I did two things to try to rectify my worse performance:

- Deleted Rolling Cache and let it rebuild 
- Set the Graphics to Ultra, applied. Then turned a few things down to High, set the Cube Map Reflections to 128 and applied again.

The next flight I did was over LA, and my Shift-Z didn't load so I didn't see the frame rate this time. But the performance was great again. Someone should put that on a cap or something. 

Just now, bean_sprout said:

Maybe they discovered that they don't like flight simulation.

bs

Quite possibly in some cases.  I've been using flight simulator since it began in 1989, so that's not the case with me.  I have taken time to read a few of the negative Steam reviews, and it would seem that some of those reviews are from people such as myself with a long experience of flight simulation.  I was initially thrilled with this new release (after about 6 years break from Prepar3D), but since the latest fault kicking in and lack of support from the company to my requests along with reading of similar experiences from other users, am now feeling underwhelmed.

15 minutes ago, crazydog said:

Nothing has changed in the past three months though.  All my drivers are kept up to the latest using Iobit driver Booster, my system is cleaned and optimised Advanced System Care.  As a long time IT user, I do am fairly well versed with both software and hardware, and am generally aware when things are up.  No other program on my system is having problems, nor any attached devices.  Given the number of users of MSFS on Steam who have flagged the simulator thumbs down (26% of the 20,000+ reviews), there does seem to be problems - and a quick read shows a good quantity to be users who simply can't get the simulator to run.  I agree that this forum shows most people to be okay - but there are definitely problems that affect some users.

I am not found of any of these "Make your PC run faster" programs sold on the internet. They almost never really work, and some cause problems. I had a PSU-GPU issue with my brand new PC back in the beginning of his year, and all my  programs worked great except MSFS which CTD sometimes twice a day. Sent PC to company on  an RMA, they replaced the GPU and PSU, and I haven''t had one problem since it was returned to me, in the last 6 months. I wouldn't use Steam reviews as a good judge of a programs stability or not. Sounds very strange that there are alot of their users that can't even get the program to run. 

16 minutes ago, Republic3D said:

I did two things to try to rectify my worse performance:

- Deleted Rolling Cache and let it rebuild 
- Set the Graphics to Ultra, applied. Then turned a few things down to High, set the Cube Map Reflections to 128 and applied again.

The next flight I did was over LA, and my Shift-Z didn't load so I didn't see the frame rate this time. But the performance was great again. Someone should put that on a cap or something. 

I think I might just delete FlightSimulator.CFG and UserCfg.opt, then reset sliders.  Right now, w/o doing this, I find for every increase of LOD of 100, I see another 0.5Gb of VRAM being used.  Right now out of KBJC to KSHR in the Longitude everything's fine at Terrain LOD at 300, which took me from about 6.9Gb for Terrain LOD 200 to 7.4Gb VRAM at 300.

28 minutes ago, crazydog said:

 All my drivers are kept up to the latest using Iobit driver Booster, my system is cleaned and optimised Advanced System Care.  

These are some really red flags.

32 minutes ago, crazydog said:

Given the number of users of MSFS on Steam who have flagged the simulator thumbs down (26% of the 20,000+ reviews), there does seem to be problems - and a quick read shows a good quantity to be users who simply can't get the simulator to run.

Yes saw the same - the update process still needs a lot of streamlining (perhaps just take the Windows Store out of the equation and move the requirement to the Xbox App).

Edited October 20, 20214 yr by DylanM

1 minute ago, gdjak said:

These are some really red flags.

Interested to hear why you think so.

If I could get the effing thing to finish downloading, 98% 98% and 99% before looping endlessly, I would happily report 😞  Ah well, hoping to cut my losses, I have just purchased the Steam version and will say goodbye to multi Marketplace purchases and, in future, will purchase anywhere else first.  Very sad, as I hoped to have just purchased everything I could from there to keep all downloads in one place.  Will try again, sometime, but this is too frustrating !!  BR

M.

