gtx 1060 vs rx 480 perfomance on directx 9

[nathann6579]

Hello

I am looking to upgrade the graphics card on my Flight Simulator X rig which consists of the following:

CPU: AMD FX8310 overclocked to to 3.7 GHz with fan cooler
hard drive: 120GB Samsung 850 Evo
mother board: Asus M5A97LE r2.0
RAM: 2x4gb Kingston hyperx fury at 2133mhz
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 6670
PSU: EVGA 430 watt
Monitor: Dell 1680x1050p

I also am running two add-ons for FSX called VRS tacpack and the fsx@war scenery bundle. For those unfamiliar with these, tacpack turns FSX into a combat simulator with a predictable hit on performance. FSX@war is a collection of targets and SAM sites set in a theater style campaign in Libya. In particular, the smoke and fire from destroyed objects causes a notable performance hit with notching, freezing, and layers flashing through(i.e. ground becoming visible through the runway). Tacpack also does not support directx 10 preview mode in FSX for some of it's functions.

I realize that 75 percent of FSX's frame rate comes from the CPU clock speed but I want to wait on the CPU for now. In the meantime I want to get a graphics card. I am considering either the Nvidia GTX1060 6GB or the AMD RX480 8GB but am open to other suggestions in that price range. I have some questions regarding these cards and how they would perform with FSX.

1. In reading many reviews on the two cards it seems that the rx480 has the advantage in directx 12 games while the 1060 does better with directx 11 games. FSX in my case is limited to directx 9. Would the nvidia still be better than the RX 480 with directx 9? And with either card will there be a significant bottleneck with directx 9 vs the cards performance on directx 10 or 11?

2. I once read on the Microsoft website that Microsoft partnered with Intel and Nvidia to produce FSX. Does nvidia still actively support FSX in their card architecture? Are Nvidia's in general better of FSX than AMD? I could not find anything on Nvidia's website.

3.Does anybody have any experience with these cards and tacpack or FSX? I have read that you don't need a lot of GPU memory for most applications but with tacpack and all the add-on scenery does the additional memory make a difference? Any numbers as far as frame rates at different settings would be great.

Thanks

 

[mlga91]

FSX is more CPU bound, and to make it worse, it puts most of the load on only one core, your CPU will hold you back with any of those GPUs, in your case i'd go with a 1060, since it will push less that PSU.

 

[nathann6579]

FSX is more CPU bound, and to make it worse, it puts most of the load on only one core, your CPU will hold you back with any of those GPUs, in your case i'd go with a 1060, since it will push less that PSU.

I realize that the CPU is the main factor for FSX. However, when I upgrade the CPU I want to do it right but don't want to spend the money on a new cpu+mobo (i am aware that Intel is better than AMD in single core applications= new mobo for Intel socket) right now. My gpu is currently listed by the windows benchmark system as the weakest link in my setup. I will have to upgrade it sooner or later and it can be used with the upgraded cpu later. My questions were:

1. With the more dated directx versions, will the 1060 still be better than the rx480?
2. Does nvidia still design it's card architecture with FSX in mind?
3. I have not been able to find any FSX benchmarks for either card. Does anyone have some numbers posted?