Can someone help a complete noob buy a gaming desktop for FS2020?

[seattle24]

Hi there,

I'm seriously thinking about buying a computer specifically, almost solely, for Flight Simulator 2020 which launches next month. (tech specs image attached)

Please excuse my lack of knowledge but I don't know the first thing about customising a computer to get the best specs at the best price... I don't particularly want to pay £1500 in Currys and knowing my luck be short one extremely important component.

I would say my budget is £1000. Obviously I'm willing to stretch that a tiny bit if necessary. Where would I start to get this game running at recommended specs (minimum)?

Thank you

 

[keithbeaks]

Although someone will probably pick this up, you would be better posting in the "check my spec" forum. You'll get help for sure and I think some of the regular posters are looking to play the same simulator.

Check this spec!

Post any machine builds you are contemplating here for community feedback on your choices.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[seattle24]

Although someone will probably pick this up, you would be better posting in the "check my spec" forum. You'll get help for sure and I think some of the regular posters are looking to play the same simulator.

Check this spec!

Post any machine builds you are contemplating here for community feedback on your choices.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Ah I see, thank you. Perhaps a mod can move my thread. My bad!

 

[ubuysa]

Ah I see, thank you. Perhaps a mod can move my thread. My bad!

Moved!

 

[seattle24]

Well, normally I'd ask what your monitor was but your budget will only allow a 1080p 144Hz system anyway. This will bring you somewhere between "Recommended" and "Ideal", closer to recommended....it is slightly over-budget and I would have liked to have added more RAM as that would be helpful but it would add another £60 to the price:


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core CPU (4.5GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £1,105.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/JZFUtRN5Wh/

Thanks so much!

In regards to a monitor, I was actually going to hook it up to a 4K tv.... I would require a mouse, keyboard and headset though.

If the upgraded RAM is only £60 additional, would you add that for me?

Thank you for taking the time to do this

 

[Krasio]

I would recomend and of course the choices are plenty! But those here in my experience are quality

For mice: Logitech
For headset: Steelseries
For Keyboards: Roccat
And get a big budget pad literally any, of amazon or if pcs has some good deal bang for buck. Good luck mate!

Edit: oh and if you’re thinking about gaming chairs forget about them, get a ergonomic one

 

[Krasio]

Yeah, Steelseries are awesome for headsets..just the price may not be so awesome!

They might be out of stock actually but they have affordable options

 

[Krasio]

Fair point...when I was looking at a headset, by the time i got to Steelseries (and the Arctis 7s) I was already looking to spend 100+ on a set

Got the Arctis 5s non wireles and im very happy with them, i was on a tight budget then i def was looking at those 7s wireles ! The Arctis3 bluetooth edition were cheap and good too

 

[seattle24]

Okay...not entirely sure how it would work on a 4k TV but my research indicates there are ways to optimise things. this article from PCMag seems helpful in explaining how to set things up:

Non 4k PC to 4k TV

Here is your specs with 32GB or RAM instead of 16...I have lowered the frequency to accomodate this as it would have been even more:


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core CPU (4.5GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £1,163.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/zgbuSWyrYq/

Mouse, keyboard and headset..that is dependent on what you need, like the look of, budget etc. I prefer simple and plain, others prefer flashy, some like mechanical keyboards etc etc. Same with Headsets. Fnatic do decent headsets and mice and keyboards, Corsair, Microsoft, Razer do good headsets (not sure on their keyboard and mice though)

Thank you for this! To be honest I haven’t ruled out a gaming monitor - it will definitely be financially more viable it’s just that I’m tempted by playing on a 40-inch tv. I will mull things over.

Btw, can you advise on my attachment? Shall I lower the power consumption or ignore that and what shall I select for operating system installation?

Once again, cheers!

 

[Scott]

I doubt you're going to be able to drive 4k video, but it depends how much of the grunt work is done by the scenery servers and how much is put upon the GPU. From the highest recommended specs, 2080, it would appear that the high end 4k output does indeed rely on the GPU quite significantly as the 2080 is the starting point for 4k.

A 1660 Super is only going to output 1080p at a decent level so while you could use the 4K TV, it's going to need to default to 1080p and potentially use the TV to up-scale.