“This is crazy”: for “ideal” flights in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PC you will need more RAM than disk space

Developers from the French Asobo Studio have published the system requirements for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. The minimum configuration did not surprise players, unlike the “ideal” one, in which the amount of RAM exceeds the amount of free disk space.

Image source: xbox

To run the simulator, all you need is a PC with an AMD Ryzen 5 2600X or Intel Core i7-6800K processor, a video card no worse than AMD Radeon RX 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 and 16 GB of RAM. This configuration is close to the minimum for the last part of the series, but it is not enough even for low graphics settings at 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second in Star Wars Outlaws.

For higher graphics settings and better performance, we recommend an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X or Intel Core i7-10700K processor and an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 video card and 32 GB of RAM. These are higher requirements than those recommended for medium graphics settings of 1080p and 60 frames per second in God of War Ragnarok and high settings of 1080p in Black Myth: Wukong.

«The ideal configuration (resolution and frame rate not specified) includes AMD Ryzen 9 7900X or Intel Core i7-14700K, AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 and 64 GB of RAM. Such high requirements for RAM volume especially surprised gamers due to the relatively modest amount of free space on the drive that will be needed to install the game (50 GB). “64GB is crazy,” user X Aut0p1l01 responded.

In an article with questions and answers on the official website, the developers said that they had significantly improved data processing. When loading a game, only the textures, meshes, and map data that are currently needed are downloaded. Thanks to this, it was possible to reduce loading times and leave the minimum system requirements almost the same as those of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

Minimum system requirements:

• OS: Windows 10 with latest update;
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X or Intel Core i7-6800K;
• Video card: AMD Radeon RX 5700 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970;
• Video memory: 4 GB;
• RAM: 16 GB;
• DirectX: 12;
• Place on the drive: 50 GB.

Recommended system requirements:

• OS: Windows 10 with latest update;
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X or Intel Core i7-10700K;
• Video card: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080;
• Video memory: 8 GB;
• RAM: 32 GB;
• DirectX: 12;
• Disk space: 50 GB.

Ideal system requirements:

• OS: Windows 10 with latest update;
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X or Intel Core i7-14700K;
• Video card: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080;
• Video memory: 12 GB;
• RAM: 64 GB;
• DirectX: 12;
• Disk space: 50 GB.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2023. The sequel will offer a new career mode with transport, fire, rescue and other missions and additional types of transport (gliders, airships, hot air balloons). They will improve the simulation of aerodynamics and physics, electrical, pneumatic, fuel and hydraulic systems of aircraft and avionics, add a completely new system of errors and wear and tear on vehicles, as well as vertical obstacles, oil rigs and heliports around the world. Graphical improvements will include vegetation, surface materials, mountains, and character models. In addition, there will be migrating herds of animals, changing seasons and new natural phenomena (northern lights, storms, tornadoes).

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will be released on November 19, 2024 on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X and S, and Game Pass (PC and Xbox).