A SU2 Beta Performance Comparison
The following are the results of four performance comparison flights in MSFS 2024 SU2 v1.4.7.0
Prior to each test (except the last), MSFS was exited and the various caches (including the rolling cache) deleted to ensure that the results were not skewed by any data that might be stored in caches.
HWiNFO64 was used to collect the performance data. The collection interval was 1 second, starting at the point the engines were started at on the apron at San Gabriel Valley & ending when the aircraft reached the parking spot at French Valley. Each flight took ~ 32 minutes.
Details on hardware, graphical & other settings are provided at the end of this post.
Like the previous comparison flights in SU1, the VFR flight was flown at ~ 2,000 ft using the Cubcrafters NX Cub from San Gabriel Valley (KEMT) to French Valley (F70) following freeways & major roads. A LittleNavMap flight plan is enclosed for those that wish to recreate it:
Beta Test Flight - San Gabriel Valley (KEMT) to French Valley (F70) v2.pln (35.7 KB)
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The first comparison flight is between MSFS 2024 SU2 v1.4.7.0 and MSFS 2024 SU1 v1.3.24.0
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The purpose of the second comparison flight was to compare the first comparison flight - where Frame Generation was off (None) + HDR 10 was On - with Frame Generation set to On (AMD FSR 3) + HDR 10 set to Off. All other settings remained the same.
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The purpose of the third comparison flight was to compare the second flight (with Frame Generation On (AMD FSR 3) + HDR 10 Off)but with the Dynamic Settings now enabled with a Frame Rate Target of 40 FPS. All other settings remained the same.
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Finally, the fourth comparison flight is the same as the third, except this time the Rolling & other caches were not removed prior to the flight.
Framerates
This chart shows the framerates for the four flights:
| Chart Legend | Description |
|---|---|
| v1.3.24.0: | SU1 performance results |
| FrameGen Off: | 1st Flight: Frame Generation Off (None), HDR 10 On |
| FrameGen On: | 2nd Flight: Frame Generation On (AMD FSR 3), HDR 10 Off |
| DS-40, RC-Empty: | 3rd Flight. Dynamic Settings enabled, Frame Rate Target of 40 FPS. Caches deleted before flight. |
| DS-40, RC-Full: | 4th Flight. Dynamic Settings enabled, Frame Rate Target of 40 FPS. Caches not removed prior to the flight. |
- SU2 shows a modest increase in framerates (even with temporary memory logging enabled, as per the release notes.)
However, as with SU1, stuttering was very noticeable throughout the flight, and it made a smooth approach & landing at French Valley difficult. - Enabling Frame Generation significantly improves performance, with FPS increasing from the 30s into the 40s - 50s. The median increase was almost 60%!
There appeared to be a slight reduction in stuttering, but it was still noticeable throughout the flight. Approach & landing at French Valley was still negatively impacted. - Enabling Dynamic Settings improves performance even further, with FPS now regularly staying in the high 50s - an almost 80% increase over the SU1 median value!
Furthermore, stuttering was virtually eliminated. Changing views, panning in external& drone-mode, and conducting a smooth and controlled appraoach & landing was now possible! - Having data stored in the rolling cache did not make an appreciable difference compared to an empty rolling cache, although the variance value did half from 20.71 to 10.23, which you can see in the chart as the fourth flight had a slightly more compressed range than the third.
As with the third flight, stuttering was virtually eliminated.
| Framerate | v1.3.24.0 | FrameGen Off | FrameGen On | DS-40, RC-Empty | DS-40, RC-Full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median Framerates | 32.90 | 36.20 | 52.10 | 58.70 | 58.90 |
| % Change from SU1 | N/A | 10.0% | 58.4% | 78.4% | 79.0% |
Total CPU Usage (%)
There appears to have been some optimizations made in SU2, as shown in this chart:
- SU2 sees a median reduction in total CPU usage of 6%.
- Enabling Frame Generation reverses that benefit - there is a 6% increase in median total CPU usage compared to SU1.
- Enabling Dynamic settings makes a huge difference - a 17% (RC-Empty) to 24% (RC-Full) decrease from SU1.
| CPU Usage | v1.3.24.0 | FrameGen Off | FrameGen On | DS-40, RC-Empty | DS-40, RC-Full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 30.9 | 29.0 | 32.7 | 25.6 | 23.3 |
| % Change from SU1 | N/A | -6.1% | 5.8% | -17.2% | -24.6% |
GPU Memory Usage (%)
SU2 can provide significant benefits if Dynamic settings is enabled:
- SU2 sees a small median reduction in total GPU usage of ~ 2%
- Enabling Frame Generation causes a 7% increase.
