Best gaming laptops for FSX

After a long break from flight sims, I feel like now is a better time than any to reintroduce myself to the FS world. As the title suggests, what are the best gaming laptops available for FSX in 2020? I'd rather not go down the route of spending any more than £800 if I don't have to, but if needs must and all that...

For the sake of practicality I'd prefer a laptop over a desktop - something to replace my older model HP that I use for FS9. What experiences do people have with running FSX on gaming laptops and is it possible to run most sliders to the right, with add-ons such as Carenado and ORBX, and still achieve at least 60 fps? The only experience I have of this is FSX running on my old HP, and not running particularly smoothly most of the time - around the 20-30 fps.

Any guidance is much appreciated. Cheers.

The best gaming laptop for FSX is - a desktop! A "gaming laptop" is good for FPS games (such as Grand Theft Auto and similar kid's games), but FSX is not a game, it is a simulation of the whole planet, which is a totally different thing.

Basically, for FSX, you will need a computer with as high a sustained CPU clock rate as you can get - forget about the so-called turbo boost clock rates, which the computer cannot sustain for long. In most cases this means that a laptop is not powerful enough.

And forget about running with the sliders to the right, not even a powerful desktop can do that, especially not with complex add-ons. And why do you want a frame rate of 60, when all your eye can see is 25-30 FPS? Smoothness is what it is all about.

Jorgen

A "gaming laptop" is good for FPS games (such as Grand Theft Auto and similar kid's games), but FSX is not a game, it is a simulation of the whole planet, which is a totally different thing.

Crikey.

Just out of curiosity, FS users who use things like FS Passengers to hear screaming people when they do a nose dive, what are these FS users? Are these kids or adults? Is this gaming or simulation? Can you get FS Passengers for the simulators real pilots use? I think they should have screaming people too!

OP, I recommend FS9 and a desktop as well.

Thanks for your reply Jorgen. So a desktop is the best way forward? The only reason I'd prefer a laptop is that I don't currently have the space for a big desktop, and I'm aware that gaming laptops nowadays are extremely capable pieces of kit that come without the hassle of taking up a large area.

My theory is that if I can run FSX at around 60 fps at my usual small airports, this gives me some buffer room for if I were to head to the larger, more detailed airports. And even then, I've always found that although 30 fps is smooth, playing with 50-60 fps eliminates the occasional jumps or stutters. But as you say, it may be a bit unrealistic to expect to run all sliders to the right and still achieve these high frame rates.

Thanks

I'm currently using FS9 on my current laptop which is getting on a bit now. I can currently run a few of the smaller Carenado planes at most stock airports and achieve 30 fps. Definitely looking to upgrade to FSX purely because of the wider range of higher quality freeware addons such as those from ORBX.

What desktops does everyone use and what FPS are you getting with what settings? Hopefully I can use that info as a reference for what would best fit my needs.

Cheers

In 2020 there are "gaming laptops" that would have more than adequate specs and performance for sims and hi-res games. But £800 isn't enough money to buy one. Fact is, so many of the newest, fastest cpu's are first intended for laptop\mobile use, the goal to run faster and use less power, run longer. Sure, lots of clear advantages for a sim hobbyist to have a desktop, but the "got to have a desktop" advice isn't necessarily so in 2020, not if you have enough money to spend.

TECH RADAR - BEST GAMING LAPTOPS 2020 - https://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/best-gaming-laptops-top-5-gaming-notebooks-reviewed-1258471

"The best gaming laptops aren’t only for having an incredibly immersive gaming experience while also being portable. Now that they’re closing the performance gap between them and the best gaming PCs with the latest mobile versions of cutting-edge internals ... "

I can only tell you that we see many laptop users both here in these forums and in L-M's P3D forums that find out that the "gaming laptops" cannot live up to their user's expectations.

