Microsoft and Asobo-
Congratulations. You have finally done it. You have effectively driven me back to needing a PC to experience the sim without wasting any more of my time.
Let me explain.
Istarted with you back in the FS98 version and have used every version since then. I am not a PC user. I rely heavily on Mac for all my computing needs- for work, home business, graduate school. Everything.
When it was announced that XBOX X would be a platform to run the sim for the (then) MSFS20, I dropped my loyalty to PlayStation and eagerly purchased my first XBOX. MS20 had it’s problems running on XBOX X, but nothing compared to the issues I have experienced with MSFS24. Not even close.
I am now ready to re-commit to purchasing a PC platform JUST to run MSFS24 because I can definitely say none of the promises for MSFS24 have been kept to the XBOX community. The sim just flat-out sucks.
Most recently, I flew an 8+ hour 737 VIP Passenger transport mission and got no passive income credit because I had to end the flight near the end because the memory could not sustain the graphics demand and forced all of my avionics to go dark. There was nothing I could do at that point, but shut the sim down. That was induced by anything I did, but was within the design framework of what the sim is SUPPOSED to be able to do. So I am done with XBOX and MSFS24. This has happened not just this once, but COUNTLESS other times. Total waste of my time.
To the PC community. I need the optimal specs for a PC to run the sim without performance issues. Let’s just say money isn’t a huge object, but spending $5k - $10k just to play a game is unreasonable. So I am looking for recommnedations.
In the meantime, Microsoft and Asobo- after being a user all the way back to 1998, for the first time ever you seem to be getting closer to completely allienating yourself from the community who has supported you all of these years, including me. I don’t need to re-tell what countless other folks have already posted on this forum and others, but count me as ANOTHER unsatisfied user of MsFS24, specifically on XBOX.
I’ve bailed on Xbox as well. I’ve come to the realization it’s never going to meet my expectations.
However, rather than getting a PC, I’ve started streaming on GeForce Now with the Ultimate tier. This gets you the use of 100 hours/mo on an RTX 5080 with 46 GB VRAM for $20/mo or $200/yr. I figure at this price, I can subscribe for 15 years for what a comparable PC would cost me to build.
I’m running 4K HDR10 with everything at Ultra, 400 LOD at a solid 60 FPS with 10 msec latency over 600 Mbps fiber. I can get framerates up to 180 with framegen but my monitor can only do 60, so I’ve limited it to that.
Honestly it looks fantastic. I bought a $450 mini-PC to stream it with so I could run the GFN app and attach all my flight controls. GFN only supports Logitech and Thrustmaster sticks natively but I’ve got $1000 tied up in the Turtle Beach VelocityOne yoke, pedals and stick. To get them to work with GFN, I have to remap them to look like Xbox controllers with a utility called XOutput. But everything works except for the trim wheel, which I mapped to buttons instead, and the status information panel lights on the yoke.
I’ve also got a Cessna 172 switch panel, an Axair MIAP Pro, keyboard, keypad and trackball connected and everything works perfectly as it should.
I honestly could not be happier. I’m actually having fun flying again instead of nitpicking the visuals. I’ve flown more hours in the last week than in the previous 6 months. I can’t see myself ever buying another console or PC again.
Here was my Xbox, now GFN, setup.
Here’s some sample performance, downscaled from 4K to 1080p by YouTube - it’s actually much crisper and smoother than this.
The trickiest part was getting the flight controls remapped to work. I wrote up a little doc to help and I’d be happy to answer any questions if anyone else wants to give it a shot. You can get a 1 day pass to try it out for $8.
I’m bailing too, not by choice and I hope it’s temporary…
This sim hasn’t progressed at all on Xbox - in fact it has slipped a long way backwards since SU4. My survey votes tell the story and the disappointment I feel about it, having invested a lot of my time and money in the sim on Xbox.
Edit - very nice looking rig btw
Xbox users are the perfect candidates for GFN. I don’t need a PC for anything else and I’m not going to spend another $3000 on this hobby.
If they’re already flying with just an Xbox controller, it’s plug and play. And we are already accustomed to having to get everything from the Marketplace, so that doesn’t change either.
I know I come across as a huge fanboy for this, but I just can’t get over how well it actually works. My son has a pretty robust gaming rig with an RTX 5070ti and we installed 2024 on that as a comparison. You literally could not tell any difference. If anything, I think GFN actually looked better.
I tried Xbox Cloud Gaming a couple of times just to see how it worked and it was a miserable experience. Laggy, limited to 1080p and just a controller, not even allowing a mouse or keyboard. No wonder nobody uses it. GFN is nothing like that. It’s the perfect solution for me.
Yup, I’m going to try out the GFN route having read your posts with a lot of interest…
Lemme know if you need any help getting it set up. Like I said, you can pop right in with just a controller and try it out to see how it performs before you expend any effort customizing it.
I feel for you. I’m a PC user (and have been since FS2004). I am a bit confused with your original post that you are “not a PC user”. You could not have been without a PC for pre-2020 MS flight sims. MSFS only ran on PC up to that point.
As for ideal specs, money is, for the vast majority of users, the limiting factor. I have a very good system, which I upgraded so I could run 2020 well, and then 2024. It is not state of the art and not 10K! And FS2024 runs really smooth, 40-80FPS, no stutters and very rarely does it CTD (and usually because of something I did.)
I have an AMD system. From past experiences as a long-time flightsimmer, I have found AMD to be more reliable and hassle free than NVidia (and possibly less money/better bang for the buck). But that is definitely only my opinion.
Here’s my system:
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X CPU
32GB RAM
AMD Radeon RX9070XT GPU
850W Power supply
32" monitor running 1440P
I believe the whole thing cost about $3500. I realize some GPU’s have gotten outrageous in their cost but that’s what I haveand I couldn’t be happier. I limit my FPS to 36 and I double my frame rates with Steam’s Lossless Scaling (although many use AMD’s native FSR).
Console users got screwed by MS- false advertising. But that’s reality for now. Get a good PC and you’ll wonder why you waited so long.
Best of luck and Happy Flying.
This system cost me about 6,000 dollars about a year ago.
About 3,000 dollars for the tower.
I’m on my second year with GeForce Now and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a cost effective upgrade from an Xbox. I take my fairly basic laptop when I visit the in-laws and can play on their TV in 4K - the take almost anywhere portability is great feature - not tried hot spotting it through my mobile but I reckon it would be fine.
I ran speed check on a GFN server last week, it hit 15gbit down, 5gbit up - some serious backbone going on there.
I know we’ve derailed this conversation a bit, but I have to just say, thank you. I’ve seen you a few times on other threads, mentioning this. I’m now on day two of thoroughly enjoying my “testing” of GeForce Now.
MSFS 24 is not without it’s issues, including its commitment/promise to console users… but OMG—I did not know it could perform nor look this good. If you are an Xbox user, I implore you to test a day trial. I have been having so much fun just using the controller and seeing what the SIM can actually look like. Let alone the performance. 
I’m pretty much sold, but I do have the issue of peripherals like you did. I first tested on the Xbox and then went over to my MacBook connect to my TV. Again, I just am blown away with different and experience from the Xbox.
That being said, currently the SIM is nowhere near what the Xbox was on SU4. But I’m just tired of this. So my days on XBOX are numbered, and pretty sure the “trial” on GeForce is not over.
