Sorry for a bit of a newbie question but I currently have MSFS on my Xbox series X and am really enjoying using it.
I’m looking at getting a gaming desktop so I can get enhanced graphics and take advantage of external sites such as Vatsim.
I’ve never owned a gaming desktop though and was wondering which way to go, I’d rather buy a pre made one for ease. I was looking at the Alienware Aurora R13, but have no idea whether this is overkill or if there is a better option. I see some of the graphics on Youtube from these higher end desktops and would love to replicate that.
I have 2 gaming computers both are MSI, one is a desktop and one a laptop, one is 5+ years old (and runs the sim just fine) and the other is 2 years old an also runs the sim just fine.
I just read an article that the Latest Alienware is slow for the money as compared to what else is out there, so I would shy away from them.
In regards to a decent build, where are you located? That will depend on what you can get, for instance, in the UK we have Scan and Overclockers that do prebuilts which will be way better than any large companies thrown together ■■■■.
The Alienware pc you mentioned would be able to run the sim very well, including up to 4k resolution or using VR at a later date. I don’t have any experience of the brand (other than a Dell laptop for work) but if you read around on the forum here the general view of Alienware is not always that positive.
I guess it depends how involved you want to get, but the usual (and correct) advice is that you will save a large chunk of cash by buying the exact components you want and building the pc yourself. That way you get a rig focussed exactly how you want, that will last you a good time and also be selectively upgradeable in the future.
I don’t know where you are located but here in the UK the pc you mentioned is GBP 2,900.00. Going to one of the decent online stores, I priced up the same spec machine with much better quality components for GBP 500 less, including software and peripherals. That 500 would get you a yoke, throttle and rudder pedals or a REALLY good joystick, which are really essential.
As mentioned above, you could always buy a prebuilt pc from a dedicated store to save yourself a little hassle, but building a pc is not difficult and there a lots of guides and advice available.
CCL computers in the UK do a 12700k / 3080 gaming pc with Corsair, Asus and Seagate components for GBP 2,000.00, a massive saving for a great pc. For the same budget as the Aurora, the other decent shops have pc’s that include Ryzen 9 or Intel i9 cpu’s and rtx 3080 it gpu’s.
I bought a pre made one for ease too(2080ti, 3900x, 32g RAM at 3200, 750W). Despite paying a ton for it, I still ended up swapping out the GPU, adding RAM then replacing all of it with faster sticks, CPU, and PSU(now 3090, 5950x, 64g RAM at 3600, and 1000W). If I had it to do over again, I’d select my parts and have someone build it. Also, after doing all of the upgrade work myself, I found that it’s really not that hard. Building one would be fun…if you can get parts.
See I didnt pay a ton for mine, didnt have to add on anything extra and they both work just find havent found a single thing that wouldnt run on them including Win(*) Linux and for a short time I even had OS/X running on one, but I cants stand Macs ;p
I’ve been going through the exact same purchasing decision and was initially looking at the Alienware R13 series as well. However, I’ve noticed the Dell line is pricey on spec per spec basis compared to other well known lines like MSI, Asus and HP. At the moment I’m leaning towards the MSI Aegis RS series (12th gen Intel) but still haven’t quite made up my mind.
I started with a CLX PC and would surely buy from them again. They will let you customize a rig on their site. Check them out. Their customer service has been excellent. They’ve even helped me install stuff or fix settings I messed up during installs. Solid company.
I bought my prebuilt desktop about a year ago. It was the only way back then of getting my hands on an RTX 3080.
I looked at Alienware and decided against it in the end as there was quite a few poor reviews with overheating etc.
I tried Overclockers but they didn’t even give me the courtesy of a reply to my email.
In the end I opted for a Lenovo Legion Tower. I7 RTX 3080 32G. It seems to be remarkably well cooled and my only criticism is one of the fans is noisy on startup. Settles down after half a minute. My only other choice would have been HP but I would have had to wait longer for delivery)
No regrets so far but it wasn’t cheap.
it’s not so much the computer but the manufacturer. Dell (who owns Alienware) is notorious for cheaping out on parts. They also have been known to make their computer difficult to repair yourself. Not to say it’s impossible but they prefer to have their own techs work on their computers.
