Microsoft Flight Simulator...

[hellfish6]

I'm seriously considering a $1700 desktop for FS20. That doesn't even include the monitor. I need to be talked down.

[Gusington]

1700 sounds good...what are the specs?

[RyanE]

Frankly, I would hold off until the patch next week.  Its all playable as is, but I think they will fix some of the issues with FPS and GPU loading that might allow you to back off high-end components.

Even in the menus, my GPU is at 99% full bore just sitting.  In the menus.  Once I am in game, runs about 50% on ultra.  So I would wait for fixes and plan for the fixes.

[RyanE]

By son built an i7-10700K, 32 Gb RAM, and a 1080 GPU for just under $1700.  Its an ASUS motherboard and very large Corsair enclosure.  Its one of the fanciest desktops I have ever seen.  Its got incredible liquid cooling and expensive thermal paste for the CPU and GPU.

[hellfish6]

1700 sounds good...what are the specs?

Intel Core i9 9th Gen 9900K (3.60 GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB
G.SKILL TridentZ RGB 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
1TB SSD
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Liquid Cooling 240mm
https://www.newegg.com/abs-computer-technologies-mage-h-ali335/p/N82E16883102800?Item=N82E16883102800&recaptcha=pass

I don't care for the fancy lights and I think I'd like to double the RAM. But I've also been using laptops exclusively for the last 10 years or so and I have no idea what is good now, nor the time and space to build anything on my own.

[steve58]

A lot of the cases come with lighting these days.  You should be able to turn it off, at least you can on mine.

[Gusington]

That's a good build - I think you can get the price even lower, maybe even to around 1200-1300.

[Yskonyn]

I would not buy a rtx 2000 series right now.
Nvidia is showing the 3000 series in september, just a heads up.
If the reports are right, the 3000 series will make Raytracing perform much better than the 2000 series while they are probably similarly priced as launchprice of 2000 series.

[hellfish6]

That's a good build - I think you can get the price even lower, maybe even to around 1200-1300.

How? I don't have the space or time to build my own. I'm also living outside the states, so I'll have to ship it. I'm in the UK and the UK storefront has the same system costs the same amount in GBP (so 20-30% more expensive).

[RyanE]

A 2080 Super is about $700.  An i9-9900k is around $400, case with cooler is $200.  Ram is another $100.  SSD 1Tb is may another $100.  Thats if you buy them piecemeal.  Total that to $1500.  Shipping is probably a wash with a lean toward individual components being higher total.

$1700 looks like a pretty good deal.

[Gusington]

Well if you can't build your own, but if you can wait until the holidays, you could catch a sale on that system or similar.

[RyanE]

Make sure you read the reviews on this PC.  The main negative issues seem to be a number of DOAs and the power supply.  Frankly, I thinks a pretty good deal.  The motherboard is decent.  Even if you end up needing more room or power later, it is at least a base to start from.  I would imagine you can get 40 fps minimum on Tltra with FS20 in even the worst situations.

[Skoop]

I agree with RyanE that build is pretty good for the price.  You could always add the Nvidia 3000 series later as graphics card are the easiest thing to upgrade.  Just buy it and plug it in to the mobo.  You also gota think how much a beefier system will improve not just fs2020, but dcs, il2, or any other sim you want to use. 

[RyanE]

Keep in mind that first time PC building is not as simple as some people, who have done it a few times, make out.  I watched my son struggle through school of hard knocks.  Whether it was sizing the wrong power supply, screwing his thermal paste, kinking his liquid cooling hoses, motherboard connectors, etc.  He spent two days troubleshooting the pin-outs for fans on the mother board and a couple days figuring his drives and the SATA wiring out.  In all, he spent a full week just building and trouble shooting.  And he's an electrical engineer with a pretty good innate understanding of PCs.  His biggest mistake was ordering the wrong motherboard.  Lost a week in returning and getting a new one.

But when he helped my other son build his, it took a weekend.

PS - Don't forget you need a LEGAL copy of windows on a build.  That's another $100.   

[IICptMillerII]

I've been playing around more with MSFS and I've been enjoying it a lot. Flying around to places I know, or just soaring across the sky in an Airbus. For sitting around for hours on autopilot and pre-made flight plans, the game is surprisingly fun. Still dealing with a few of its hiccups every now and then, but for the most part everything has been great, and any issues I've had are minor. I've taken to actually learning the cockpits and using the autopilot systems that come with the aircraft as well.

Some beauty shots I've taken that I'm rather fond of. The livery seen is from the large freeware livery pack and is not stock to the game.

Flying towards a storm over Florida:




Pikes Peak in Colorado:


Sunset over Southern Colorado on the way to Phoenix, Arizona: