Bossco82

HI Doom you could get stutter using Radeon Chill, especially if your using a Track IR. Look under Radeons global graphics advanced options for "framerate target control" gives a better result than using Radeon chill. Failing that if you have a 60hz monitor, just use Vsync, both in DCS and under the DCS Radeon options

Hi Doom, I owned a MSI 6800xt Gaming Trio and that was quiet when playing DCS. That was if I ran a 60fps cap or ran it flat out. So something doesn't sound right. As for undervolting start out with 1100Mv with a 2200Mhz minimum and a 2300Mhz maximum for DCS set in the Radeon software. I would trial and error out from that. You can also try opening up GPUZ in the background and keep an eye on the temps, like someone else said. It could be a sign of a bad thermal paste application, however XFX are suppose to be one of the best for aftermarket AMD cards. Finally, does it have a performance bios? Is it using "RAGE" mode in Radeon?

HI mate for a 2080ti, try an undervolt using MSI afterburner, plenty of Youtube videos for a guide. Go for 1950Mhz @ 0.950mv and tweak around from that. Should save a good 10 deg C on the temps and around 30-50 watts from the wall if I remember correctly when I had one.

Its only an idea... You could save money and get a 5600x for the CPU, then save on the cooler and fans too. That saved can be put towards a bigger GPU. If I was building a system from scratch for DCS in todays climate. I would carefully as I could buy used for a lot and save as much as I could for the best GPU I could afford.

Right ok then. I was right in the place you are in now. If you have a 4k and your stuck to using 1080p on it. Forget AMD completely, not that its a bad card but its not the best solution for your needs. I personally ditched the 4k TV and got a proper 1440p monitor, I don't regret that decision either. However you probably don't want to be that drastic! I wanted to keep my options open. Save up and get a 2080ti, it has the memory bandwidth to cope with 4k resolution. I had a 2080ti linked up to a 4k TV and it handled proper 4k resolution in DCS with 2x MSAA. That is a pretty good solution for a solid 60fps, even down low.

OK I will only slightly straighten something out here.... Please dont take it the wrong way Xoxen. The AMD drivers really improved since I suspect you had an AMD card. An Nvidia card like the 2080ti has a larger memory bus than even the fastest AMD card. This makes the Nvidia slightly faster than AMD at resolutions of 4k, it copes with MSAA much better at this resolution. However at single monitor 1440p or below an AMD 6800xt is faster than a 2080ti or 1080ti. I suspect this is due to its higher clock speed and memory capacity. If you want to reduce shimmering and improve aliasing. Get a 1440p monitor and use 4x MSAA, SSAA will kill your fps, it does this using a 3090, I know I have one. If the monitor has Freesync buy an AMD 6800, the XT version is better if you can. If its fixed rate or you plan to try 4k, buy the 2080ti or better but if you plan on ever trying resolutions higher than 1440p ultrawide, buy Nvidia. I had a AMD 6800xt and use a 1440p monitor. I recently got a 3090fe for my 40th. It improved pretty much nothing as I use a 60fps cap so my Track IR looks smoother. An AMD 6800xt can maintain a solid 60fps everywhere in DCS and I like flying low in the weeds. Using these settings....

If it helps I am not a serious simmer but I am an enthusiastic one, 20yrs plus. I have the X56 and I love it. If it broke I would buy it again. It fits on my desk without too much fuss and has enough buttons for DCS. Never used a Warthog hotas so I cant compare.

Ok, well I have owned most of those. A RX 6800 or a 2080ti will be a step above a 3060 either way. If you have a monitor with Freesync go with AMD. Their new framerate target control feature is exceptional when coupled with Freesync. If you have a fixed rate monitor, probably a 2080ti because Nvidia just seems to sync a little smoother. I owned a 2080ti and a 6800xt last year and there wasn't that much in it. Apart from the fact the AMD card will manage Freesync so much better. Nvidia, Freesync and "flight sims" dont work well together in my opinion. There is more to consider than which is the most powerful. Which will synchronise with your monitor better. Unless you use VR of coarse.

