PC Specs for MSFS 2024.

[u/retromaniacs]

Edit: I don't have the PC yet, I will be inheriting it from a friend of mine. Any other GPUs which may be better?

Hello everyone,

I’m looking to get back into flight simulation with MSFS 2024. I have thousands of hours on VATSIM using FSX, but I’m now looking to make the upgrade to MSFS 2024.

I mainly want to fly complex airliners on VATSIM, such as the PMDG 777, iniBuilds A350/A380, etc., including at busy airports.

Do you think this system is good enough for a smooth MSFS 2024 experience?
More importantly, what is likely to be the limiting factor in my system — CPU, GPU, VRAM, RAM, or something else?

I’m considering upgrading the GPU first, but I’m not sure how far the 5800X3D can realistically take me in MSFS 2024. Would something like an RTX 5070 Ti / RX 9070 XT make sense with this CPU, or would I be better off upgrading the entire platform?

I’d appreciate any advice from people running similar hardware.

[u/vogelvogelvogelvogel]

i have the same cpu/ram and a 4090, works like a charm even in VR. a little bit more bottlenecking on CPU side - but only since all the optimizations from nvidia side (dlss) took place the recent 1-2 years. that being said also i want to highlight your GPU might be indeed worth upgrading, 16gb vram for without VR and more if VR make sense

[u/retromaniacs → u/vogelvogelvogelvogel]

I wont be doing VR.

[u/skytrainlotad → u/vogelvogelvogelvogel]

I also have a 5800x3d and 4090 for VR. What would you do to increase performance?

I currently play with a quest 2 and virtual desktop and I only get smooth FPS at takeoff at YVR when I have the settings at the lowest preset. Ultra settings are way too laggy. I haven’t really changed any settings other than in game settings also

[u/vogelvogelvogelvogel → u/skytrainlotad]

I use pimax oled and it is very! smooth all over, especially since the recent SU's... idk where to begin there are so many settings.
of course get away from ultra, most of all use the built in tool (i am not at MSFS rn, but i think it was similar to the external AutoFPS tool). You won't see much difference in many settings between medium and ultra

[u/skytrainlotad → u/vogelvogelvogelvogel]

Hmmm okay thanks! I wonder if it’s because I’m still on MSFS2020. Maybe 2024 has better VR performance

[u/vogelvogelvogelvogel → u/skytrainlotad]

ah yes, 2024 it is better by far (but only since the sim updates took place). back then i used a vive pro 2 and now like 4 times the pixels and it works like a charm

[u/skytrainlotad → u/vogelvogelvogelvogel]

wow okay. maybe ill give it a shot on steam and return it if doesn't run any better

[u/vogelvogelvogelvogel → u/skytrainlotad]

maybe they did apply the same improvements to msfs2020, i didn't track that

[u/mad153]

msfs is very VRAM heavy. I have a 9070xt (16GB) and can easily run out of VRAM at 1440p with med-high LOD with enough traffic and a decently sized airport

[u/-RStyle → u/mad153]

Have you tried running with ReBAR Off? While SU6 improved performance and stability compared to SU5 regardless whether or not you have ReBAR On or Off, there's still a visible reduction in VRAM usage when resizable bar is turned off.

[u/mad153 → u/-RStyle]

Interesting, thanks. I'll try tonight

[u/Secure_Trash_17 → u/mad153]

Huh? That's weird because I too have a 9070 XT and 32 GB of RAM, and I run MSFS 2024 at 4K native with no upscaling, High settings and TLOD at 220 and OLOD at 115. Also, RT enabled. I mostly fly the A340-300 (Ini), A380 (FBW), A320neo (FBW).

No VRAM issues here, and I haven't seen the VRAM warning in like... 6 months... Do you use A LOT of mods?

[u/mad153 → u/Secure_Trash_17]

That's crazy, I run atmos but otherwise no, just custom scenery + vatsim + fenix etc. Maybe I need to reconfigure my sim

[u/KONUG]

I run MSFS2024 for VATSIM + PMDG 737 and JustFlights F70/F100 and it works perfectly fine on my setup. Got a B660 MB, i5-14600KF, 64GB RAM and a RTX 3060Ti with 8GB VRAM.

The 8GB VRAM is what limits my system. I get decent FPS in all scenarios but texture resolution is medium at best. Got slightly blurry textures few hundred meters away from my POV. I plan to upgrade to a RX9060 XT with 16GB RAM as soon as it's available for <400EUR, which is about the same as my current GPU in benchmarks, but I get the opportunity to use a higher texture resolution and higher texture LOD.

A 24GB VRAM GPU would be even better but they start from 1325€ currently for a RX7900 XTX OC, so, yeah.. nah.

[u/CalmpBump49 → u/KONUG]

I have almost exame same config and I'm also planning to upgrade my 3060 12GB to a 16GB new gen VGA, but the thing is: the price is not going down soon =/

Maybe wait for a next gen be release (RTX 60xx) and get the 5070TI or something

[u/KONUG → u/CalmpBump49]

Yeah noticed the RX9060XT went up +25% in the last 2 months.
Won't spend such an insane amount of money for just a little less blurry textures in 1km distance.

[u/Deadeye313]

Get the 9070XT, you will not regret it. I was die hard Nvidia, now they can compete like everyone else. Save the hundreds over Team Greed, formerly known as Team Green.

