Recommendations for flight sim 2020

[David82]

The situation is that my 15 year old wants to try Microsoft flight sim 2020.

 

He has a PC but it's a few years old now, and we're wondering what the best bang for the buck will be for upgrades.

 

Unfortunately, he's just bought a new phone so doesn't have much cash available... 

 

Current spec:

I5 2500k (I didn't realise it was quite so old!)

8gb ram

GTX 770

 

I do have an old PC knocking about with a first gen I7 that I use as a backup for work, if that will fit the socket I could donate that but with it being an older chip would there be a benefit?

 

So, obviously he needs the whole thing replaced. That's not an option so what's the best bet to get him playing (bearing in mind he will lose interest in a few weeks).

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Oswin]

iirc your current spec is just at the minimum requirements for microsoft flight sim, have you tried it yet?

[OddOod]

You might just be looking at a writeoff for most of the system. Could probably get away with a 4790k and a 1060 6GB for a couple hundred bucks, but you're gonna need a new mobo and probably double that ram

[OddOod]

Just now, Oswin said:

minimum requirements

not even close, and min spec is always hilariously optimistic

[Oswin]

4 minutes ago, OddOod said:

not even close, and min spec is always hilariously optimistic

what are you trying to imply exactly? of course minimum wont run great

[David82]

4 minutes ago, Oswin said:

iirc your current spec is just at the minimum requirements for microsoft flight sim, have you tried it yet?

Yeah, it's borderline usable.

 

Set everything to low with resolution at 1080 and it was jerky - reduced res to 720 and it's better but still not great.

 

Cpu and GPU pegged at 100%

[David82]

7 minutes ago, OddOod said:

You might just be looking at a writeoff for most of the system. Could probably get away with a 4790k and a 1060 6GB for a couple hundred bucks, but you're gonna need a new mobo and probably double that ram

This is pretty much what I was thinking.

 

When I checked the specs to write the original post and realised how old the CPU was I kind of knew it was a lost cause.. 

 

 

[Oswin]

4 minutes ago, David82 said:

Yeah, it's borderline usable.

 

Set everything to low with resolution at 1080 and it was jerky - reduced res to 720 and it's better but still not great.

 

Cpu and GPU pegged at 100%

i see, what's your budget for the upgrade?

current psu?

[OddOod]

2 minutes ago, David82 said:

This is pretty much what I was thinking.

You might be able to save the PSU/case, but PSUs die horribly and that one has to be close to a decade old, and the case might just be a nightmare to work in so tossing 60$ at an Eclipse case might be worth not slicing your arm off. 
Then the only thing you have left is storage, but assuming it's the original drive, an upgrade to SSD wouldn't go amiss. Sorry. This machine might still be able to pull duty as a HTPC or a HUD display

 

[David82]

13 minutes ago, Oswin said:

i see, what's your budget for the upgrade?

current psu?

Ideally as low as possible, literally just bought him and his brother a new iPhone 11 each so don't really want to spend much more on him!

 

If we can get away with an upgrade to a 5th or 6th gen and a half decent graphics card then I'll go second hand and hit eBay at the weekend.

 

What gfx card am I best going for? Someone once told me that odd numbered nvidea cards were dire and to steer clear but I'm not sure if that holds true (it's been quite a while since I build a desktop PC - like... The last one I built for myself had an AMD athlon 2600 and 512mb of RAM )

 

I'll need to check the PSU but I think it's a 650w from what I remember.

[Oswin]

7 minutes ago, David82 said:

Ideally as low as possible, literally just bought him and his brother a new iPhone 11 each so don't really want to spend much more on him!

 

If we can get away with an upgrade to a 5th or 6th gen and a half decent graphics card then I'll go second hand and hit eBay at the weekend.

 

What gfx card am I best going for? Someone once told me that odd numbered nvidea cards were dire and to steer clear but I'm not sure if that holds true (it's been quite a while since I build a desktop PC - like... The last one I built for myself had an AMD athlon 2600 and 512mb of RAM )

 

I'll need to check the PSU but I think it's a 650w from what I remember.

you could probably get something like a used 3770k (if your motherboard supports it), and a used rx 580 to have a somewhat decent experience, yet again couldnt really suggest anything else without having an actual budget.

[David82]

50 minutes ago, Oswin said:

you could probably get something like a used 3770k (if your motherboard supports it), and a used rx 580 to have a somewhat decent experience, yet again couldnt really suggest anything else without having an actual budget.

Found a 6gb 1060 on eBay for £150 - seems about average for the price.

 

I'll grab that and then see what his Mobo will take and get a second hand CPU.. budget around £100 

 

 

If it's still not playable at low settings then it's just not meant to be

 

[Oswin]

5 minutes ago, David82 said:

Found a 6gb 1060 on eBay for £150 - seems about average for the price.

used? thats a pretty bad deal tbh considering you can get a rx 580 new for 10 pounds more

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/MsWfrH/xfx-radeon-rx-580-8gb-gts-xxx-ed-video-card-rx-580p8dfd6

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/TTfmP6/msi-radeon-rx-580-8gb-armor-oc-video-card-rx-580-armor-8g-o