You know what, I like Hectors idea there. Buy a massive Nvidia GPU and then we wont rely on natural gas in Europe! Simply game while heating your home. I too am sceptical and suspect a bit of a rumour. The 3090ti has had its delays after all. I dont see the point of a graphics card going past 450w requirements. I mean that was my whole gaming PC's power draw 10 years ago. Owning a 3090fe, (it was an over the top gift, I wanted a 3080ti) I genuinely cant see much more than that needed. Unless its for MSFS @ 4k or more!

Yeah, I know what you mean. Soon Youtube video reviewers will just be doing it for each other. If the rest of us can afford the parts and if the shops have them in stock. You then need the electric to power it all. Which if Europe has a war going on can only be bad news for economics in general. Obviously there are much worse consequences, forgive me on that one. One thing to consider though. If you play something like DCS with a 60fps cap. Often higher power cards actually use less electric to achieve the same 60fps, often on higher settings too. I went from a 5700xt, to a 2080ti, to a 6800xt and now a 3090fe. I use less electric each time. My 3090 is fine as long as its under 80% load, if it goes above that then the watts go north! I am in total agreement though 750-800 watts for just the gpu? Get real Nvidia.

If it helps I would go with a 12700k in a DDR4 motherboard for DCS if I was in a position to. That would be to go with my 3090 too.

Again not the Palit version but for 1440p your looking at a solid 60fps in most places and even down low if you run the shadows on low.

Hi Burt, No worries. Yeah when I try to measure an undervolt I try to find out what a game needs first. So I run with optimal power and a 60fps limit and sort of see where the GPU numbers settle. The 3090 needed about 1150mhz in a free flight in the fa-18. It was using idle voltage but was pulling 135w. This does go up if you fly low in a built up area. I setup an undervolt of 1600mhz using 0.775mv. For 1440p 60fps maxed out minus SSAA. So far that my DCS undervolt! Hence massive overkill for 1440p 60fps. I imagine you would find its limits if you started upping the resolution. I'll test that later on in the week

Thanks Hector, I'm not gonna lie I love having the 3090 Fe in my case. Especially now I have done the thermal pad mod. The GDDR6X gets hot! Over 86-90 Deg C! It's now in the low 70's. To put the overkill into perspective. DCS maxed out minus SSAA at 1440p 60fps. Flying low level over Syria with a sunset near Ramut David. GPU clock is about 1150mhz and it's using .737mv on the core. Vram is at about 15000mb usage. I'll test with 4k if I can borrow my neighbours TV, he's a fellow tech head. It was picked up for proper Mrsp too.

For 1440p a 6800xt or a 2080ti/3080 is just about perfect. I had a MSI 6800xt Gaming X Trio and it was pretty much perfect for 1440p@60fps, before that I had a 2080ti. I got a 3090 FE for my 40th, although I love it. Its total overkill for 1440p. I really mean that, a 3080ti would be required for 4k on high settings but a 3090 is total overkill.

No worries. Thats not for 20'000ft flying either. I like fast as low wild weasel or dogfighting flying. While using a Track IR 5. It gives me a 99% solid 60fps. If it does ever dip I hardly ever notice. This has been my best case scenario for smooth flying in DCS so far, bear in mind I had a 2080ti before my 6800xt. You will need a Freesync monitor to take full advantage of those settings though.

HI Oddball. I got a new Nvidia GPU for my 40th, so my trusty 6800xt is up for sale now. I might not have it by the time you get your build done. I will still have my AMD 5600x cpu though and the same LG monitor. Here are some setting for you to try when you get your 6800xt.

HI guys, I am actually almost sad to say I have my 6800xt up for sale. It was my 40th recently and I was told there was a belated surprise. Turned out my family registered on Telegram and bought a 3090 FE from Scan for my 40th. Anyway, this is the 6800xt... I am asking £999.00 on eBay with decent offers considered. MSI AMD 6800xt Gaming X Trio. Boxed. Excellent. 4719072780746 | eBay If you want to have a deal with me directly get in touch. I could accept slightly less. It really is an awesome card and handles DCS at 1440p solid 60fps just about perfectly. I am a reasonable, friendly guy and I am located in the West Midlands UK. Cheers Bossco. SOLD SOLD SOLD

Hi maxsenna, I had the privilege of checking out a 3080ti first hand last year. I personally run a 6800xt. However, if your happy at 60fps being capped while using g-sync enabled. You can pretty much turn everything on/ultra/max in DCS settings but leave SSAA=off. The 3080ti I tested with my 5600x could do those settings at 4k resolution, it maintained 60fps pretty much everywhere. Dont be afraid to experiment, SSAA is the proper fps killer. The only thing I think I changed in the NVCP was power management=maximum and G-sync=enabled.

