The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Best PCs for Flight Simulator

The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Best PCs for Flight Simulator

Are you a passionate flight simulator enthusiast looking for the best PC to enhance your experience? Look no further! In this comprehensive guide, we will help you find the perfect computer to take your flight simulator game to new heights.

Understanding the Minimum, Recommended and Ideal Requirements 

Before we dive into the best PCs for flight simulator, it’s crucial to understand the difference between the minimum and recommended requirements for the game. Flight simulator games can be demanding on your computer, so you need to make sure your PC can handle the load. The minimum requirements for Microsoft Flight Simulator are as follows:

  • Operating System: Windows 10
  • Processor: Intel i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 390
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Storage: 150 GB available space

The Importance of Processor and Graphics Card

When it comes to playing flight simulator games, the processor and graphics card are two of the most important components of your PC. A powerful processor ensures smooth gameplay, while a top-notch graphics card delivers stunning visuals and effects.

The processor is responsible for managing the flow of information and calculations, while the graphics card handles the rendering of images and graphics. For a seamless flight simulator experience, it’s crucial to have a high-performance processor and graphics card.

 

MSFS Graphics Card Benchmarks (Ultra Quality Settings)

This table shows the approximate performance in frames per second of all the modern graphics cards, as well as the graphics cards listed by Microsoft as Minimum, Recommended, and Ideal requirements.  This uses the “Ultra Quality” preset without add-ons, assuming no bottleneck elsewhere in the PC.

As a rule of thumb, over 30 frames per second is acceptable; ideally, 60 frames per second should be your aim.

Remember, if you are installing aircraft or scenery add-ons, the extra load on the PC will mean these values are lower.  So make sure you include headroom for this. 

The Ultra Quality preset is not necessary to have a fantastic-looking flight sim, so you can adjust your simulator settings to match your graphics card and resolution.

Another thing to note is the huge improvement you can get from  DLSS 3.0. It is only available with the NVIDIA 4 series graphics cards.  This feature can nearly double the frames per second shown in the table which makes a lower-end 4 series graphics better than a mid-to-high-end 3 series graphics card.

It’s also worth noting the slight differences in the “ranking” of cards as we go from 1080 to 1440 and all the way up to 4K* resolutions.  So make sure you chose based on the screen resolution you will be using.

*4k and triple 1080p put approximately the same load on the PC, so you can use the 4K values from the table as a quide if you intend to run 3 screens.

 

Top Picks for the Best PCs for Flight Simulator

Now that you understand the importance of the processor and graphics card, let’s take a look at some of the best PCs for flight simulator.

Here are what we recommend.

Our pick for performance

Sim-X Eagle Microsoft Flight Sim PC

If you think Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 looks great, you’ll be blown away by it when set to high detail, especially when paired with Wired2Fire Sim-X Eagle, a 3D gaming PC built and configured specifically for great performance at more demanding visual settings. 
  • AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D Processor
  • NVIDIA RTX 4060  8GB Graphics
  • 32GB 3600MHz DDR4 Memory
  • 1TB Ultra-Fast NVME SSD
  • Wired2Fire 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler
  • Genuine Windows 11 Home Pre-installed

Our pick for visuals

Sim-X Valkyrie Microsoft Flight Sim PC

Get ready for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. You’re in for the best possible visual experience when playing on Sim-X Valkyrie, a top-spec flight sim PC that offers the best possible visual experience in 4K or high-end VR. 
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Processor
  • NVIDIA RTX 4090 24GB Graphics
  • 64GB 6000MHz DDR5 Memory
  • 1TB Samsung 980 NVME SSD
  • Arctic Liquid Freezer II CPU Cooler
  • Genuine Windows 11 Home Pre-installed

See More

LC Extreme Flight System | London Controller x Wired2Fire

LC Extreme Flight System London Controller x Wired2Fire Front

We are proud to present the first London Controller and Wired2Fire Flight Sim system. Designed in partnership with Jamie, this is our premier Flight Sim machine. Based on the awesome 13900K and absolute monster of the RTX 4090.

 

  • Intel Core i9 13900K 24 Core Processor
  • NVIDIA RTX 4090 24GB Graphics
  • 32GB 5200MHz DDR5 Memory
  • Samsung 2TB 980 Pro NVME SSD
  • NZXT Z73 RGB All in one watercooler
  • Genuine Windows 11 Home Pre-installed

£3,929.00 (inc VAT)

Sim-X Valkyrie Microsoft Flight Sim PC

SimX 15 Hero

Get ready for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. You’re in for the best possible visual experience when playing on Sim-X Valkyrie, a top-spec flight sim PC that offers the best possible visual experience in 4K or high-end VR.

 

  • AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Processor
  • NVIDIA RTX 4090 24GB Graphics
  • 64GB 6000MHz DDR5 Memory
  • 1TB Samsung 980 NVME SSD
  • Arctic Liquid Freezer II CPU Cooler
  • Genuine Windows 11 Home Pre-installed

£3,438.00 (inc VAT)

Sim-X Lightning High End Flight Sim PC

LC Performance Hero

Supercharge your X-Plane experience with Wired2Fire Sim-X Lightning, a simulator PC that delivers smooth 3D at 1440p resolution.

 

  • AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D Processor
  • NVIDIA RTX 4060 8GB Graphics
  • 32GB 3600MHz DDR4 Memory
  • Ultra-fast 1TB NVME SSD
  • Wired2Fire 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler
  • Genuine Windows 11 Home Pre-installed

£1,330.00 (inc VAT)

Sim-X Eagle Microsoft Flight Sim PC

SimX Eagle Hero

If you think Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 looks great, you’ll be blown away by it when set to high detail, especially when paired with Wired2Fire Sim-X Eagle, a 3D gaming PC built and configured specifically for great performance at more demanding visual settings.

 

  • AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D Processor
  • NVIDIA RTX 4060  8GB Graphics
  • 32GB 3600MHz DDR4 Memory
  • 1TB Ultra-Fast NVME SSD
  • Wired2Fire 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler
  • Genuine Windows 11 Home Pre-installed

£1,304.00 (inc VAT)