Optimizing Settings for quality on Nvidia 4000 with FG

[Virtual-Chris 682]

Hey, it’s been awhile since I fired up the sim and several months now since Nvidia 4000 series and DLSS 3 and frame generation have landed for MSFS… what settings should one use to get the optimal quality and performance at 4K?

Is there a recommended driver version?

Any important settings in NV Control Panel? For example I recall you should limit your FPS to 116 on a 120Hz display? True/False? Any Vsync needed for when FPS > display refresh rate?

In the early days, folks were tweaking the user config file to reduce resolution scaling and I think you needed to edit it to turn on FG. Are  these still a best practice / required?

What Terrain LOD are you guys using? 

Most other MSFS settings on Ultra?

Anything else?

(Im on a 5800x3D with 4090). 

Edited March 8 by Virtual-Chris

[planechaser 40]

Just upgraded to the 4090 myself too.

Have a similar CPU ( 13900k) and with FG my sim runs amazing. Flying the FENIX A320 out of CYYZ with 70FPS is something that we have been looking for 20 years! FG is a game changer - at least until 6+ GHZ all core CPU's come out.

I would suggest Nvidia Driver 528.24 ( the latest drivers from Feb 28 seem to crash the sim)

As for settings, to avoid stutters or screen tearing  - enable GSYNC on your monitor and NCP, Vsync off in game and driver. Lock your FPS in NCP to something like 90 or so. So far , a very smooth experience.

I keep my monitor at 144 HZ refresh rate

Terrain LOD at 210 and Render Scaling at around 120%  ( i am using a Samsung Odyssey G7  1440p) 

[Virtual-Chris 682]

15 minutes ago, planechaser said:

Just upgraded to the 4090 myself too.

Have a similar CPU ( 13900k) and with FG my sim runs amazing. Flying the FENIX A320 out of CYYZ with 70FPS is something that we have been looking for 20 years! FG is a game changer - at least until 6+ GHZ all core CPU's come out.

I would suggest Nvidia Driver 528.24 ( the latest drivers from Feb 28 seem to crash the sim)

As for settings, to avoid stutters or screen tearing  - enable GSYNC on your monitor and NCP, Vsync off in game and driver. Lock your FPS in NCP to something like 90 or so. So far , a very smooth experience.

I keep my monitor at 144 HZ refresh rate

Terrain LOD at 210 and Render Scaling at around 120%  ( i am using a Samsung Odyssey G7  1440p) 

Thanks... couple clarifications...

Why lock FPS at 90?  Why not let it run up to your display max or cap it a few FPS below max as seems to be the common recommendation?

Terrain LOD at 210?  Seems like an interesting choice? Why not 200? Or 300?

What's behind your choice to add render scaling of 120%?  Isn't DLSS3 and frame generation, rendering at a lower resolution and then upscaling to native (4K) using AI.  You're then telling the engine to upscale that further to 120% of 4K? What's the advantage? Where in the pipeline is this added scaling done?

Edited March 8 by Virtual-Chris

[ryanbatc 12,033]

17 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

 

Why lock FPS at 90?  Why not let it run up to your display max or cap it a few FPS below max as seems to be the common recommendation?

 

On mine it's a 144 hz so I set 143 for max frame.  I read something (on the internet so it's definitely true haha) but the article suggested going 1 fps/hz less than your refresh rate.  Can't recall the exact technical reason.

[Snuffleupagus 316]

I’m interested in what others are using too. I upgraded from a 3080 to a 4080 and surprisingly, I get more stutters with all the same exact settings than I did with the 3080! And I also notice smoother performance for me when I use in game vsync at 50%, even with frame generation enabled. No performance difference between TAA and DLSS3 for me. 

[Virtual-Chris 682]

35 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

On mine it's a 144 hz so I set 143 for max frame.  I read something (on the internet so it's definitely true haha) but the article suggested going 1 fps/hz less than your refresh rate.  Can't recall the exact technical reason.

I believe the common recommendation is (or was?) to set it 3 below your max refresh rate... so lock FPS at 141 for a 144Hz display. The reason for locking it lower is to prevent Vsync from kicking in at FPS>=refresh_rate which adds latency, and the reason for the 3 FPS buffer was simply to account for frame limiters not being perfect and so accounting for a couple of FPS variance.  

I found this recommendation by an expert on this stuff... the admin at Blur Busters...

