Laptop requirements for DCS or Flight Simulator 2020

[Randy]

Greetings. The quick question: what would I need in the way of a Windows laptop to enjoy Flight Simulator 2020, DCS World or something close to those on Steam?
I've been away from Steam for several years, trying to get comfortable with an Xbox One S. What I seem to enjoy most is realistic flight simulation and occasionally first person sniper like Elite Sniper 4 ( Fallout 4 was ok) . 99% of what pops up on Game Pass is not what I want.
Things like Elite Dangerous are ok, but not really what I'm after.
So the new Flight Simulator 2020 or DCS World would be obvious choices for me, but it's still unclear when flight simulator and the Xbox Series X are actually going to be available ( I mean where you actually lay your hands on them)
I'd consider setting aside or selling the Xbox and improving my six-year old laptop for Steam.
$1500 or more for a PC would lead to a major battle with my spouse so not going there. 🙂 The laptop is nearly worn out and woefully inadequate so I could probably justify $500 or so for a replacement.

No question that my current machine won't run of anything in the flight simulation area:
Toshiba Satellite Intel Core i5-4200U cpu @ 1.6ghz cpu speed 2295 Mhz
Physical RAM 6 GB Processor Graphics in Use Intel HD Graphics 4400

[startrekmike]

$500 for a new laptop is very likely not going to get you something that will meet the practical requirements of DCS World or FS2020. I don't mean to sound like some sort of hardware elitist or something but $500 laptops are generally entry level and simply don't have the components or even the basic physical design to handle such demanding titles.

Not trying to be a downer here but in the world of laptops, $500 is going to get you a entry level laptop that might be able to do some light gaming but won't help you much with DCS or FS2020 specifically. It might be a good idea to have a talk with your spouse about this and figure out some kind of plan to put aside some money over time or something.

[wolfast805]

I hate to agree, but your not in a good range (500$) for a Laptop for MSFS or DCS. 2600$ maybe. Yeah, like said above its worth saving up for a good rig for those two games for sure. (PC not Laptop... I feel that would be the cheaper option that would run them). Good luck!

[Randy]

That's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. A laptop fits into our lifestyle now that we have a smaller home for retirement, but I haven't ruled out a desktop/tower. I was kind of hoping to find something that ran on a software/game company's servers and all you basically did was pass mouse clicks and controller inputs back and forth ( not requiring so much raw computing power at home).
Since the Xbox Series X is about $500, and is expected to run flight simulator well, I may have to continue that route. But it's still worth re-examining Steam for other types like the sniper FSP stuff I enjoy. Things like that which arenot available on Xbox, and don't require very high-powered computers.

[Vilab]

Originally posted by carvin:

I was kind of hoping to find something that ran on a software/game company's servers and all you basically did was pass mouse clicks and controller inputs back and forth ( not requiring so much raw computing power at home).

DCS and MSFS do work on your local computer, yet there are private companies that offer just that, you send the inputs of whatever program you are running and get the vidéo and sound back basically.

a few tested DCS on those "online gaming computer" and said it was working fine.

it is obviously not free and cost as much as a brand new DCS running computer over a few years

[Monkeyboy]

FS2020 is an extremely demanding game on your rig! it can run on basic systems but not very well. It won't even load on your laptop. To pllay FS 2020 with decent FPS you will need a beefy system.

DCS will run on a lighter system but 32gb of ram helps loading times and stutter. stops your system over heating also.