Microsoft Flight Simulator is likely the most demanding title launched in 2020, but that’s justifiable. Flight Simulator is a massive project, with real-time weather updates and highly accurate flight simulation. The game might seem a bit boring, but it is just what a simulator should be. The game is the 2020 installment to one of the oldest video game series, and a sequel that came out over 14 years since the predecessor, Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Once again, the title is a technological and graphical marvel. Case in point, due to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 system requirements, it never made it to the last-gen Xbox One lineup of consoles at launch. It only made its way to the Xbox Series X|S when optimizations enabled it to run at 4K resolution.
The game streams the entire surrounding landscape in real-time using Microsoft Azure. This needs a good and stable internet connection to play the game and the required bandwidth increases as you crank the settings up. However, the lower bar of entry to the title isn’t crazy. You need an Intel Core i5-4460 or an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 coupled with a Radeon RX 570 or a GeForce GTX 770 to get into the game. Microsoft lists a 2 GB variant of the Radeon RX 570 as the minimum video card, but AMD never released an RX 570 2 GB. Only 4 GB and 8 GB variants were released, so we will take this as a typo from Microsoft’s side.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Minimum System Requirements
1080p / 30 FPS / Medium Settings
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1909 or higher |
| CPU | Intel© Core™ i5 4460 @3.20-3.40 GHz | AMD© Ryzen™ 3 1200 @3.10-3.40 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB system memory |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA© GeForce™ GTX 770 | AMD© Radeon™ RX 570 |
| Video Memory | 2 GB (GTX 770), 4 GB (RX 570) |
| DirectX | Version 11 or equivalent |
| Internet Connection | Broadband Internet Connection with a minimum bandwidth of 5Mbps or higher |
| Storage | 150 GB HDD |
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Recommended System Requirements
1. 1080p / 30 FPS / High Settings
Microsoft again seems to be confused with the recommended settings. The listed requirements state a 4 GB variant of the RX 590, which AMD never made. We presume this to be another typo on Microsoft’s part.
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1909 or higher |
| CPU | Intel© Core™ i5 8400 @2.80-4.00 GHz | AMD© Ryzen™ 5 1500X @3.50-3.70 GHz |
| Memory | 16 GB system memory |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA© GeForce™ GTX 970 | AMD© Radeon™ RX 590 |
| Video Memory | 4 GB (GTX 970), 8 GB (RX 590) |
| DirectX | Version 12 or equivalent |
| Internet Connection | Broadband Internet Connection with a minimum bandwidth of 20Mbps or higher |
| Storage | 150 GB SSD |
2. 1080p / 60 FPS / Max Settings or 1440p / 30 FPS / Max Settings
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1909 or higher |
| CPU | Intel© Core™ i7 9800X @3.80-4.40 GHz | AMD© Ryzen™ 7 2700X @3.70-4.30 GHz |
| Memory | 16 GB system memory |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA© GeForce™ RTX 2080 | AMD© Radeon™ VII |
| Video Memory | 8 GB (RTX 2080), 16 GB (Radeon™ VII) |
| DirectX | Version 12 or equivalent |
| Internet Connection | Broadband Internet Connection with a minimum bandwidth of 50Mbps or higher |
| Storage | 150 GB SSD |
3. 1440p / 60 FPS / Max Settings or 2160p / 30 FPS / Max Settings
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1909 or higher |
| CPU | Intel© Core™ i7 9800X @3.80-4.40 GHz | AMD© Ryzen™ 7 2700X @3.70-4.30 GHz |
| Memory | 16 GB system memory |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA© GeForce™ RTX 3070 Ti | AMD© Radeon™ RX 6800 |
| Video Memory | 8 GB (RTX 3070 Ti), 16 GB (Radeon™ RX 6800) |
| DirectX | Version 12 or equivalent |
| Internet Connection | Broadband Internet Connection with a minimum bandwidth of 50Mbps or higher |
| Storage | 150 GB SSD |
4. 2160p / 60 FPS / Max Settings
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1909 or higher |
| CPU | Intel© Core™ i9 10900K @3.70-5.30 GHz | AMD© Ryzen™ 9 5900X @3.70-4.80 GHz |
| Memory | 16 GB system memory |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA© GeForce™ RTX 3090 | AMD© Radeon™ RX 6900 XT |
| Video Memory | 24 GB (RTX 3090), 16 GB (Radeon™ RX 6900 XT) |
| DirectX | Version 12 or equivalent |
| Internet Connection | Broadband Internet Connection with a minimum bandwidth of 50Mbps or higher |
| Storage | 150 GB SSD |
At 2160p, even the RTX 3090 and the RX 6900 XT suffer in dense settlements like Dubai, London, and New York City. The frame rate drops to the upper 30s and early 40s. This proves how challenging running this game is, so the hardware will require 2-3 more years to catch up with this title.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is now available on Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows.