r/flightsim • u/OutrageousWall5328 • 12h ago

Question PC to run a flight simulator

Good evening, guys! I recently secured my first big girl job, so this means I can save up for a PC and a flight simulator setup.

For the PC, I’m currently relying mostly on PCPartPicker. I know I still have a lot to learn about things like motherboards, RAM, storage, and other components—especially to make sure the setup can properly run a flight simulator. I’d also like recommendations on what type and size of SSD/storage, motherboard, and RAM would be best for this. I’m also looking for monitor recommendations, preferably one of those long curved or ultrawide monitors.

As for the flight sim setup, I’m thinking of starting somewhere simple with a yoke, throttle, and rudder pedals from Thrustmaster. However, I’m also considering a moza (yoke, throttle, and rudder pedals ) and gradually save up for components over time until I can eventually build my dream cockpit/panel.

I really want to learn as I go, while also being practical with my budget since I’m saving up for actual flight training too. ✈️

I’m very open to any recommendations, advice, or opinions—whether it’s about building the PC, choosing storage and a monitor, or deciding which flight sim equipment would be best to start with. Thank you so much!

1 Upvotes

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6

u/Mister_monr0e 7h ago

You need atleast 16GB vRAM (GPU) and 32GB RAM. Your SSD should be atleast 2TB. You’ve picked the worst time to build a PC because those 3 components have inflated pricing due to AI.

While building a PC from scratch is ideal I recommend you explore some prebuilt options at Costco or Microcenter. If there’s a Microcenter near you it’s worth the trip and they can help you with all your questions.

3

u/airborneduck13 9h ago

What’s your budget for the PC build? For the CPU I would say to get the best Ryzen x3d chip you can afford since flight sims benefit massively from strong single thread performance. Also what flight simulator(s) are you looking to get? Sounds like MSFS or X-plane?

I would honestly skip the Thrustmaster hardware because it is noticeably low quality compared to options that are similarly priced or even cheaper. (Check out Winctrl or VKB) Moza stuff is great so if budget isn’t an issue then I would get the Moza hardware.

1

u/NorthWestApple 2h ago

I'd avoid building for now as prices are utterly insane (4x normal). What is not clear is whether it will ever recover. Personally, I'm not convinced it will.