I’m Kayla. I love flight sim. I wanted smooth takeoffs, calm landings, and no weird stutters right over the runway when my heart pounds the most. So I built a PC just for flying. It wasn’t perfect. But it’s very, very good. Let me explain.
If you’d like the blow-by-blow diary of the entire build (complete with a few extra photos and benchmarks), you can read it on Abacus in my expanded write-up right here.
The Parts I Picked (and why I stuck with them)
I built this in March, after a winter of saving and reading too many forum posts. One resource I leaned on was the comprehensive guide at Abacus, which breaks down flight-sim performance bottlenecks in plain language. Here’s the exact setup I run every night.
- Case: Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact (great airflow; easy filters)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (it loves flight sims)
- Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black (big, quiet, keeps temps sane)
- Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi (stable BIOS; solid VRM)
- RAM: 32 GB DDR5-6000 CL30 (2×16, G.Skill) with EXPO on
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super (MSI Gaming X Trio)
- Storage: 2 TB Samsung 990 Pro for sims; 1 TB WD SN770 for Windows
- PSU: Corsair RM850x Shift (side plugs—nice for cable routing)
- Monitor: LG 34GP83A 34" ultrawide (3440×1440, 144 Hz, G-Sync)
- Controls: Honeycomb Alpha yoke, Bravo throttle, Thrustmaster TPR pedals
- Extras: Logitech radio panel, simple button box I made with a friend
A quick note on that yoke: after cycling through several models, I still keep reaching for the Alpha. The ergonomics and travel feel spot-on, and this review of the best flight-sim yoke I’ve used lines up almost perfectly with my own impressions.
Why this mix? The 7800X3D is a frame-time beast for MSFS. The 4080 Super gives me DLSS 3 Frame Generation. And that ultrawide feels like a cockpit window. It’s not cheap. But it’s cheaper than missing the runway at JFK because the sim hiccuped. Objective benchmarks back that up: Tom’s Hardware’s review found the 7800X3D leading the pack in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (source), and LetsFlyVFR’s buyers’ guide shows how the RTX 4080 Super paired with DLSS 3 Frame Generation can seriously lift frame rates and smoothness in demanding flight-sim scenarios (source).
Build Day: Small Wins, Small Oops
The case is roomy, but the NH-D15 is a chonk. I had to shift the front fan up for RAM clearance. It looks fine, but it bugged me for a minute. The RM850x Shift was nice—the side connectors kept cables tidy—but the GPU power cable still needed a little bend. I used the included anti-sag bracket and a tiny foam pad near the end. No droop. No rattle.
I set EXPO for the RAM. I turned on ReBAR. Game Mode on. HAGS on. One small scare: first boot hung. It was my USB hub. Once I unplugged it, the system posted fast. Lesson learned—boot clean the first time, then add toys.
Oh, and I dropped two screws inside the case. Yep. Magnet stick to the rescue.
First Flights: MSFS 2020, Real Weather, No Mercy
I test with tough spots. Live traffic. Evening rush. Wet runways.
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KLAX (iniBuilds), Fenix A320, live weather, FSLTL on:
- 3440×1440, DLSS Quality, Frame Gen on, DX12
- Terrain LOD 200, Objects 200, Clouds Ultra, Textures Ultra
- Taxi: 48–55 fps
- On final: 52–60 fps
- Cruise: 85–100 fps
- Frame-time feels smooth, which matters more than the number
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KJFK (default), PMDG 737-800, scattered clouds:
- 54–65 fps at the gate, 60–70 on climb, 90+ up high
- Minor stutters when FSLTL injects a busy bank. Not bad, but I feel it
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EGLL (iniBuilds), A310 (free), rain and low viz:
- 45–55 fps on approach, 60+ out of the city
- The wipers and wet surfaces look great. You can almost smell the runway
In short: heavy airliners in heavy hubs are very playable. I get a few bumps with photogrammetry spikes or traffic bursts, but nothing that spoils a landing. The 4080 Super plus Frame Gen helps a lot. And you know what? The 7800X3D keeps the main thread happy. I can see it in frame-time graphs. Less red. More green.
VR Check: Quest 3 and Reverb G2
I use a Quest 3 for casual hops and a Reverb G2 when I want crisp gauges.
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Quest 3 (Virtual Desktop, Wi-Fi 6E):
- 72 Hz, ASW locked to 36 or 45 depending on weather
- OpenXR Toolkit: CAS sharpen around 70%
- Render scale near 1.2
- Result: 40–50 fps feeling, smooth enough to fly circuits in the A2A Comanche and helicopters
- Tip: Set your router to channel 161 and lock bitrate around 120–150 Mbps. It helps.
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Reverb G2 (cable):
- Clearer panels. Heavier on the GPU.
- I run lower clouds and keep TLOD near 150.
- Feels steady around 35–45 fps with reprojection. Not perfect, but nice for GA.
One hiccup: USB power on my board would sleep the Bravo throttle and the radio panel. Fix was simple—turn off USB selective suspend, and in Device Manager, uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device.” No more mid-flight dead LEDs.
X-Plane 12 and DCS: Quick Notes
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X-Plane 12 (Zibo 737 at KSEA, real weather):
- High to maximum settings, FSR 2 performance on hard days
- 70–90 fps in fair weather; 55–70 in storms
- Feels super crisp at 3440×1440. Night lighting is a treat.
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DCS (Syria map, F-16 low level):
- 80–100 fps out of cities, 60–70 over Damascus with lots of AI
- I push textures high and keep shadows one notch down. Looks great without the micro-hitches I used to hate.
Heat, Noise, and Power: The Boring Bits That Matter
- CPU temps: 68–80°C in MSFS long hauls. The NH-D15 is quiet. Under 900 rpm in cruise.
- GPU temps: 65–72°C with a custom fan curve. No thermal drama.
- Noise: a soft whoosh. My desk mic doesn’t pick it up.
- Power at the wall: 420–520 W in heavy flight. I saw 600 W once, during a shader compile after an update.
- Coil whine: a tiny bit in menus at crazy frame rates. In flight, I don’t hear it.
Settings That Finally Stopped My Stutters
I fought stutters for a week. Here’s what actually helped.
- Rolling Cache: Off. For me, it reduced random hitches in photogrammetry areas.
- Nvidia Control Panel: G-Sync on (fullscreen and windowed), V-Sync off, Low Latency off (DLSS 3 doesn’t need it).
- MSFS: Frame Gen on, DLSS Quality, DX12. Glass Cockpit Refresh on Medium for the Fenix.
- PBO Curve Optimizer: -20 all cores on the 7800X3D. Stable, cooler. I tested with OCCT for an hour.
- Storage: All sim content and scenery on the 990 Pro. No SATA drives in the mix.
- Traffic: FSLTL set to 50 IFR, 10 VFR, with reduced LOD for AI. Looks busy, flies smooth.
One driver note: the 552.xx driver was flawless for me. A newer 555 build gave me one CTD with DX12 at KLAX. I rolled back and it hasn’t happened again. Your miles may vary, but I keep a “last-known-good” installer on my desktop. Old habit from work, and it saves time.
Real Flights I Flew to Test
- Boston (FlyTampa KBOS) to D