What's the cheapest PC that can run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024?

A AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB build at around £849. That hits 1080p/60 on high settings.

Is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 leans heavily on the CPU — late-game scenarios stress single-thread performance. A modern X3D chip (Ryzen 7 7800X3D / 9800X3D) makes a noticeable difference.

Do I need ray tracing for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 does not require ray tracing. Any current-generation GPU will deliver the intended visual experience.

How much RAM do I need?

For Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, 32GB is the sensible answer in 2026. 16GB still works for the budget tier but limits future-proofing.

← Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Best gaming PC for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (2026)

For Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 at 1080p/60 in 2026, you need at minimum a AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB and 32GB of RAM (around £849). For 1440p high settings, step up to a AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB — about £1,299.

The four PC tiers we'd build for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Budget

£849

1080p · 30fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD

Flight Sim 2024 streams photogrammetry from the cloud constantly, so the 32GB of RAM and an NVMe SSD matter more than they would for most games. 1080p/30 is realistic on the budget tier; 60fps is achievable only if you drop cloud and traffic density to Medium.

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Mid-tier

£1,299

1440p · 60fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 2TB NVMe SSD

1440p/60 in major airports with high cloud detail and dense traffic. The 4070 Super has the bandwidth to handle Flight Sim's texture-streaming spikes. Don't go below 32GB RAM for MSFS — the world data needs the headroom.

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High-end

£1,899

1440p · 90fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
RAM: 64 GB
Storage: 4TB NVMe SSD

For VR pilots and triple-screen setups. Flight Sim is brutally CPU-bound at high settings — the 9800X3D's V-Cache adds 20-30% in dense scenarios. 64GB RAM is overkill for most games but exactly right here.

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Enthusiast

£3,499

4K · 60fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
RAM: 64 GB
Storage: 4TB NVMe SSD

4K Ultra with traffic and AI density maxed, plus add-on aircraft. Flight Sim 2024's photogrammetry workload genuinely warrants the 5090's 32GB VRAM at 4K. If you also fly in VR with a Pimax Crystal, this is the floor, not the ceiling.

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What Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 actually demands from your PC

Steam's recommended spec for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is Radeon RX 5700 XT or GeForce RTX 2080 with 32GB RAM and a AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. That spec was written for the Xbox Game Studios team's internal "minimum acceptable" target, not for a buyer in 2026 planning to keep this PC for the next four years.

What makes Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 more demanding than its spec sheet suggests: photogrammetry + CPU sim load. We've factored this into the tier picks above.

CPU-bound moments: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 drops frames during specific high-load scenarios more than its average framerate suggests. Invest in CPU single-thread performance — the Ryzen 7800X3D and 9800X3D are particularly strong here.

What you can skip vs what matters

Worth spending on: GPU first, then a fast NVMe SSD (most modern games benefit from sub-3000MB/s sustained reads), then RAM at the tier amount.
Worth skipping at this budget: RGB lighting, exotic cooling, brand-name PSUs above 850W (unless you're building enthusiast tier), and motherboards with more than 4 M.2 slots.
Don't compromise on: The PSU. A reliable 750W gold-rated unit will outlast two GPU upgrades.

Frequently asked questions

What's the cheapest PC that can run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024?: A AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB build at around £849. That hits 1080p/60 on high settings.
Is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy?: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 leans heavily on the CPU — late-game scenarios stress single-thread performance. A modern X3D chip (Ryzen 7 7800X3D / 9800X3D) makes a noticeable difference.
Do I need ray tracing for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024?: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 does not require ray tracing. Any current-generation GPU will deliver the intended visual experience.
How much RAM do I need?: For Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, 32GB is the sensible answer in 2026. 16GB still works for the budget tier but limits future-proofing.