DLSS at some resolution that won't be 4k, thinking ultrawide at 1440p.

I need a CPU that won't starve the 4070. Ram and SSD I can handle, I'm trying to keep the build in a small to mid tower so a motherboard recommendation along with the CPU would be appreciated.......amd...intel.....bang for the buck with that ~$1k budget is key.

Hit me, and thanks for your opinion in advance everyone.
 
500 bucks is harsh...
That means last last gen to spread the money.

At least he gets 32Gb of ram and 5.25 bays for future blueray/dvd players since he inevitably will still have those (no BR/DVD player included in the list):
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ftPt7R

He is nor far off (250ish bucks) to get way newer hardware from last year.
 
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Yeah it's rough, but there is some wiggle room. Last Gen CPU in this case is going to be somewhat "Who Cares" to the user....unfortunately FlightSim is that one game that is actually going to hammer a CPU....But I didn't think we'd be back in 5600 territory, I think that I probably need to take a couple steps up from. 7000 Series and the inevitable hit, or is that an Intel 12th or 13th gen in there hiding, guessing that is where your additional $250 comment is coming from, I'm doing legwork on my own.

This user isn't going to care if he gets DDR4 or DDR5, he wont care if it's USB 3.0 or 3.2......it's more about knowing the specifics of this build and it's purpose, trying to find that sweet spot knowing that 4070 is about as low as I dare go.

Thanks for putting that build together and taking the time.
 
That budget is just not enough for a good experience considering the flight control hardware costs as well as the pc unless he already has that covered. The best experience costs more than twice that budget. That said the best flight stick I've ever found at a reasonable budget is made by VKB for about $200.00 USD. Yoke and rudder pedal sets are considerably more than that. The VKB sticks don't use potentiometers that wear out and cause glitchy response to inputs.
 
Peripherals are on him, I'm trying to maintain a steady 30 or VRR'ed 50+, so I'm focusing on the build. I can see him going basic yolk/rudders/throttle....but that's not part of the budget I'm working with. Also, I agree.
 
I'd go with a used am4 5800x ddr4 combo. They can be found for fairly cheap
 
I could sound like an dangerous crazy person, but if it is just to play Flight Sim (which is not uncommon) and budget is tight, one could consider Xbox X.

Lot of Flight Sim hardware work on it, should work well out of the box and all the time, connect easily on the person TV setup.

If a non gaming computer upgrade was needed anyway, XboxX+nice Laptop or tablet would fit the budget.
 
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Point. I honestly have no idea how the Series X supports Flight Simulator, I assumed it was mainly you're stuck on the controller (or paying for expensive X-Box Aware peripherals). I'll take a browse but I think I'm still leaning in the Win11 direction.
 
HeadRusch said:
Point. I honestly have no idea how the Series X supports Flight Simulator, I assumed it was mainly you're stuck on the controller (or paying for expensive X-Box Aware peripherals). I'll take a browse but I think I'm still leaning in the Win11 direction.
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It must be way more limited, in official support at least, but there some option, I would recommend a simple regular mouse keyboard kit at a minimum for the UI.

https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com...e-compatible-with-Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-
Microsoft Flight Simulator fully supports

  • Xbox gamepad
  • keyboard and mouse
  • Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One,
  • Thrustmaster T.Flight Rudder,
  • HORI HOTAS Flight Stick for Xbox One.
Also:
-VelocityOne™ Flight Universal Control System – Turtle Beach,
-honeycomb alpha controls XPC
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/07/22/official-microsoft-flight-sim-accessories/
 
As people mentioned, MSFS2020 is heavy on CPU.

So heavy that it might be indicated to redirect some money from GPU to CPU.
 
Now that is looking promising............I'm looking at a...what, a 750w PS ought to get the job done with a 4070 and this combo above, probably a single NVME driving this whole thing.....

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in today, it's appreciated.
 
AFAIK, MSFS isn't very multithreaded but it is highly dependent on single-thread CPU perf. I'll put in a vote for 5600X3D. According to the Tom's Hardware review (Sauce), it does extremely well in MSFS, much better than non-X3D Zen3 and even better than midrange Intel 12th/13th-gen.
 
