I know the feeling!
Just a few quick points from me after catching up on this thread and before I also need to go to sleep hehe
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Have you tried using DLSS Swapper (free on GitHub) to “upgrade” to the latest DLL version for MSFS? If not, do so. It really improves text clarity in DLSS (which for your 4070 will be better than using TAA for end performance).
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Do you wear glasses in every day life? It’s only since I got some prescription lenses for my Q3 that suddenly I realised I was chasing software gains when the real problem was my eyes!
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Another layer of shi…stuff… but you could try Open XR Toolkit on top of VD. It’s not really supported any more and even the developer says NOT to use it now, BUT it still works fine (it’s free) and for me this unlocks the final ability to get performance AND clarity over what you can do with the sim and godlike etc.
In OXRTK you can mainly:
A) set the outer ring resolution lower so your GPU concentrates its rendering to the important part, not your peripheral vision that you don’t notice if it’s quarter resolution.
B) set the render resolution higher (and use lower DLSS setting like Balanced instead of Quality) then you can tweak the resolution back up to get good VRAM and GPU usage within limits and the text clarity you want (a compromise still, but gives you much better and easier control to tune it — and using less demanding in-game settings means the GPU is upscaling and taking load away from the CPU, which in your screenshots is what is struggling).
C) set the motion projection compensation to a negative value. This REALLY helped smooth out head turning and the cockpit “jumping” graphics. Totally smooth now.
Can do more in the toolkit but those are the main be benefits for me.
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I would please just use 72Hz in VD though and aim for a 36fps with your other settings. Definitely not Ultra clouds. Be conservative and just see if you can get it running smoothly then slowly up stuff one at a time. You probably won’t even see a visual difference so just keep things on the lower side in-game.
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I did have a time when I could only get smooth frame rate when using Riva Tuner to lock 36fps. Dunno what changed but I don’t need that any more but it may be worth you trying.
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Finally, try changing from DX11 to 12 or vice versa with any of these configurations just to see what impact it has. From your screenshot I’d say DX12 is the way to go for you, but you would need to manage the stress on the GPU more using these tricks (mainly my points 1, 3 and 4).
Welcome to the world of fiddling!! I’ve had VR 7 months and still fiddling this stuff. It never ends so get used to it mate 