No More Lag: Two Most Important CPU Settings for Microsoft Flight Simulator

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Is Microsoft Flight Simulator making your CPU work overtime? Frames dropping faster than an aircraft with an engine failure? Well, I've got your back and will be your co-pilot on the journey to smoother flights and superior gaming. Today, we’re delving deep into the settings that can alleviate your CPU bottleneck.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is no slouch—it tests the mettle of even the most beastly rigs. While we’re not aiming for the blazing speeds of a first person shooter game, we do want to hit that sweet spot of 30, 45, or even 60 FPS consistently.
Let’s talk CPU hogs. Terrain Level of Detail, Object Level of Detail, Buildings, and Contact Shadows top the list. However, the real game-changers? Level of Detail settings.
Trimming these down can unleash your CPU's true potential. And the aim? Kiss goodbye to that pesky 'Limited by MainThread' alert in the FPS counter. The goal is to push your machine, but strike a balance between FPS and visual allure.
Curious about what these settings tweak? They control the draw distance and clarity of elements like trees, terrains, and the amazing photogrammetry. In layman's terms? The further and clearer you see, the harder your CPU works.
A sharp cut in settings can lead to blurred landscapes and stark tree boundaries, denting the immersion. And let’s not even get started on the photogrammetry—it's notorious for pushing lower-tier CPUs to their limits.
The trick? Begin with modest settings. Tweak upwards until you hit that perfect harmony. And then? Dive into the GPU settings to enhance the visual feast. But we’ll save that deep dive for our next episode.
Found value in our flight today? Support the channel through the 'Buy Me a Coffee' link below or my affiliate partners below. And remember—keep those skies clear and your sim smooth. Until next time, happy flying!

[salmopr]

i did it w/ the latest ryzen cpu, now runs smoothly

[clippervoyager]

It’s amazing how those 2 items affect so much. I thought 100 was fine, but I had to go to 70 to get rid of stutters. I really hope that Asobo can fix this and get it optimized.

[billt]

Thanks, this is the kind of information that I need to make my obsolete i5 system work best, thanks again.

[jay-rus]

“Delving deep”……doesnt start listing discussion breakdown until 1 min into a 2 min vid. Wow….hate to see what not diving deep would cover.

[KFlights]

Thank you for your tips, even with a 4070ti and i9 10900k I still struggle with performance :)

[freightdawg]

Glad i came across your channel Subscribed

[eracer]

Traffic has a hge impact on performance as well. Just another case of needing to balance performance and immersion in this sim.

[Cheese_VR-vk]

Do this on steam deck if you are having trouble with flight sim on it ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤


Subbing rn

[Qdnek]

Hi, where is the landing location at the end of your video ? amazing spot ! i want to visit :)

[Fromega]

I had TOD and OOD at 100 and had 30-35 fps in game at 1500ft
if i set both lod... to minimu so 10 my frameratie is the same and
IF i put these setting to max so 400 and 200 my framerate is just a realy mini mess 28-32 fps so i'm sorry there is another problem
my CPU is 35% and GPU 25 to 30% this is really abnormal than i can't have my 4060 gpu up to 90% usage.
MSFS is really a big probl.
The 4060 ti is not better than my old 2060 (only the fan are stopping on 54060 because no power usage.
And my very old 1060 had 30FPS too so big change of GPU and nothing is better.

[EdgarOnRRVR]

also do not use dx 12. Use dx 11 to make ur game ultra smooth

[CTRBvideos]

Hey awesome tips, i found this very useful! just one question. How do you open that specific FPS counter? Im on a Acer nitro 5

[Eman-vpwk]

Is anybody else having problems playing this game without Internet?
Assuming, of course, steam is set to off-line mode as well as Microsoft flight simulator being in off-line mode and all drivers are updated.

[Iceman-hbuk]

On a 5700X3D I'm getting same results I had with my 5600X, while performance increased noticeably for other games like ACC.
That's just bad optimization, even people with 14900k can't fully use their CPU in the game, it's just the game not being able to utilize its power.
I get around 30/40% usage on all cores with the most used that never goes over 60% usage, so it cannot be a real CPU bottleneck, it's induced fom the game engine not being optimized.

[pilotpulse]

my laptop can barely even run flightgear

[jamesleicher]

I have good frames in Australia, but in USA, Vagas is low frames San Fransisco is not great .Is Amercia optimised badly?

[stevengilbert]

Still doesn’t work for me every thing i try doesn’t work i can lower my settings all the way down and it still lags as much as if im on high settings 🤷‍♂️

[Fromega]

MMM sory buty where is the two settings to moove lol
no info at all hre.

[infinitewisdom]

I have found that setting the Objects LOD to 150-200, I don't get these severe frame drops on final into a busy airport, which I used to get all the time with this set to 80-100. Pretty sure, that was a CPU bottleneck. Tho now, the overall FPS may be reduced a bit during climb and descend, because the sim renders more buildings around you then. But for me that's fine.

[tristanpklh]

I currently have a Ryzen 5600G, a RTX3060ti and 16gb of ram. Would an upgrade to 32go make a difference in stutters? Actually, I’ve got some FPS drops, especially when I move around the cockpit