Greetings all, I started with Flight Sim 95, then 98, and got as far as '02 before I bit the bullet and got my PPL.  I haven't flown now for ten years and would like to get back into simming.  I'm trying to re-educate myself as to how to approach this as I have to start from the ground up.  I guess I'd rather go the PC route than the Xbox in spite of the cost.  MSFS over XPlane, methinks.  I had the CH yoke and pedals before and am thinking the same again although I like the Honeycomb.  At any rate, if I go the PC route what specs would you folks recommend?  Probably going to cost at least $1500 for the PC plus peripherals I'm thinking.  Also, some terminology help here:  GPU, CTD, what do those mean?  

I really appreciate your insight and feedback and very much look forward to getting back into simming.  

Welcome back!!

I operate all of the major sims and for stunning visuals and performance find that MSFS gives the “best bang for the buck” - the default photo scenery and planes are very nice and there are tons of freeware enhancements plus a growing library of add ons and most developers seem to be focusing on MSFS.

A GPU is a graphics card that helps render those stunning visuals, and CTD is “crash to desktop” which with MSFS is almost always caused by a conflicting add on scenery or livery in my experience.

You’ll want a fast processor and in my opinion a GPU with more than 8GB of VRAM.

I built a new rig with a 10900K processor and RX 6800 card and have been very happy, but in all fairness my old rig with a 4Ghz processor and 8GB 1070 card also did a very good job and I’ve heard others with 7 year old computers enjoying MSFS.
 

I’d recommend 32GB of RAM too, and a large SSD drive as well as some giant old fashioned HDD drives to store goodies on.

I went for the most expensive MSFS version which was worth it to me for the steam gauge 172 and Cessna Longitude but you can also try the game with a gamepass for little cost.

Good luck and have fun!

 

1 hour ago, Jeff_M said:

Also, some terminology help here:  GPU, CTD, what do those mean?  

I really appreciate your insight and feedback and very much look forward to getting back into simming.  

Hello,

How much is your maximum available funds for your PC build?  Although MSFS runs well on a range of capabilities I would aim to avoid inadequate CPU because as w/ all other flight sims it too is vulnerable to insufficient CPU power.  MSFS does a good part of its main workload on one core of today's multicore CPU.  So it is very what is called, "single-thread dependent."  So when comparing new CPUs for your new PC build look for ones with the highest 'single-thread performance'.  Here's a chart showing how various CPUs stack up today:

PassMark CPU Benchmarks - Single Thread Performance

If it were me I would put the $$ at the top, to an Intel I9-12900K.

Memory isn't a major concern here--you just want decent DDR4 memory that works with the motherboard you end up with.  (DDR5 is harder to get now)

The GPU, or graphics card, is the other major player.  Right now I would not want anything less than 12Gb of VRAM on board, and here is an affordable one that should work very well without costing an arm:  EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC BLACK GAMING, 12G-P5-3655-KR, 12GB GDDR6, Dual-Fan        All GPUs are extremely inflated price-wise now.  On Ebay this GPU goes for around $800--so double MSRP, and that is just how it largely is today.

Clearly it's a bit early to get into how to build a PC but those are the main features I would aim for today for MSFS.

If you are budget conscious, I would suggest that 16 GB RAM and 8 GB VRAM is what you need.

Secondly a decent internet connection 25 Mbps or better.

Add a current generation CPU on a good motherboard, and a dedicated 500 GB SSD for MSFS and you are on your way.

You can reuse the CH Products yoke etc..

11 hours ago, Jeff_M said:

 I guess I'd rather go the PC route than the Xbox in spite of the cost.  MSFS over XPlane, methinks.  I had the CH yoke and pedals before and am thinking the same again although I like the Honeycomb.  At any rate, if I go the PC route what specs would you folks recommend? 

MSFS is an excellent sim and I would know, I have flown sims for decades. A good choice then.

The PC version offers more choices of addons than the Xbox. Go for it if you can afford it. 

Contrary to its predecessors and present competitors, MSFS is well optimized for low-end computers like mine (see sig ) meaning that you get to put the settings at a very high level and run at a pretty 30 FPS.

Of course, it runs even better/prettier with stronger GPU and CPU and with more RAM. Your budget is the limit. Remember that we are are in a period of penury and that graphic card prices are astronomical. 

You need a good internet connection because it runs downloading scenery on the fly (pun not intended 😉) and, no doubt for our sins, there are hefty updates every month or so.

A HDR monitor seems a better solution than an old SDR monitor (like mine...) but still lovely with an old one.

Controllers : if you buy new ones, go for the ones with Hall effect sensor rather than potentiometers. More reliable.

If you go for it, buy it at Steam, not at the MS Store. The convoluted system of the latter has brought to the forums a ton of horror stories of people having problems updating.

 

Edited January 9, 20224 yr by Dominique_K

1 hour ago, Dominique_K said:

Contrary to its predecessors and present competitors, MSFS is well optimized for low-end computer like mine (see sig ) meaning that you get to put the settings at a very high level and run at a pretty 30 FPS.

