FSX 2020 Sys Reqs help please

[snadge]

Hi

 

my dad used to play FSX original (using an old 4-core sandy bridge i5 @ 4.8Ghz / 4GB RAM / GTX460 and a 1TB HDD which maxed out the system but worked (also had the upgrades/addons for weather & traffic etc and optimal settings added) and it worked great, but it looks nothing like the new one, after a while, he got bored and but stopped, now in the summer he heard about FSX2020 and instead of having to spend several hundreds of pounds upgrading to a decent gaming PC thought it would be cheaper to buy an Xbox One X for £250 as it was gunna be available on that too... but it isn't and there is no timeline even though one is considered as being "in the works" it sounds like it's not going to happen.

 

I suggested at least 16GB RAM (24Gb-32Gb recommended) at least an 8-Core CPU and 1TB SSD (for installs) + 2TB HDD for temp storage - this game supposedly has 40,000 HD Discs worth of data to stream and would imagine it being tough system-wide so no bottlenecks.

 

can anyone help as everyone knows the "minimum requirements" just aren't up to the real task?

edit: for 1080p@60Hz only

 

thanks

Edited November 5, 2020 by snadge

[opcartmell]

My specs are in the signature. I can tell you this rig runs MSFS 2020 pretty well at about 30fps. However, I really haven't taxed the system to the fullest since I've stayed with basic, GA aircraft (the Icon A5 and the Cessna Skyhawk). Neither seems to strain the system. Be aware there is a learning curve; the sim is different enough from previous FS sims to require adaptation. Example, the autopilot is very different. I built my new system for about $1700 and there is nothing on it but Windows 10 and MSFS. My old CH Eclipse yoke and pedals work fine. I have not added any additional scenery or airplanes. I'm waiting to hear how the sim performs on Xbox since the specs for a PC are pretty high. Regardless, I've had a good time with the new sim so far; the scenery is amazing.

[snadge]

thanks for your quick reply

 

you signature specs were $1700..? (we are based in the UK) and is that for 4K? as he is paying only at 1080p@60Hz so though this may help bring the price down... he has a 4K TV but his "gaming room" with 2 PCs and Xbox use a 23" 1080P@60Hz monitor

 

thanks again

Edited November 5, 2020 by snadge

[plainsman]

A few things to note. FS2020 will only use a few cores, so an I5-10600K will run about the same as an I7 or I9 in anything less than 4K. You really need a strong GPU, at least a RTX 2060super, but a 2070super is a better choice. I recommend 32GB of 3200 DDR4 (with XMP enabled). You need a fast SSD or M.2.

[snadge]

A few things to note. FS2020 will only use a few cores, so an I5-10600K will run about the same as an I7 or I9 in anything less than 4K. You really need a strong GPU, at least an RTX 2060super, but a 2070super is a better choice. I recommend 32GB of 3200 DDR4 (with XMP enabled). You need a fast SSD or M.2.

 

old FSX was a 3 core use - you would think that with today's multi-core machines that games are would be optimized to use them? I've seen several PC benchmarks of games with different intel core counts and they all seemed to indicate that 8 cores was the best with diminishing returns after that.

 

FSX is now 2020 - would have thought they would have moved away from the 2-3 cores only thing, i recall back then it was poor code requiring ultra-fast OC'd CPUs with a half-decent GPU (at the time in 2009 he got a GTX460 and i5-2000 series and 4GB RAM @ 16000Mhz XMP plus a 1TB HDD and it taxed the system to death.

 

he has just bought a new TV too so won't be looking to break the bank as he invested £250 in an Xbox which has turned out to be useless to him as he doesn't ever game...he just liked Flight Simulator X and that was it - he would set autopilot from London to Newcastle and only be at the PC in time for take-off and landing l0l - in real-time hehe..

 

i know he needs all you suggest but i can tell you now he would say NVMe SSD? just tear out the 10-year-old 1Tb HDD out of the current machine and stuff like that, basically he cant upgrade his current machine, he needs a new one as the old mobo won't take new components.

 

he's been advised this: recommended is Ryzen 5_1500x , radeon RX 590, 500GB ssd, 16 GB RAM thereabouts

 

remember this is just 1080p @ 60Hz not 4K@120Hz which everyone is selling their houses to get a system that can pull this off on most games lol

 

thanks

[loki]

When it comes to multiple cores, it very much depends on the application and what it is doing that determines how well it can make use of more than one core. Not all computing tasks lend themselves to being split across multiple cores or processors. The easiest tasks to make use of multi-threading have been doing so for decades, while the harder ones are still evolving. These harder ones may never get to the point where they use all cores on every processor, and shouldn't be expected to. What we should expect is that they will make best use of all the resources available (CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD etc.) to reach decent levels of performance, which MSFS does far better than FSX ever did.

 

Unlike FSX, the minimum requirements will run the sim reasonably well, just with most settings turned down, which of course means the experience certainly won't match the screenshots or videos you see everywhere.

 

As for the Xbox edition, the developers have mentioned it is development in recent developer videos. In fact, a big factor in MSFS getting the go ahead was almost certainly because of the Xbox console. However, getting it running well on a console is a bit more involved than just hitting a button in the compiler, so will take some time. Something to note is that if you buy the sim through the MS Store on Windows 10, you will also get the console version when it is released. And while the sim will likely run on the Xbox One X, MS has said all first party titles will, I would have recommended waiting to get one of the new Xbox Series X models. These new consoles are much more powerful and would be far better suited to running the sim.

 

You are correct that running at 1080p is not nearly as demanding as at 4k, so you don't need a top of the line GPU. Looks like those specs you quote match the recommended requirements from MS/Asobo, which is a good starting point. I would recommend stepping up a bit from the RX 590 though, if possible. It doesn't leave much room for future updates to the sim, such as moving to DX12. If you can, a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or Radeon RX 5600 XT should be better. Starting with 16GB of RAM when running at 1080p should be okay, and can be upgraded later if needed. Have a look at the review below to get an idea of where the different GPUs fall, and what to expect for frame rates.

 

https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/microsoft_flight_simulator_(2020)_pc_graphics_performance_benchmark_review,1.html

[plainsman]

First, I want to warn you, the autopilot in FS2020 does not really lend itself to flip it on and walk away. It is a MUCH more complex autopilot now with modes and functions in the jets. From what you describe as his primary use, I am not sure the simulator is a good choice?

Second, I am running 1980x1200, only about 115% of pixels in 1080p. You see my specs. I am running a mix of high and ultra settings except I am running clouds and water at medium. I have fps locked at 30, which I now run smoothly. My GPU usage is over 80% of capacity at St. Louis Lambert and about 57% out in South Dakota. The CPU usage is 17%, but one or two cores are running at maximum and the rest are just running background at little function. With the system you describe, you will be able to run it, but probably only at low to medium settings. You are probably OK at the 16 GB of ram, but slow ram will result in stutters.