No worries Oddball. I dont have notifications for the forum, so if I have not been on here for a bit, just send me a PM.

Well those drives will be more than enough. If the budget allows I would usually rather run 2x separate 1tb's over a single 2tb. This would not be for performance. More a not all eggs in the same basket, common sense approach. I'm more than happy to help you set it up once it's built. I use track ir 5, fly low and enjoy the Channel and Syria map. I also hate below 60fps stuttering. Good luck mate.

Yeah that is sort of what I am suggesting there. Windows can be effected by a lot of things. Your motherboard could develop a fault or there can be a corrupted update etc etc etc... DCS, if you buy a few modules can take a long time to do a full re-download and an install. I have 2x Sabrent Rocket drives because I bought one on sale and one used. Most drives available will do the job. So if the budget allowed I would probably get a Gen4 Nvme for Windows and general Steam games and programs. This I would put in the first slot of the motherboard and use the motherboards cooling. However for DCS, my install is now 324gb in size I would get a Gen3 Nvme for the second motherboard slot. Then I would use a basic heatsink, it does not have to be fancy at all. Mine has a cheap single sided heatsink and it never throttles. I have DCS and IL-2 on it. Sabrent, Crucial, Corsair, Western Digital and Seagate Firecuda are all good drives. Get what is on offer around the time you buy. Dont be limited by sticking to a brand too much. If its Nvme you probably wont need the fastest available either. As for your motherboard itself. If you can find one for a decent price I cant recommend the MSI X570 gaming edge wifi enough. Plenty of rear usb slots, no worries with Nvme drives nice and simple. Good bios with fan control. Good DDR4 compatibility. Also you can occupy all four DDR4 slots and fit that Vetroo V5 cooler with clearance. Obviously if you find a B550 cheaper go with one of those. The DDR4, G.Skill Trident Z 3200Mhz C14 kits pop up on eBay every so often for decent prices. Keep an eye out as its an excellent kit. If you cant find this the Crucial/Corsair DDR4 3200Mhz C16 kits will do the job just fine. Finally just make sure your GPU has the graphical power of a small nuclear reactor and your good to go.......... Remember Oddball its not like 5-10 years ago, most of the kit out there now is so capable, you can put together a really good system for DCS quite simply

Hi Oddball, If you do go AMD and get a 6800xt with that LG monitor. Feel free to send me a PM or start a thread. I'll help to get the software/hardware setup right. Remember there is a benefit to having your flight sims on their own Nvme drive. They don't load any faster. However if anything goes wrong with Windows. They are not affected. When picking drive speeds, I have seen DCS go up to a read speed of about 1500mb/s. So not absolutely necessary to get the fastest Nvme for a flight sim only drive.

I worked on a couple of Vietnam style maps for older series flight sims. I can tell you getting the density correct is a proper pig. The closest we have is a fusion of the caucuses and Syria. I think something ideal would be a North Vietnam map. From Thanh Hoa to Thai Nguyen and then possibly from Ubon/Udorn over to Yankee Station. Obviously including Hanoi and Haiphong including the NE part of the trail. If anyone attempted a project I would happily join in if I could get familiar with the software tools required.

Hi Oddball, Your choices all look sound to me. Regarding the Nvme M2 drives. There is not much difference in Gen3 Vs Gen4 when it comes to DCS. I have only DCS installed on a Sabrent Gen 3. The peak read speed I have seen so far is about 1550mb. The drive can go up to about 2850mb. One other thing just make sure you have enough usb connectors for everything you need. Best of luck mate.