Moved Gaming Computers
 

Sorry in advance for thread drift but this thread gets da views.

Next door neighbor has a son interested in flying. Still young, 13 y/o. His Dad asked me about MS Flight Sim 2020? I said I have no idea and he looked at me like I had 4 heads! Anyway, I wanted to reach out to those tech savvy pilots to see if you have any personal experiences with it.

He wants to get a computer but apparently it requires a monster! Also curious how realistic it is...YouTube vids look great but hard to tell from perspective of real pilot.

thx

I have a Ryzen 3800XT a Nvidia RTX 3090 and 32gb of Ram. I can run it in Ultra graphics with a 1440p monitor and it runs at 40-58fps. MS FS 2020 is very very CPU dependent, so it will need a high end Intel (like the 10900k) or AMD (5900X or 5950X), my CPU is last generation and didn’t wanted to try to snag the new gen. The price for the chip alone is $500-800. The graphics cards, a 3080 is around $800 (if you’re lucky to find one) and the 3090 is $1500 (only 10% better performance, but it was the easiest for me to find).

It looks great, but my PC is considered a monster, but I bought the parts and built it myself. I’m sure I saved some money, but it was north of $3,500 in parts.

The Airbus 320 needs some work, it doesn’t fly like an Airbus. But everything else it’s fun, graphics are great and like previous FS you can upgrade it with freeware and or pay wares.

Flight Sim 2020 is very realistic - realistic enough that it's easy to crash, much less get off the runways if you don't have an "easy" mode turned on. There are half a dozen airplanes in the basic model, from the basic 152/172 Cessna up to an A320 and 747.

The graphics are downright amazing - and it does need some powerful hardware to look great.

At 13, I'd tell the father/mother to buy him a private pilot ground school book and maybe an intro lesson or two at the local flying school. Enough to see how much he likes it. 13 is a bit early, he's can't solo until 16 (but he can solo in a glider at 14 I think). If the kid really likes it, a flight sim setup would be an inexpensive way to fly around and have fun. There is a lot to learn from a Flight Sim like that, especially if he reads some of the PP handbook too.

PiloytJ3's computer is high end - I think for $1,000-1,200 you can buy a decent computer to run Flight Sim 2020 with good graphics. I have a two year old computer that's mid-level spec that runs FS pretty well. It might bog down occasionally, but it's good enough for flying around and seeing things.

wow! Thanks for the details. I think he was in the $2.5k budget range, so maybe wait till next years models come out to buy what is top end today?!?! As far as A320 goes does MS tweak the program with updates based on consumer write ups?

I forwarded this to my neighbor! Thanks! Any suggestions on that computer in a $2.5k range? I think that is about top end budget he wants to spend. Pre built or DIY?

$2.5k is a great budget and can get a very powerful machine that will last him at least 4 to 5 yrs without hiccups or upgrade. A PC with today’s technology, is about 50% better graphics-wise than previous generation. Nvidia newest GPUs have been out only 4 months, it’s hard to find them in stock and when they come out they sell out in minutes. AMD newest CPUs are about 3 months old. The best way would be to get a prebuilt PC like NZXT, Cyberpower, ibuypower, etc etc.

Like I said, I overspend in the graphics cards. That alone will save about $800. An Rtx3080 or 3070 will make the trick.

Microsoft updates the software every couple of weeks or months. So, yes, they are updating Performance, planes, graphics and eventually I’m sure a developer will sell a better model.

Flight Simulator is a big world and the new one will take some time to be able to customized. He’s 13yrs old, he will learn quick to work with it.

Also, if I remember correctly the first download is about 120gb.

Something like this:

https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer-Master-9500

Here's the release notes from the last update. There like the other poster said, there are regular updates, It seems like about once a month. I'm not pasting it because it's a large list:

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t...ailable/337875

What kind of freeware are you all using for MSFS2020? I guess I should check on one of those types of forums.

I had everything 10-15 years ago which was fun. I’d like to download a warbird, fighter jet, helicopter etc. if it’s not too much of a fiasco to install.

I’m using self loading cargo. Already downloaded a couple of liveries and airports.

https://www.msfsaddons.org/payware/self-loading-cargo

no helicopters yet in MSFS 2020

May I then recommend DCS. It’s ultra realistic and incredibly immersive. They have fully clickable cockpits for the F18C, F-14, UH-1, etc... you can download the manuals and there are training videos to get you up to speed. But you can no kidding fly full up CASE IIIs, use FLIR pods, JSOWs, GBUs etc..Coms are realistic too.

https://youtu.be/eWN5R7tRMws

Sorry about the thread hijack Fangs, but this is a better drift than Covid imho.

ok, now I’m sold too! I’m gonna need to trade my MacBook Air for a gaming PC!

Haha you totally should. PM me for info. I’m totally into it.

One day, there will be a thumbs up button here...

If the purpose of it is a cool gee whiz gaming machine, rock on!

If it has anything whatsoever to do with "learning to fly" that's a lot of money that could go towards actual flying. Could be enough to solo in a glider plus a nice intro to powered, or enough flight instruction in powered to the pre-solo and intro to X-Country for when he's old enough to go for ratings. Any kid more interested in the graphics of how realistic it looks versus the actual realism of really doing it, for real, kind of proves its not about learning to fly even a little bit. And that's OK, as long as they understand that's what it is.