60Hz = use about 0.5fps-2fps below 
144Hz = use about 2-4fps below
240Hz = use about 3-5fps below
360Hz = use about 5-10fps below
 

[Virtual-Chris 682]

31 minutes ago, Hatch76 said:

I’m interested in what others are using too. I upgraded from a 3080 to a 4080 and surprisingly, I get more stutters with all the same exact settings than I did with the 3080! And I also notice smoother performance for me when I use in game vsync at 50%, even with frame generation enabled. No performance difference between TAA and DLSS3 for me. 

Do you have a G-Sync display?  I think most would consider that pretty much mandatory these days. V-Sync is not ideal at all but if you don't have a G-Sync display, then set V-Sync to Fast in NV Control panel - this has worked well for me in the past before I got a G-Sync display. I wouldn't use in-game V-Sync.  

If you're not getting any benefits from DLSS3 and frame generation, there's something wrong.  I guess my first question is... how do you know it's not working? Are you using a FPS monitor like MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner? I don't think you can use the dev-mode in-game FPS counter as it's before the FG - maybe others can confirm?

Edited March 8 by Virtual-Chris

[ryanbatc 12,033]

21 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

I believe the common recommendation is (or was?) to set it 3 below your max refresh rate... so lock FPS at 141 for a 144Hz display. The reason for locking it lower is to prevent Vsync from kicking in at FPS>=refresh_rate which adds latency, and the reason for the 3 FPS buffer was simply to account for frame limiters not being perfect and so accounting for a couple of FPS variance.  

I found this recommendation by an expert on this stuff... the admin at Blur Busters...

60Hz = use about 0.5fps-2fps below 
144Hz = use about 2-4fps below
240Hz = use about 3-5fps below
360Hz = use about 5-10fps below
 

Thanks for the info I'll try to adjust it a little.

And I agree with you about Hatch - he's probably looking at the in-sim dev mode counter.

[Snuffleupagus 316]

4 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Do you have a G-Sync display?  I think most would consider that pretty much mandatory these days. V-Sync is not ideal at all but if you don't have a G-Sync display, then set V-Sync to Fast in NV Control panel - this has worked well for me in the past before I got a G-Sync display. I wouldn't use in-game V-Sync.  

If you're not getting any benefits from DLSS3 and frame generation, there's something wrong.  I guess my first question is... how do you know it's not working? Are you using a FPS monitor like MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner? I don't think you can use the dev-mode in-game FPS counter as it's before the FG - maybe others can confirm?

Yes I have a freesync monitor and works great with vsync. And I definitely do get better performance with Frame Generation (double what the MSFS dev mode frames show. And I’m using the Xbox game bar fps overlay). But between DLSS3 and TAA, there’s no difference (both with frame gen on). 
 

What seems odd is before with the 3080, I got stutters less frequently and a frame rate of maybe 20-25fps with full ultra settings, dense AI traffic, anny anddon airliner, and 2K resolution at KLAX. Now I of course get 40-50 with the same everything except stutters more often. I even see my 16GB of VRAM hit 98-100% at times at 2K. I didn’t think this card would be utilized very heavily with a 2K resolution?

Edited March 9 by Hatch76

[ryanbatc 12,033]

4 minutes ago, Hatch76 said:

 

What seems odd is before with the 3080, I got stutters less frequently and a frame rate of maybe 20-25fps with full ultra settings, dense AI traffic, anny anddon airliner, and 2K resolution at KLAX. Now I of course get 40-50 with the same everything except stutters more often. I even see my 16GB of VRAM hit 98-100% at times at 2K. I didn’t think this card would be utilized very heavily with a 2K resolution?

FG works in both DLSS and TAA so they are very similar for me as well.  In VR though, dlss allows for a nice fps gain for me.

[craigeaglefire 179]

DX11 at the moment seems way smoother,

also, far less system latency 🙂

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,227]

7 hours ago, Hatch76 said:

Yes I have a freesync monitor and works great with vsync.

Why are you enabling Vsync if you have free sync? Seems to me thats the cause of your issues. 

[Snuffleupagus 316]

46 minutes ago, Ianrivaldosmith said:

Why are you enabling Vsync if you have free sync? Seems to me thats the cause of your issues. 

Without vsync enabled, I get more stutters and screen tearing. 

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,227]

3 hours ago, Hatch76 said:

Without vsync enabled, I get more stutters and screen tearing. 

Freesync isn’t working then….. 

[Snuffleupagus 316]

57 minutes ago, Ianrivaldosmith said:

Freesync isn’t working then….. 

Everything I read says vsync absolutely needs to be enabled for freesync monitors