Will My System Work Okay?

[Gary1124 181]

I have a Ryzen 5 3600. Up to 4.6 ghz. turbo.

32 gigabytes DDR4 3000

RX 580 with 8 gigabytes.

240 gigabyte SSD.

Is my system enough to handle MSFS 2020 or should I just go to Prepar3d v4 or v5 or Xplane 11?

Currently on FSX-SE which my system dominates.

Thanks

[109Sqn 1,557]

You ought to be ok with that spec. The weak point will be your GPU but it's just a bit under the Recommended specs. As you can see from my signature, you're otherwise close to my specifications. I should think you may have to use a mix of medium and high settings and perhaps compromise of some options to achieve a decent frame rate. I'd certainly be looking to upgrade the GPU as and when you can though, and a larger SSD wouldn't go amiss, especially if you can have a separate one from the one Windows is on.

[Gary1124 181]

46 minutes ago, 109Sqn said:

You ought to be ok with that spec. The weak point will be your GPU but it's just a bit under the Recommended specs. As you can see from my signature, you're otherwise close to my specifications. I should think you may have to use a mix of medium and high settings and perhaps compromise of some options to achieve a decent frame rate. I'd certainly be looking to upgrade the GPU as and when you can though, and a larger SSD wouldn't go amiss, especially if you can have a separate one from the one Windows is on.

Just out of curiousity. What is better?

FSX/Prepar3d all nodded on max settings or MSFS on light to medium settings,

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

Your system would handle 1080p fine even on mostly high but would really struggle at 4K .

As far as FSX/Prepar3d goes that is going to to some extent depend on how much you are prepare to spend on global scenery and addons.  MSFS out of the box is pretty good on medium/high.   FSX/Prepar3d can look quite good on low end systems with the right scenery but you are spending a fair bit on scenery addons to get them to that stage.

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

1 hour ago, Gary1124 said:

240 gigabyte SSD.

Add another 500 GB SSD and install MSFS on it!

You can keep FSX SE as your "cockpit simulator" for now..

[Noel 4,492]

9 minutes ago, Gary1124 said:

Just out of curiousity. What is better?

FSX/Prepar3d all nodded on max settings or MSFS on light to medium settings,

'Maxed out' P3D, to me implies at a minimum, addon scenery from Orbx and addon airports.  I have a 9900K at 5Ghz, and an RTX 2070 Super, and for me, even w/o using Orbx regional scenery, I still leave autogen/vegetation/distance at very low settings, because I'm in PMDG NGXu/777, and these modest settings are required to have a totally smooth experience in every major city I want to fly into, that means everything is totally smooth:  AI aircraft, airport ground traffic, etc.   Visually, this experience is absolute garbage compared to MSFS on High/Ultra settings.  Because of this, I only fly from dusk thru dawn, where visuals are confined to nice addon airports, and night lighting, dawn/dusk skies, and this looks good enough.  I've been completely spoiled by visuals in MSFS--not because they're pretty, but because they're actually real by comparison to the land classed based pretend scenery in P3D.

Right now MSFS has severe performance issues for many users since the last couple of world updates but MS/A is aware and has announced they are troubleshooting this now.

 

[in2tech 588]

2 hours ago, Gary1124 said:

I have a Ryzen 5 3600. Up to 4.6 ghz. turbo.

32 gigabytes DDR4 3000

RX 580 with 8 gigabytes.

240 gigabyte SSD.

Is my system enough to handle MSFS 2020 or should I just go to Prepar3d v4 or v5 or Xplane 11?

Currently on FSX-SE which my system dominates.

Thanks

As we tell most people that ask this question. Try Game Pass for a month for $1.00 to see how it runs!

[Ricardo41 5,948]

1 hour ago, Gary1124 said:

Just out of curiousity. What is better?

FSX/Prepar3d all nodded on max settings or MSFS on light to medium settings,

I'm assuming you mean better looking? That's an easy one: MSFS on low/medium settings beats the pants off P3D/XPlane on max with all visual addons. 

[DAD 2,650]

2 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

Add another 500 GB SSD and install MSFS on it!

absolutely. I have a dedicated 500GB SSD for MSFS and just checked: only 234GB free. Just MSFS and all WUs plus the FBW neo. 

as per your PC speed: more than fine unless UHD/4K and al settings on ultra. But I'm even happy with my outdated rig, see sig below

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

2 hours ago, Noel said:

Right now MSFS has severe performance issues for many users since the last couple of world updates

This is mainly related to multiplayer, so should not be a concern.

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

12 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

This is mainly related to multiplayer, so should not be a concern.

Well multiplayer with non default planes and liveries and also a handful of specific but rare problematic places (such as KATL Atlanta which apparently is horrendous) which in the big scheme of things are few and far between. 

Generally turning off multiplayer unless you really need it and avoiding the handful of known blackspots (rather than going there deliberately, making a video and then complaining) for most people gives a trouble free game.  

Of course the occasional unfortunate person, due to some unfathomable problematic combination of hardware, other software and internet, does have CTD and generic stutter issues that MS need to sort out, but for the majority of us it is fine.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[Gary1124 181]

I don't really need to worry about high graphic settings. I see colors but my color vision isn't high def and I just can't get the right reading correction on my bifocals so, yeah 1080 looks fine to me. I even think FSX with Ultimate Terrain and GSX looks good. Not hard to please graphically.

I would like to get a 2TB SSD. My second hard drive is a 2 gig platter type. Nothing irreplaceable on it.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Gary1124

[Ricardo41 5,948]

MSFS 2020 runs well on low-end hardware. So you shouldn't have a problem, just keep everything to medium. 

[Gary1124 181]

I would like to eventually get a radeon 5700xt. If they ever become available at a realistic price again that is. I will not pay a 1000 or even more than 500 for a GPU. 

[kerosene31 349]

You can often find an introductory deal on a Game Pass subscription for a month for $1 if you look around.  You can give it a try and see for yourself.  The game runs really well on old hardware, as long as you're realistic.  My PC is going on 4 years old now and I can still get 30fps or more on the 2nd highest settings.  I'm in the same boat, putting off an upgrade until the price/shortage lets up.  The game still looks amazing even in the 2nd highest settings.  I could never, ever get FSX to run smoothly, but 2020 has impressed me in that regard.  Granted I'm flying mostly GA planes and not hitting the complex heavy iron in complex airports. 

Honestly I've been less in a rush to upgrade based on how well things run now.  I try and think back to how a 3+ year old PC would have performed at FSX launch.