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Uri_ba's pit

Upgrading Sim rig from 2600k to 8700k, worth it?

Conclusions

I don’t have anything to say about non-flight simulator scenarios, there are plenty of reviews around the web. So I won’t dive into anything deeper then that at this aspect.

BMS

BMS is a CPU hog. However, my framerate were always above 30 with the 2600k, and as much as getting a pretty much 25fps extra at all times is nice. It’s not worth the money IMHO. And that is for a 5 year old CPU, if you have a more recent CPU, the “need to upgrade” is even less then that.

DCS

To help illustrate what I think, I’ll add this last graph. it’s shows the first and last tests (2600k and 8700k MCE) of both VR and full screen on the same plot. Just for you guys to understand the performance difference here.

Because this plot is cleaner, it’s easier to see the hugely more consistent framerate in VR on the 8700k (MCE) compared  to the 2600k. It is in addition shows the difference in full screen performance, which is existent and non negligible, varying from 50fps boost on the “busy parts” where CPU is running around doing all sort of fetching, to absolutely nothing in high altitude or in areas with low object count.

because this is a relatively sterile Track, with no units or explosions I cannot give a complete recommendation on this one. because in times, you might see framerate drop to 30 or even below that momentarily, however, in the broader sense, frame rate is “high enough” and sits above 60 most of the time.. Also, please do not forget, this is all on a 4K screen on High settings. with lower graphics settings (ehhm, shadows, ehhm) you might find yourself with a 50%+ boost to framerate with 0 cost.

So for full screen DCS, I would say those 700+USD (1310USD in “some country”) are better spent on upgrading your Graphics card and getting an SSD.

However, which that in mind. VR is a whole different animal. Albit there is not massive boost in FPS, the much more stable Framerate is a very, very noticeable change. And in later posts I’ll do a test to better understand what more I can turn on. To be blunt.. I want Shadows goddammit, but I’m not willing to pay by having my framerate drop down to 15 during landing at an airport, which is what happens when you have shadows ON in VR on the 2600k. The rendering of the shadows just adds additional workload on the CPU which is struggling to keep up as is. However, I don’t think that a 6th or 7th gen CPU will benifit from this upgrade. you are better off Overclocking the CPU, allowing this “MCE” effect on you system, i.e have cores running in higher freq while under load, to allow DCS to fetch stuff faster, thus reducing stutters.

Some final words
  • Q: I’m flying only DCS so should I upgrade my 2600k to a 8700k? A: Fullscreen? No. for VR? Call it buyer justification, but IMHO, Yes. (after you have a 1080+ class GPU and SSD that is..)
  • Q: I currently have 7700K, should I upgrade?
    A:
    Can’t say for sure… But the data shown here, indicates that the answer is probably “No.”
  • Q: I also stream, what then?
    A: For streaming those extra cores means a lot. so you should consider an upgrade if you have issues while streaming. I would recommend you check you Gamer’s nexus’ review of the 8700K as they test streaming while gaming now.

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