• Welcome to our Forum! Ask PC-Build Questions, discuss Tech-News, Content Creation & Gaming Workloads or get to know the CGDirector Community off-topic. Feel free to chime in with insight or questions on any existing topic too! :)

New white/RGB build for MSFS (Europe/US parts)

melemed

melemed

Tech Assistant
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hello everyone,
I built my first (and only computer) back in.... 2008? I believe the Graphic Card options were the HD4870 and the GTX260.
Here I am now again looking to get back into building a great rig for 4k Microsoft Flight Simulator. I have seen that, until MSFS gets improvements for multicore, that the single-core clock speeds are most important, and even limit the ability of the GPU during the game. However, I definitely want to be getting the RTX3090 for future proofing 4K gaming with this title. AMD 5900 and 5950 work much better with the sim than with 10900k, as many videos seem to show on YouTube.

Here is my suggested build derived from a recent YouTube video on a white/RGB rig. There's not really any cost limit (if possible under 4000EUR or 5000USD). Here are my ideas, and please let me know what I may need or what I may be missing in the meantime. I try to keep everything white. Small parts I can bring back to Europe (living in Finland), but the main larger parts (mobo, graphics card, tower, psu) will be purchased from EU sites.

Tower: PHANTEKS p600s White
PSU: Asus ROG Strix 850G White Edition 80 PLUS GOLD
Mobo: Asus Strix B550-A White (no WiFi, so do I need a PCI-E WIFI card?)
CPU: AMD 5900X
Graphics Card: Asus ROG Strix 3090 White Edition
Memory: COrsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (2x16gb) DDR4-3200/3600
CPU Block: Asus ROG Strix LC240 or LC360 RGB White Edition
Fans: Lian Li UNI Fan SL120

Graphics Card cooler? Water block or fan? Do I need it if there are 3x120mm fans at the front and 1x120mm at the rear? Not looking to do watercooling or anything fancy.
What else am I missing or does anyone find any potential issues with my build? Is 850w enough? Probably not doing anything crazy for OC'ing.

Many thanks,
Mackenzie
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

Hardware Nerd @ CGDirector
Staff member
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
767
Reaction score
141
Points
43
Hey Mackenzie, the build looks solid for any kind of 4K gaming. As you said, yep, MSFS seems to be very single-threaded at the moment, but this might change with future updates (🤞).
  • For the graphics card, the cooling on the ROG Strix 3090 should suffice. No need to go for a water block. You're all good on cooling
  • You can either go for a PCI-E Wi-Fi card or opt for a high-quality external adapter. If you're looking to keep things clutter-free, I'd recommend the former.
  • As for the build itself, the only thing I don't particularly like in a build with such high-end parts is the ASUS power supply. But since you're going all white, it can't be helped :D
  • Make sure you get the 3600 RAM. When building with top-tier parts, it's best not to leave performance on the table.
Everything else looks pretty perfect!
 
melemed

melemed

Tech Assistant
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks for your helpful reply Jerry! I have made some initial changes, that fall in line with your comments actually, after watching some videos.
I am thinking now to go with:
  • the Corsair RM850X in White (better quality?)
  • Asus X570 Pro MOBO, does it provide any significant upgrade, as it is from 2018 where the b550-a is from 2020? Aesthetics aside, I'm not much of a know-it-all when it comes to MOBO.
  • for SSD, I'm planning to get the Samsung 970 or 980pro
  • the ram I will look to order the Dominator Platinum RGB 3600 (white)
  • the case... I have looked closely at the white/clear cases, and I think either the Lian Li O11 Dynamic in White, Corsair 680X, or the Phanteks p600s. I know people have a love/hate relationship with the Lian Li, but if I can get a really ideal fan setup (another question, Lian Li UniFan or Corsair, I hear that the cable routing on the Corsair is hectic to say the least). I like the clear visuals of the Lian Li, modern, and especially since I want it all white LEDs.
  • the CPU cooler, is 240mm enough, in that case the Corsair H100i Platinum? I most likely won't be overclocking it, but running 4k MSFS will be tasking... if not, I can go with the top-mounted Asus ROG Strix LC360
Thanks in advance! I am trying to order the ROG STRIX WHITE EDITION 3090 from anywhere, especially different here in Finland, and pricey.
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

Hardware Nerd @ CGDirector
Staff member
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
767
Reaction score
141
Points
43
Thanks for your helpful reply Jerry! I have made some initial changes, that fall in line with your comments actually, after watching some videos.
I am thinking now to go with:
  • the Corsair RM850X in White (better quality?)
  • Asus X570 Pro MOBO, does it provide any significant upgrade, as it is from 2018 where the b550-a is from 2020? Aesthetics aside, I'm not much of a know-it-all when it comes to MOBO.
  • for SSD, I'm planning to get the Samsung 970 or 980pro
  • the ram I will look to order the Dominator Platinum RGB 3600 (white)
  • the case... I have looked closely at the white/clear cases, and I think either the Lian Li O11 Dynamic in White, Corsair 680X, or the Phanteks p600s. I know people have a love/hate relationship with the Lian Li, but if I can get a really ideal fan setup (another question, Lian Li UniFan or Corsair, I hear that the cable routing on the Corsair is hectic to say the least). I like the clear visuals of the Lian Li, modern, and especially since I want it all white LEDs.
  • the CPU cooler, is 240mm enough, in that case the Corsair H100i Platinum? I most likely won't be overclocking it, but running 4k MSFS will be tasking... if not, I can go with the top-mounted Asus ROG Strix LC360
Thanks in advance! I am trying to order the ROG STRIX WHITE EDITION 3090 from anywhere, especially different here in Finland, and pricey.

