AMD FX 83** Flight Simulator X performance

[Kapsenstein]

Hello there. Time for one more long time lurker to open a thread.
I'll try to be short, tho I'm quite confused.
I'm about to build a new rig and my main concern is to be able to run smoothly and in high frame rates Flight Simulator X.

I generally trust AMD but most benchmarks show that Ivys outperform them in FSX (single thread performance is crucial for this "game"). The truth though is that I never found a proper benchmark or video that shows exact frame rates of 8350/8320.
An AM3+ based rig seems to be more future proof compared to 1155. And the ...healthy mobos for haswells will come during August or September.
Tried to find answers to my question all around the web but...

Is there any FSX user here that has an FX based rig and can enlighten me? Can I trust it?

Thanks a lot in advance


PS I apologize if I should have posted this in the gaming or general hardware subforums.

 

[Montosaurous]

I've played it on my FX 4100 and it runs just fine. It's not a very demanding game for modern hardware. If your main concern is playing FSX then even an APU would be fine.

 

[SPBHM]

it looks like there is no reason for more than 4 cores on this game (so it's not a good beginning for the FX, which has clearly lower performance up to 4 cores usage), and it loves high clocked Intel CPUs,

a lot of info here
http://forum.avsim.net/topic/329116-fsxmark11/


Am3+ more future proof? I'm not sure, it's not clear at the moment if there is any new CPU or Chipset coming for AM3+.

 

[Montosaurous]

Steamroller for sure, though there might be a new chipset with it.

 

[Kapsenstein]

Thanks both for your replies.

FSX indeed is an old game. But in the same time it can be quite demanding to run it smoothly in max settings. If you search on YouTube for videos (mostly Ivys and SB) you'll notice it seems like a whole different game.

What's completely true though is that it cannot make (full) usage of multicores. There are some tweaks you can use but people say they aren't changing much.

I'd like to support AMD but I don't want to spend 1200 euros for a new rig that will reach 20-30 fps in fsx. I also don't wanna get a dead socket rig though or a haswell with a problematic (USB bug) mobo.

That's why I'm asking for opinions about the FX series performance.
Quite confused :S

 

[ShintaiDK]

Both AM3+ and LGA1155 are "dead" sockets.

And you should read up on that USB3 bug. You might find, like almost everyone else, that it doesnt affect you and even if it did, wouldnt make a difference.

 

[guskline]

Both AM3+ and LGA1155 are "dead" sockets.

And you should read up on that USB3 bug. You might find, like almost everyone else, that it doesnt affect you and even if it did, wouldnt make a difference.

If you mean "dead" in the sense that it's certain for Intel and highly unlikely for AMD that they will produce faster cpus for the socket I'm inclined to agree. We know that Intel has shifted from LGA1155 to 1150 with Haswell. With the release date very soon, I think your "dead" statement for Intel will come to fruition soon. AMD is much harder to read. Almost complete silence other than early 2012 "roadmaps" as to the future of socket AM3+. The longer it goes without an announcement from AMD the more I'm convinced you are correct.

 

[Kapsenstein]

So the so called Steamrollers may bring on a new socket? Thought that AMD confirmed (?) it was going to be on AM3+.

So you'd suggest it's safe (regardless the USB bug that may not be that important) to get a haswell system during mid June?

By the way there's only a few FX benchmarks for FSX I checked. According to those though its ...half the performance of an 3570k

 

[ShintaiDK]

So the so called Steamrollers may bring on a new socket? Thought that AMD confirmed (?) it was going to be on AM3+.

So you'd suggest it's safe (regardless the USB bug that may not be that important) to get a haswell system during mid June?

By the way there's only a few FX benchmarks for FSX I checked. According to those though its ...half the performance of an 3570k

Steamroller will most likely be APU only. And either on FM2 or FM3. The server roadmap shows APUs only for 1 socket servers. Meaning no AM3+ or smiliar. Not to mention Steamroller will not be able to compete with Intel CPUs, just like the previous.

Yes, I consider it very safe to egt one. The USB3 bug only affects some USB sticks if you have open files and your PC sleeps. But even then, you can just reopen them.

No need to buy an inferiour performing FX CPU with a high power consumption.

 

[Kapsenstein]

No need to buy an inferiour performing FX CPU with a high power consumption.

I see. Also the price difference is not that great between 8350 and 3570k.
Anyway.
Considering that someone that already has a good ivy (3570k/3770k) wouldn't gain much by upgrading to Haswell, would it be mistaken to buy a 3770k system now?

The problem is that I don't have a pc at all, at the moment, so I'm in a bit of a hurry here :hmm:

 

[ShintaiDK]

I see. Also the price difference is not that great between 8350 and 3570k.
Anyway.
Considering that someone that already has a good ivy (3570k/3770k) wouldn't gain much by upgrading to Haswell, would it be mistaken to buy a 3770k system now?

The problem is that I don't have a pc at all, at the moment, so I'm in a bit of a hurry here :hmm:

Sure you cant wait 10 more days? Its just silly not to wait.

Also some shops already carry Haswell parts.

 

[Kapsenstein]

Sure you cant wait 10 more days? Its just silly not to wait.

Also some shops already carry Haswell parts.

I will mate. I will
The stressing part is that I got my Saitek Yoke system already set. Like I got some wheels but not the ...bike :ninja:

 

[JoJoDawg]

From one lurker (and FSX User) to another, FPS in FSX is not everything.

