HI MSFS 2020 Folks;

I am looking to make to jump to MSFS from all of my great years with FSX Win 7. My question is around hardware since I am in the process of putting together the specs for my new gaming rig. 

I have got the CPU, GPU and VRAM covered. In terms of RAM I see that MS states (on the requirements website) that the ideal spec should be 32GB however, I noticed that some of the folks in this forum are running 16GB. (listed as part of their signature info)  

So my question is do I really need the 32GB instead of 16GB? Are folks experiencing issues with only 16GB? I don't want to be on the back foot before I really get started.

I am going all the way for a high end rig since I am skipping P3D and going directly to getting MSFS "Premium Deluxe Edition". I know there are issues since it's a pretty new app but I don't want to invest lots of money on P3D (will have to buy new aircraft, scenery addons) since all of my PMDG, QW, aircraft and 10 airport add-ons in FSX cannot be also leveraged for P3D.

BTW: If you are wondering why I am buying a high end hardware now and moving on rather than staying with FSX until MSFS is stable. Well, I am beginning to see signs that my hardware is giving up and trying to get components for a 6 year old hardware is tough. I don't think spending hundreds of dollars on refurbished hardware components makes sense.

Thanks very much.

Kindest Regards.

Forshaw.  

I've only got 16gb RAM and it hasn't caused me any noticeable bottlenecks in MSFS. If you get two sticks of 8gb RAM, you can easily upgrade to 32 using the other two remaining slots if you find 16 is not enough 

I had 32Gb and two of my sticks failed a memory diagnostic test, so I removed them. Apart from not having a single CTD since then, I did not notice much difference in performance (FPS).

Having said that I have noticed the occasional slight stutters in a few places (at or approaching airports) that I had not seen before. So as noted by others in a similar thread on this forum, your mileage may vary but there does seem to be some advantage with having 32Gb, esp if you are running at 4K res.

28 minutes ago, forshaw said:

So my question is do I really need the 32GB instead of 16GB? Are folks experiencing issues with only 16GB? I don't want to be on the back foot before I really get started.

I thought that 16GB were enough until i changed to 32GB and noticed more "breath" form the whole system. Less stutters (although stutters tend to be CPU bound), more fluid-like feeling.

I was with [email protected], 16GB RAM, 1070 8GB and went to [email protected], 32GB RAM, 1070 8GB and finally to [email protected], 32GB RAM, 3070 8GB.

Since then i have noticed that the system is using the available memory. I have seen up to 26GB RAM usage from MSFS alone!

Although you can safely run MSFS with 16GB RAM, certainly you should consider 32GB. It will give your machine the breathing room it needs. 

In fact, personally i decided against upgrading CPU and will wait for the 12th gen Intel lineup, mainly because 11th gen Intel's did not convince me at all and a the same time [email protected] works really well...

I am able to get constant 40FPS min right now with ultra in 1440p and the limiting factor for a constant 50-60FPS is the CPU, but anyone in flight sim world knows that constant 40FPS in MSFS/P3D etc should make you extremely happy 🙂

If you are likely to want to dip into VR anytime in the future, then as much RAM as you can afford. 

Probably less critical for 2D but - as someone above said - still helpful to go for the extra headroom.  These flight sims stretch the hardware to the limit as a general rule

Terrible time to be building a computer imho. I’m half joking, but you may get more vfm by just trying to buy a series x now and wait a year until the tech supply problems calm down a bit and you don’t have to swap kidneys for GPUs. 

2 hours ago, forshaw said:

So my question is do I really need the 32GB instead of 16GB? Are folks experiencing issues with only 16GB? I don't want to be on the back foot before I really get started.

I am going all the way for a high end rig since I am skipping P3D and going directly to getting MSFS "Premium Deluxe Edition". 