Anywhere near Seattle Wa.? Seattle craigs list dude has a B550 Tomahawk 32 Gigs 3600 Gskill and a 5800X3D combo for sale $300.00 proc is less than a year old with bestbuy receipt proof.
 
learners permit said:
Anywhere near Seattle Wa.? Seattle craigs list dude has a B550 Tomahawk 32 Gigs 3600 Gskill and a 5800X3D combo for sale $300.00 proc is less than a year old with bestbuy receipt proof.
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Negative but that's a solid deal.....
tell him you need more money.
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Tried that......explained VR, Cockpit Builds, Triple-Screen 4K Spanned Images, ButtKickers and the allmighty power of RGB lighting and what these boss-level specs require in terms of funding..............he, in turn, looked at me like with a faint glimmer of disappointment in his eye and casually reminded me that he paid for my college and did I want the grand to do this or not.
1697891165143.jpeg

:)
 
mda said:
If that dude paid for my college and I wasn't exactly broke, guy may have spec'ed out a midrange CPU but may find he suddenly has a 7800X3D in there. ;)
Click to expand...

Indeed, I needed a refresher-course on where to start with this budget, was out of the loop on the CPU scene the past years since I built a 5600x game box for another family member.....always wise to check with the big brains here first...then we think about smart, bang for the buck upgrades that will matter.
 
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I could contact the guy in Seattle and see if he will ship the combo to me. Is there an allotted time frame for this?
 
^^^^^^^ LP, I hope you've got some good karma coming your way for even offering up that option, seriously, [H] community never disappoints. <bows> I'm still weighing my options so right now, I'll take a pause on the Craigslist offer to help, thank you for offering to go to bat.

I'm about 48 hours into this "..Wait, you're serious??" build request and a couple of you have tapped me on the shoulder via PM, right now I am wrapping my head around the options above and trying to plan it out, you know how this goes.......I've got about a month to put this together, give or take. Now I'm armed with some knowledge and I have to go next-step,
I think I have an old case I can re-purpose, etc.
 
I emailed the Seattle seller a bit ago so I'll let you know what his reply is about shipping at my expense. Even if you opt for another route that is just too good to pass up for that price.
 
There's also the option of open box deals, if you have one nearby you, or someone willing to ship a deal. For instance, just something I slapped together with what I had nearby.

1697937198358.png


You can also tend to get them to give you the $20 off CPU/Mobo combo deal so it would be a bit cheaper than this. The motherboard would be $40 in this case. It's a very barebones motherboard (not 100% sure how good it is).
 
I bought a bargain basement Gigabyte mobo from Microcenter once, worked fine just had awful coil whine.

If the guy paid for my college I'd probably slip in a couple hundred of my own to get him a 5800X3D or something with good CPU performance.
 
Thread Capping!........the build is COMPLETE thanks to a fellow HardOCP Veteran who hooked me up, and I'm damn close to budget.

However nothing........absolutely nothing could prepare me for the WEAPONS-GRADE STUPIDITY of the MSFS Installation Process! Holy fucknutz it's RIDICULOUS! EVERY OTHER GAME ON THE PLANET: Click Button, GAME INSTALL! BUT THIS!?!?!?! A game takes 20 hours to install!?!?!?! I'm entering in command prompts with Network reset commands, I'm disabling xmp profiles and all potential sources of overclocking within the bios, I'm watching files uncompress at a snails pace, it's bat-sheet crazy in 2023 that this happens. It just stops! It'll keep the cpus pegged and it's just sitting there...for hours! And then you restart, maybe it keeps going...maybe not.....wow just...wow.

Any of you guys run MSFS? has it always been this bad even before or is this a new thing with Windows 11 or some new build of the game or what have you. It's taking like 60 minutes just to uninstall a single aircraft package, its on 12/508...whatever that means.....I know the bottom number is my diastolic BP number, that's for sure.........it's like....its...its 2023 man!!! This is nuts! :D
 
Yup pain in the arse and god forbid ya gotta reinstall it because an in game purchase broke the base game. Try it in VR that's loads more fun. I've had an in game aircraft purchase pending for nearly 6 months. You'd think they would be fixing that sorta shit cuz it pays them cash but noooo! I had jump through 100 hoops to get them to remove the pending purchase so I could try again but I'm reluctant to do so now.
So give the detailed system specs on the build?
 
Yep mfsf is a royal pain from all I've heard. So what are the final specs? Glad to hear you got it together!
 
