Recommended specs for smooth ops?

[DaveKDEN]

Well, I can't get my old Dell XPS running Win 7 (and FSX) to run drivers for my Saitek X52 anymore. Trouble started about a month back, and no matter what I try, I can't load new drivers. As such, I think it's time to drop FSX, get a new computer, and switch over to (probably) P3D.
My question here is, what minimum specs does it take to run P3D smoothly and seamlessly (if possible)? I'm definitely getting a machine with a higher capacity SSD (512GB), but was wondering where I could save some money now, and potentially upgrade later.
In addition, does anyone here run P3D and X-Plane on the same system?

[paiken]

In addition, does anyone here run P3D and X-Plane on the same system?

I'm running both on my 6 month old Alienware Aurora R7 with almost no difficulties. Only drawback with my rig is the 1TB hard drive. I'm about to switch over to SSD's for faster more reliable access to files. At a minimum I would suggest an Intel i5 or i7 with an Nvidia 1080 video card. My current specs are: Intel i7 8700 (water cooled), 16gb memory, Nvidia GTX 1080 with 8gb memory, 1Tb hard drive + 500Gb hard drive for simulators. Happy as a clam after switching over from my previous Dell XPS. I like X-Plane 11, but prefer Prepar3D as it is a much more 'mature' platform with a jillion add-ons available.

[Stefano Zibell]

Just wanna mention that the used market for 1080`s is booming right now and if you want to save some money try searching ebay and similar.

[DennyA]

Note that Intel is supposed to be releasing the 9xxx series processors in early October, so I'd hold off a week or so before making a decision. Some really great performance at decent prices there.

https://tech.co/intel-9th-generation-chips-leaked-2018-08

A system with the I5-9600K or I7-9700K and a 1080 or 1080 TI should kick butt. (With the 2080s starting to ship, it's a buyer's market for used 1080 boards. I'm about to have a 980TI for sale due to my own upgrade.) Definitely go with 32GB of RAM.

And yes, I do have P3D and X-Plane both. I fly P3D more because I have so many more add-ons, but X-Plane is really awesome to play around in. If you plan to run both, go at 1TB on that SSD -- X-Plane has tools that let you generate amazing photoscenery, but that stuff ends up taking up a lot of space over time.

Also, both sims are amazing in VR. It's a whole different experience. You can get a Windows Mixed Reality headset (https://amzn.to/2IinzzT) (essentially HTC Vive/SteamVR compatible) for as low as $149. It's 90% as good as an Oculus Rift for less than 50% of the cost, if you're on a budget.

[Penzoil3]

From the horses mouth-


System Requirements System Requirements – Prepar3D v4



Minimum
Recommended


Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit)
[N editions require Media Feature Pack]
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)


Computer Processor
2.2 GHz
Quad Core 3.5 GHz (Per Core) +


Computer Memory
4 GB
16 GB DDR4/2666MHz +


Hard Drive Space
40 GB, with at least 15 GB on C:\
(3 GB for the SDK)
M.2 or Solid State Drive (SSD) is strongly recommended


Graphics Card Video Memory
2 GB
8 GB +


Graphics Card Other
Full DirectX 11 Support


Other
Administrator Rights (for installation only)
Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2
DirectX 11
1024×768 minimum screen resolution for primary display