 

You should probably disclose whether you plan to play MSFS in 4K and Ultra, and if not, what resolution and graphics settings you plan to play MSFS with.  Most people that get high end rigs usually are playing MSFS in 4K and Ultra.  In that case, 32 GB of RAM goes hand in hand with most high end rigs, especially if you are spending a lot of money on a high end GPU and a high end CPU (it's weird to spend a lot of money on a high end GPU and high end CPU but then cheap out on the amount of RAM for that system).

I do not think you should skimp on memory when you are building a new computer, and for God's sake make sure to buy the Steam version of the game, then you will not have to tear your hair in frustration with each update.

To those of you who have 32GB RAM - how much is being actually used?

Could you run the in-game FPS display, fly in a dense scenery area low level in the A320NEO (with everything on Ultra to push the system) and then share your findings? 

Would be very interested to know! I know this depends on monitor rez.

 

11 minutes ago, Ixoye said:

I do not think you should skimp on memory when you are building a new computer, and for God's sake make sure to buy the Steam version of the game, then you will not have to tear your hair in frustration with each update.

+1 !! 

So glad I got it on Steam, the MS Store version seems to be a nightmare.

 

 

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by ThrottleUp

I have 44Gb of RAM and whilst I am aware of the fact that lots of people say they have no problem with MSFS on 16GB of RAM, I doubt I would have such an easy time making vids or Alt-Tabbing out of MSFS to other things such as Photoshop and Premiere with only enough RAM suitable for MSFS. So I would say 16Gb is almost certainly fine if you are only running MSFS, then maybe later on look at throwing a bit more RAM in there, since it certainly wouldn't hurt somewhere down the line. But if you are wanting to make MSFS videos, stream stuff to youtube or anything like that, then go for more than 16Gb straight off the bat, because it's likely you'd use it under those circumstances.

I would not build a computer in 2021 with only 16 gigs of ram. 32 gigs is the minimum for a new build imo

6 minutes ago, wims80 said:

I would not build a computer in 2021 with only 16 gigs of ram. 32 gigs is the minimum for a new build imo

Agree.  Especially if you're running other apps along with it.  I'm often alt-tabbing out of stuff hehe.

34 minutes ago, Chock said:

I have 44Gb of RAM and whilst I am aware of the fact that lots of people say they have no problem with MSFS on 16GB of RAM, I doubt I would have such an easy time making vids or Alt-Tabbing out of MSFS to other things such as Photoshop and Premiere with only enough RAM suitable for MSFS. So I would say 16Gb is almost certainly fine if you are only running MSFS, then maybe later on look at throwing a bit more RAM in there, since it certainly wouldn't hurt somewhere down the line. But if you are wanting to make MSFS videos, stream stuff to youtube or anything like that, then go for more than 16Gb straight off the bat, because it's likely you'd use it under those circumstances.

Yes, what Chock said. The extra RAM is good if you have other applications running on your system. For me, before SU5 (remember that Asobo optimized the RAM usage even more with SU5), I could get away with 16 GB of RAM on my system, if I closed all other applications before I ran MSFS. I play on 1920x1080, with mostly High settings in MSFS.

When I upgraded to 24 GB of RAM, I honestly didn't notice the difference in performance between 16 GB and 24 GB of RAM.  I did notice that if MSFS has more RAM available, it will take what it is given - that's the the only thing I noticed when I upgraded from 16 to 24 GB of RAM.  However, I upgraded to 24 GB of RAM though because I wanted to avoid closing my apps when I play MSFS.  Now when I play MSFS, I can keep all my browsers open, keep other apps open, and still get good performance in MSFS.

So for me, upgrading to 24 GB of RAM didn't offer me better performance, it just allows me to keep my apps open while I play MSFS.  My system specs are in my signature.

I would as other have suggested go with as much memory as you can afford, I would also say unless you fly low and slow you may be dissapointed with msfs as there are lots of issues with it currently. Ranging from installation to  buildings sometimes there to not there.

Ai is rubbish at large airports. I could go on but if you fly low and slow to small airfields you will love it, the community addons are excellent. Just try and have as much mem you can have.

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by mazelda

I have a 7 month old PC and use 16GB ram with no problems at all. 

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by Bobsk8