Hi everyone,
I just recently bought EVGA RTX 3080. My other specs are
Corsair RM750
Intel i7-10770K 3.8 GHz processor,
512 SSD(Only MSFS installed), 2 TB HDD
32 GB RAM
I can’t get more than 40-42 FPS with ULTRA settings on 1920*1080 resolution. I get the same FPS if I set the render scale to 200. I have already installed the latest drivers. Is this normal ? What do you think might be wrong?
Thanks everyone !
The symptom is that of a CPU bottleneck. What kind of area is that in? If you go back to render scale 100, can’t you ever get above 40-42? Try spawning in a GA plane over the ocean, for example. You should see far higher framerates unless something’s very wrong.
That actually is the case. I’m always limited by mainthread. And as you say, if I open a flight in a rural area with i.e. cirrus etc. it’s more than 60-70s.
But why is this the issue ?
What kind of areas do you get low 40s? (And which plane?)
It does sound a bit low, but I end up around there in some cases, especially some airports (not necessarily huge, but not well-optimized – ESSA is pretty bad) and some planes. The A32NX is very CPU heavy for example.
I’m almost always above 60 while flying; currently mostly flying the C208, but some CJ4 also.
In the A32NX it’s usually a bit lower, and while near airports getting to 50s or mid-40s isn’t too rare.
Specs in my profile, just click the username.
Like Munich, New York, Barcelona, all online functionalities are on. The plane is A32NX and I also tested with B787 it’s a couple of FPS higher but won’t go more than 48.
Funny thing the altitude does not matter either. I mean of course at 36000ft I get more than 45 but won’t go more than 50. Of course I’m just talking about B787, A32NX.
Check that your frame rates are not clamped in the Nvidia settings.
Check both tabs, Global and program settings.
As you will see, mine is set to 50fps in global and the program settings have been instructed to “Use the global settings”
To be honest though 40fps is plenty as the sim runs perfectly at 30fps, You don’t need massive fps as its not Call of duty, etc.
Will check it tomorrow morning, but I think(if there’s a problem ofc) the game is not limited since I can get 60 or more with GAs. I’ll check it anyways and thank you so much for the suggestion! 
They already are set like that.
Game is not optimize is my guess, it should get better hopefully sooner then later.
Checked this on this morning, I hadn’t set a max frame rate.
I don’t mind having a 40 or 40-50 on 4K, what I’m trying to understand is why don’t the FPSs don’t change if I change the resolution?
I would expect if I can get 40 FPS around 4K, then I should be getting a lot more on 1920*1080 right? 
Not if CPU limited; the resolution only matters when GPU limited (or just on the edge where you’re balanced between CPU and GPU usage). Your GPU is basically sitting there asking for more things to to, but the CPU can’t give it enough. As long as it has power to spare, you can give it more work (increase render scaling) without it costing any performance.
I don’t think there are any ways to gain more than a few FPS, but things that help:
Thanks a lot for the informative reply and suggestions already !
I don’t really mind actually getting 40 FPS. But I don’t really understand why the FPS does not change on 4K or 1920*1080. I was able to get more than 50 at 36000ft with my RTX 2060
I can get up to 70fps on my RTX 2080 (NOT Ti) so yes, I would expect you to achieve more frames per second if you drop from 4K down to 1080P?
Exactly! That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to understand
It was mentioned several times: because you are fully CPU limited. If your CPU can only deliver 40 FPS, you wont get more FPS no matter how high or low your graphic settings are. Changing the resolution and checking the FPS is THE way to see if you are CPU limited or not. Not that difficult, no?
40 Fps is good in my opinion. My question is how smoothly does the simulator run? Do you experience stuttering, micro lags?
I also want to buy a 3080 video card. I want you to do a test over Munich (Photorealistic Cities) at low altitudes (600-1000 feet). I’m curious about the FPS value and how smooth the run is …
The test should be performed with all settings ULTRA, render scale 140.
Thank you very much in advance for your help!
You mentioned that you had higher fps when you were running the RTX 2060, I assume this was on the same system and you just swapped out the GPU? If the answer is yes then there is something strange happening. Are you sure the CPU is not throttling? I would check power consumption & temps of the CPU using afterburner.
What kind of CPU would you need for an RTX 3080 video card?
Your CPU is fine for MSFS, it may not be using all the cores though. I suggest you go to discord or look online for answers. This is never an easy situation to resolve.
If you are getting a constant 40fps in 4K then I’d leave it alone and not worry!
I also have an rtx 3080 on 3440x1440 all on Ultra.
I occasionally run out of VRAM in some poorly made Asobo handcrafted airports like EDDF and KJFK. That tanks my fps down to the 30’s.
