mokbubble Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Hi all, I am about to buy a new laptop and have a decision to make. Should I buy a laptopwith 32 mb of RAM but meets the minimum processor, or one that meets the recommended processor but has 16 mg RAM? Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zSCHIZOz Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I would go with the model with 16GB of RAM. Most modern games only use 8GB-16GB of RAM and if you're wanting to play more demanding titles its best to have a better performing CPU as well. Going with 32GB of RAM is really overkill and wouldn't make any sense with a budget CPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wout123 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 that laptop is going to run very hot, make sure is has adequate cooling. for less money you can get a stronger desktop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g7rta Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 “I would go with the model with 16GB of RAM. Most modern games only use 8GB-16GB of RAM†Go with 32Gb if you can, as you are hoping to run MSFS on it aren’t you? A laptop is not the best choice but as you have said, you are buying a laptop anyway. Regards Steve Intel I9-13900K - Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX - 64Gb DDR5 5600Mhz - Asus RTX4090 ROG STRIX 24GB 3x 43” Panasonic 4k TVs - Corsair RMx 1200W PSU - 2 x 2TB M.2, 2 x 4TB SATA III and 1 x 4TB M.2 SSDs. Pico 4 VR Headset - Honeycomb Alpha Yoke - Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Unit Thrustmaster TPR Rudder Pedals - Saitek Throttles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I think the need for RAM is way overrated. Go with the faster processor. If you run MSFS on Medium settings, which is probably about all the laptop will do, you be fine. I just did a short test flight from LGA to EWR using Medium settings and the RAM utilized never exceeded 9 GB. And not to worry, even on medium settings everything still looks really good.....Doug Intel 10700K @ 5.0 Ghz, Asus Maxumus XII Hero MB, Noctua NH-U12A Cooler, Corsair Vengence Pro 32GB 3200Mhz, Geforce RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, and other good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efanton Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) Why even compromise? Seriously RAM is so cheap these days. A 16GB SODIMM memory module is going to cost you £50 to £75 extra. I am absolutely certain whoever you buy that laptop from will happily install the additional 16GB of RAM. Personally I would buy the laptop with the better processor and just upgrade the memory. Remember that FS 2020 is video intensive. What most people forget is that a GPU is useless without an equally matched CPU. The CPU draws the wire frame that the GPU then fills out. If you had a GTX 2080ti graphics card and a pentium processor the likelihood is that your video performance and experience would be abysmal even though the RTX 2080ti is the best video card that money can buy at the moment Think of it like drawing a picture. you have to draw the image first with a pencil (the CPU does this) and them colour it in or shade it with paints or colouring pens (the GPU does this). The GPU is totally incapable of drawing the outline or wire-frame. If drawing the picture takes forever then it really doesnt matter how good your video card is. Also bear in mind that with a laptop you are likely to be using the onboard GPU built into the CPU. Generally the better the CPU the better the onboard GPU in that processor will be. Putting 32GB of ram in a laptop for FS2020 is not going to make it any better if the CPU and GPU cant generate the video output fast enough. Extra RAM will not have any effect on this problem. Seriously think about this. Dont fall into the trap in thinking extra RAM is going to fix a PC or laptop that simply is not capable of handling the graphics demands of a game like FS 2020. If you cant afford the additional RAM now then just make sure when buying a laptop it has a free memory module slot available for an upgrade later. Buying the laptop with the better processor is my advice. Edited August 23, 2020 by efanton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokbubble Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 Thanks everyone! I took as much advice as I could under my budget and went a bit beyond it to ensure I got a good processor and graphics card. Only got 16 GB RAM but hopefully I can upgrade that if I need to. According to Gaming Debate I should be in good shape. Really looking forward to Flight Simulator. Only problem now is I have to go with the Xbox pass version now rather than Deluxe to save money for the processor. Hopefully I can figure out how to get my joystick running. Thanks again everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowdriver Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 The 9 pages in this article will show you what different graphic cards will do. They are all using the same cpu processor however. Notice where they talk about RAM: it made no difference whatsoever if 16 or 32 GB system RAM. https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/microsoft-flight-simulator-(2020)-pc-graphics-performance-benchmark-review.html But I see you already purchased, still an interesting article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jparnold Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) I would have thought that MSFS2020 is quite cpu/processor intensive and as such would choose a PC/laptop with a faster CPU. 16GB is not huge but you would then end up with a system which is recommended rather than one which is minimum requirements for CPU. Whenever I see this question type raised the usual answers are to divert as much money as can to a faster CPU and GPU (video card) before considering other things as they affect fps (frames per second) more than other things. As already pointed out RAM is relatively cheap and you may be able to upgrade the RAM later. Do both laptops have the same video card? It also is important as already pointed out. Edited August 24, 2020 by jparnold change last sentence John Gigabyte Z390 UD Intel Core i7-9700K 3.60 Ghz Dual 16Gb DDR4 2666 Gigabyte RTX2060 OC 6GB 2 X 256MB SSD drives 1 X 500GB HDD Windows 10 64bit Home Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvensmith Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Personally I would go for a decent desktop rather than a laptop to run this new sim. I engaged Windows Game Mode last night briefly while in mid flight - CPU (I7 4770) was running at 36%, GPU (GTX 1650 4Gb) was on 98%. My RAM (24Gb) was about 40% utilised. Vern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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