Microsoft Flight Simulator system requirements have been released
Here's what you'll need to explore the world on your PC.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is still scheduled for a vague 2020 release, though alpha testing has been in progress since October. It's a highly anticipated instalment, and it doesn't take much reading to figure out why: in addition to simulating the entire world, it'll also implement real-time air traffic, and all 37,000 real world airports will feature in it.
You'd think a pretty high end rig would be needed for all this, but it turns out the minimum specs for Microsoft Flight Simulator are fairly reasonable. That said, there's also 'recommended' and 'ideal' tiers, and the latter reckons you should have an RTX 2080 / Radeon VII and 32GB RAM.
Without further ado:
Microsoft Flight Simulator minimum specs
CPU: Ryzen 3 1200 / Intel i5-4460
GPU: Radeon RX 570 / NVIDIA GTX 770
VRAM: 2GB
RAM: 8GB
HDD: 150GB
Bandwidth: 5 Mbps
Microsoft Flight Simulator recommended specs
CPU: Ryzen 5 1500X / Intel i5-8400
GPU: Radeon RX 590 / Nvidia GTX 970
VRAM: 4GB
RAM: 16GB
HDD: 150GB
Bandwidth: 20 Mbps
Microsoft Flight Simulator ideal specs
CPU: Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X / Intel i7-9800X
GPU: Radeon VII / Nvidia RTX 2080
VRAM: 8GB
RAM: 32GB
HDD: 150GB (SSD recommended)
Bandwidth: 50 Mbps
For more, here's everything you need to know about Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator autopilot: How to activate it
- Microsoft Flight Simulator locations: Where to visit first
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 controls: The full list
Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.