Confused about minimum requirements

[AndrewStevenson 1]

Hello all,

I have just purchased Flight Simulator 2020. Prior to purchase I checked my system requirements against the published requirements in the Microsoft Store and believed they met or exceeded the minimum. However, during installation the installer said my system did not meet the minimum requirements and the program would not run correctly. I do not understand why it said this - I have listed my system specs below with the minimums in brackets. Does anyone have any idea what is the issue?

When I purchased the software from the store it said I was not able to request a refund. I feel like I have been misled. Anyone else have a similar experience?

OS: Windows 10 version 19042.685 (18362.0)

Architecture: x64 (x64)

Keyboard: Integrated Keyboard (Integrated Keyboard)

Mouse: Integrated Mouse (Integrated Mouse)

Direct X: 11 (11)

Memory: 16GB (8GB)

Video Memory: 3GB (2GB)

Processor: i7-4790K @ 4GHz (i5-4460)

Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti (NVIDIA GTX 770)

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Your video card is going to be the limiting factor... You can run the program, but not with full settings..

3 GB VRAM is really on the skinny side.  A GTX 1660 is likely the least cost upgrade for your system.

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

7 minutes ago, AndrewStevenson said:

 

Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti (NVIDIA GTX 770)

 

I believe the 780 met the original minimum published standards for the game but recent changes to volumetric clouds now mean you will have issues with odd looking clouds or need to run the game with clouds off (clear skies preset).

Even before the cloud change a 780 would have struggled on anything above low/medium settings.

[Republic3D 1,229]

Have you tried running the sim yet? 

It might run just fine. Your CPU is still good, but you would definately benefit from a GPU upgrade. Should be plenty of used GPUs available on the market now. A GTX 1070 or 1070 Ti would be a great match for your CPU.

[AndrewStevenson 1]

Many thanks for you replies. I never doubted my system would not be able to use the best settings. However I did my research to make sure it would be usable.

From what you're saying it looks like Microsoft have raised the minimum requirements for the app but not updated the minimum requirements statement in the app store; I committed to buying the app on the basis of incorrect information!

This sort of thing really makes me angry - it would take a matter of minutes to update their app store with the correct information. MS are still saying 2GB VRAM is the minimum and my system exceeds that by 50%.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

36 minutes ago, AndrewStevenson said:

Many thanks for you replies. I never doubted my system would not be able to use the best settings. However I did my research to make sure it would be usable.

Try running it.... you may well be able to run at reduced settings... start with clear skies 🙂

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Despite this message, your computer as it is should still be able to play the simulator with satisfactory performance at around Medium settings (maybe Low textures) at 1080p. Two months ago an issue that caused flashing clouds on older NVIDIA GPUs like yours was introduced, and Microsoft said that as the game continues to be updated so will the minimum requirements. However, probably due to the growing amount of complaints, they fixed the issue with the latest patch. You are correct that rather regrettably, the minimum requirements specified on the Microsoft Store and Zendesk were not updated all this time to reflect the changes.

So now you really shouldn't have any problems, but it is not a guarantee that your system will not become obsolete with a later update, and it is very likely that with DirectX 12 it will (coming with the Xbox release in the summer). Continue downloading the game and enjoy it for as long as you can, but also start preparing for a GPU upgrade. Over the next few months, new mid-range models will come from both NVIDIA and AMD, and the supply situation should be better in about two months from now.

[AndrewStevenson 1]

Thank you for your comments. It has installed OK and seems to run. Each time I run it a warning dialog appears saying my PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements. 

[John Simpson 0]

Fascinating thread. I’m a private pilot and all round aviation fan. Owing to the pandemic I haven’t done much flying but the launch of FS2020 to huge acclaim hasn’t passed me by and I’m keen to get in on the action.

I don’t have a powerful enough computer at the moment and so I’m considering getting either a gaming laptop or stand alone tower unit. I’ve glanced through these forums but I’ve been a bit alarmed to see that some people are experiencing problems running FS even though they seem to have all the required specs.

My question is simple really; I’ve about £700-800 max to spend on a machine (laptop or PC) - what do I go for!? I’m looking for a nice and simple solution - just point me in the right direction (e.g. a UK website) - where I could get a good deal.

I’d basically like to get it out the box and get going!