You want smoothness most of all and to get that you need higher clocks. A steady 30+ inside the virtual PMDG cockpit with REX, GEX, ORBX, full AI traffic while on final approach to a fsdt KORD detailed airport is where you want to be.

My lowly 1075T, that freaking can barely oc to 3.8 (something fubar), with an 5850 on a clean install with no addons in the middle of BFE airport will reach 60 FPS but as soon as i start adding things and flying out of big airports FPS just tanks to 15-20. I can get through it but mostly it makes me want to kick someone in the goatnads. :biggrin:

From my years of lurking at Avsim Intel and nVidia are favored setups for better setups. Me i went AMD and ATI for other uses and suffered on the FSX front.

Like suggested from others I would wait for Haswell to come out and then check out the hardware sections of Avsim or any other flight sites. I guarantee someone, within a month, will have their thoughts on Haswell's and FSX.

You may also want to keep an eye on Prepar3d also. They have rights to FSX code and are tweaking for their use and "sharing" it with "developers" Version 2.0 is where it's at when it comes out. Supposedly...

 

[JimmiG]

With my system, FPS is not very good with complex add-ons like OrbX. I've literally seen single-digit FPS sometimes. The FX series don't improve single-threaded performance much over the Phenom II, and FS doesn't benefit from more than 4 cores. A 25% improvement isn't good enough when you're getting 9 FPS to begin with. FSX loves single-threaded performance, so an Intel CPU is a better choice.

The baseline CPU for add-ons these days seems to be an i5 @ 4.5 GHz or faster. Personally I'm buying a Haswell i5 or i7 (depending on price) the day they come out. When overclocked, it should be about twice as fast as my Phenom II, doubling my FPS from 10 to 20 FPS.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

AMD is the last choice for these types of titles and personally the reason I avoid AMD for gaming machines.

The game is single thread performance depended and will bog down on even the fastest overclocked Intel cpu's.

 

[Kapsenstein]

Thank you all three for your helpful replies.
Fellow lurker JoJoDawg I got what you want to say about fps. As I don't have a desktop we ve loaded fsx on a i5 3210m - gt 635m laptop (connected to a 42 inch hd TV) and its actually not doing that bad. When we loaded though addons (UTX, GEX, REX) it seemed to struggle. You all say FX is not a bad chip but not good for FSX. I trust your experience so I've decided to wait for some weeks till we have some true benchmarks of the haswell series and move accordingly.
JimmiG I think you'll get more than 35 avg fps according to what I've read up to now btw
Allow me to "storm" you with some more questions when haswells arrive.
I thank you all again for your help.
Greetings from Athens Greece

 

[JimmiG]

Feel free to PM me toward the middle of June when I should have my new system up and running.

AMD's CPUs are not bad for gaming and I would love to support them. Most games today are GPU-limited and reasonably optimized for multi-core. However FSX (and from what I've read, X-Plane as well) are unlike other games. Intel CPUs are just in a class of their own when running legacy, mostly single-threaded code. To be honest, if I didn't play FS, I would just have bough a faster GPU and kept my system as it is for another 1-2 years.

 

[Kapsenstein]

To be honest, if I didn't play FS, I would just have bough a faster GPU and kept my system as it is for another 1-2 years.

Same here. I'd definitely move to an AMD sollution. But this "if I didn't play FS", is quite crucial for both of us
Since you "invite" me, I will pm you and ask for info my friend.
Unfortunately my ...Swedish are restricted to ..."Skol" (skal)!
(You had to know this, while in a uni in Manchester UK haha)

Thanks again mate

 

[Lonbjerg]

Same here. I'd definitely move to an AMD sollution. But this "if I didn't play FS", is quite crucial for both of us
Since you "invite" me, I will pm you and ask for info my friend.
Unfortunately my ...Swedish are restricted to ..."Skol" (skal)!
(You had to know this, while in a uni in Manchester UK haha)

Thanks again mate

Skål
Works in most Nordic countries

 

[Kapsenstein]

Skål
Works in most Nordic countries

Oh that's why almost everyone was raising glasses :biggrin:

(I knew it's written with an "a", but doesn't it sound like "o"?)

 

[Headfoot]

I echo the sentiment here. Flight Sims and most old-but-intensive games require as much single threaded performance as you can get. That means the highest clocked Haswell you can get. If you are serious, think about getting a nice CPU cooler like an H100 (closed loop water cooler) or high-end air cooling and a quality motherboard. The cooler at least you can bring between rigs and should be a long-lasting purchase. Those two things will hopefully allow you to get the best reasonable overclock you can get. Frequency is king in flight sims

 

[Lonbjerg]

Oh that's why almost everyone was raising glasses :biggrin:

(I knew it's written with an "a", but doesn't it sound like "o"?)

It's not an "a" "A"
It's an "å" "Å"

Different voul:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Å

And yeah...a legacy from the vikings :biggrin:

 

[Kapsenstein]

If you are serious, think about getting a nice CPU cooler like an H100 (closed loop water cooler) or high-end air cooling and a quality motherboard.

Thanks headfoot I'll consider this option
Well I'm quite serious about it. Don't know if my wallet though is that ...serious

So it'd an å! Haha!
Sorry my keyboard at work doesn't have these characters mate