So currently my CPU meets the very minimum for MSFS. I have the i5-4460 at 3.2ghz but my GPU is under the minimum as I have GTX 750ti. I was thinking about upgrading my GPU as well as my RAM. I have 12GB which I plan to upgrade to 16GB. I am curious if anyone else uses this CPU and what your performance is like and what GPU you have. I’m not expecting to run MSFS on high I’m just hoping I can run it on medium/low and get 30-40FPS.  I can actually still run the game now and while it looks better than P3D I can tell I’m not getting the full experience, since my card is under the minimum and I would be happy just to be able to get the base graphics to look correct.

 

 

I was thinking of getting a 970 or 1060 but not sure what is best with this setup? So do you have any suggestions?

 

Thanks

Edited April 2, 20233 yr by jt233

What is your budget?

If you're serious about running MSFS then I'd suggest that you try setting aside however much you can to eventually invest in a decently powerful new computer.

I saved up over a couple of years and then took the plunge.

Well worth investing in hardware capable of running MSFS at decent settings (nothing too extreme). As you can see I don't exactly have top of the line components yet MSFS runs beautifully smooth and with more than enough visual candy to satisfy these old eyes.
Limiting yourself to "lesser" hardware will most certainly lead to dissatisfaction.

The minimums quoted to run MSFS are just marketing. Ignore them and aim higher.
 

 

6 hours ago, Greggy_D said:

What is your budget?

Well, my budget kind of depends. I would say around $700 total, but that would take me time to save up for. My birthday is coming up next month and between getting some cash I could add what I have and at least upgrade the GPU and RAM for now and maybe a PSU. Then maybe get a new MB and CPU a little bit later. I think would need new case as well, since my current one is part of a Lenovo desktop I bought off Amazon.

Edited April 3, 20233 yr by jt233

I would advise against throwing much money at that machine in upgrades, and saving for a replacement; I say this as someone who started MFS with i5-2500K 16 GB and GTX980 4GB and kinda managed medium settings. I think you may get away with retaining just 12 GB RAM but the GTX 750Ti definitely needs replacing... but then you'll probably need a PSU - so maybe buy two items with a view to moving them to a new system in the next year or so?

I am still using the GTX980 on my current i5-12400F and it does okay, I have settings quite high generally but also only 30 fps. The GTX1060 is a fair bit slower than a GTX980, at the same price I would go for a 980. But I think really you should be looking at 2070 or 3060/3070 if you're moving to a new system otherwise you're dealing with hardware that's already 7 years old (in the case of the 1060) that will be going into a new system! MFS is rather VRAM hungry, you'll want 4GB of it at an absolute minimum but more would be better.

Edited April 3, 20233 yr by ckyliu

8 hours ago, ckyliu said:

I would advise against throwing much money at that machine in upgrades, and saving for a replacement; I say this as someone who started MFS with i5-2500K 16 GB and GTX980 4GB and kinda managed medium settings. I think you may get away with retaining just 12 GB RAM but the GTX 750Ti definitely needs replacing... but then you'll probably need a PSU - so maybe buy two items with a view to moving them to a new system in the next year or so?

I am still using the GTX980 on my current i5-12400F and it does okay, I have settings quite high generally but also only 30 fps. The GTX1060 is a fair bit slower than a GTX980, at the same price I would go for a 980. But I think really you should be looking at 2070 or 3060/3070 if you're moving to a new system otherwise you're dealing with hardware that's already 7 years old (in the case of the 1060) that will be going into a new system! MFS is rather VRAM hungry, you'll want 4GB of it at an absolute minimum but more would be better.

This is good advice, thanks. I am wondering if I can keep the case for now. I have a Lenovo prebuilt and from what I find online it uses the ATX form factor. I already have a 2GB SSD plus an 2GB HHD So all I would need is an new CPU, GPU, MB, and PSU then I can upgrade the RAM and case later. What about just upgrading the GPU, PSU and RAM for now, then upgrading the CPU and MB in a few months? Even on my current system, I get decent frame rates in most areas with settings on low/medium so I'm sure even just bringing the GPU up to above minimum specs along with increasing the RAM would be a decent improvement which i can live with until I upgrade the rest.

Edited April 3, 20233 yr by jt233

@jt233 Your RAM won't be reuseable in an new motherboard since it's DDR3; DDR4 has been the norm for a long time and the very latest Intel 13th gen are now mostly DDR5. Therefore I advise against a RAM upgrade to you existing system.

Edited April 3, 20233 yr by ckyliu