MSFS performance tips and tricks + useful apps

[Michael Moe 498]

Quite impressive , Thanks for sharing your goldies 😍

I noticed a picture of the FenixDisplay.exe using all cores except one . On my system its only using core 6+7. I have change that now to all 0-6 in ProcessLasso . Is this correct ?

Thanks again

Michael Moe

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

5 hours ago, Sethos said:

Not sure why that Nvidia CP "Ultra Low Latency" tweak is so prevalent. I've only seen a negative performance impact and it stops your GPU from rendering multiple frames ahead to provide a smoother, more stable experience? It's meant to fast paced shooters and stuff where latency is important, not frame stability. 

You’re right, it was introduced by nVidia as an option for competitive gamers and others  who wants the fastest input response times.

Default is off. On forces the graphics engine to only queue a single frame, whilst the Ultra setting submits the frame just in point for the GPU to choose it up—there will be no frame sitting in the queue and waiting. The Ultra mode is referred to by NVidia as “just in time frame scheduling”. 

As MSFS is largely CPU-bound, setting low-latency to off could make more sense. So yeah, I agree with your point. But then again, users both here on AVSIM and the MSFS forums have reported better performance with the “ultra” setting. 

My overall goal when tweaking different settings has been 1) the smoothest experience and 2) maintaining a stable 30fps in most scenarios. A good test for smoothness is to pan around in the cockpit whilst parked at a complex scenery airport. Or quickly looking left and right just after takeoff or on final approach. 

Anyway the ability to discuss this topic was why I wanted the thread to be kept in the main MSFS forum. So thanks to @Bob Scott for that, much appreciated!

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Cpt_Piett

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

22 minutes ago, Michael Moe said:

I noticed a picture of the FenixDisplay.exe using all cores except one . On my system its only using core 6+7. I have change that now to all 0-6 in ProcessLasso . Is this correct ?

Thanks again

Michael Moe

Well it depends on which one of your cores is carrying the highest workload in MSFS, so to speak.

To elaborate, I’ve set the Fenix apps to use all cores but the busiest MSFS core. The idea is to minimize the chance of putting an even higher load on an already overloaded core. At the same time it seems a good idea to give the Fenix apps the option of using as many cores as necessary. Especially with the recent update which enhances multithreading capabilities. Does it make sense?

By the way I also use Process Lasso as it’s a more user-friendly way of changing core affinities. It also has other neat features such as ProBalance which can “improve system responsiveness during high CPU loads”.

[Michael Moe 498]

7 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Well it depends on which one of your cores is carrying the highest workload in MSFS, so to speak.

To elaborate, I’ve set the Fenix apps to use all cores but the busiest MSFS core. The idea is to minimize the chance of putting an even higher load on an already overloaded core. At the same time it seems a good idea to give the Fenix apps the option of using as many cores as necessary. Especially with the recent update which enhances multithreading capabilities. Does it make sense?

By the way I also use Process Lasso as it’s a more user-friendly way of changing core affinities. It also has other neat features such as ProBalance which can “improve system responsiveness during high CPU loads”.

Thanks , can we use ProcessLasso to check which core is the most loaded one in MSFS ? And if yes should that be on the ground or in the air ?

Thanks

Michael Moe

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

12 minutes ago, Michael Moe said:

Thanks , can we use ProcessLasso to check which core is the most loaded one in MSFS ? And if yes should that be on the ground or in the air ?

Thanks

Michael Moe

My guess would be to choose a CPU-demanding scenario. E.g. load up the Fenix at iniBuilds EGLL with live traffic (or AIG), high terrain LOD, ultra clouds. Disable fps limiter. Let the sim run for a while. Then use Process Lasso, or even better HWiNFO, to see which core is the busiest. Advantage with HWiNFO is that you get average % values over time for each core (or virtual core if you have hyperthreading enabled). 

When you’ve identified the most used core, it’s relatively easy to assign core affinities based on that. 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Cpt_Piett

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

6 hours ago, SuperKaro2014 said:

I noticed that you have your FPS locked at 30 and the TV is running at 50 Hz. Do you then get any screen tearing when panning around? I thought it was better to have the screen refresh rate at a whole multiple of the FPS... if possible of course.

I don’t get any screen tearing. I could set it for 60Hz but I’m not sure if it would make a difference. Enabling G-Sync (only works over 40Hz) would make sure the refresh rate is kept in line with the GPU output (i.e. fps). Anyway I’ll check up on it!

[Konterhalbe 302]

Windy is a magnificent website I use every day and not only for simming.

If you sign up to windy.com, you can add airports to your favourites and rename them (windy sorts them by alphabet).

I've started by their ICAO Code, then the city name followed by the runway direction.

This is especially useful to see at one glance wether or not and how much crosswind you'll have at landing (since I really enjoy doing crosswind landings).

You can also spot easily if the airport is currently VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR ... useful for those who enjoy the challenge of handflying into low visibility.

 

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

Thought I'd add one more tip that might be useful. I cannot edit the main post any longer so I'll just mention it here. 

Performance loss after Sim Update 9:

A lot of users have experienced a significant performance loss on the ground at various airports around the world. For many this loss was associated with the main thread being hammered. Some user reported losing up to 20fps at certain US airports. 

