How to choose a new video card?

[Gunslinger52]

Hi all,

I have a RTX 3060, running an HP Reverb G2.  32GB RAM.  1TB M2 Drive.  8 Core Intel CPU.

In DCS, settings are either off or low (a few medium) to get a smooth 32-35FPS.  

Does anyone know a scientific way, of choosing a replacement video card, rather than just 'buy the most expensive one'?  I am looking for most settings on high, 45FPS.  (I don't need Ultra settings or 90FPS)

I run ST always, as MT either makes things worse, or crashes, or doesn't seem to affect it at all.  Every day a different result. 

Thanks in advance.

'52

[72Stu]

I watch Gamers Nexus for good, honest reviews (and maybe Hardware Unboxed if two or more cards are close). 

I'd also recommend VR Flight Sim Guy, as he is actually using the cards in VR, exactly the content you're after. (I just wish he'd drop the 'surprised Pikachu face' thumbnails) 

Edited July 25, 2023 by 72Stu
Spellinz

[A2597]

also important to consider, are you GPU bound, or CPU bound?

I'm going to guess GPU bound with a 3060, but without knowing which intel processor you have, we can't truly recommend a card to match it.

(For example, I have a 3070, but am CPU bound with a R5 3600. I have already purchased an R7 5800x3d, which will net me around 25% more FPS based on reviews here with my current RTX 3070, and at which point I will be GPU bound, not CPU)

[SharpeXB]

On 7/24/2023 at 9:19 PM, Gunslinger52 said:

I run ST always, as MT either makes things worse, or crashes, or doesn't seem to affect it at all.  Every day a different result.

Just remember MT is still in testing. Eventually it will become the standard and by that time the problems will certainly be gone. 
 

Really there’s no “scientific” way to choose hardware like a graphics card with regard to tailoring it to a specific game. Because games keep evolving and changing. So yeah the best advice is to just get the most expensive one you can afford. Tests and reviews can just give you an idea of relative performance and whether that might be worth the extra cost. 

[LucShep]

I'd usually agree with everyone else, that choosing a GPU should be done depending on the system in which it'll be installed.

But, how things have been lately, looking at the prices for GPUs that are "fairly decent for DCS" (and no drastic discounts expected anytime soon), and also knowing that newer GPUs to replace these are more than a year away, I'd say instead to buy the best/fastest (and with the most VRAM) GPU that you can get for your budget regardless.
Be it brand new, or even 2nd hand (if you have no problem with that).

IMO it's not good if budgeting and buying "just enough" if, within a year of DCS updates, it later becomes a bit slow again, then feeling pressed to repeat the upgrade... 

Edited July 26, 2023 by LucShep

[Gunslinger52]

Thanks for all of your replies!

I have a i7-11700F @ 2.5GHz.  

With my current low graphics settings, (and after the 2nd to last update) I am no longer CPU bound according to the game.  

Looking forward to MT getting sorted, however unsure if that will help with FPS.  When I bought the 3060, most settings were up high and great, as soon as 2.8 came out, I was stuffed.

Will wait for MT, and reevaluate.  Will watch VR Flight Sim Guy to see if there are any tips he has too.

Have a good flight all.

'52

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Current rumours have it that the nVidia 5000 series won't be released before 2025 (who knows what AMD will do).
I'd say get something with 16GB of VRAM as minimum, and then go up in the tier list depending on what you can afford.

AMD used to have VR performance problems with their 7000 series, but recently released a driver that is supposed to fix that (I have no idea if it actually does that though).

[SharpeXB]

1 hour ago, Gunslinger52 said:

Will wait for MT, and reevaluate. 

I’m sure you realize that MT has nothing to do with your graphics card, right?

[Gunslinger52]

1 hour ago, SharpeXB said:

I’m sure you realize that MT has nothing to do with your graphics card, right?

Hi SharpeXB,

I know MT is all about my CPU, but I thought the CPU tells the GPU what to do.  So my logic was if the CPU is getting through tasks faster, then my video card could suffer less wait times for instructions.  Happy to be educated   

As far as VRAM goes, would you consider it more important to have a card with more of it, than say a faster card, that has maybe 4GB less VRAM? 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

8 minutes ago, Gunslinger52 said:

As far as VRAM goes, would you consider it more important to have a card with more of it, than say a faster card, that has maybe 4GB less VRAM? 

If you run out of VRAM, it won’t matter how fast your card is. If you want textures on High on recent maps such as Syria and Sinai, you need a lot of VRAM it’s as simple as that.

[Gunslinger52]

9 minutes ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

If you run out of VRAM, it won’t matter how fast your card is. If you want textures on High on recent maps such as Syria and Sinai, you need a lot of VRAM it’s as simple as that.

That's nice and simple- thanks for that!

[SharpeXB]

1 hour ago, Gunslinger52 said:

Hi SharpeXB,

I know MT is all about my CPU, but I thought the CPU tells the GPU what to do.  So my logic was if the CPU is getting through tasks faster, then my video card could suffer less wait times for instructions.  Happy to be educated   

As far as VRAM goes, would you consider it more important to have a card with more of it, than say a faster card, that has maybe 4GB less VRAM? 

In simple terms the CPU draws scenes and the graphics card renders them. Settings which are CPU limited are things like high object counts, especially in VR where every scene is drawn twice. The CPU also handles tasks like AI logic and flight models etc. All that is subject to change with MT and even Vulkan in the works. Graphics cards do textures and essentially resolution driven things like pixel counts, antialiasing, effects etc. If you’re in a CPU limited scenario your graphics card could still churn out higher effects, you could crank up setting and have that just not matter again because your CPU has you capped anyways. The GPU can still do it’s rendering thing despite getting slower frames from the CPU. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by SharpeXB

[BuzzU]

Buy a card that will last the longest. It's cost effective that way.

Edited July 27, 2023 by BuzzU

[Bundy00024]

i just got a 3060 and im running on all high 

[Gunslinger52]

6 hours ago, Bundy00024 said:

i just got a 3060 and im running on all high 

Yeah 2D has a lot of great advantages.  But I'm sold on VR, so the suffering continues  

[BitMaster]

It comes down to something like this

Fast - Cheap - VRAM   :Pick any two

The biggest card will serve you the longest and may carry you one or two series further before you have to buy again.

I would not consider any card below 16GB these days if you aim at anything higher than FullHD

but if you need the VR kick there is another old saying:  If you want to run with the wolves you need to know how to howl.   

You need a fast card with max VRAM and that won't come cheap and won't be a xx70 series, rather xx80 or xx90 (Ti).

 

[BuzzU]

I'd forget VR unless you have deep pockets.

If you can settle for less. There's two used 3080 TI's in the For Sale forum.

Edited July 30, 2023 by BuzzU

[bigdaddybones30]

Buy as much GPU as you can afford period!! Things always change.