I love Microsoft Flight Simulator, but the recommended specifications are a joke. This powerful CyberPowerPC machine features a brand-new NVIDIA 40-Series GPU and matching components, scoring way above the game’s ideal spec for only $899.99 at Best Buy. You need a capable PC to play this visually striking title, and many budget pre-built desktops don’t compare to this Black Friday bargain under $1,000.
Finally, a sim gaming PC for less than $1,000
Simulator games might not seem so thrilling to those who have never played them but trust me, they get you hooked. Fast. Between Microsoft Flight Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, my custom-made desktop had been begging for manual upgrades closely matching this pre-built machine from CyberPowerPC.
Thankfully, it’s available for anyone, so there’s no mandatory need for a My Best Buy membership either (though you still get perks.)
Going against the consensus of being ugly but realistic, MSFS is beautiful and outrageously detailed (you can fly anywhere on the globe.) The downside of pumping up the visuals is that entry-level desktops generally won’t cut it for enjoyable sim flights.
Thankfully, Microsoft officially supports NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 upscaling tech, meaning the game can technically render with less demanding fidelity from the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB GPU in this PC and intelligently blow up the final image to remain sharp and detailed. I’d recommend sticking with an FHD monitor for 1080p gaming, but CyberPowerPC desktops use standard parts and can be manually upgraded and handle the larger screens you’ll find during our Black Friday’s best 4K and ultrawide monitor deal roundup.
Can this pre-built PC run Microsoft Flight Sim?
| Ideal spec | Microsoft Flight Sim | CyberPowerPC Gamer Master |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X | ⬆️AMD Ryzen 7 5700 |
| RAM | 32GB | 🔻16GB |
| GPU | NVIDIA RTX 2080 | ⬆️NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti |
| VRAM | 8GB | ✅8GB |
| Storage | 150GB SSD | ⬆️2TB SSD |
For such a fair price, the CyberPowerPC Gamer Master outranks a mixture of both ‘ideal spec’ requirements as recommended by Microsoft. The only metric that seemingly falls flat is RAM, where 16GB is obviously less than 32GB, but it’s the most straightforward manual upgrade you could ever perform yourself.
There are two unused DIMM (memory) slots on the motherboard, so a double pack of speed-matching DDR4 RAM would bring you up to 32GB. Admittedly, simulator games like MSFS load a massive amount of data into memory.
However, 16GB has been enough for my personal machine running sim games for years, propped up by the same kind of high-speed solid-state storage drive in this CyberPowerPC desktop.
Long story short: Yes, this PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator comfortably at 1080p and even push for 1440p if you engage NVIDIA’s DLSS upscaling tech. Pair it with one of the best flight sticks, and you’ll have a blast.