The lost performance might be regained by deleting photogrammetry cities from the content manager. How to do this: In the MSFS main menu, go to profile > content manager. Search for "photogrammetry cities". You will see a list of various "3D photogrammetry cities" related to the various world updates. Note that some WU content is not listed here (WU2 USA, WU5 Nordics). Click on the list icon, then select all, then click on delete. These are not large files, so it's quick to reinstall these if you need to. It's important that you click on the list icon - otherwise you'll delete the whole world updates.  

The really inexplicable thing here is that photogrammetry cities far away (other continents) can affect ground performance. Like, having deleted some photogrammetry content in the UK might increase performance significantly while you're on the ground at KSFO. Go figure! 🤷‍♂️

In addition to this, you'll probably get a performance gain just by disabling photogrammetry in the settings menu. This makes sense as having photogrammetry in the sim puts a big load on the CPU. Go to options > general options > data then choose photogrammetry: off.  

Edited June 5, 2022 by Cpt_Piett

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

3 hours ago, Konterhalbe said:

Windy is a magnificent website I use every day and not only for simming.

If you sign up to windy.com, you can add airports to your favourites and rename them (windy sorts them by alphabet).

Thanks, I didn't know this! I have an account so I'll go ahead and and some of my most used airports. 

[MrBitstFlyer 3,944]

On 6/4/2022 at 9:20 AM, Sethos said:

Not sure why that Nvidia CP "Ultra Low Latency" tweak is so prevalent. I've only seen a negative performance impact and it stops your GPU from rendering multiple frames ahead to provide a smoother, more stable experience? It's meant to fast paced shooters and stuff where latency is important, not frame stability. 

Agreed.  I used this tip a while back but my gpu usage went from 98% to under 50%.

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

Some more tips, this time about image quality. I’ve done some more tweaking and I’m quite happy with the results. Again, YMMV. To achieve the results, I've tuned settings in UserCfg.opt and NVIDIA GeForce Experience. I'll start off with the former. I'll also talk a bit about getting the best screenshots when using HDR.

UserCfg.opt

This is a configuration file that includes both the graphics settings that you set in the sim, as well as some added settings. If you have the Microsoft Store version, you'll find the file here:

\Users\username>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\UserCfg.opt

Shadows

If you want, you can increase shadow quality beyond the max value in MSFS graphics settings, which is 2048. I find a value of 4096 works quite well. If you set the value too high, your GPU will probably start to struggle. In addition the results may look worse. The corresponding value in the graphics setting menu is shadow maps. To change the value, scroll down to Graphics, then Shadows:

Sharpening

I have turned sharpening off, as I find GeForce Experience gives better results. I've also turned film grain off. To change these values, scroll down further in the Graphics section to PostProcess:

NVIDIA GeForce Experience

Like mentioned above, instead of using MSFS sharpening, I use the NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay. I find this gives much better results. I also like having the ability to fine-tune image settings.

Sharpening

On the GE overlay (alt+Z), go to Game filter > Add filter > Sharpen. I find a value of around 40% gives good results. More than 50% and the image starts to look over-sharpened and unnatural. And even though I disabled film grain in MSFS, setting a value of around 30% in GE removes most of the remaining graininess.

As I said I’m happy with the results. Cockpit textures, displays and objects within the virtual cockpit are razor sharp. Surfaces, rivets and bolts on the exterior models can look almost exquisite. 

Highlights and contrast

To improve the overall atmosphere of MSFS, I’ve also tuned some other settings. Of course this is all depending on personal preferences. I’ve reduced highlights by 30% and increased contrast by 15%. Reducing highlights makes the sky and clouds “pop” a bit more, especially when using HDR.

I’ve left saturation alone as I think it’s good enough by default. In fact there's an item in UserCfg.opt that's called ColorGrading that changes the overall image in MSFS. You can of course turn it off, but I think it's better when left on (default). If you want to learn more about color grading, @Chock explains it really well here:

HDR screenshots

In terms of HDR and taking screenshots, this is currently not working that well with GeForce Experience. The problem is that the GE screenshots are stored as .jxr files which cannot be viewed correctly in SDR. You can view them in a 3rd party app like HDR + WCG Image viewer. But that doesn't help if you want to share the screenshots, or watch them on a non-HDR device.

Instead, you might want to use the XBOX game bar. The pictures are stored both as as .jxr and .png. I delete the .jxr pictures and use the freeware tool Image Converter Plus from the marketplace Microsoft store to bulk convert to .jpg.

I'll finish off by sharing some recent screenshots to demonstrate the end results. And yeah - I forgot to change the pilot after flying the F/A-18E 😜

Edited June 5, 2022 by Cpt_Piett

[Cpt_Piett 4,985]

I've decided to combine all the tips in this thread + some more in a new thread over in the tips and tricks subforum. Thanks to the moderators for all your help! 

 

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,318]

If timewarps were real, this post would epitomise them 🙂. If you know, you know! 

[jeff20 52]

thank you so much for this guide

proberly the best tweak guide i have ever read

[airBAJAN 7]

This thread needs to be pine 🌲🌲🌲🌲

Very helpful and useful information, thanks Cpt_Piett.😎