  • Oh yes, much better.
  • No, it's actually a bit worse than the B550 you picked. If you want another option in white that's undoubtedly top-tier, it's the B550 Vision D from Gigabyte. Do note that it comes at a premium and you probably wouldn't use most of the pricey features on there. It does have built-in Wi-Fi though.
  • Unless you're planning to do professional work that's compute/storage-intensive, you should get more capacity rather than pay Samsung's premium. It's only worth it if you're looking for more read/write durability. I'd recommend looking into the Western Digital SN550 or the Crucial P1 as excellent mainstream NVMe storage options.
  • I like those case options. Another one you could look at would be the Lancool Mesh White, but yeah for a clear look from the front - O11 dynamic is it.
  • Since you're not running long, drawn-out compute-intensive render tasks on it, the cooling should be fine with the H100i Platinum. No worries on that front.
 
melemed

melemed

Tech Assistant
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Basically that would be for the MSFS because it's atleast 250GB of space right now, and with other addons over the years, I want to have a drive just for that, 512GB. If you still think it's overkill, shall I go for the WD or Crucial P1? and a separate drive for everything else, should I stay away from SATA 7200rpm? I don't know much about storage.

I see that the Gigabyte doesn't have any USB 3.1/2 Type C, but the Lian Li case has USB C on the front I/O panel, so how would that work?
and optimal fan placements for the Lian Li. If I have the top mounted cooler 240mm, can I fit a single 120 exhaust fan there? then 3 side fans for exhaust, 3 bottom intake fans? Not sure about the overall pressure of that build, but perhaps?

Thanks yet again, it's so helpful!
 
melemed

melemed

Tech Assistant
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Oh... I just realized that you don't have to use the fans that come with the CPU cooler... just buying the Kraken 73 with the radiator, then I can add whatever addon fans I want to keep all fans the same? Correct?
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

Hardware Nerd @ CGDirector
Staff member
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
767
Reaction score
141
Points
43
Oh... I just realized that you don't have to use the fans that come with the CPU cooler... just buying the Kraken 73 with the radiator, then I can add whatever addon fans I want to keep all fans the same? Correct?
Correct :)
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

Hardware Nerd @ CGDirector
Staff member
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
767
Reaction score
141
Points
43
Basically that would be for the MSFS because it's atleast 250GB of space right now, and with other addons over the years, I want to have a drive just for that, 512GB. If you still think it's overkill, shall I go for the WD or Crucial P1? and a separate drive for everything else, should I stay away from SATA 7200rpm? I don't know much about storage.

I see that the Gigabyte doesn't have any USB 3.1/2 Type C, but the Lian Li case has USB C on the front I/O panel, so how would that work?
and optimal fan placements for the Lian Li. If I have the top mounted cooler 240mm, can I fit a single 120 exhaust fan there? then 3 side fans for exhaust, 3 bottom intake fans? Not sure about the overall pressure of that build, but perhaps?

Thanks yet again, it's so helpful!
Ah in that case capacity won't matter too much. It's still probably overkill but if you do want to prioritize durability, go for it :)

As for the front header, yep, you'll have one useless port on the front in that case. Stick with the B550-A
 
melemed

melemed

Tech Assistant
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
OK, will stick with the B550A.
For the radiator fans, thinking to get the NZXT X73 and want to have all Corsair iCue fans (if I can manage the cables). It would be easiest to have 9 of the same fans, like Corsair LL120's. I read that they are not great attached to radiators, so would there be some other Corsair fans you would recommend, like I see something about the ML's for better static pressure? The Corsair Commander Pro only attaches 6 fans, so I would need to get a Node for 3 and a Commander Pro for the remaining? Or would the LL120's suffice all around.
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

Hardware Nerd @ CGDirector
Staff member
Joined
Jun 19, 2020
Messages
767
Reaction score
141
Points
43
OK, will stick with the B550A.
For the radiator fans, thinking to get the NZXT X73 and want to have all Corsair iCue fans (if I can manage the cables). It would be easiest to have 9 of the same fans, like Corsair LL120's. I read that they are not great attached to radiators, so would there be some other Corsair fans you would recommend, like I see something about the ML's for better static pressure? The Corsair Commander Pro only attaches 6 fans, so I would need to get a Node for 3 and a Commander Pro for the remaining? Or would the LL120's suffice all around.
For normal use, it really doesn't matter. I have the LL120s with my H100i v2 (gotta have bling, right? :D) and they work just fine. Kyle does have a video on the performance of LL140 fans (the 120s will be a bit noisier) -

As for the 9 fans, you should be able to use hubs and connect them to the Commander Pro. The pinned comment on this video might help - How I put 9 fans in my Lian Li O11 Dynamic with the Corsair Commander Pro - YouTube
 
Top