Microsoft Flight Simulator system requirements have been released

News
By published

Here's what you'll need to explore the world on your PC.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

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

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.

Shaun Prescott
Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

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.

Latest in Sim
Dean Hall at GDC 2025.
Outer space inspired DayZ's Dean Hall to become a modder and game developer, and now he's making a Kerbal successor called Kitten Space Agency
Bannerlord naval expansion reveal
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is heading to the ocean with a Viking-themed naval expansion this summer
Truckin' in the rain.
American Truck Simulator’s latest teaser is just a sound effect and no one seems to agree on what exactly it means
PowerWash Simulator 2 screenshots
'More evolution than revolution': PowerWash Simulator 2 is coming late 2025, and it's bringing online multiplayer and split-screen co-op with it
A child stands on top of a dinosaur exhibit, hugging the nose of a dinosaur skull.
As a real life museum employee, I'm a bit confused by the amount of pirate ghosts in Two Point Museum—but it's not going to stop me trying to make the most realistic exhibits I can
A citizen of a city
A lot is going on for Cities: Skylines' 10th anniversary—from freebies to new creator packs—but there's still a big ol' elephant in the room
Latest in News
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Battle Brothers
Nearly 2 years after its last update, the excellent Battle Brothers gets 'a bucket load of fixes' and free new content
Western outlaws with masks and guns
'Players don't explore': former Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online designer lays out the perils of 'open world fatigue'
Person battling bizarre four-eyed monster with stylish UI elements surrounding them
Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio's UI designer is open to accessibility options for players who find the stylish menus overstimulating: 'That is something we understand we'll need to work on and provide in the future'
Split Fiction screenshot
Split Fiction is reportedly at the center of a bidding war for its movie rights
More about sim
Dean Hall at GDC 2025.

Outer space inspired DayZ's Dean Hall to become a modder and game developer, and now he's making a Kerbal successor called Kitten Space Agency
Bannerlord naval expansion reveal

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is heading to the ocean with a Viking-themed naval expansion this summer
Skyrim warrior performing shout

A bizarre mod that adds human poop to Skyrim led me on an enlightening journey into Viking sanitation: 'Your world will certainly be more immersive, but it will also certainly smell worse'
See more latest
Most Popular
Skyrim warrior performing shout
A bizarre mod that adds human poop to Skyrim led me on an enlightening journey into Viking sanitation: 'Your world will certainly be more immersive, but it will also certainly smell worse'
An image of a group of Korean special forces agents with glowing red night vision goggles from Project TH.
This upcoming Korean tactical shooter features 'situational awareness AI' that reminds me of the uber-smart clones from Monolith's FEAR
Wordle answers
Today's Wordle answer for Saturday, March 22
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Image for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Western outlaws with masks and guns
'Players don't explore': former Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online designer lays out the perils of 'open world fatigue'
Battle Brothers
Nearly 2 years after its last update, the excellent Battle Brothers gets 'a bucket load of fixes' and free new content
Person battling bizarre four-eyed monster with stylish UI elements surrounding them
Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio's UI designer is open to accessibility options for players who find the stylish menus overstimulating: 'That is something we understand we'll need to work on and provide in the future'
Split Fiction screenshot
Split Fiction is reportedly at the center of a bidding war for its movie rights
Seekers of Skyveil screenshot
Seekers of Skyveil, the MOBA—extraction shooter mashup, is shutting down less than a month after release: ‘We have no choice but to bring this short journey to an end’