What's the difference between the editions, other than the number of aircraft and of detailed airports available? I saw a chart somewhere that showed the basic required less memory (currently 16GB, but planning on expanding to 32 at some point) and could be run on as little as a 5 Mbs internet connection (cable isn't an option so I'm going through Verizon, and 5G hasn't reached my neck of the, literally, woods yet) and it got me wondering if there are other differences, as well. TBH, the planes available in the deluxe and premium deluxe packages aren't that important to me, and I understand that you can download higher resolution versions of specific areas (which I'll probably do anyway until 5G gets here). So are there any other advantages to going with the higher end editions, or will the basic be enough for me?

I should probably add that I'm just going to be using it recreationally...take a break from my combat sim of choice...or when the weather's bad. Not interested in getting involved in virtual airlines or anything like that.

IMO if you have no interest in the extra aircraft or airport model fidelity, then the base product will serve you fine. Other than assets there is no difference, it will perform the same regardless of package.

I read of people having difficulty upgrading once they've purchased, so bear that in mind.

I ran the simulation OK on an old i7 (950 @ 2.8gHz), 12gb RAM & an nVidia 970. Everything medium except the clouds, I gots to have those ultra clouds my inet connection is across copper wires, so limited to that level of speed, something like 20mbps theoretical max but 15-18 in practice. Very occasionally I get a 10 second pause while some dense data loads up, but it's very occasional not a regular thing. I can fly over Barcelona, Florence, Rome etc (all photogrammatic cities), New York even and it's fine.

I upgraded to 24gb RAM (the highest my old mb will accept) and an nVidia 2070s and now run at everything on high with ultra clouds at a higher framerate.

Don't ask me for fps numbers, I try to never look at them they are only ever a distraction from enjoyment IMO, I go by the gaming experience & immersion based on whatever I do get but I get, IMO, plenty of fps to make it enjoyable, more than enough. I run the simulation at 3k resolution on a 42" monitor with TrackIR.

Apart from the added airport and airframes, it´s the same simulator across all three versions.

That's what I thought (and was hoping). Thanx, guys.

@DM
Not too worried about upgrading. I'll add individual aircraft to my liking, but I highly doubt any of them will be the ones in the Deluxe or Premium Deluxe versions. The Bell helicopter and an add-on OV-10 (I've loved that plane since I got a couple rides in them in the Air Force) get 90% of my attention in FSX. Probably more. Actually, the fact that there was no helicopter in MSFS2020 was a big surprise and disappointment.

rgr dat, I did get the premium because I had a little extra disposable at the time, and I knew I'd get my money's worth eventually not too worried about the aircraft, but I did want the Heathrow airport.

Since then, I have acquired zero airports but a few aircraft. I favour the older aircraft, anything with dials instead of a glass display will get my attention something like a DC3/C-47 is just my bag. Also I await helicopters, but I think we won't see those until 2022.

The updated SWS Zenith CH 701 STOL is real nice now, Iam enjoying it alot, and you do need to learn how to fly it properly. As a side note, it´s the only AC that has circuit breakers that work in MSFS, at least in a none failiure mode that I know of.. The OV-10 is great, one of my fav in P3D along with the Wilga, both from Aerosoft.

The mods that are coming out for the default AC are pretty good though, so that´s worth taking into account IMHO.

Have fun!