1. I run my 2700X at stock under a Noctua D14. During gaming (MSFS 2020) I always see the CPU run at 3.88-3.90Ghz. Not terrible, but not the 4.3Ghz boost I expect. Did I not win the cpu lottery or am I seeing the best I can expect? 2. I run 16GB (2x 8GB sticks) of GSkill FlareX RAM. would I be better off swapping out my existing RAM for two 16GB sticks to upgrade to 32GB, or add two 8GB sticks to my existing kit to get to 32GB?
I’m used to when Guru used to show that info. Mobo is an ASUS Prime X470-Pro. Existing RAM is GSkill FlareX 2x 8GB DDR4 3200mhx sticks with 14-14-14-34 timings.
Have you enabled the boost options in BIOS ? I have the same motherboard and there are some options in there for the Precision Boost Overdrive that you can increase. My 2600X does run at 4.135 - 4.2ghzish and sometimes a little higher when those are enabled.
Mine boosting to 4.35ghz when needed but only on two cores. Im on x570 board. Make sure pbo is enabled.
When I set PBO from Auto to Enabled, I saw my CPU turbo speed increase to 4.03GHZ, for all cores running, with a core voltage of roughly 1.45-1.5V. From what I have read, this may be the best turbo I can get with all cores. The voltage is also a function of my mobo and cooling. I’m not sure what’s going on concerning any mobo issues, but I am also using a high end air cooler, and not a water loop. Now what I wonder about is why are all the cores on my CPU running with only one or two active programs running? When I was testing things out, I was running MSFS 2020, TrackIR, and Hardware Monitor.
As for your second question it would be better to swap out your two 8gb sticks for two 16gb sticks to ensure compatibility. Even you buy the exact same kit you have now there's a chance they won't run in sync, I learned this for myself earlier this year unfortunately.
You ram Is probably Bdie so it should of to 3800 or so no problem. If you want better ram it’ll cost you nearly as much as a new CPU. I’d stick with your FlareX unless you really want 32gb of ram.
Thanks JB and Kool. The only reason I’m looking at 32GB is that with MSFS 2020, my system is utilizing any where between 10-15GB of RAM. It’s the only program that I run right now that uses that much. Everything thing else uses about half my system RAM.
You won't see good single-threaded speeds if all cores are loaded. The boost will be whatever the chip is rated for on an all-core load, once temperature is taken into account. Higher temps = less speed, lower temps = more speed. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is a directX 11 title and is hamstrung by a single-core processing rendering information to send to the GPU, for the entire scene one object at a time (and several times per most objects), 60+ times a second. This means often a faster-clocking hexacore CPU can sometimes be a little faster in some situations where the scene is heavily loaded, than a processor with double the cores such as a 12-core processor. This is called being draw-call limited. DirectX 12 and Vulkan work-around this by giving rendering engines the ability (if programmed for it) to use multi-threaded rendering - alleviating this issue. DirectX11 has this possible path also but it is much less thorough, and hence also less beneficial than it's DX12 / Vulkan counter-parts. I have no clue why any game with a 'Microsoft' name on it (even being coded by someone else) would be using anything other than DirectX 12; but I digress, I haven't the foggiest. Purchasing more RAM can either be - getting a matching kit from the same supplier if they still have them (this can sometimes not end well), or getting a used identical kit from a used listing (same perils here just no warranty). Replacing said kit with 2x 16gb (usually dual-rank) sticks for 32gb is the most sure-fire way to go, just keep in mind that most boards won't run 4x 8gb sticks or 2x 16gb (dual rank) sticks as quickly at as low latency VS just a pair of 8gb single-rank sticks. Your motherboard manual will tell you what speeds to expect. You can try to get a set that will match your current RAM, by purchasing 2x 16gb sticks at the same voltage/speed/timing from the same vendor, and provided they haven't switched chip manufacturers (unless they make them, themselves), they may work all at once (with the dual rank sticks placed first). IF they do not work, you can sell the old kit or keep it for another system and still have 32gb of system ram and two open slots. I use 32gb here, the system often uses 16gb just with background processes, Rimworld open, and a web browser open (with too many tabs). I updated my old machine from 16gb to 32gb by purchasing an identical but used kit in summer of 2018, as I kept running out of RAM (but I do content creation). For as cheap of an upgrade as it is (even if you flat out pick up a pair of Micron dual-rank 16gb sticks for 32gb total), having plenty of RAM sure helps keep things going full-speed. However, if you use up all your RAM and you're not really hitching or losing FPS, then I wouldn't rush out to do it either. Edit: Your existing sticks are B-die Sammy memory, you should expect to pay more to even have hopes of matching those up, as they're still readily in high demand and haven't been made since the summer of 2019.
Yeah MSFS is absurdly unoptimized but I'd be willing to bet you'll get zero benefit from more ram out of it as the game gets practically the same FPS on almost every system that isn't low spec. Found the proof HH thankfully tested this already for you: https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pag..._graphics_performance_benchmark_review,5.html
Holy smokes Kool, that is just crazy. I hadn’t seen that. You folks have saved me serious trouble and cash. About the only thing that would give my system a serious boost would be a 3080, and that purchase is down the road a bit.
I'm not even sure MSFS would be any better on a 3080 as it's not better on a 3090......... https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_rtx_3090_strix_oc_review,22.html but you're welcome. Glad to be of help.