I work with them at an enterprise level and the techs they send out for house calls have to use their own cars and the mileage reimbursement leaves much to be desired so they’re all a little bit…burnt out.
There are better companies that use name brand parts for comparable prices in both the US and abroad.
That said, give it 3-6 months. You can build your own and save yourself a good 600 bucks. GPU prices are dropping (which may cause another shortage when everyone goes to buy a new graphics card lol)
Thanks for the replies everyone. Definitely food for thought.
I’m in Australia so I guess choices may be more limited than other places around the world due to shipping costs. I’ve been looking at the HP Omen too, I’m guessing that if I can get something that matches the Aurora R13 specs then I should be able to run the sim in ultra settings.
Ha at one time before the wife died, I had 6 desktop machines that I revived and put together with spare parts and running all different os’s, and two laptops I had revived as well. I also had a stack of monitors going back to an old crt to a bunch of flat screen stuff (thats what got me started building multi screen FS configs). I still have an old Compaq lugable machine, that has a 4" green crt, and two 320 (or was that 360kb) floppies. It will still boot dos5 eventually, the floppies are pretty old by now. ;p
I am also a newbe who bought an xbox to see if I liked msfs ( I love it, except the bugs!)
Being retired, i have had lots of time to investigate and plan a new custom build. Here is my (current) build plan:
Intel i-7 12700k
MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 Gaming Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB GDDR6 Video Card
Corsair 4000D Airflow Mid-Tower ATX PC Case - Black, CC-9011200-WW
CORSAIR RMX Series™ RM850x 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Corsair Vengency 32 GB (2x16) 3600Mhz
Lexar NM620 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Internal SSD
Noctua NH-D15 Cooler
Wireless Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo with 87 Key Rainbow LED
I already have a Sony HD 4K TV so I do not need a monitor
Also, to limit the budget as much as possible, my plan is to start with a “lower end” GPU running MSFS IN 1080 resolution and upgrade to an RTX 3080Ti when i can afford it. I could also go with 16 GB of RAM to save a few dollars. I could also go with an i5 CPU and a 750W power supply and I might.
Your thoughts and suggestions are very much appreciated.
I’ve spent weeks researching my eventual gaming PC build (dedicated to msfs) and your component choices are almost identical to my list, except I’m going AMD cpu and was considering either 5600x/3060Ti or 5800x3d/3080 12GB ($600 difference). Rather than go mid-tier and eventually upgrade I thought it better to wait for GPU prices to fall further and go with the higher-end spec.
I think you should stick with 32GB and 850w (so you are ready for future upgrades). Although not for everyone, I definitely prefer the experience, satisfaction and cost savings of building myself and choosing the exact components I want and would never consider a pre-built.
Aside from the SU9 debacle (understand they have patch on the way), xbox x in general works great and prefer to wait a month or two before transition to PC.
That looks like it’ll be a very nice build. I’ve gone through the similar reintroduction to the MS flight sim franchise after a decade absence starting on the Series S then moving to the Series X. I realized in addition to being able to tune with a PC, I wanted more options for add-ons that are either going to take a very long time to come to Xbox or not come at all. I also want some of the great free repaints that are out there and even to load FSX which I still have to fly a few things that haven’t come to MSFS yet.
From my research I was looking at the i5-12600K as my minimum CPU and the RTX 3060Ti as my minimum GPU and preferred 32GB of memory. I wanted something that should perform better than the Series X, which is actually pretty good, so it truly felt like an upgrade. I just ordered an MSI Aegis RS system with an i7-12700K and a RTX3070Ti which was on sale for $400 CDN below its normal price which put it within $100 - $150 of what I’d pay to buy components and build with my existing case or about the same if I purchased a new case. It has a 750W PSU and liquid cooling but only 16GB of DDR5 memory. I think that’ll be enough to start and upgrading to 32GB down the road will be easy and not too expensive.
So, now the wait and anticipation. Hopefully it’ll be here next week.
Thanks Fieldgunner for your post. Being a newbie I don’t know if I am doing things right, I don’t get much when I try to investigate a POI. I use the drone camera in showcase mode to move in close to have a look — but this has been somewhat disappointing as all I get is a computer generated representation of a building or structure. No text info. No photos. No video. No audio. Maybe I am missing something. Am i?
