Need Help Choosing Parts For Flight Simulator 2020

Joe2828

I put this parts list together and am looking for some advice.  First time doing this, know very little.  I am wanting to build a PC to run Flight Simulator 2020 on the highest setting without issue. Down the road I do see myself running other games on it as well.  GTA/COD so on. I built this based off of the Ideal settings listed for the game.  It does call for a Radeon VII card but I could only find a Radeon RX 5700...is that the same thing?  Please look it over and give me some input on if I should keep it or change it!  Open to all suggestions.   Thanks! 
  https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=b9eb86e2-1a0c-4ecf-be7b-780d44087890

Waffler

Everything seems OK, except if you want the ultra settings, I recommend waiting a few more days/weeks for the upcoming NVIDIA 3000 series or AMD’s Big Navi video cards. Those will NOT be cheap. I’m talking $1000 for the GPU alone. Especially if you plan to run MSFS2020 on a 4K or even 2K monitor.

Also, you may want to consider buying a joystick as well to maximize your experience. 

Joe2828

I have a joystick already that I'll be using so all good there.  So I really want to TRY and keep it under $2000.  With the current GPU will i be able to play in 4k of would you consider it a requirement to have those new cards?

TSTonyV

The 5700XT can do 4K on titles that aren't very graphically intense, but it's really a card designed more for 1080p/1440p. The 2080 Super and 2080ti are really the cards you want for 4k gaming at decent settings with decent FPS. Although MS Flight Sim 2020 is pretty difficult to run even on really high end hardware from what I understand. 

The next gen cards will likely be a strong improvement on 4k gaming, but we won't know which performance tiers of each card will be able to handle that until they're released and benchmarks come out. 

Joe2828

So if I wanted to get atleast 4k then would the 2080 work with what I currently have on the list or would I have to change a bunch?

TSTonyV

You can swap in a 2080 Super without changing anything else on the build, but I am going to agree that I think it's worthwhile to at least see what the next generation cards bring unless you need to build right now. 

Joe2828

So the difference in the 2080 vs what is anticipated to come will be drastic you believe? Even for Flight Sim?

TSTonyV

Rumors I've heard is pretty significant performance increases. The question really is what the pricing will look like. I would expect whatever card is in the ~$700-800 price bracket for the next generation to have a decent performance uplift over the current 2080 Super, but honestly it's hard to say until we get actual reviews and benchmarks. 

Everything I've heard about the Flight Sim 2020 is that it's just difficult to run in general, but I don't know if it's a CPU or GPU bottleneck causing it. The next gen cards could have a significant improvement, but along with that Microsoft probably also needs to make optimizations because as far as I know it's currently utilizing DirectX11 instead of DirectX 12 which means even on current hardware they're leaving performance on the table. 

Joe2828

Okay.  So if money isn't an issue for the build I have right now and I really want to start playing/using the flight sim, would you overall recommend this current setup to efficiently run Flight Sim?  I will set aside money down the road to buy the next generation card but for right now would you consider this setup at least above average for the sim?  I am sorry for all these questions, I have a lot as I am very new to this.  Thanks for all the help though!

And Flight Sim aside, how would this setup run other popular games..COD/GTA/FortNite etc..

Joe2828

And another dumb thing I want to clarify (i'm confusing myself now) The 2080 allows me to play 4k, correct?  Where as what I have now in the build does not?

Ian

Joe2828 said:

Okay.  So if money isn't an issue for the build I have right now and I really want to start playing/using the flight sim, would you overall recommend this current setup to efficiently run Flight Sim?  I will set aside money down the road to buy the next generation card but for right now would you consider this setup at least above average for the sim?  I am sorry for all these questions, I have a lot as I am very new to this.  Thanks for all the help though!

And Flight Sim aside, how would this setup run other popular games..COD/GTA/FortNite etc..

Yes, this would run flight sim very well and it would do a great job on other titles on max settings with a 2080 setup.
I personally have a 2070 Super setup, and while I'm not able to hit max settings myself on flight sim, I can run the game on very high settings without issue. I'm kinda in the same boat thinking about updating my card when the new ones release. 

Joe2828

Awesome!  Any recommendations on a monitor for it?