Many consider Microsoft Flight Simulator to be the most beautiful video game of all time. It's a flight simulation game like X-Plane, FlightGear, etc. This game uses nearly 2 petabytes of satellite imagery data from Bing Maps. The first version was released in 2006, while the most recent version was released in August 2020, 14 years later.
In this article, we will look at the minimum configurations to be able to play this title on PC as well as different benchmarks to know which graphics card to choose to play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
Minimum system requirements to play Microsoft Flight Simulator
This title has evolved significantly over the years. Microsoft now emphasizes HDR, 4K resolution, and brand-new APIs to deliver a hyper-realistic flight simulation game. Here are the minimum system requirements to play this title.
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 or equivalent
- Graphics card: GeForce GTX 1660 Super
- Memory: 16 GB of RAM
To play Flight Simulator 2020 smoothly, we recommend the following PC configurations:
- – Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or Intel Core i5-8400
- – Graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 970
- – Memory: 16 GB of RAM
To play this game in 4K resolution, you can choose from the following configurations:
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7
- Graphics card: GeForce RTX 2080 or AMD Radeon VII
- Memory: 32 GB of RAM
This game requires a good amount of available RAM, specifically 32 GB if you want to play it in Ultra/4K. A good processor such as a Ryzen 7 or Core i7 is also necessary for smooth, lag-free gameplay.
If you're determined to become a real pilot, here are the PC flight simulator joysticks that are in the TOP 3!
Benchmarking of the Microsoft Flight Simulator game
For this benchmark, we will test this game at different resolutions. Let's start with Full HD 1080p resolution. Using medium quality settings, we obtained the following frame rates: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 163.6 FPS, Radeon RX 6900 XT at 162.7 FPS, Radeon RX 6800 XT at 158.7 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 158.3 FPS, Radeon RX 6800 at 137.5 FPS, NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 134 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 132.6 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 129.3 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 118.7 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at 115 FPS, NVIDIA TITAN V at 112.9 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 107.9 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti at 100.8 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER at 100.8 FPS.
At QHD 1440p resolution, the following cards achieve a frame rate above 90 FPS: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 147.6 FPS, Radeon RX 6900 XT at 146.9 FPS, Radeon RX 6800 3080 at 142.7 FPS, Radeon RX 6800 at 123.9 FPS, NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 120.7 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 119.5 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 116.4 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 106.1 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at 103.5 FPS, NVIDIA TITAN V at 101.6 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 97.1 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti at 90.6 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER at 90.6 FPS.
Played at Ultra HD (2160p) resolution, the following graphics cards offer good performance at medium settings, as they all exceed the critical 60 FPS mark: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 122.5 FPS, the Radeon RX 6900 XT at 117 FPS, the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 114 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 118.4 FPS, the NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 99.9 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 98.8 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 116.4 FPS, the Radeon RX 6800 at 98.8 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 88.4 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at 85.5 FPS, the NVIDIA TITAN V at 101.6 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 96.3 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti at 85.5 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER at 85.5 FPS.
By setting the game resolution to "High Quality", on a graphics resolution of 1920 x 1080 (Full HD), we have the following frame rates for our 10 best cards: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 117 FPS, the Radeon RX 6900 XT at 116.3 FPS, the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 113.1 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 112.8 FPS, the Radeon RX 6800 at 96.9 FPS, the NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 94.3 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 93.3 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 90.7 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 82.8 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at 80 FPS.
With the game resolution set to "High Quality" and choosing a graphics resolution of 2560 x 1440 (QHD), the frame rates obtained are as follows: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 104.7 FPS, Radeon RX 6900 XT at 104.1 FPS, Radeon RX 6800 XT at 101.2 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 100.9 FPS, Radeon RX 6800 at 86.7 FPS, NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 84.3 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 83.4 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 81.1 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 73.4 FPS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at 71.6 FPS.
Finally, still set to "High Quality" with a 3840 x 2160 (Ultra HD) graphics resolution, we obtained the following frame rates on our 10 best graphics cards: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at 85.6 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 82.6 FPS, the Radeon RX 6900 XT at 81.6 FPS, the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 79.3 FPS, the NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 68.9 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 68.1 FPS, the Radeon RX 6800 at 67.7 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 66.2 FPS, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 60.5 FPS, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at 58.4 FPS. FPS.
About Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was developed by Asobo Studio and published by Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios. The PC version was released on August 18, 2020. It's a highly realistic game with 37,000 airports, dozens of aircraft, 2 million cities, and nearly 1.5 billion buildings. With this new version, you can apply real-time weather conditions and flight environments. Satellite imagery is used via photogrammetry to provide structural images (buildings, etc.). Other details (grass, etc.) are generated by Microsoft Azure AI. This game has been well-received by the public and has a score of 92/100 on Metacritic.
In short, Flight Simulator is a very good video game. It is appreciated by flight enthusiasts and amateur pilots. It's one of the best ways to learn to fly while having fun. This game uses satellite data to be incredibly realistic. It requires a significant amount of memory, a good graphics card, and a powerful processor for smooth gameplay.
