Requirements for a basic gaming computer?

[DrZoidberg]

I would like a basic computer with Windows 11 to play flight simulator, older command and conquer games, and I don't require strong internet. Mostly solo games, and wanted to use TV as the monitor. What type of system would that be? Under $500? I don't know how demanding the most advanced PC games are now.

 

[voyagerfan99]

Which flight simulator are you planning on playing? MS Flight Simulator is pretty GPU demanding so you'll be paying more than $500 for just a good video card.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Yeah, definitely the latest MS flight simulator. What price range are you thinking? Is there much of a savings having someone build the computer to buying direct from common manufacturers?

 

[DKenn]

MS recommend the following for Flight Simulator:

Minimum spec
Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel i5-4460
Radeon RX 570 or NVIDIA GTX 770
8GB RAM
150GB free space

Recommended spec
Ryzen 5 1500X or Intel i5-8400
Radeon RX 590 or NVIDIA GTX 970
16GB RAM
150GB free space

Ideal spec
Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X or Intel i7-9800X
Radeon VII or NVIDIA RTX 2080
32GB RAM
150GB free space

Realistically you will not be getting anywhere near the ideal spec for $500. However, if you go for nearer the recommended spec, you might stand a chance.

It's worth mentioning that MS state a bandwidth of between 5GB and 50GB - so have decent internet will be required.

 

[DrZoidberg]

MS recommend the following for Flight Simulator:

Minimum spec
Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel i5-4460
Radeon RX 570 or NVIDIA GTX 770
8GB RAM
150GB free space

Recommended spec
Ryzen 5 1500X or Intel i5-8400
Radeon RX 590 or NVIDIA GTX 970
16GB RAM
150GB free space

Ideal spec
Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X or Intel i7-9800X
Radeon VII or NVIDIA RTX 2080
32GB RAM
150GB free space

Realistically you will not be getting anywhere near the ideal spec for $500. However, if you go for nearer the recommended spec, you might stand a chance.

It's worth mentioning that MS state a bandwidth of between 5GB and 50GB - so have decent internet will be required.

Flight Simulator needs internet now? I just assumed you download your textures and city shapes and you just fly through.

 

[DKenn]

Yes, according to flightsimulator.com. It says it was updated on the April 23, 2020.

 

[voyagerfan99]

Flight Simulator needs internet now? I just assumed you download your textures and city shapes and you just fly through.

It uses AI processing to generate the scenery.

 

[Intel_man]

The latest MSFS pulls imagery from Bing Maps. There's around 2.5 petabytes of data for the whole globe so it just streams it into your PC in the area you're flying.

You can download sections of it that you fly regularly to save you some data if you have a low data cap or slow internet. But internet is practically required to have a good experience with MSFS.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Perhaps $800 computer could handle it? We aren't pushing 1K yet are we?

 

[beers]

Honestly just buy a series X

 

[DrZoidberg]

Honestly just buy a series X

I don't want an Xbox. Can't play the older games on there like I could a PC?

 

[beers]

I mean it's $500 and plays flight sim, whatever computer you have can already play older games. Win/win.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I mean it's $500 and plays flight sim, whatever computer you have can already play older games. Win/win.

True, but I only have room for one computer by TV next to different game system. $800 is reasonable enough. I can even use it to store family video etc.