Microsoft Flight Simulator system requirements are here and you're gonna need some serious space

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Here's everything you'll need to take off with Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft Flight Simulator is still technically due to release sometime this year, and now we know what you'll need in order to run it on your PC. The highly anticipated flying sim is promising live weather data, 37,000 real-world airports (for reference, there's over 40,000 in the world), real-time air traffic, and a picture-perfect recreation of Earth for you to fly over. It's some wild stuff, and you'd expect it to require a big-time PC to run it. 

Fortunately, while the high-end tiers do require some impressive gear, the minimum specs for Microsoft Flight Simulator are more reasonable. It's important to note, however, that no matter what graphics card you've got or how much RAM you're working with, you'll need 150GB of free space to take to the skies. That's the same amount of free hard drive space needed for Red Dead Redemption 2. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator minimum requirements

  • CPU: Ryzen 3 1200/Intel i5-4460
  • GPU: Radeon RX 570/NVIDIA GTX 770
  • VRAM: 2GB
  • RAM: 8GB
  • HDD: 150 GB
  • OS: Windows 10 November 2019 update
  • Bandwidth: 5 Mbps
  • CPU: Ryzen 5 1500K/Intel i5-8400
  • GPU: Radeon RX 590/NVIDIA GTX 970
  • VRAM: 4GB
  • RAM: 16GB
  • HDD: 150GB
  • OS: Windows 10 November 2019 update
  • Bandwidth: 20 Mbps

Microsoft Flight Simulator ideal requirements

  • CPU: Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X/Intel i7-5800X
  • GPU: Radeon VII/NVIDIA RTX 2080
  • VRAM: 8GB
  • RAM: 32GB
  • HDD: 150 GB SSD
  • OS: Windows 10 November 2019 update
  • Bandwidth: 50 Mbps

We've no word yet on when Microsoft Flight Simulator will drop, but stay tuned.

Here are the best upcoming games of 2020. 

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante
Former Features Writer

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.