I also know that two things very often determine what a user can do in practice:

1. The very bad word BUDGET, and

2. Space available

But here's where people need to realize that if these two factors play into the picture, they have to turn their expectations down - way down. And that is what some (hint: many) forget....

Jorgen

PS: I almost forgot - and that is before they start piling tons of complex add-ons on....

PS PS: And in P3D, they often "forget" to read the minimum specs required.....

Thanks for your reply ftldave. Yeah, maybe it was a little bit of wishful thinking drawing the line at £800... :rolleyes: I guess the £1400-£1600 would be a more realistic target for something capable of running the mods I'd like, but still not costing an arm and a leg. Some of the laptops on that link you sent look rather appealing, I'll look into those :)

I wont rule out a desktop, but if I can pick up a laptop that runs FSX just as well for half the price of a desktop setup then spot on... If anyone else has any recommendations or experiences with either then keep them coming.

EDIT: Jorgen, I don't mind spending the extra money for a good setup, just as long as that money doesn't venture too far into the thousands... I use flight sim as a hobby in my spare time (some evenings after work, maybe a few hours here and there on the weekends), but not often enough to justify raiding my bank for a "hardcore" setup... But I'll certainly do my research into a few desktops

When you go and select a computer, desktop or laptop, then remember what I said earlier in the thread - as fast a sustained clock rate as you can get/afford.

The number of cores and the graphics adapter are not as important in FSX, the CPU clock rate is all-important.

And - personal, opinionated opinion: Intel CPU, nVidia graphics. You can't go wrong with that. :D

Jorgen

I wont rule out a desktop, but if I can pick up a laptop that runs FSX just as well for half the price of a desktop setup then spot on... If anyone else has any recommendations or experiences with either then keep them coming.

That's unlikely. Typically, the desktops are noticeably less expensive for similar performance, AND they actually have room for expansion, as well as the ability to upgrade pieces. When I got P3D V2, I upgraded my (now) 10 year old Digital Storm desktop to a much better GPU, and got a considerable performance boost. With FSX, the performance boost wasn't nearly so great, but P3D makes a lot more use of the graphics card. I also changed out my two main hard disk drives for SSDs. (I kept HDs for additional storage, however).

I couldn't have done that with a laptop, AND I'd have had to spend more money to get a power performing laptop.

YMMV...

+1.

Jorgen

I've done a little research and found something, would these specs be any good for running a fairly kitted out FSX?

Intel i5-9600k

ASUS PRIME Z390-P

16GB Corsair VENGEANCE 2400MHz

6GB GEFORCE GTX 1660

2TB SEABATE BARRACUDA HDD

My knowledge of computer specs is pretty limited, hopefully someone can compare those to what they run and give me a thumbs up/down? Parts can be customized to more powerful counterparts if need be, so honest answers please.

Thanks.

I'm not completely up on the latest computing stuff, but an i7 rather than an i5 would be preferable. Otherwise I think that'll do OK, but I suspect you'll need to have the sliders closer to mid-level, which still should look OK.

There are those here who are more up on current computers, so they may have more to say.

I thought that might be the case, that being the "budget option". The following might hopefully be a little more suited:

Intel Core i7 9700K Eight Core

Overclocked up to 5.0GHz

ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING, Intel Z390 Chipset

16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz

6GB EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 BLACK EDITION

512GB Intel 660p M.2 SSD & 2TB HDD

A little more pricey but no point getting a "cheaper" option when it wont even do what I want it to...

Now, this is certainly much more like it!

Jorgen

Now that some of the dust has settled, "space". we use wireless mouse/keyboard; my bluetooth jbuds for my android are much lighter than my Sound Blaster with mic, so wireless sound is practical and there seems to also be wireless monitors and wireless sticks. NOW, tuck the box somewhere with good reception and good cooling and you have a flexible, adaptable 'system' that may be incorporated in with existing 'room components' and still be accessible and convenient to use/store. Or am I coming from out of left field here? Does this suggest practical options?

Loyd