Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 laptop and desktop benchmarks
Technical
We can at least partly understand the lukewarm feedback: Starting with the download, which as is typical for the Microsoft store, tends not to run at the maximum possible speed (about 120 GB has to be downloaded in-game), over to the - independent of the hardware - very long game start, and up to the temporary choppiness, which is also often not caused by the settings or the Internet connection. To avoid unnecessary loading times, you should generally install the game on an SSD.
In return, Flight Simulator delivers magnificent visuals that are convincing even in medium settings. In addition to the fancy clouds, the credible lighting, the successful weather, and the realistic aircrafts, the terrain's enormous level of detail is a particularly positive aspect. Especially residential areas with houses and skyscrapers are very impressive. All in all, the title achieves a very high degree of photorealism. Together with Death Stranding, we would describe Flight Simulator as the most beautiful PC game at the moment (even ahead of titles based on the CryEngine and Frostbite engine).
There are also plus points for the extensive graphics menu. A long list of more than 30 options is waiting there, which allow an adjustment in every detail. For practical purposes, there are also several presets (Global Rendering Quality) to control the overall quality in one go. Top: Changes to the settings don't require a restart.
Benchmarks
As you can see in the video below, we use one of the so-called Landing Challenges for our speed measurements, more precisely, in Sydney, Australia. After the intro video is done and the game has finished stuttering, the frame rate is recorded for about 60 seconds. The sequence is technically quite demanding, although there are scenes that are even more complex (like New York, for example).
Since lightning-fast reactions are not that important in Flight Simulator, 30 FPS and upwards is enough for a decent gameplay. Accordingly, the following hardware recommendations apply. While the CPU can be the limiting factor at moderate settings and resolutions, the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions and graphics levels. In general, the graphics card should be equipped with a minimum of 4 GB of VRAM. Below that, it will be hard to get a smooth gaming experience.
Due to the good experiences so far, we will switch from Fraps (DX11) and OCAT (DX12) to the CapFrameX tool for game benchmarks in the future, which seems to work smoothly and contains a lot of practical features (e.g. a visualization function).
Results
FHD (1920x1080)
If you want to play Flight Simulator on a Full HD monitor, you won't be able to avoid using an (upper) mid-range graphics accelerator. The Medium preset demands a GeForce GTX 1650 or a Radeon RX 5500M. For high or maximum details, we directly recommend a genuine gaming model at the level of the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or the RTX 2060.
Flight Simulator 2020 | |
1920x1080 Medium AA:TAA AF:4x 1920x1080 High-End AA:TAA AF:8x 1920x1080 Ultra AA:TAA AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile | |
AMD Radeon RX 5500M | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 460 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce MX350 | |
NVIDIA GeForce MX330 |
QHD (2560x1440)
Owners of a QHD display (2560x1440) who value full details will only be satisfied in the laptop segment starting with a GeForce RTX 2080.
Flight Simulator 2020 | |
2560x1440 Ultra AA:TAA AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), i7-8086K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-9750H | |
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop), i7-8086K | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ |
UHD (3840x2160)
A mix of 3840x2160 pixels and the Ultra preset currently overwhelms any laptop GPU. When it comes to desktops, at least a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is required.
Flight Simulator 2020 | |
3840x2160 Ultra AA:TAA AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), i7-8086K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-9750H | |
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ |
Note
Since gaming tests are very time intensive and often hindered by installation or activation limits, we can only provide a portion of the benchmarks at the time of publishing. Further graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.
Overview
Test system
Device | Graphics card | Processor | RAM | Operating system |
---|---|---|---|---|
Desktop PC I | MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6) |
Intel Core i9-9900K | 4 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Desktop PC II | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (11 GB GDDR5X) Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB GDDR5) XFX Radeon R9 Fury (4 GB HBM) Sapphire Radeon R9 290X (4 GB GDDR5) Sapphire Radeon R9 280X (3 GB GDDR5) MSI Radeon R7 370 (2 GB GDDR5) |
Intel Core i7-8086K, Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Desktop PC III | Nvidia Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super (8 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8 GB GDDR6)Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6)KFA2 GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6)Nvidia Titan X (Pascal) (12 GB GDDR5X) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6 GB GDDR6) PNY GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB GDDR5) Gainward GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5) Zotac GeForce GT 1030 (2 GB GDDR5) AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (8 GB GDDR6)) AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (8 GB HBM2) XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 (8 GB GDDR5) |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GT76 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i9-9900K | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GP65 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-9750H | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GE65 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-9750H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GP65 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-9750H | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GP75 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-9750H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Alienware 17 R4 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X) | Intel Core i7-7820HK | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Asus G752VS | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-6820HK | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GT62VR | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-6820HK | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GE72 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (2 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-7700HQ | 2 x 4 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GL62 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-7700HQ | 2 x 4 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI Prestige 14 | Nvidia GeForce MX350 (2 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-10710U | 1 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI Prestige 14 | Nvidia GeForce MX330 (2 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-10510U | 1 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI Alpha 15 | AMD Radeon RX5500M (4 GB GDDR6) | AMD Ryzen 7 3750H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
4K monitors | Nvidia drivers | AMD drivers |
---|---|---|
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H | ForceWare 456.38 | Adrenalin 20.9.1 |