Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Windows Has anyone tried Microsoft Flight Simulator recently on a boot camped 2020 iMac 5k?
- Thread starter 4743913
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
I know this is a very late reply, but I'll still share my thoughts and experience regarding your question.
I had the base iMac 5k 2020 back when MFS came out. The game ran from poorly to okay (if you tinkered enough with the settings) on the base Radeon 5300 4gb. I was averaging about 20 to 25 fps (with some dips into the teens in some areas). I was able to vastly improve the fps by using an eGPU enclosure via the Thunderbolt port, with an Nvidia 1080 ti installed in it. Also, the eGPU installation went incredibly smooth, something unheard of as it is well documented that setting up egpus with Macs on Bootcamp can be a real nightmare (error 12 and some others).
Having said this, my biggest problem at the time was that MFS ran very unstable. I was having crashes to desktop every time I was loading a very busy airport (such as JFK) but the crashes to desktop would happen really anywhere at any time. Relaunching the game every time was painful because the loading times were long. I installed additional ram (for a total of 16GB in 4 4GB modules) but this did not help with the crashing so eventually I sort of lost interest in the simulator. The constant crashing to desktop was just that bad.
Fast forward to 2022, I no longer have the 2020 iMac but I do have a 2017 model, 5k with the top specs Radeon 580 Pro 8GB, 16GB ram and the core i5 7600k. For starters, the game runs immensely better now, no crashing whatsoever. Reading through the MFS forums, I see that Asobo has made great improvements. There was one update, I forget which number, that brought improved fps (some say at the expense of graphics quality but to me the game still looks incredible). I get much better fps with the Radeon 580 Pro than what I remember getting with the Radeon 5300. It could be that the 5300 only has 4GB. But MFS is a game that needs to be experienced in 4k, and the screens in the retina iMacs are just gorgeous for MFS. The 580 would not be enough for 4k gaming so I'm running an eGPU with an Nvidia 3060 ti now (installation in bootcamp was also very smooth) and I'm able to do 4k with settings in high and the fps hoovers close to 30.
To summarize, I think the game runs much better now. I know the 2020 iMacs with the Radeon 5700 would run it much better than the base 5300 or the 5500 xt, but thanks to Thunderbolt 3, eGPUs can really fix that. In fact, an eGPU with a very powerful card such as the Nvidia 3080 would run circles around the Radeon 5700 discrete GPU. Even the 3060 ti is better than the 5700.
Hope this is helpful. Again, sorry for the late reply. Happy flying!
I had the base iMac 5k 2020 back when MFS came out. The game ran from poorly to okay (if you tinkered enough with the settings) on the base Radeon 5300 4gb. I was averaging about 20 to 25 fps (with some dips into the teens in some areas). I was able to vastly improve the fps by using an eGPU enclosure via the Thunderbolt port, with an Nvidia 1080 ti installed in it. Also, the eGPU installation went incredibly smooth, something unheard of as it is well documented that setting up egpus with Macs on Bootcamp can be a real nightmare (error 12 and some others).
Having said this, my biggest problem at the time was that MFS ran very unstable. I was having crashes to desktop every time I was loading a very busy airport (such as JFK) but the crashes to desktop would happen really anywhere at any time. Relaunching the game every time was painful because the loading times were long. I installed additional ram (for a total of 16GB in 4 4GB modules) but this did not help with the crashing so eventually I sort of lost interest in the simulator. The constant crashing to desktop was just that bad.
Fast forward to 2022, I no longer have the 2020 iMac but I do have a 2017 model, 5k with the top specs Radeon 580 Pro 8GB, 16GB ram and the core i5 7600k. For starters, the game runs immensely better now, no crashing whatsoever. Reading through the MFS forums, I see that Asobo has made great improvements. There was one update, I forget which number, that brought improved fps (some say at the expense of graphics quality but to me the game still looks incredible). I get much better fps with the Radeon 580 Pro than what I remember getting with the Radeon 5300. It could be that the 5300 only has 4GB. But MFS is a game that needs to be experienced in 4k, and the screens in the retina iMacs are just gorgeous for MFS. The 580 would not be enough for 4k gaming so I'm running an eGPU with an Nvidia 3060 ti now (installation in bootcamp was also very smooth) and I'm able to do 4k with settings in high and the fps hoovers close to 30.
To summarize, I think the game runs much better now. I know the 2020 iMacs with the Radeon 5700 would run it much better than the base 5300 or the 5500 xt, but thanks to Thunderbolt 3, eGPUs can really fix that. In fact, an eGPU with a very powerful card such as the Nvidia 3080 would run circles around the Radeon 5700 discrete GPU. Even the 3060 ti is better than the 5700.
Hope this is helpful. Again, sorry for the late reply. Happy flying!
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.