Thanks for putting this up for vote BlueAlbatros.
My take on this whole thing at the moment is that we have a compatibility issue which can be fixed.
But Asobo are busy fixing other things - which they deem more important - and do not want to allocate resources to this specific issue.
So if we can get enough votes, maybe they reconsider.
I also disabled my GTX960M and used the even lower powered Intel HD 530 and the clouds are fine, in fact it looked ok, just a bit slow updating each frame but was better than the initial release of FS2020 on the GTX960M.
I just think it adds to the poor testing and the desire to experiment on a release product which was sent out way too early and blaming the userbase for not having the latest equipment to run it on. They are having users test the patches from Patch #9, thats way too late. The damage to the users will be done by then. Oh well thats the way a very large company treats its consumers â with contempt.
The HD 530 is Skylake, which means 2015. Same year as the GTX 950M and the GTX 960M.
Kepler and Maxwell 1.0 are more capable architectures than whatever Intel had at the time, so Iâll agree with what OriginalGuGa said about prioritising their resources. Though Iâm not sure if theyâll reconsider at this point, weâve had more than ten people receiving the same canned response.
I think those of you with integrated Intel graphics should send back those results so that they can at least stop with the excuse of the GPUs being pushed too hard.
Same reply here, meaning they are not taking this serious at all.
Yes, very bad timing for them to do this with the shortages.
It reminds me of same situation that happened with Euro Truck Simulator 2 when they stopped supporting Windows XP.
Unfortunetly donât count on Asobo fixing that. While integrated graphics card may work because of different architecture, it will run even worse, because itâs underpowered.
I sort of understand Asobo wanting to move forward. Consoles hold back PC releases, games look significantly worse on them and thatâs a fact. I am not sure if this situation is comparable, so donât jump to my throat here.
When DX12 will hit for MSFS2020, they will most likely retire DX11, leaving people with GPUâs that you all have here, unable to even launch the game. Unfortunetly itâs a natural process of software developement. Regressions in old hardware compatibility are expected if they introduce new techniques that utilise newer GPUâs.
It does suprise me that integrated Intel card works, but maybe it uses component that the onboard GFX card doesnât. No idea. I wish Asobo fixed it, but donât hold your breath for it. Itâs either fixing that and stalling the introduction of things, or keeping game up-to-date and utilising new hardware to best of itâs capabilities.
So after proving to the support that worse performing and less supported cards didnât present the same issue, this is the answer I got.
Iâm really sorry weâre having to deal with such lack of professionalism from these guys. They could simply admit theyâre not sure what theyâll do about it or even say they wont support Maxwell cards from now on, but theyâre simply lying.
Iâm moving on, probably will buy a new computer and come back after the software and support is mature enough. Not worth any more of my time for now.
Thanks. Unfortunately it looks like itâs a lost cause. Theyâre not even trying with these support responses anymore. Since when is weather, a feature and one of the highlights of the game, a graphics setting? Volumetric Clouds has options for Low, Medium, High and Ultra. It cannot go below that.
I love this simulator and I wonât be requesting a refund. I will just have to wait patiently until corona fades away and hardware prices and stock go back to normal, then upgrade. Maybe in one year from now? However, I will think very carefully when it comes to the paid DLC that they will be introducing in the next few years. They wonât be having my unlimited support anymore.
To add my two cents here.
I gave this up. I ordered a new GPU today, should have it by Thursday at latest.
The question that is valid now from my perspective is: are we supposed to do something with this in any official way? 
My point is not the money I put into the game or more money I spent for new GPU. I´d have bought the new GPU at some point anyway. I just don´t find this fairâŚand I don´t think this is how nowadays internet world should work.
The specs are still listed and in my exact case, I should be able to run the game fully. I have GTX770 which is the lowest possible option to play the game with. But the option is valid! And we all know that one week ago at this time, we were flying FL380 with medium/high specs and everything was okay!
So if I´d go ahead and buy the cheapest car tomorrow, will I get it without a steering wheel?
No, I won´t! But imagine after first regular service check, you´d got the car back without steering wheel due to the upgrade!
âYeah, you can drive this c*ap, you just have to rotate this rod with your bare hands, sorry, you bought the cheapest one and we´re improving the driving experienceâ
Oh, hell you do!!
I´m the last person who´ll be taking the things here in any legal way. I don´t have the knowledge, I don´t have the time to study everything and I don´t have energy to do this alone. But I´m completely open to the idea that we can somehow regroup and take this to higher levels. I strongly believe, we have been fooled here and I think it´s good idea to set a precedent here for any further games/products that this behavior is just unacceptable.
I´m not afraid to raise my voice and say this is not how the things should work. If you want to take some exact action, I´m here and listening. And I truly hope I´m not the only one hereâŚand I can´t believe that none attorney likes to flight in his/her free time 
Very much agreed. While I donât want progress on the simulator to be stopped so that older hardware can be supported, they just handled this in a terrible way, and theyâre continuing to do so since they wonât bother to update the official minimum requirements, will not make a public statement, and now theyâre not even trying with their support responses anymore. The least they could do is make an announcement, maybe on the next development update, that the minimum requirements have been updated, and make it clear to everyone that their GPU might become obsolete at some point. And maybe that there is nothing they can do about this specific issue, which Iâm still not buying because thereâs no reason integrated Intel graphics from 2015 are not getting this issue and Maxwell 1.0 does.
