13 minutes ago, swaps said:

I dont have an xbox, 

You don’t need an Xbox. Confusingly, Microsoft lump all this stuff under Xbox gaming services these days.

Have a good look at that link. You can get Xbox Gamepass for £1 for a fortnight right now. It really will allow you to download and install either MSFS 2020 or 2024 (or both) on your PC.

At least you’ll be able to judge whether your pc is capable of running either sim.

How much free disk space do you have on your pc?

 

8 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

You don’t need an Xbox. Confusingly, Microsoft lump all this stuff under Xbox gaming services these days.

Have a good look at that link. You can get Xbox Gamepass for £1 for a fortnight right now. It really will allow you to download and install either MSFS 2020 or 2024 (or both) on your PC.

At least you’ll be able to judge whether your pc is capable of running either sim.

How much free disk space do you have on your pc?

 

750 GB ON ONE SSD AND ANOTHER 250 ON ANOTHER SSD

48 minutes ago, swaps said:

750 GB ON ONE SSD AND ANOTHER 250 ON ANOTHER SSD

That's good; plenty of space. 2020 will take up more space than 2024.

Try 'em both with Gamepass for PC and see how you get on....

A little 2 penn'orth here. Don't be too put off by 'You need a bigger card' Minimum specs call for a GTX 970 if I recall correctly. I'm still using a 1070 Strix with 8gig of RAM. I have most of the bells and whistles on high, a few on ultra and a few bits turned off. I get a beautiful, smooth display with FPS at I've no idea per second.(Never look at 'em. Much over rated) That's in 2020(which I still prefer) and 2024. Long term I'd go with 2024, there is hope it'll get sorted!  

Someone back there suggested Game pass which is the best bit of advice so far.

Oh and whichever way you jump it'll be damned sight prettier than DCS! 

EDIT: Just checked the specs on the 1050ti 4gig of ram will probably be a bit of a restriction.

Edited June 10, 2025Jun 10 by Ron Attwood

In case your 1050 and 8-gen i5 aren't up to the task (either 2020 or 2024): What if you get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate? You'll get Cloud Gaming, and it will allow you to run MSFS (either version) remotely. The only issue is that you'd be limited to the Marketplace for addons.

Just purchased an Acemagic Tank 03 Tank  mini PC for $600 off Newegg. Comes with i7 12700H, 32GB DDR5 RAM, RTX 3060 (12GB VRAM dedicated), 1TB nVME, Dual LAN, BT 5.2, x6 USB 3,2 ports, Thunderbolt port, Display port, x2 HDMI ports etc...I added another 4TB nVME as well. RAM can be increased to 64GB if needed.

It runs both 2020/2024 beautifully.

Edited June 12, 2025Jun 12 by udidwht

2 minutes ago, udidwht said:

 for $600 

That's a helluva deal!🫡

Ok, looks like the I5 8 gen is good enough, videos on yourtube with it running. Upgraded ram to 48 gb and just got a 2060 card 6GB which youtube also show it running. will only be using 1080 as that all my monitor supports. May bo bigger and better in the future but will see how this runs for now. Just waiting for a power cable for the video card. I did not realise it needed extra power.

 

Thanks Alan

On 6/8/2025 at 6:11 PM, swaps said:

Hi all,

        Been on DCS for some time and had previous flight sims. I am looking for the cheapest way to get MS flight sim 20 or 24  here is the but ! I want my local airports Blackpool, Liverpool, Manchester, I will never do massively long flights so London and Scottish airport are about as long as I would fly. I would enjoy trying to land at hard airports but not do the long haul flights. is there a cheapish way for me to do this ? I dont need lots of aircraft, the basics will be fine I would just like to fly around my local airports and places I know.

 

Thanks Alan

My first ever flight, aged 20 months, was from Squire's Gate, around the Blackpool Tower, back to Squire's Gate, sitting on my mums' lap, in the back seat of a Cessna 172 🙂

2 hours ago, swaps said:

Ok, looks like the I5 8 gen is good enough, videos on yourtube with it running. Upgraded ram to 48 gb and just got a 2060 card 6GB which youtube also show it running. will only be using 1080 as that all my monitor supports.

Yes, you should certainly be able to run both 2020 and 2024 in 1080p, with a few tweaks to the graphics. Maybe start with Medium and move lower if that's too much.. but I think 2024 will work at 1080p medium with your hardware. Try 2020 as well, of course. 

Either way, do let us know how it goes. 

14 hours ago, The_Flying_Potato said:

My first ever flight, aged 20 months, was from Squire's Gate, around the Blackpool Tower, back to Squire's Gate, sitting on my mums' lap, in the back seat of a Cessna 172 🙂

Im in Fleetwood just outside Blackpool, really want to fly around the local areas. I have flown Microlights and some gliding experience but not for many years.

 

Alan