New PC or XBOX

Hi all,

Simple question, do I invest in an Xbox for MS2020 or go through the process

of buying a new powerful PC.

Thank you,

It will depend on what matters most, and possibly your budget.

An Xbox is cheaper than a mid to high end PC and would be less of a hassle to get up and running. There are also joysticks, throttles and other peripherals available for them, with more coming out in the future. On the other hand, they are still more limited when it comes to peripherals in general, so you won't be building a full blown home cockpit as is possible with a PC, for example. Add-ons in the sim on the console are limited to what's available through the built-in Marketplace, so you can't download them from places like here or other add-on websites.

A PC is more flexible when it comes to hardware, peripherals and add-ons, but can take more time configuring, updating and maintaining it all in general. There are some features coming to the sim, such as proper multi-monitor support, that the Xbox won't be getting. PCs will also continue to evolve and increase in processing power beyond what the Xbox is capable of, though it remains to be seen how the sim makes use of this. And of course, right now there are the ongoing supply issues if you want to build your own PC.

I would also like to add as far as PC components the only real shortages out there are for the graphics cards (and that's not going away anytime soon either). Every other component like the processor, motherboard, memory, etc. for a build are not having any supply issues (at least for the North American market like the US or Canada).

One can find plentiful pre-built gaming PCs with a variety of video card choices both high end and entry level like from NewEgg (ABS is a popular builder they sell). So that removes any GPU problem but creates others. Specifically you are at the mercy of the builder/seller's quality choice of internal components and usually they don't choose good quality around the most critical component: the power supply. I wouldn't want a new build powered by an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti attached to a cheap power supply. So that means the additional expense and time of taking everything apart and buying and installing a new quality power supply (which many have done based on pre-built reviews).

If you are only buying a platform to fly MSFS on, then with all the ASOBO nightmares I would recommend Xbox at this time! And as mentioned pricey PC components if you can get them!

An Xbox Series X if you can one! Here in the UK PC World has stopped listing them and only offer the S.

An Xbox Series X if you can one! Here in the UK PC World has stopped listing them and only offer the S.

Same here in the US. The S versions are everywhere. Trying to find an X version is like trying to find the elusive PS5 (or video card). I'm not sure if you have it in the UK, but in North America (Canada and US) there are several stores (MicroCenter) and E-sellers (NewEgg) that you can sign up for a lottery of sorts to win an option to even buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X or video card. It's called a shuffle and the good news is that you pay original MSRP not some inflated price gouger price. You chose what you want to buy then hope you get selected. That's how I got my GTX 3080 Ti.

Yeah, at this time I would go the Xbox route if your just flying in the new Flight Simulator. You'll save yourself a TON of headaches with software issues, updates that are by their nature two steps forward, one step back, and the aforementioned hardware cost. Not including hardware and OS issues as well. If you're computer savvy and don't mind getting your hands dirty, then a PC would work I guess. But like mentioned, due to the cryptocurrency craze, graphics cards have highly inflated prices.

I've been out of the loop on hardware, but I suppose the silicon issue going on with automobiles and what not probably effects PC components as well. Actually, I saw a video on YouTube several months ago that flash hard drive manufactures (think SSD/M.2) were cutting corners for their products. HDD manufactures are claiming this and that about a new hard drive only to find out they used old tech inside. And this is probably due to the silicon shortage going on right now.

If you want to fly with FSX or the older FS2004, a modest PC with a modest graphics card will suffice.

All this reminds me of this scene from Rick and Morty. LOL

(NSFW)

And it looks like they did a promo for PlayStation 5. Rick and Morty does a lot of promos... Damn show is very marketable right now.

P.S.

If you'll go the PC route, and if you can wait, I'd wait for the Zen 4 AMD CPUs coming out. Probably some time in the Spring of next year I suppose. They'll probably STILL blow away the latest Intel CPUs. LOL