EightyDuce

The value isn't terrible actually (frame/dollar), however, very hard to justify for DCS alone, as it would be in my case... Simply to drive VR without reprojection. Will see how 4080 and 7900XT perform. Edit: but there are also quite a few folks that went out and bought a 3090ti, which wasn't cheap (some bought it at 2k) by any means. Not sure if it's because of availability or simply because they was the best you could get, but obviously there is a market for a $1600 GPU. Honestly, if you're not looking to do VR, a 4090 will easily last you 3+ years of solid game play at 4k.

It may finally be the card to make VR a solid experience, very interested in DCS performance numbers. Seeing that's it seems to be 50-65% faster than 3090 Ti on average I would expect similar results in DCS. Though the price is... Ooooof. Hopefully 4080 16Gb or 7900XT come in with good performance at a better price.

In gaming it's anywhere between 10-25% on avg. over 5800X. Biggest gains are in single threaded games like DCS, with the biggest impact being frametime (very important in VR) and it virtually eliminates any RAM bottleneck.

I would try make a custom fan curve in MSI AB if your fans don't come on until 60C (very strange), which seems rather high, especially for idle.

It's going to depend card to card and as been mentioned below 900 mV is pretty aggressive under-volting so I instability is not unexpected. As for memory, it is also a silicon lottery as I'm easily able to hit +1200 on the vRAM and no crashes in DCS; max stable your core first then do RAM as core will bring the most performance uplift vs. the vRAM. At least on a 3060ti.

Yeah, this has been a thing for a while now but hasn't gotten much traction, probably because many are stuck in the old ways of overclocking where "moar voltage =moar better". Example, my wife's 3060ti, best it could do stock was 1960 core on stock settings. With added voltage it could run 2035 but it would be hot as crap, suck power and would still throttle down to low 1900s With undervolting I could get to lock in at 937mV, hit 1995 consistently and stayed at 2035 more often than not, while using close to 30w less and 8c lower temp and performed better (w/ a +1100 on mem OC).

There are no potential issues with it being an AMD cpu, its solid. However, if you are staying on AM4 with DDR4, I would highly recommend going with 5800X3D if your focus is VR. It can be had on Amazon for $384.

I'm not sure I understand what it is you're saying, so I apologize if I'm off. AM5 IS going to be the AMD platform for the near future, at least as far as Zen 5 is concerned, and maybe even Zen 6. AMD projects 3-5 year plan for sockets unlike Intel, which up to this point changed almost every other generation. There is absolutely no reason why you wouldn't be able to use "1st gen" AM5 boards (X670/B650) with Zen5 unless AMD completely goes back on what they have said and done in the last 5 years. Not entirely sure what DDR5 has to do with anything; besides, X3D virtually eliminates RAM bottleneck with the large cache. Currently available DDR5, while not as cheap as "cheap" DDR4, has gotten much faster while getting cheaper ($225-300 for 32Gb). You could take a gable and get Kinston 5600 DDR5 which can be Hynix or Samsung, and if you get Hynix chips, you are pretty much guaranteed to hit 6400 and possibly 6600.

Not sure about the benchmarks as DCS is a bit of an odd bird as its on an old engine which leans on single-thread performance but.... The next V-cash chip(s) like the 7800X3D and the 7950X3D (supposedly coming Q1 '23) will be absolute monsters for DCS due to single thread performance and will be unmatched by any other AMD or Intel chip. Outside of the X3D models, 7600X will likely trade blows with i5 in single thread and lose out in MT (irrelevant in DCS). I am finally upgrading this generation from a 7700K and 1080ti (which absolutely got wrecked by my Reverb G2). My build is going to be 7800X3D on a X670 or B650E board, 32Gb DDR5, and either a 4080 or a 7800XT. AMD route for CPU isn't going to be cheap though, CPU probably $500, Mobo $250-350, ram 200-300 but will last several generations of chips on the AM5 platform. Intel, you're getting a dead-end socket...but you can also still use DDR4.

