MS Flight Simulator: crashes with NVIDIA and runs with Intel onboard card

[Xandonis]

My Flight Simulator 2020 is always crashing to desktop at the loading screen when I'm using my NVIDIA card.

I was able to pass the loading screen problem by disabling my dedicated NVIDIA card and running with the onboard Intel HD graphics card. However, the game is unplayable with the Intel card (~5 fps).

I was in touch with other users that are suffering from the same issue and, to my surprise, all of them had a HP notebook. In addition, one guy is having the same crash using an AMD dedicated card.

Those are the PC specs:

HP Pavilion 17
Intel i7-5500U
Intel HD Graphics 5500
NVIDIA GeForce 840M 4GB

HP Pavilion Gaming 15
Ryzen5. 3200
Nvidia gtx 1650 4gb
Integrated amd graphic 2gb

HP 250 G6
Intel i3-6006U
Intel HD Graphics 520
Amd Radeon R5 M330 2GB

HP Envy 15
Intel Core i7-7500U
Intel HD Graphics 620
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 4GB

As one user highlighted, this issue might be related to using drivers that are not distributed by the manufacturer (eg. The HP website shows the NVIDIA 398.36 driver as the latest available, while I was using the 452.06 from the NVIDIA website).

Last night, I downloaded and installed all the drivers available on the HP website (BIOS, Chipset, Audio, Graphic Card, Wifi, etc), some were different and some were very outdated. For the GPU, I performed a clean install on the NVIDIA and Intel Graphic cards using DDU. I got the same error as before, crash on loading screen and the game runs with the Intel HD graphics.

Although, it is possible to observe that the problem is most likely related to the HP than to the NIVIDIA/AMD drivers.

I would really apreciate if someone could help with this issue.

[old_geekster]

@Xandonis , welcome to the forum.

What is the Product Number of the computer? I need this information to review the specifications of it. Please don't furnish the Serial # or other personal information. You can find the Product Number at the bottom of the page when you open HP Support Assistant.

I have been playing MS Flight Sim for more than 20 years.  It has always been a resource hog.  No matter how much you throw at it, the more that it wants.  Here are the system requirements for MS FltSim:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-system-requirements-can-my...

One problem that I have found with any new game is, the developers want us to be their test department.  They release the game before its time.  You should check to see if there are any patches available to cure any problems.

[Xandonis]

Thanks for your response Old_geekster, my PC product number is L4H50EA#ABF.

As you can see, it's below the minimum requirements, however I can run a lot of recent games (eg. Death Stranding, COD, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Division 2, Sea of Thieves and also XPlane w/ multiple plugins) without problem. In addition, the FS runs with the Intel HD Graphics that is way less powerful than the dedicated GPU.

[october3]

FS2020 is a resource hog, much more so than other new games

just for reference, with the detail level set down one level from ultra, from memory think its high or very high? and a little manipulation ie no RT traffic etc, I get about 47FPS and that is smooth and playable so not dialled down the settings further

GPU utilisation is 98-99% with RTX2060 (no temp issues) and CPU in high 80s temps

[Xandonis]

Yes, I understand. But my issue is not if the game is playable or not, I can't even get to the main menu.

[old_geekster]

@Xandonis, actually, your laptop is considerably below the minimum requirements for MS FltSim.  All of the CPU's mentioned in the article that I provided are Quad-core.  The CPU in your laptop is Dual-core and considerably slower.  This may not seem like much difference, but it is a lot.  Also, you have 6 GB of memory.  The game minimum is 8 GB and I know from running FltSim for years that the minimum for smooth operation should most likely be 16 GB  since the scenery is so far advanced.  I believe this is why you can't get MS FltSim to even start.  Your laptop was not meant for gaming and especially for a high-end, resource hog, game like FltSim.  I don't know what else I can say.

[Xandonis]

Old_geekster thanks for your response and attention. I completely understand that is the maximum you can do.

What I'm just curious is how can I fly (besides the low FPS) with the Intel HD Graphics and can't even get to the main menu with the dedicated GPU. In addition, everyone who is having this behavior is using an HP notebook (As I reported on the main post, there is even a user using an HP Pavilion Gaming 15 w/ dedicated GTX 1650 4 GB suffering from the same crash).

I truly believe that the source of the problem is more than a "your PC doesn't meet the minimum specs".

Anyway, thanks everyone for the help !

[old_geekster]

You are welcome, @Xandonis!

There is only one other possibility.  The requirements state Win 10 (1909) or higher.  If you haven't updated to 1909, this may help.  I wouldn't recommend updating to Win 10 (2004) at this point.  I had to go back to 1909 because it is buggy.  One last suggestion, contact Microsoft's Tech Support to see what they have to say.  They are the experts on their products.

Good luck!