HeadRusch said:
Thread Capping!........the build is COMPLETE thanks to a fellow HardOCP Veteran who hooked me up, and I'm damn close to budget.

However nothing........absolutely nothing could prepare me for the WEAPONS-GRADE STUPIDITY of the MSFS Installation Process! Holy fucknutz it's RIDICULOUS! EVERY OTHER GAME ON THE PLANET: Click Button, GAME INSTALL! BUT THIS!?!?!?! A game takes 20 hours to install!?!?!?! I'm entering in command prompts with Network reset commands, I'm disabling xmp profiles and all potential sources of overclocking within the bios, I'm watching files uncompress at a snails pace, it's bat-sheet crazy in 2023 that this happens. It just stops! It'll keep the cpus pegged and it's just sitting there...for hours! And then you restart, maybe it keeps going...maybe not.....wow just...wow.

Any of you guys run MSFS? has it always been this bad even before or is this a new thing with Windows 11 or some new build of the game or what have you. It's taking like 60 minutes just to uninstall a single aircraft package, its on 12/508...whatever that means.....I know the bottom number is my diastolic BP number, that's for sure.........it's like....its...its 2023 man!!! This is nuts! :D
Click to expand...

The best part is that all those 2D GUI screens in the management and launching sections run your 3D hardware at full power.

So you can't really let it sit there updating and leave for work, or you'll come home to a very hot room.
 
mda said:
If that dude paid for my college and I wasn't exactly broke, guy may have spec'ed out a midrange CPU but may find he suddenly has a 7800X3D in there. ;)
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I've done something like that for my dad a bunch of times. My parents paid for my CS degree, and I can afford it. Basically dad likes computer games. Mom thinks it's a waste of time and gives him shit if he spends too much $ on computer gaming stuff. An occasional game is no problem but mom will notice if he buys a board, proc and ram, vid card, etc.. Net result is I buy most of his computer stuff, box it up, and give it to him for Christmas. Coming up with Christmas presents for mom is another story. Might have to get hitched and knock some chick up to make her happy.
 
zandor said:
I've done something like that for my dad a bunch of times. My parents paid for my CS degree, and I can afford it. Basically dad likes computer games. Mom thinks it's a waste of time and gives him shit if he spends too much $ on computer gaming stuff. An occasional game is no problem but mom will notice if he buys a board, proc and ram, vid card, etc.. Net result is I buy most of his computer stuff, box it up, and give it to him for Christmas. Coming up with Christmas presents for mom is another story. Might have to get hitched and knock some chick up to make her happy.
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Yeah my grandma loves her little games, she plays a lot of puzzle games and strategy stuff. She has no idea the laptop I got her cost $1500 and I plan to keep it that way. I told her it was a spare one I had from when I used to have to travel for work all the time lol
 
....this god @($*3 game is not any closer to being installed or playable....but the box turned out fine :D

Thermaltake basic black case
GSkill 850w PS (just in case)
I5-13600KF on a B660 MB paried up with 32g of Gskill Ripjaws 6000 and an MSI 4070, hosted on a 2tb Samsung 990 Pro...most of this stuff was on sale when I shopped weeks ago, those pre-black-friday sales. And the CPU/MB courtesy of a fellow [H] who will remain nameless unless he wants to take a victory lap here in the thread for hooking me up with a solid deal that kept me under budget.

It's been fun building a new box, watching it come together, working through some bone-headed screw ups I made and then figured out at the last second......and it goes without saying but I'll say it again anyhow, it's good that Forums like this still exist in an age of Social Media BS, I really appreciate the advice and council here, as always, my thanks!
 
UPDATE: after deleting it a couple times...and wasting about 1/2 a terabyte in lost downloads, it just up and installed in 3 hours right before thanksgiving.

...............................ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu........I mean I'm happy but the journey to get here was FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuu...... etc

The Computer Gods just effing with me. I did what they asked.....I built a PC temple to honor them......I added the thermal paste, the Heat Sink Fan...to keep the CPU cool and prevent the escape of the blue smoke upon which all computers run..............and STILL they mess with me. *sigh*

Anyhow build complete, person who requested it delighted, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! THANK U BROTHERS.
afbe9deb86f1211767ee4dcec88f9e8e.jpg
 
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