Just get a PS5, HOTAS and VR setup and play Star Wars Squadrons. Or a MUCH cheaper rig and one of the older, but still very very good, FS or X-Plane programs. But if the actual interest is real (which, if unsure, can be fleshed out with a simple "discovery flight") then blowing close to 3 stacks on a pretend machine is more of a hinderance than a help and is little more than an expensive Baby Einstein placebo.

I agree! When he asked my opinion I admitted I have no tech game in me at all, but an intro flight was the way to go! I’m starting to think he might be interested in the gaming computer for him and using junior as the excuse!

Thanks to all who have chimed in!

This is why we can’t have nice things.

I'll add to all of that there is a worldwide shortage of chips at the moment (cpu and gpu). It affects gaming companies (PC and consoles products) but also car companies and some others. The few chip manufacturers out there (TSMC and Samsung for example) can't keep up with the demand created by millions and millions of quarantined people who took video games as a hobby.
All of this created over inflated prices all over the market. MSRP only exits in brochure and actual prices for cpu/gpu are 1.5x or 2x what it "should" be.
The retail sellers dont expect the situation to improve before Q2/Q3 2020.

A 2500$ budget should get you a monster pc shredding any game easily for the next 5 years (assuming you wait a couple months to see parts closer to their intended MSRP +10% or so)

The A320 included in the base game is a bit underwhelming for hardcore simmers.
Check out this mod :
https://flybywiresim.com/

It's free, with a very active community including several A320 drivers who intend to replicate every single switch and FMS function eventually.

Happy flying !

Look into building with an AMD Ryzen Zen 3 and an nVidia GPU.

Newegg.com is a good place for this.

Choose the case wisely and don’t skimp on the power supply or cooling (I put a Noctua cooling fan system in my last build—the fan that comes with the chip is usually small).

The thing about building a machine is that you need to think about upgrading it in the future—so just plan for a big enough case and be sure the motherboard isn’t on it’s last version.

Love this thread, so who on pc is looking to play warzone or escape from tarkov? Been getting lots of time in now that I'm an affected pilot ... we need a delta pilots discord channel for sure

Too late to edit but i meant 2021 obviously.

For those of you who have built a pc lately???

As others have said it seems impossible to buy the latest graphic cards without spending 3x retail.

To build a PC to last 3-4 years what components do you recommend that are avail today at retail prices? When building a PC what kind of ground school did you use? I know there are some good YouTube’s but wondering if there was a specific Jedi out there you guys are being mentored by?

thanks!

btw thanks mod for dedicating new thread

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/ is a good place to start. They are helpful and usually have good advice.

Graphics cards are overpriced right now, so hopefully they'll go down as supply increases.

You can buy the latest in retail price, but you need to be aggressively tracking discord and different sources.

It seems to me that the 3090 (which is very expesive, it’s easier to get when there’s drops).

I had a friend that was able to get a 3080 in Best Buy online. But you gotta play the game, even the 3070 is 50% better than the 2080 Super from last year.

CPUs are easier to get, you can get a Ryzen 3900X or a intel 10900k in stock. But the Ryzen Zen 3 5xxx are hard to come by. The problem is that the difference in price between last and new gen is about $50 retail, but the performance is noticeable.

I personally, will wait until the Zen4 is out, so I can buy the 5900X for my PC and call it a day for a couple of years. You can use the same motherboard for Zen 2 and Zen 3.

Or you can wait for 4-6 more months when the market should be more stable.

If you happen to have a Micro Center in your town, you could try stopping by early in the morning before open to see if you can get a voucher for that day's graphics card deliveries. They're pretty good about letting anyone in line know the status as soon as possible. That's how I was able to get a Radeon RX 6800 and Ryzen 5600X at MSRP with minimal effort.

Components depend greatly on budget and what you want to do with the system. There are some build guides arranged by budget on pcpartspicker.com and logicalincrements.com that might give you a starting point. I've been burned trying to future proof with bleeding edge stuff before, so I tend to look for good deals on upper mid-range to lower high-end components. You won't be finding deals on graphics cards right now, but deals are out there for motherboards, RAM, PSU, etc.

For building tips, the university of YouTube is likely all you need. There are plenty of build videos by popular channels such as JayzTwoCents, Linus Tech Tips, Bitwit, etc. I'd recommend watching a couple to get a general idea for build sequence, then RTFM for your specific components. It is usually a straightforward and fun project if you do the research and don't rush the build.

Guys we fly airplanes for a living. MS Flight sim is cool, but check out iRacing.com. It’s amazing. Very realistic racing sim.

I’ll take a look into it.

Ive been playing F1 2020. I also got yesterday Star Wars Squadrons, it reminded me X-Wing Alliance.

If you learned to fly at Meigs Field without ever having stepped in Chicago, raise your hand.

:D hahahaha many of us did.

I'll just add pcpartpicker is a great tool for checking stock and compatability.

Paul's Hardware is probably the best to watch for first time builders. He's pretty chill and talks like a normal shmoe. And for more in-the-weeds topics I'd recommend Gamers Nexus.

Flight sim peripherals prices are completely out of control.

The higher end joystick/throttle combos are over $1k, if you can even find them. Insane.

F yeah. I crashed about 20 times before I figured out how to rotate taking off on 36 there. This is using a keyboard, no joystick back in the 80s. Whew...

Present! And that was in 1986!

I actually taught out of there, was that you with your X-box in the terminal?

Multiplayer with a 300baud Hayes? :D