Best Gaming PC for Flight Sim: Entry, Mid & High-End Options

Flight simulators have a very dynamic role within the PC gaming space. A system looking to be a flight simulator needs hardware similar to most gaming PCs on the market, between entry-level graphics, large storage requirements, and multiple USB ports for custom-made peripherals like HOTAS (Hands on Throttle and Stick) and aircraft input panels in high-end setups.

Services like Microsoft Flight Simulator and DCS (Digital Combat Simulator) are grounded in their approach to the anticipated needs of most of their player base. However, other games like War Thunder and Star Citizen are expanding the influence of optional hardware like eye and face tracking and custom movement inputs.

This guide will review the most common desktop PC configurations for entry, mid, and high-level simulators and what to consider when buying popular peripherals for flight sims.

Best Gaming PCs for Microsoft Flight Simulator

Here are some of the best configurations that Apex offers when it comes to flight sims. 

Entry-Level Flight Sim PC

An essential consideration for playing flight simulators is the resolution, what peripherals are used, and how long the system stays daily to ensure decent performance and accommodation. A great place to start is looking at an Apex Silver and its ability to provide impressive performance.   

Mid-level Flight Sim PC

Moving past entry-level hardware, a mid-range prebuild offers more peripheral accommodation and multitasking abilities from the mid-range CPUs and GPUs on the market. For a comparable experience, getting an Apex Alpha offers mid to higher-end CPU options and expanded motherboards supporting the highest intel chipset, Z790. 

High-End Flight Sim PC

Beyond most flight sims prebuilt on the market, high-end flight systems often support larger monitor resolutions that host HOTAS or similar configurations, requiring more USB ports or type c connections. Motherboards, CPUs, and GPUs equipped to handle increased demands are found on our Apex Zen, with new Ryzen 5, 7, or 9 processors and the latest RTX 40 series to get higher refresh rates and quicker response times.

Luxury Flight Sim PC

For the highest performing configurations on the market that are custom-built to withstand the requirements of the largest cockpit sims sporting some of the largest monitor displays and arrays of connected peripherals that mimic an actual aircraft, we recommend our Apex Xtreme for the job, as it has multiple hardware upgrades and case ascetic regarding open design for future upgrades.

Requirements to Play Flight Simulator on a Gaming PC

Popular flight simulation software like “Microsoft Flight Simulator” or DCS typically run on entry to mid-tier components from the last 5-8 years. Here are the requirements for the most popular flight sims on the market:

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Here are Microsoft's minimum and recommended entry-level and mid-level gaming PCs. 

Minimum Requirements:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or better
• RAM: 8 GB
• VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 770 or better
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 2GB
• PIXEL SHADER: 5.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 5.0
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB

Recommended Requirements: 

• CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better
• RAM: 16 GB
• VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 970
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4GB
• PIXEL SHADER: 5.1
• VERTEX SHADER: 5.1
• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB

DCS

Here are the minimum and recommended requirements for DCS as outlined by the developer.

Minimum Requirements

• CPU: 2-4 cores capable of running 64-bit systems
• CPU SPEED: Intel or AMD 3.0Ghz+ with 2 or more cores
• RAM: 16 GB
• VIDEO CARD: Dedicated Graphics Card from AMD or NVIDIA 
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 8 GB
• OS: Windows 10
• FREE DISK SPACE: 140 GB

Recommended Requirements

• CPU: 6-8 cores capable of running 64-bit systems
• CPU SPEED: Intel or AMD 4.5Ghz+ with 6 cores
• RAM: 32 GB
• VIDEO CARD: Dedicated Graphics Card from AMD or NVIDIA
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 8 GB
• OS: Windows 10
• FREE DISK SPACE: 300 GB

What to Look for in Gaming PC Hardware for Flight Sims

When configuring a gaming PC for flight simulators, you must consider what peripherals you have and the type of physical connections like flight sticks or addressable buttons to simulate an analog cockpit interface. 

Besides having enough ports and a dedicated graphics card to match your intended refresh rate.

and resolution. In addition, make sure your system has enough storage to install your planned games and any additional mods comfortably.

Gaming PC for Flight Sim Summary