7 minutes ago, crazydog said:

Interested to hear why you think so.

Maybe you should post your system specs?  In general, if your system is within the specified requirements (preferably medium requirements) and you don't overclock any of your hardware, and you are using a fresh installation of Windows with the latest drivers for your hardware, MSFS should be pretty stable on your system.

Since you have an IT background, the typical method of troubleshooting in IT is to simplify the problem and eliminate complexities.  First and foremost, if you are overclocking your hardware, stop overclocking it because MSFS does not mix well with overclocked hardware.  MSFS pushes the limit of the hardware on your computer and many people CTD because they overclocked their hardware.

If you didn't overclock anything in your hardware, disconnect all peripherals except for your mouse and keyboard.  Then remove everything from your Community folder.  Also uninstall/delete any purchases you made in the MSFS marketplace.  Add-ons, whether it's an add-on from the MSFS marketplace or an add-on in your Community folder, can cause MSFS to CTD.  Run MSFS in safe mode and try to fly with just your mouse and keyboard (yes, you can fly with just your mouse and keyboard).  See if MSFS is stable with just your mouse and keyboard.

A lot of things can cause MSFS to CTD: overclocked hardware, add-ons (Community folder or MSFS marketplace), and peripherals (a lot of joysticks cause MSFS to CTD).  You want to eliminate every possibility and simplify everything for MSFS so that you can isolate and pinpoint the problem.

If you do all this and MSFS is still not stable, then either you have a corrupt installation of MSFS, or there is a problem with your hardware.  In general, assuming your hardware isn't overclocked and you are using a fresh installation of Windows and a fresh installation of MSFS, and you are just using your keyboard and mouse with no other peripherals, MSFS should be stable.

18 minutes ago, gdjak said:

These are some really red flags.

Those driver boosters sound pretty sketchy to me. If I was having problems, that would be the first thing I would get rid of. 

I am mostly very happy with this patch, as graphics (especially night lighting and shadows) have greatly improved.  But it is difficult to compare performance to what it was like pre-patch, since now my skies are mostly empty of any AI or online traffic.  I might see one or two other aircraft now during a flight, where prior to SU6 I could barely get a word in edgewise to ATC due to the other AI aircraft in the vicinity.

Edited October 20, 20214 yr by PlumCrazy

6 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Those driver boosters sound pretty sketchy to me. If I was having problems, that would be the first thing I would get rid of. 

I have used this program for years.  All it does is ensures that the latest core drivers are up to date by automatically downloading, testing and installing in the background.  It has a near 100% rating from both PCMag and TechRadar.  Indeed, MSFS itself recommends that you ensure that your core computer hardware drivers are up to date.  Out of date drivers are sure to cause computer gaming problems, not the reverse.

5 hours ago, Captain Nuts said:

The "brief hiccup" took 8 hours and it's still ongoing, currently it takes 15 minutes to load an airport or it doesn't load at all, so people just didn't have enough time to run their standard tests (if they have any).  In the brief periods it was running it looked as if the bugfix/regression ratio was good for a change.

Sounds like we might be having the same problem. Does it load to 100% and then hang forever? 

6 hours ago, Dillon said:

...The menu icon that was supposed to be fixed in this patch is still there and constantly on at the top of the screen in the sim.  

The icon is fixed on my PC so something didn't update your end possibly.

Just now, crazydog said:

I have used this program for years.  All it does is ensures that the latest core drivers are up to date by automatically downloading, testing and installing in the background.  It has a near 100% rating from both PCMag and TechRadar.  Indeed, MSFS itself recommends that you ensure that your core computer hardware drivers are up to date.  Out of date drivers are sure to cause computer gaming problems, not the reverse.

If I had a nickle for everytime I read of some simmer installing the latest drivers ( mainly GPU) and having problems after that, and having to roll back to previous driver, I could have retired earlier.