I will not be taking this matter up legally of course, and besides I donât think it would be possible to do so against Microsoft. The best thing we can do is raise awareness about this issue, which is quite difficult considering we are almost nothing compared to the rest of the userbase with more modern graphics cards. If people become aware of this practice and stand up against it, only then do we have a chance of the developers listening.
That said, I will not be complaining once DirectX 12 probably makes my GPU unable to start up the game even, because it is something I want too and it is clear that it will improve the simulatorâs visuals and performance in many great ways. But those stealth âimprovementsâ that are not even listed in the patch notes are unacceptable.
Hope you enjoy your new GPU! The smell of fresh electronics is always so sweet.
There´s no communication at all and that makes me angry the most. I work as L2 Support person and I can´t imagine solving a situation like this the way they´re doing. In a few minutes I´d be fired.
To stay on pointâŚwe should raise the awareness and the community should stand united. Even guys with 2080ti should stand behind our back. This is a question of principle. Anyone can face this in a few years with any older gear and on any other game/product.
Would I be raving here if I´d be using any high-end card? Possibly I wouldn´t even know about this thread but if I´d spot it, I´d be 100% behind these guys.
I´m afraid that´s it, the end of the story. I thought we´d get proper answer with explanation. Maybe they´ll offer us some DLC from Marketplace for free if we´d upgrade our rigs. This could´ve gone in a looot better way.
We put our money into this project.
And I feel very sad that they don´ t want to listen to people who paid their salary. But I don´t fell sorry for us.
But for them.
(Thanks! I´m already looking forward for the smoother flying again + the smell is always great!..a way better than burned out PSU´s I´m repairing too 
)
To be honest, and to be realistic - I think we arenât going to get anywhere on this. I donât know if weâre victims of the deluge of people about things like wonky AP and saying itâs âgame breakingâ, but the responses to our Zendesk reports donât suggest theyâre likely to change their minds on this - certainly not from user feedback.
The only thing I can suggest is writing to tech, gaming and flight sim web publications to see if theyâd be interested in reporting on it - my suspicion is that weâd only succeed in getting MS to adjust the stated minimum specs, but itâs worth a go.
Iâm wondering if this is DX12 related. Microsoft have a history of screwing developers by dropping an older DX version and forcing a new DX version.
Does DX12 support Maxwell 1.0? If the answer is no that explains this retrograde step.
Edit. See:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/technologies/dx12/
No, the game is still on DirectX 11. I checked that today with MSI Afterburner.
All GPUs that support DirectX 11 can also support DirectX 12, starting with Fermi and TeraScale 2, albeit at feature level 11_0. Thatâs just basic compatibility though, as Fermi and Kepler GPUs are both rather terrible performers with DirectX 12. With the latter this is more of an issue due to lack of driver support, as Kepler in general requires very aggressive driver optimisation to reach its full potential, however Maxwell is not nearly as dependent on drivers.
Maxwell 1.0 is a lot better with DirectX 12 support but still missing some key features, while Maxwell 2.0 is the first NVIDIA architecture to offer full support at feature level 12_1. Both Maxwell 2.0 and Pascal though are suffering from weak asynchronous compute performance, because it is not fully done in hardware, and a few specific games exhibit worse performance. However, Turing improved on that, and it is also the first architecture compliant with DirectX 12 Ultimate (only exception is the GeForce 16 series).
Historically AMD GPUs have been a lot more up to date with the latest DirectX implementations, including DirectX 10.1, 11.1 and so on. The HD 7000 series is doing a lot better than the competing GeForce 600/700 GPUs even in DirectX 11 games due to superior driver support, and they were also the first to support DirectX 12 with feature level 12_1.
So to sum up, all GPUs from Fermi, TeraScale 2 and onward support DirectX 12, but only Maxwell 2.0, GCN 2.0 and forward are fully compliant (with Maxwell 2.0 and Pascal suffering from weak asynchronous compute performance). Architectures fully compliant with DirectX 12 Ultimate are Turing, Ampere and RDNA 2.
I hope I explained this well.
If Asobo had written as a system requirement: from GTX1050 and from DX12 (which will be changed to in the foreseeable future), then Asoboâs wallets would not be so full. Now that they have your money, you are not worth much anymore.
I have a gtx960 and definitely getting this issue. Rendering the game unplayable even though I really enjoyed the live weather just before it got ruined by the last update!!
Is there anything we can do to visually disable the cloud?
I really want to play in live weather and still experience the turbulence and wind.
I am OK without a visual cloud for a short while until Asobo pay attention to this issue.
Thatâs my big concern. Will I upgrade my GPU now, to see MS declare it obsolete in a year or two?
Yes, use the developer mode menu and go to Options and disable âVolumetric atmospheric effectsâ. This will also disable the haze though.
Unfortunately from the looks of it, it wonât just take a small while until Asobo fix this. They seem set that this is not a bug and the only way to solve it is to upgrade to a newer GPU.
Well, to me it seems the cloud flicker is a compatibility issue - is a compatibility issue a bug? Not sure.
Probably Asobo decided not to bother checking their updates compatibility with older GPUâs, to save work.
I am still of the opinion though that it is very bad practice to stealth nerf older GPUâs in this way.
Especially if these GPUs are listed as ok for âminimum system requirementsâ.
The argument that these specs change over time is totally valid in my eyes, BUT it has only been a little over 2 months since MSFS has been released. So it seems very inconsiderate to withdraw compatibility with some hardware after such a short time.
Edit - For those that agree, you can vote here:
