Low specs experience

You mention the Rendering Scale, which is a good point, I found it to be a key player in my setup. I started out on a 3440x1440 widescreen which at 100% Rendering Scale was running my GPU flat out and panting, so I had to knock it back to 80% which helped the load/FPS situation but then the cockpit instrument numbers/texts were kinda too blurry for my eye, so I had the opportunity to switch to a 2560x1440 screen and now I can set the Render Scale back to 100, looks much better in the cockpit and the FPS is acceptable. I do prefer the wider screen aspect, but that’s not to be for now.

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I find that the Rendering Scale does have a big impact on the overall sustainable FPS rate for my low-ender. BUT I too, don’t care for the poorer legibility of the cockpit instruments that results. FPS vs. realisim is a real battle for our low-end machines, but I’ve GOT to be able to read the instruments!
:persevere:

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Thanks! Can you please share with me your exact in-game settings? I would be very grateful.

Anyone have found something related to this issue? I only need to add the “.exe” to the NVIDIA Control Panel. Since I’ve downloaded it through the MS Store it seems that this is one of the many annoying things Microsoft Store has. It wasn’t that easy to find the files route

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_1.9.3.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
(Which is obviously different and easier to find if you got it from Steam)

… and when I tried to open the “WindowsApps” folder the permission problem appeared. Somehow, I was able to open the folder but when trying to run or trying to add the “.exe” file, unfortunately I had to stop and leave the NVIDIA settings for the moment.

I cant access the WindowsApps folder from the File Explorer, but I can from within the Nvidia control panel via the ADD/BROWSE buttons, cant you?

If you’re looking for performance optimization, have a look at [FIXED] Random CTDs due to internet and hardware issues . The title might sound like it’s only related to crashing issues, but overall the steps depicted in that thread are helping to increase performance.

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Well, I thought perhaps someone else might benefit from my many hours of testing and optimizing my low-end HW.

So, I made a little video of my present MSFS Graphics and NVidia Control Panel settings.

My specs:
Lenovo Legion Y520
I7-7700HQ 2.8GHZ
GTX 1050ti, driver V. 465.89
16GB RAM
Windows 10 Home (V. 20H2)
Dell 27", 1080P, 74.9Hz Vertical Refresh Rate

My latest findings:

  1. NVidia Control Panel - Set everything to default. No need to change anything in the GPU control panel since MSFS meets my system’s 25FPS “sweet-spot” with the following settings.

  2. MSFS - Vsync-On, FPS-20 (Nevertheless the Xbox Game Bar “Performance” tab displays a rock-solid 25FPS!)

  3. Photogrammetry either on or off - has no effect on my jitter-free 25 FPS, even at London City Airport.

  4. HAG-On, Game Mode-On

Some might have issues with my TLOD=10 and OLOD=10. Try it, you just might be surprised!
Tweak any or all of my MSFS Graphics settings to taste, keeping in mind that these are just what gives ME the smoothest, stutter free, no-CTDs experience with the current MSFS release (1.14.6.0).

FYI, I have zero tolerance for stutters! Others might not mind them… I actually see videos on this forum and on YouTube, where folks don’t seem too concerned, if at all. I HATE stutters, just as badly as many in this forum rightfully HATE CTD’s.

So, this set-up of mine creates a happy, albeit compromised, stutter-free experience for me!

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I’ve tried today and somehow, the ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator’ finally appeared in the tab list! Thanks mate. Now I’m going to start testing the different settings you all shared, if anyone else would like to share theirs, that would be great too.

Wonderful, thanks a lot mate!!

I’ve added your post to my list of useful performance related posts ([FIXED] Random CTDs due to internet and hardware issues - #4 by AmbitiousPilots).

Nice that you’ve got FS running well on your PC :+1:

One question, did you overclock your monitor to achieve that ~74Hz refresh rate?

Another important thing for people to know would be which Nvidia driver version you’re running on.

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Excellent questions - both.

  1. No, I did not overclock the monitor or anything else, for that matter.

However, after further review I noticed that it is my motherboard’s default display adapter - the Intel Graphics HD 630 that permitted selection from multiple optional vertical refresh rates, the highest being the 74.9HZ. I have not found how to determine what it is on the GTX 1050ti GPU. I suspect that it is probably 60HZ - the hardware rating of the Dell 2717H/HX monitor. It seems to me now that the 74.9HZ might possibly be bogus, even for the Intel HD 630, unless it is actually possible to overclock this low-end Dell monitor.

At any rate, I am going to put the Intel HD 630 back to 60HZ, since that is what the monitor is rated for out of the box. I am not experienced enough to delve into the realm of overclocking!

  1. I am running the latest Nvidia driver for the GTX 1050ti - 465.89. Again, all options are set to default.

UPDATE!!:
Well, greasy lizards and horny toads, that vertical refresh rate (VRF) setting on the Intel HD 630 must also effect the GTX 1050ti!

After I switched it from 74.9HZ back down to 60HZ my FPS dropped from 25 to 20.
I think I could also see the visual difference in my test flight - more jittery (flickering), still no stutters though. Wouldn’t swear to it, as so much of this is quite subjective…

Nevertheless, I would recommend to anyone with this capability to try boosting their VRF up to 75 (74.9)HZ. It makes a definite difference in the displayed FPS. I’ll leave it to the flyers to decide whether there is an actual noticeable improvement in performance.

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I just knocked together a little low-spec sample video to demonstrate what I typically get out of my system.

It’s only about 5 minutes long, a Robin low-altitude circuit around Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

I apologize for the horrible camera work!
I am only now beginning to experiment a little with the MSFS drone camera.

Please feel free if you have any questions regarding specific details about my low-spec system/configuration.

Regarding this video, I noticed that it appears to have some minor stuttering when viewing directly in the Google Drive viewer. I assure you that the original clip has zero stutters. If you are willing to download it and view it directly in your own system’s video player, you should not see any stuttering at all… only the minor 25FPS frame rate flickers.

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Give this a read. You can get access to your FS.exe.

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Would you mind sharing your current in-game settings?

They actually haven’t changed from these:

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Got it mate! Again, thanks a lot.
I thought you had different settings from the last one you shared that time.
Looking good though, my settings are pretty much the same as yours. Maybe I should try to limiting my FPS to 20 (frame rate limit) with the v-sync. I have it limited to 30 fps (in-game settings).
Do you think I can improve my gameplay if I set to 20 fps?

ADVANCED SETTINGS

  • V-SYNC < ON >
  • FRAME RATE LIMIT < 20 FPS >

Thanks in advance.

Glad it was helpfull!

Dropping your FPS limit to 20 could lead to a reduction of any remaining stuttering that you notice, BUT at the cost of some increased flickering/jittering - more visually perceptible frame changing particularly for the terrain movement that is closest to the camera.

Worth a try, though. You can easily switch it back if you don’t like it.

You might also want to check the Vertical Refresh Rate of your monitor. My low-spec Dell is able to support 75Hz. which somehow gives me an extra 5FPS. Even though I have my MSFS FPS set to 20FPS I am actually getting 25FPS.

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I’ve got another question if you can help me out please.
The water itself, any body of water looks AWFUL to me. Any idea of what can I change in my settings to improve this? It looks oily, no details at all. I think It has something to do with the “texture resolution” (in my case is set to LOW but still, it can’t look that bad ?) or what should I change in my settings?

Sorry, I actually haven’t been paying much attention to the quality of the waves.
It’s quite apparent that this has been an area of contention for many others during the various updates.

I’m pretty sure that this is probably on the “to-do” list of improvements that Asobo/MS will get to eventually.

@TallestParsley2 What are your temps when playing FS?

Laptops are limited in cooling and tend to run hotter than desktop PCs.

I’ve had a look at your CPU specs. It might be worth trying to undervolt it, in order to prevent it from throttling itself. This does sound like you would decrease performance, but the opposite is true. As your CPU is a HQ model, you won’t be able to overclock it. So undervolting is an option to safely squeeze some extra performance out of it.

I’ll link a YouTube video that explains it for your very CPU model in detail (don’t mind the side comments the guy makes in his video, the instructions are clear though):

Give it a try, would be great to know what this yields for your system performance.

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