When I read about MSFS first, I was convinced I'd need a new machine to run that insane level of graphics. Guess what, I'm still on the same machine (see sig) and it works quite well, even for VR (= Virtual Reality) when I dial back a few settings.

1 hour ago, Dominique_K said:

If you go for it, buy it at Steam, not at the MS Store. The convoluted system of the latter has brought to the forums a ton of horror stories of people having problems updating.

100% agree. Yes, there are people who bought it from the MS Store and have it running fine from day 1. However, if you glance through reports from fora, the majority of issues are based on the "convoluted system", as @Dominique_K  states. And yes, I'm a burned child myself. 

Kind regards, Michael

I can't add anything in the way of hardware advice, but I will second the recommendation to install via Steam instead of the MS Store. I went the MS Store version since I'm not really into gaming other than sims and so I figured it would be simpler to not have to involve other software like Steam.  This was a mistake.  I now have a couple different utilities on my computer like the MS Store and the Xbox app that became required to run the MS Store version. I haven't had any real horror stories the way others have, but I've had some update "headaches" let's call them.  You're better off installing via Steam, even if this is all you ever use Steam for. 

Also, if you've not messed with a sim since the early 2000s... you are going to be absolutely blown away at what's possible. Enjoy! 

Excellent responses, thanks so much.  When you say download via Steam rather than the MS store, what does that mean?  

9 minutes ago, Jeff_M said:

Excellent responses, thanks so much.  When you say download via Steam rather than the MS store, what does that mean?  

Welcome to Steam (steampowered.com) is a web site where you can purchase many software titles including MSFS. The beauty of it is that it has its own installer/updater which runs more smoothly and easily that if buying MSFS from the MS store which also needs Xbox software to be installed as well.

26 minutes ago, Jeff_M said:

Excellent responses, thanks so much.  When you say download via Steam rather than the MS store, what does that mean?  

You first install the Steam Client from the link given by @Espana Pete. From there you can buy MSFS

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1250410/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_Game_of_the_Year_Edition/

You still need a MS account during installation (that's part of your user identification for multiplayer, forum etc.) but that's all.

Kind regards, Michael

Edited January 9, 20224 yr by pmb

As a complement, Steam is the largest world distributor of digital games. Not a Pop & Mom business by any means, very professional in my experience.

I've been on the Steam site and have set up an account.  I really liked the Beech Baron when I simmed before so I'll probably go for the Deluxe version.  I've just read some other reviews that agree with what I've read here about Steam being superior to MS, thanks again.  

Can't do this, however, until I spring for the hardware--which will come in mid February after we've returned from a vacation.  Still have plenty of time to shop, however, and by that time I should have a clear idea of exactly what I want.  Will be lurking about here regularly, learning, learning.  I can't use my prior CH yoke and pedals cause I sold 'em.  😞  I HAVE run an ethernet cable down to my new computer cave and have speakers ready to go, small victories.  Can't wait....  🙂  

3 hours ago, Jeff_M said:

Excellent responses, thanks so much.  When you say download via Steam rather than the MS store, what does that mean?  

While it's correct to say you will be directed to utilize the MS Store App & have the Xbox App installed, there is nothing difficult at all about this and if I recall they're already installed when you install Win 10.  Yes, you must sign into them w/ your MS account credentials.  I never liked the idea of putting a 3rd party between the sim and the user which is what Steam is.  After all, Steam the entity has to get things right w/ MSFS before they can grapple with installs and updates.  Not long ago an open Beta was offered to help test out the latest patch--Steam users were not part of this for a period of time because once again all orginates from MS and Steam has to sync with them before users get anything from Steam for MSFS.   I've had zero troubles w/ the Store as most users can also report, but some people have been confused by their relationship to MSFS, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the MS store install.  In fact I've had to uninstall and reinstall MSFS 2 times since launch which had to do w/ needing to reinstall Win 10 for other reasons.  I've had zero problems with all three installs and myriad updates.  When the early loud reports came in at how problematic the MS Store version install was touted to be I found this so counter to my own experience I ran this poll to try to see how widespread issues w/ the MS Store install really was 3 months after release because often when things don't go perfectly well you hear from people, and not so much for all of the smooth installs.  If you search you will also find people w/ problems w/ the Steam install.  I would venture to guess this poll is still true today 13 months after this poll closed.

 

1 hour ago, Noel said:

I ran this poll to try to see how widespread issues w/ the MS Store install really was 3 months after release because often when things don't go perfectly well you hear from people, and not so much for all of the smooth installs.  If you search you will also find people w/ problems w/ the Steam install.  I would venture to guess this poll is still true today 13 months after this poll closed.

An interesting poll, no doubt.

A poll I'd rather see is a comparison between Steam and MS Store user experiences. Your poll only has data from MS Store users. Maybe I'll go set up such a poll... 😉

...jim

 

Sure why not, plus it's much farther down the road.  Perhaps create two separate polls one for Store and one for Steam and use the same questions in each.  This will help elicit how many users of each pathway there are as well.