- Enabling Dynamic settings reduces memory usage by 20% (RC-Empty) to 27% (RC-Full) from SU1.
| GPU Memory | v1.3.24.0 | FrameGen Off | FrameGen On | DS-40, RC-Empty | DS-40, RC-Full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 87.60 | 85.30 | 94.10 | 69.70 | 64.20 |
| % Change from SU1 | N/A | -2.6% | 7.4% | -20.4% | -26.7% |
GPU Total Usage (%)
The Intel Arc 770 was basically running flat-out for each of the flights. As the table below shows, there was no real difference in usage between any of the flights:
| Total GPU | v1.3.24.0 | FrameGen Off | FrameGen On | DS-40, RC-Empty | DS-40, RC-Full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 97.9 | 98.5 | 98.5 | 98.6 | 98.5 |
| % Change from SU1 | N/A | 0.61% | 0.61% | 0.72% | 0.61% |
Network
Because the SU1 test was conducted over 3 weeks ago, the 17% reduction in the median download rate may have been caused by differing connectivity conditions, so I’m not reading to much into that observation.
| Current DL rate [KB/s] | v1.3.24.0 | FrameGen Off | FrameGen On | DS-40, RC-Empty | DS-40, RC-Full |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 3,938 | 3,253 | 4,033 | 1,574 | 1,510 |
| % Change from SU1 | 0.00% | -17.41% | 102.40% | -60.03% | -61.65% |
| % Change from previous flight | N/A | -17.41% | 23.99% | -60.97% | -4.06% |
Of more interest are the four SU2 flights that were conducted within a 3-hour time-period.
- Enabling Frame Generation causes a 24% increase in median download rate.
- Enabling Dynamic settings causes a 61% decrease in median download rate with Frame Generation enabled
- Despite the rolling cache being retained for the last flight, the network download rates between Flight #3 and #4 are remarkably similar.
Conclusion
The addition of Frame Generation in SU2 has provided significant increase in performance (FPS) to my PC system.
The increase in framerates to above 40 FPS for the majority of a flight has now made enabling Dynamic settings a viable proposition (previously, when framerates rarely reached the high 30’s setting, configuring Dynamic Settings with a Frame Rate Target of 40 FPS made no sense).
Enabling Dynamic settings has resulted in virtually stutter-free flights that now match the smoothness of flights seen in MSFS 2020 SU15.
Further testing of SU2 is needed to see if these benefits carry over to airliners with complex displays during taxiing, taking off, appraoch and landing at major hub airports, as well as how enabling AI traffic, weather & multiplayer affect the results.
Expand to see flight settings
| Item | Setting |
|---|---|
| Aircraft | Cubcrafters NX Cub |
| Flightplan | KEMT to French Valley F70 |
| Flight configuration - Weather | Clear Skies |
| Flight configuration - Air Traffic | Off |
| Flight configuration - Multiplayer | Off |
Expand to see basic PC specs:
| Item | Setting |
|---|---|
| CPU | i7-12700K (no overclocking or undervolting) |
| RAM | 32 GB 5200 MHz DDR5 CL40 RAM |
| GPU | Intel Arc 770 (16GB, v32.0.101.6314) |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro 24 H2 v26100.3194 + all OS updates. |
| MSFS Edition | MS Store Premium Deluxe |
| Build Version | SU1 Beta v1.4.7.0 |
| 3rd-Party & Community Addons | None |
No performance-improving applications are installed (e.g. for CPU or GPU improvements).
Neither the Intel Arc Control Service or Arc Control App is running.
Expand to see graphics settings
| Item | Setting |
|---|---|
| Display Mode | Full Screen |
| HDR10 | On |
| Full Screen Res | 3840 x 2160 |
| Anti-Aliasing | TAA |
| Render scaling | 65 (Resolution: 2496 x 1404) |
| Frame Generation | None (NEW: Was not present in SU1) |
| AMD FidelityFX Sharpening | 150 |
| VSync | Off |
| Frame Rate Limit | N/A |
| Dynamic Settings | Off |
| Frame Rate Target | N/A |
| Global Rendering Quality | Custom |
| Terrain LOD | 400 |
| Off Screen Terrain Pre-Cache | Ultra |
| Displacement Mapping | On |
| Buildings | High |
| Trees | Medium |
| Plants | Medium |
| Rocks | High |
| Grass | Medium |
| Object LOD | 200 |
| Volumetric Clouds | Ultra |
| Texture Resolution | Medium |
| Anisotropic Filtering | 4x |
| Water Waves | Medium |
| Raytraced Shadows | On |
| Shadow Maps | 2048 |
| Terrain Shadows | 512 |
| Contact Shadows | High |
| Windshield Effects | Medium |
| Ambient Occulsion | High |
| Cubemap Reflections | 256 |
| Raymarched Reflections | Medium |
| Light Shafts | High |
| Depth of Field | Off |
| Motion Blur | Off |
| Glass Cockpit Refresh Rate | High |
| Characters Quality | Medium |
| Traffic Airport Quality | Medium |
| Air Traffic | Medium |
| Road Traffic | Medium |
| Sea Traffic | Medium |
| Fauna | High |
Expand to see other settings
| Item | Setting |
|---|---|
| Online Tab | |
| Photogrammetry | On |
| Live Real-World Air Traffic | Off |
| Live Weather | Off |
| Multiplayer | Off |
| Multiplayer Servers | West USA |
| Rolling Cache | On @ 16GB |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Advanced Options | |
| Developer Mode | Off |
