Instead of trying to upgrade my current 15 plus year old Dell desktop I would like suggestions on a low to mid priced desktop that can run the Microsoft Fsim 2020. Thanks 

 

[email protected]

34 minutes ago, rpgibbs said:

Instead of trying to upgrade my current 15 plus year old Dell desktop I would like suggestions on a low to mid priced desktop that can run the Microsoft Fsim 2020. Thanks 

 

[email protected]

Suggest you put your range in actual currency.  Low to Mid range can mean much different from one of us to the other....  I just in August spent an amount that to me was upper range.  But some here have spend 2/3rd as much or more just on video cards over the past 12 months.  And some have even spent 3X going through multiple video cards in that time span. So best to define your range in currency.

3 hours ago, rpgibbs said:

Instead of trying to upgrade my current 15 plus year old Dell desktop I would like suggestions on a low to mid priced desktop that can run the Microsoft Fsim 2020. Thanks 

 

[email protected]

 

This depends a lot on screen resolution, what your target frame rate is and how you intend to fly.

"Recommended" MS official specs are sort of OK up to 1440p.

You need more like the "ideal" official specs for ultra at 4K.

If you are using a G2 for VR well maybe nothing will do it yet at ultra settings.

Edited January 23, 20215 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

https://www.logicalincrements.com/

If you look at various online stores, you are probably going to be searching in the £600-and upwards price-range. Obviously you can spend more than this if you want something fancy, but basically, that price is going to be the bottom line. By way of example, something along the lines of this. This one I linked to is just an example, but it will certainly run MSFS in standard resolutions pretty well, since it is quoted as being capable of running modern popular games such as Fortnite at 212 FPS in 1080p resolution and Cyberpunk 2077 at 272 FPS and they specifically state that this exact PC will run MSFS at 67 FPS in 1080p. This is pretty good and leaves a bit of room for it to handle fancier add-ons you might install.

For that kind of money, you want to be looking for 16Gbs of main memory since MSFS likes that amount (more would be better, but you can add this at a later date if you like).

You'll ideally want an 8Gb GPU (graphics card) or better if you can find one with more memory, since this seems to be the kind of thing which will handle it with no problems. Fancier is of course better, and more memory is better too, but note that the above linked PC has a 6Gb GPU and it runs MSFS at 67 FPS in 1080p, so don't fret about this too much.

You'll want it to have an SSD (solid state disk drive) of at least 500Gb in order to install the sim on it and have it load up reasonably quickly, since these access quickly and MSFS needs somewhere along the lines of 300Gb of space on an SSD to install and run okay. Lots of cheaper PCs will have a larger traditional magnetic hard disk drive (HDD) as well a smaller SSD, and this is fine, but you definitely want MSFS installed on a faster SSD. The one I linked to has a 512Gb SSD, and this is just fine for MSFS.

Any reasonably modern processor (CPU), such as the Intel i5 in the PC I put the link to will be perfectly fine. Expect people to start telling you stuff like 'oh the new Intel/Ryzen Super Sex Bomb 4000x processor is due out in a month, you should wait for that', but seriously, ignore all that nonsense. People love spending your money on threads like this, but back in the real world we all have bills to pay.

Now with all this said, if you want to start using virtual reality goggles, or want to run it at 4K resolution, then the price tag and spec will have to be higher than this, although to be honest, MSFS at standard resolutions such as 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) looks great and I personally run it at  standard resolution and I am perfectly happy with how it runs and looks. Have a look in the screenshots forum here on Avsim and you will see my screenshots look nice, and they are all at standard resolution, for example:

But as I say, stand by for lots of people on this thread to start posting links to super-duper (i.e. really expensive) computers whilst insisting that you must run it at 4K and must use vr. Yes those things are cool, but they really are not necessary to enjoy the sim and you will find the sim is completely trouble-free performance wise if you ignore all that and just run it at 1080p.

Keep in mind too that if you are buying a reasonably inexpensive ready made PC in the price range I suggested, there is nothing to stop you from adding bits to it at a later date to improve it, and this can be an attractive proposition if finding the initial cash for something is not a situation you find yourself in easily (and let's be honest, none of us are millionaires) because you can effectively spread the cost a bit. So if you find a PC with a decent spec, but it perhaps has 8Gb of RAM and you'd prefer to have 16Gb of RAM, then you could just buy another 8Gb of RAM for (maybe fifty quid or so off ebay/amazon) and sling that in it, and it's not hard to do.

Edited January 23, 20215 yr by Chock

I agree with what @Chock has outlined and I was running both FSX and MSFS on a modest PC spec for a couple of months, knowing that at some stage I would have to buy another PC just for MSFS. My choice is as per the spec in my signature and cost £2600 in October, with the monitor at £350 in December. This is my upper financial limit as I invested in the Thrustmaster Warthog set and pendulum rudder pedals also.

As for performance, as I have a small SSD C drive and a large HDD D drive, I placed everything on D for space. Initially MSFS was installed on C, but the Community folder was growing by the day and was not sustainable. I have the Premium Deluxe boxed version and asked MS if it would be better for me to place everything on D and this was my outcome. Certainly I do not have everything at Ultra and and for sure I am like a lot of other simmers who have issues with FPS and I cannot get above 32/33fps. But I do not have stutters now, but since the last MSFS Update all my flights end with CTD! I use @Bad_T 's MSAddon Linker so I can turn off different mods from where the CTD's happen. I also fly in a vanilla state and CTD continues.

Coming back to specs, I will stay with mine. If what MS/Asobo say that over time the performance of the sim vis-à-vis CPU/GPU will be enhanced then for sure we will all benefit from it with our modest system specs.

Martin

 

Get a good quality 1080p monitor and spend as much as you can. Going to 1440 wil cost frames and dont even think about 4k that would be a huge mistake. Try and get a new 30xx card.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/

 

Edited January 23, 20215 yr by Nyxx