If building am AMD system right now, I'd say 5800X3D over a 5800 or a 5900. The 6750XT is plenty of muscle outside of VR. That being said, AM4 is a dead end platform so when you upgrade it will have to be a new motherboard and CPU. However, 5800X3D will easily hold you over for a couple of years (unless you need DDR5 and PCIE 5 right now).

Just keep an eye on the Temps as Zen3 has a hard thermal throttle limit at 90C. As you found out, for Alienware cooling and airflow are an afterthought. I would consider getting a better cooler if you can, just to get further away from 90C if you often get near the limit.

Yup, works fine in Win 11.

Unfortunately your math doesn't add up when it comes to internet warriors. While 2 is less the 5, the 2 will make exponentially more negative noise online than the positive/silent 5. Which creates a situation where a newcomer may be dissuaded from DCS all together because of the loud minority spewing whiny garbage all over the web. And just all around create drama.

Unfortunately it won't do what you want it to do because, well, it already exists and is called Early Access. It is a means to "release some of the pressure on the XXXXXXX deadline" for a finished product and attempt to quell the loud masses who are foaming at the mouth for the product (while at the same time provide additional cash flow for continued development). A DEMO for an early release will only create more "bad press" as people cry about lack of features in said demo as continue to bug the devs for release of Early Access/Finished Product. I think you're underestimating the self-entitlement and need for instant gratification of some of our more "vocal" folks. ED, keep on keeping on.

Still blows my mind that people pay money, knowing full well they're paying for early access whenever it is released, then complain that things get delayed and that they are owed a product because they paid for early access, cursing ED for "never releasing early access on time". Then the same people buy another EA module and restart the cycle. I'm over here wondering where people are getting all of this free time to sit around and have nothing to do if a DCS EA module isn't released when projected.

Simply because some people will still complain about bugs/lack of "promised" features and demand action. Then, they'll continue to complain that fixes are taking too long or ED isn't listening to "customers". Same reason we can't have nice things.... People.

Here's your answer....

I would research how to maximize your platform and it's a capability before you upgrade. I'm not currently running an AMD (zen2) platform, but my brother does, and he had boost "issues" which were solved with a deep dive into the BIOS. I'm not sure what your settings in the BIOS are, but I would check on DOCP and PBO (precision boost overdrive). Also 5GHz is single core boost, multi-core will be roughly 100-200mhz lower. I would also look into thermal throttling, Zen2 had a softcap of 80C and hard cap of 90/95C (though I think Zen3 removed the 80C soft cap) . From your original screenshot you're showing 79C, which is quite high for gaming and is close to the hard cap (poor cooler, poor contact, poor case ventilation or combination of all 3). You're getting similar frame time to what I'm getting on my 7700k@5.1 Ghz (but at more conservative graphics settings) , something isn't right with your setup. I would dig deep into the bios, as honestly I think you'll be wasting money going from your current platform to a 12900KF platform.

Nice....!

Just downloaded the 0.2.2 latest. Seems to contain the dxgi.dll. Double check your download.

Not exactly. VRPerfkit encompasses both OpenVR FSR and OpenVR foveated and should NOT be used in conjuction. If you're not using any ReShade or other shader modifications that utilizes dxgi.dll, then VRPerfkit is the one for you. If you have something like ReShade that already modifies the dxgi.dll then you would need to use OpenVR FSR as it interacts with openVR_api.dll instead of dxgi.dll

What you're seeing isn't necessarily VRAM being used, rather it is what has been allocated. Basically put, you're fine with 11GB.

Nice! I might have to 3d print myself the deluxe version.

Worth a shot. Just make a perks at work account with your work email and see if HP is on the list. I work for the local government and was surprised to see we were eligible; but I'm not the one to look a gift horse in the mouth. It's a bit of a pain, since you have to make a P@W account then an HP employee pricing account but it's a few minutes of your time to save another $60. What is this you speak of?

Didn't know where to put this (mods move if needed), but might be interesting for those looking to pick up a G2. HP currently has a deal on the Reverb G2 for $450. Also if you're your work participates in Perks at Work (make an account with your work email) you get access to their HP employee pricing which brings the price down to $389. Finally bit the bullet and snagged one for $389 ($412 shipped). https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-reverb-g2-virtual-reality-headset?