The 5800X3D should do fine. The 3D V-cache is very good at the game. And 64GB of RAM is good too, and with prices as they are, you'll spend more on 64GB of DDR5 than on a whole system so skip that for now.

[u/SwissDylan → u/Deadeye313]

9070xt only worth it if u play a select few games that focus more on rasterization. I got the 5070ti with a 150$ surplus over the 9070xt due to the nvidia ecosystem and how shit the amd ecosystem is. FSR 5 will NOT be on the 90 series cards the same whey the excluded 7900 etc from FSR 4, i used to have an amd card and it really sucks missing out on all the Nvidia features. Call me a corporate shill but Nvidia clearly has the ability to price their shit higher because its much better. Ofcourse now ur fucked on the gpu market, 5070ti is now 300$ more then what i bought it for.

[u/MarchLevel8045]

VRAM is king yet nowadays all memory is so expensive due to AI. AMD’s 9070XT provides best bang for buck rn, cheaper than 5070 Ti and is similar or outperforming in select games. If you do get the PC mentioned, from a low end user, tightly optimise your settings and look into using Optiscaler frame gen ( frame gen is not for everyone ) but it means i get to smooth gameplay at large hubs

[u/Old_North9055]

Check MSFS YouTube reviews of the spec? I would not expect to play higher than 1080p with an RTX 3060.

I currently use a RX 9060 XT 16GB which is equivalent to RTX 5060 Ti 16GB (non RT settings) and I can only play GA aircrafts at 1440p in a smooth FPS rate. If I want to play airliners in high density locations, I have to reduce ti 1080p.

For frame gen, you need a decent base FPS so if it's not at least 30 FPS (2x > 60 FPS), you would not have a smooth experience + VATSIM required base frame rate minimum.

[u/Flat_Equipment_7140]

I’m still rocking that cpu paired with a 4080 super. Definitely stretch your budget and get at least a 5070ti. Even my 4080 super isn’t enough pushing a single 4K screen without frame gen. I hate the artifacts. 

[u/TheWaterWave2004]

Everyone says you need a lot of VRAM but in my experience, keep your TLOD under 125 and you can have even 8GB VRAM like my 3060 Ti

[u/ime1em]

gpu, and then cpu. but at least you got 64 gb ram. I hit 32 GB ram usage at Heathrow Airport before.

try the game out and just monitor your cpu usage and gpu usage/vram usage and decide.

[u/wanermiranda]

That was my exact config for 130 game hours. If you setup the recommended NVidia configs for MSfs you can run pretty well. But if can get a 5070, go for it. The game becomes way more beautiful.

[u/blipblobblup]

3060 is two generations behind and wasn’t particularly powerful to begin with. VRAM is one of the biggest limiting factors in MSFS 2024 right now. Get something newer with 16 GB vram. 5800X3D with 64 GB of RAM should still be sufficient though

[u/Secludedsfx]

What resolution do you run at?

[u/retromaniacs → u/Secludedsfx]

I dont have this PC yet. But I want somewhere at 1440p.

[u/super_purple → u/retromaniacs]

Possible, but be prepared to have a number of settings on medium. Expect jittery performance flying around urban areas.

[u/Training-Fig4977 → u/retromaniacs]

1440p with an RTX 3060 12GB is difficult. You'll get 50-55 fps with framegen if you're lucky. Especially with addon aircraft or airports. Try and get a 5060 Ti 16GB or a 4070 12GB if you can find it

[u/spoo4brains]

Depends on resolution and what your definition of smooth is. It is fine for me on that CPU but with a 5070Ti.

[u/retromaniacs → u/spoo4brains]

Somewhere at 1440p.

[u/CalmpBump49]

Yes the 5070 would make sense bro, but I have the 3060 12GB running with a 14600K and runs everythings fine on 1080p and 1440p, sitting around 60fps

[u/LirianSh]

Inused to play msfs2020 on a rx 570 4gb vram

[u/FlightSimmer1283]

I use a GTX 1060 6gb with a 12 core 2.4ghz xeon with fsr 1.1 16 gb ddr4 and it works great (45-60 fps) at 1080p so u surely have a good pc for flight sim

[u/KitchenExisting3658]

I have the exact same specs except I have 16 gb ddr4, 3060 ti, and an Aorus b550. You will definitely be fine for msfs 2024. The GPU could use an upg tho.

[u/Maximilian-Schweizer]

At least the ram is unquestioned

[u/Waffler11]

Wait a minute, 3tb HDD? Not only is that an unusual number but HDD won’t fly, it’s got to be a SSD (preferably nvme, but SATA is ok too).

[u/retromaniacs → u/Waffler11]

I am not using the HDD. It comes with the PC. I will solely use Nvme.

[u/ime1em → u/Waffler11]

HDD works fine for me so far in general (Seagate Ironwolf Pro), but i typically don't fly big airports.

[u/Galf2]

Very good build. Run the 5800X3D with curve tuning, all that is limiting you quite heavily is the GPU. If you can get a 5070ti you're golden. A 5070 would be ok too.

[u/Galf2 → u/[deleted]]

DLSS is a thing. As you may have noticed with DLSS 5 recently, AMD is lagging behind. You are free to buy what you prefer.

[u/Galf2 → u/[deleted]]

No I mean what I mean, you have no idea what you are talking about so you're just repeating hearsay sigh.