Hi all,
I’m trying to figure out what NVIDIA driver version actually works best for MSFS 2024, especially for anyone still using a 3090 like me.
When MSFS 2024 was first released (around November 2024), I was able to fly and stream just fine on the latest driver at the time. Performance was smooth, CPU usage was under control, and everything ran well, even when recording or streaming through OBS.
But something changed early this year, around February 2025. After installing newer drivers (560 and 572 series and up), I started seeing way higher CPU usage, especially on the main thread. The sim is still GPU-bound sometimes, but now the CPU is constantly hitting the limit even when it shouldn’t. This is on the same setup I had before with no changes.
My specs:
- i7-10700K
- RTX 3090
- 64GB RAM
- Streaming with OBS
- Running 1440p G-Sync monitor
- Game Mode enabled
Back for 566.14 – says it’s game ready for MSFS 2024, so looking at 566.14 or 566.36
It feels like once NVIDIA started pushing 560+ drivers, they optimised more for the 4000 and 5000 series cards, and something changed in how the driver behaves with CPU load. MSFS is already very main-thread limited, so these changes hurt performance on the 3090.
Just wondering if anyone else with a 3090 or similar card has stuck with older drivers like 531.41 or 537.42, or if you’ve found any current drivers that actually perform well without killing CPU usage.
It would be great to hear what’s working for others.
Thanks,