I am one of the fortunate ones

[SlabsFly]

I got MSFS pretty much on the day of release now almost 4 years ago. And compared to some of the things I see on the forum, my experience with the sim has been simply outstanding. My hardware is sort of upper-middle class:

• Ryzen 7 3700X
• “Original” RTX3080 10GB
• 32GB memory
• 500GB M.2 NVMe for OS, 2TB M.2 NVMe for sim plus couple more SSD’s for other stuff
• “Old” MS Sidewinder FFB joystick, Thrustmaster T16000M throttle/rudder pedals

I generally - but not exclusively - fly GA relatively low because I enjoy the beautiful scenery. I run the sim at 4K @ 100% scaling, most settings Ultra with TLOD at 300, OLOD at 200. I do not use multiplayer and my flights are a mix of live weather and presets.

I use limited add on airports and aircraft with Addons Linker. Favourites are Bonanza with the G36 improvement project, C192 G1000 with custom livery, Beaver with custom livery, CJ4, TBM930 etc. I essentially never fly without Bijan’s seasons, to my mind one of the greatest add ons available.

Over PG areas I get framerates of mid thirties, flying higher over open areas anything up to 60FPS (capped). Intense custom airports like FSimstudios’s CYVR obviously slow my machine down, especially if I use it with FSLTL, which can bring it to its knees. So I have to use my judgement there.

I have never gone crazy over optimisation for improved framerates. I am comfortable with the 30+FPS I get and could not be bothered infinitely tweaking to improve that. I am not at all interested to trying to eke out just that bit more as I fear that might jeopardise the fantastic stability I have always had. Only once in late 2021 did I suddenly experience some CTDs. I was fortunate that @EmmaPeel7259 at that time SOMEHOW identified that a Capture One DLL was the cause. Since then I virtually never have CTD’s. Stutters are also very rare for me: once flying I might see one brief pause every few minutes. Unless I move the camera around at the aforementioned CYVR with FSLTL active of course.

I cannot recall ever having difficulties with updates. Sometimes they might be somewhat on the slow side but generally downloads peak at 200+Mbps.

All this to say I have been from the beginning and continue to massively enjoy the sim. Looking forward to see what 2024 brings: I intend updating my computer at that time if it seems desirable.

Just for for interest, a few recent screenshots that gives an idea of the type of flying I enjoy:

I am really enjoying the “new” London PG. This screenshot was without the free “sandbar remover” add on.

Out Skerries is always a favourite

Seattle is also currently very nice in PG

Some areas in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland update is also quite good

Utah is always nice

I also checked out Cork based on @AirRhodesia great top 10 PG cities thread

I have also recently discovered Capframex so I have done a few checks on my system’s performance. Couple examples:

This was over Cork @ 1500ft: the change was when I moved from inside the cockpit to the external cam

This was over Manhattan, NY at 2000ft:

So, clearly not 100FPS. But generally a nice smooth 30FPS-ish. To each his own but this works for me.

[BegottenPoet228]

Enjoying your flight experience is the goal. I’m glad you’re enjoying yours.
I use CapFrameX a lot. Very good tool.

[AirRhodesia]

Glad that you’re enjoying your flight experience.

@SlabsFly

Seattle is also currently very nice in PG

I can’t seem to get Seattle to look good on my PC. I only play in VR and 2D is only 1080p so I’m wondering if that could be my issue. I did do a Manual Cache of Seattle the other day to test it out again and all the downtown buildings didn’t look nearly as good as in your screenshot. Strange. Might look at it again at some point.

I think having a fast Internet connection is they key, but I Manual Cache nearly every PG area I fly in regular and have no Issues with the PG quality at all. I’m up to 3TB now and getting close to filling up my 4TB NMVe drive

I only fly GA and recently Heli’s. When I did play in 2D I always locked my FPS to 30 as I was more then happy to get a smooth experience and was able to turn up my settings to mostly Ultra but I now only fly in VR and FPS is capped at 36 which is a totally stutter free smooth experience with a bit of headroom and never any CTD’s when playing.

Nice screenshots BTW

I’ve Never used CapFrameX, always used RiverTuner to lock FPS, might take a look at it though

[BegottenPoet228]

CapFrameX is test software. It detects that the sim is running, and you tell it to capture for a set period of time (I use 5 minutes.) It then presents a whole bunch of metrics like framerate (avg, 1% low, 0.1% low and others) latency, etc. over time, then presents it in easy to understand graphs. I use it to test changes I make to my system, comparing pre- and post-change capture data.

It doesn’t change things the way RTSS can.

[AirRhodesia]

Thanks for the info. Will no doubt be a handy tool as I’m always tinkering with settings etc

[SlabsFly]

@BegottenPoet228

I use CapFrameX a lot. Very good tool.

It was where you used it in your AM4 - AM5 thread that I first saw it and it immediately struck me as a very nice tool, so thank you very much for that. I was actually intending including that recognition in my original post but then it slipped my (aging!) mind. I will definitely be using it more going forward.

[Kongaming27]

Any decent system can get great performance on a GA aircraft, is when you get on the more complex detail stuff that performance starts to degrade.

[MucusTech]

That’s similar to my experience, and nice to see I am not alone in being happy with performance on a medium system. My hardware is a little lower spec than yours but I seem to have a better flying experience than some people with absolute racehorse computers.
I always find the best way to ensure you have satisfactory frame rates is… don’t ever look at the frame rates.

[JollyGreen8206]

I had a lot of issues in the past with random CTD, but those have mostly been ironed out with updates. The only CTD I get now is predictable and reproducible. If I disconnect a controller, such as the yoke, throttle, Class Echo, etc I’ll CTD. If I change Spad.Next profiles after loading into a flight, I’ll CTD. Otherwise everything is smooth and stable for me at the moment.

[SlabsFly]

@Kongaming27

when you get on the more complex detail stuff that performance starts to degrade.

This is obviously a realistic comment. I have been exploring the Inibuilds A320 Neo V2 over the past week or so and I must say I am enjoying it. And yes, it does affect things. But I am quite happy with the results, particularly the low incidence of stutters. A look at some results, first with the base A320 on the approach and landing at ERDH:

Capframex result from the approach to landing. The spikes are when I was jumping between cockpit and the drone camera

And then taxiing. The mess at the end was when I quit the flight: going back to the menu does all kinds of strange - but irrelevant! - things

And then yesterday arriving at New Orleans with the Inibuilds A320:

Longer duration Capframex capture than the Rotterdam flight but with similar trends. Spikes again due to cockpit to drone and back jumps. Some may consider this too low framerate but because it is quite smooth it works for me. And yes, I know: not the most complex airport and no FSLTL for instance but still.

[redtach]

Thanks for the interesting and detailed summary. It was quite encouraging and provided a few tips. I have a system similar to yours and use it mostly for bush flying, primarily in AK and mostly, until now, in XP. I flew MSFS for about 6 months when it first came out and then switched back to XP and spent a huge amount of time setting up orthos and custom airports there to approximate the “look” of MSFS. I’ve recently returned to MSFS in anticipation of 2024 and am pleased at the progress that’s been made over the intervening years. My experience here has so far been quite similar to yours in terms of the flying. I’ll continue to stay current in both sims, but will probably spend most of my time in 2024 as MSFS is much better suited to bush flying and I want to expand where I can fly. The “real world” visuals are of course a major factor also.

[barbra6456]

Looks like tube flyers are in general having more problems…

[SlabsFly]

Might be as a general rule, but then my recent A320 Neo V2 flights have been great as well