Would this be sutiable: https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-pcs/lenovo-series-3-gaming-pc-intel-core-i5-gtx-1660-512-gb-ssd-10207934-pdt.html

 

[in2tech 588]

Sounds too late for @AndrewStevenson but I would recommend anyone not having a medium to high end system, and maybe them too. Try the $1.00 Game Pass for a month first. I hate to see anyone pay full price even for the Standard Edition for it not to at least run well enough that you can enjoy it till you upgrade.

@AndrewStevenson try adjusting your setting starting at Low and work your way up. Might have to change some of the other setting lower too. I hope you get it working where at least you don't see that message and can enjoy it.

@John Simpson Should be fine but who knows for sure. Surely someone on here has a PC similar to give you better advice.

 

It's worth $1.00 for a month to see if it runs satisfactory before you purchase any version! Just saying! Game Pass is your friend while they have the $1.00 Special!

[Isaiah53six 134]

On 12/26/2020 at 9:22 AM, AndrewStevenson said:

Many thanks for you replies. I never doubted my system would not be able to use the best settings. However I did my research to make sure it would be usable.

From what you're saying it looks like Microsoft have raised the minimum requirements for the app but not updated the minimum requirements statement in the app store; I committed to buying the app on the basis of incorrect information!

This sort of thing really makes me angry - it would take a matter of minutes to update their app store with the correct information. MS are still saying 2GB VRAM is the minimum and my system exceeds that by 50%.

I agree they need to update and raise the prerequisites necessary to run sim without losing quality.

[Alpine Scenery 1,609]

4 hours ago, John Simpson said:

My question is simple really; I’ve about £700-800 max to spend on a machine (laptop or PC) - what do I go for!? I’m looking for a nice and simple solution - just point me in the right direction (e.g. a UK website) - where I could get a good deal.

I’d basically like to get it out the box and get going!

Would this be sutiable: https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-pcs/lenovo-series-3-gaming-pc-intel-core-i5-gtx-1660-512-gb-ssd-10207934-pdt.html

 

You definitely want to stick with a desktop in that budget, more bang for buck. That PC you posted isn't too bad, but it's borderline for MSFS 2020 to run on anything more than Medium.

If you could find a similar PC with at least a GTX 1070 / RTX 2060 / RTX 3060, you'd be better off, but that setup above will work generally ok.

It actually totally depends if you will be mostly flying in large cities or not, it will work fine for countryside flying. Any very populated areas in this game are much much more taxing and you will get more lag.

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

Note that "medium" settings are still pretty good compared to a default sim of 10 or 15 years ago and 1080p performance is OK on most reasonable systems.

Basically FS2020 at "medium 1080p" would have been regarded as ground breaking 10 years ago.

It is just that the "ultra" settings on a 4K screen are so amazing compared to what we are used to that people end up spending money on big upgrades just so they can fly with those settings at acceptable frame rates. VR adds another hurdle again.

TLDR ... 4K ULTRA and VR are so good people are spending huge money to do it BUT in actual fact just 1080p Medium is pretty good compared to what we had in the past.

[Chock 17,769]

5 hours ago, John Simpson said:

Fascinating thread. I’m a private pilot and all round aviation fan. Owing to the pandemic I haven’t done much flying but the launch of FS2020 to huge acclaim hasn’t passed me by and I’m keen to get in on the action.

I don’t have a powerful enough computer at the moment and so I’m considering getting either a gaming laptop or stand alone tower unit. I’ve glanced through these forums but I’ve been a bit alarmed to see that some people are experiencing problems running FS even though they seem to have all the required specs.

Don't fret too much about this, the reality is that quite a few people are a bit too keen to insist on high resolutions (4K etc) and pushing the detail option sliders a bit too far to the right on their PCs instead of going for maybe 1080x1920 screen resolution - which looks okay - then they wonder why they struggle. The fact is, MSFS 2020 looks very good on medium settings at 1080p resolution, and it can run pretty well on even a fairly mediocre PC and will certainly do okay on the one you linked to.

So don't get put off by the people who obsess about running it at 4K. Yes 4K looks nice and sharp, but it's not compulsory, MSFS at 1080x1920 standard resolution on a 27 inch monitor looks very good and runs well. The fact that the new MS flight sim runs so well on even a pretty mediocre PC is one of the most impressive things about it.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Chock

[bean_sprout 1,201]

On 12/26/2020 at 11:35 AM, ChaoticBeauty said:

So now you really shouldn't have any problems, but enjoy it for as long as you can, but also start preparing for a GPU upgrade. 

2 3090's in Sli.

Cheers

bs