Hardware Hardware configuration for a simming PC in 2023 ?

N_Molson

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Most of people over there are hardcore flight (but also naval, rail, road...) simulation fans so having a "recommended" configuration could help many of us. Of course some products or more or less available all around the planet but nothing's perfect. It could also be interesting to suggest different hardware "tiers". The idea is to elobarate some kind of guide, that we can update every year or semester. The 3 tiers could be like that, with the "Budget" tier being defined as "recommended settings" for (Open)Orbiter/D3D9 :

Budget : "recommended settings" for (Open)Orbiter/D3D9, tries to be as cost-effective as possible.
Comfort : able to run most commercial sims (FS, X-Plane, DCS...) with decent FPS (and some visual/audio/tactile comfort).
Performance : a setup that puts performance and "close with the real thing" as a priority.

The main categories would be as following, I can update the OP from your suggestions :

Computer :

Motherboard :
RAM :
CPU :
GPU :
Hard Drive(s) :
SSD :
Power Supply :
Case :

Peripherals :

Screen : Samsung Odyssey G7 32'5 curved LCD screen
Flight Control System (joystick, pedals...) :
Keyboard :
Mouse :
Speakers :
Headset : Beyerdynamics BT990 Pro
External USB Numpad :
 
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N_Molson

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I bought this "little thing" 😅


What can I say ? Loved it from the first second. The control axis are extremely accurate, and they added some lead into those to make sure they sit firmly on your simpit. And if that's not enough, they are mounted on steel plates you can screw to your simpit.

The LED backlighting of the throttle switches labels is awesome. It might sound as a gadget, but it is very immersive, I love that, great idea. You can of course toggle it on/off and even choose between 5 luminosity levels... :p

Of course there's a script editor "TARGET" that allow you to map the controls the way you like, provided you get the time to get into coding.

Works superbly with DCS, of course.

However, know that there is no yaw axis. They explain they did that on purpose to make sure the stick bearing lasts in time (it uses magnets, actually, and not springs that tend to fail or get loose over time (went there, did that...). There is however a mini controller on the throttle that has two full axis, so I mapped it there. I could get used to that.

But I think I'm going for the Thrustmaster rudders pedals next (roughly the same price that the HOTAS set 😅). Yes, that's ridiculously overkill, but you live only once !

The stick is also sold separately. 💲
 

Miner34

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I'm running it on a laptop with 8GB of LPDDR4 ram, AMD Ryzen 3 5300U with integrated Radeon graphics, 256GB Samsung M.2 SSD and it runs good even if using WINE to run it on linux.
I think a 1080p screen is a must have even for budget category.
It is possible to use it with the keyboard only but a joystick is very important for a good experience.
I'm using a very old Thrustmaster controller made originally for plane games, but it is a lot better than the keyboard.
 
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N_Molson

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I'm using a very old Thrustmaster controller made originally for plane games, but it is a lot better than the keyboard.

Yes, any controller that has axis is better than the keyboard. The big problem with keyboard input is that it is by nature binary, "all or nothing". So we end up typing in rythm to try to mimic a controlled input, which is quite weird and unefficient.
 

MaxBuzz

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Yes, any controller that has axis is better than the keyboard. The big problem with keyboard input is that it is by nature binary, "all or nothing". So we end up typing in rythm to try to mimic a controlled input, which is quite weird and unefficient.
soyuz ship panel control (panel I made for another project)
tma.png
 

Miner34

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I think that the motherboard recommended value isn't important since when building a computer you choose a motherboard which can support the other things with no problems and pre-built computers are normally correctly balanced.

So the minimum requirements would be something like:

PC:
RAM: 4GB
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300U
disk: gaming hard disk or SSD

Peripherials:
HD screen
stereo speakers
2 button mouse
keyboard with numpad
 

Miner34

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I will try to run it into a virtual machine to see how much cores and RAM it needs to run correctly.
I will also open a issue on Github (i think it can be useful).
 

Miner34

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Ok, there is a better minimum requirements list:

PC:
RAM: 4GB or more
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300U or better (cpubenchmark.net score: 5,674)
GPU: 720p GeForce 256 (gpubenchamerk.net score: 6) or better, 1080p GeForce FX 5600 (gpubenchamerk.net score: 13) or better with 512MB of VRAM or more
Disk: 4GB or more of free space
 
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N_Molson

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So I just plugged a new Samsung Odyssey G7 32.5' curved LCD screen. Very very good stuff. Reminded me how a good screen is important, especially when dealing with simulators.
 

Miner34

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Everybody goes here please write your PC specs and your fps (activate the Framerate module) to confirm those min requirements. :hailprobe:
 

misha.physics

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I use a laptop. AMD Ryzen 5 4600H, RAM 16 Gb, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4 Gb, SSD 512 Gb.

Orbiter, DirectX 9, V-Sync is activated. 60 fps (but ~53 fps when default Map MFD is displaying).
 

Abloheet

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My system configuration is for the performance category, sharing here

Computer :

Motherboard : Asrock B550 Steel Legend
RAM : 32GB (16*2) 3600mhz CL16 GSkill TridentZ
CPU : Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU : Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6700XT
Hard Drive(s) : 3x 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM
SSD : 1TB Samsung 860 Evo SATA
Power Supply : XPG Core Reactor 650W
Case : Cooler Master MasterCase MC500P

I get about 90-120 fps in Cape Canaveral with the DG Ready for takeoff scenario, DG waiting on SLF-33 runway for takeoff. In LEO I get 200-300 fps. In deep space I get 600-1000fps using d3d9 client in windows 11

My monitor resolution is 2560*1440, 144hz
 
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Oldsalter

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Although I have set up on Orbiter 10 with
Ch products control Management a Combat stick, Throttle and Rudders

I tend to use a keyboard. Reasoning I use programs like Hover to control
heading and pitch.

Computer

Vortex G30
 

Oldsalter

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Hover MFD there are two versions 1.1.1 for orbiter 10 and 1.1.3 for Orbiter 16.

I find that with careful use it can become a reasonable auto pilot. In space just turn off or disengage the hover engine.
 
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