(Fixed at least for me; hopefully for others). During the last few months of random CTDs on almost every MSFS2020 flying session since SU12, I tried countless remedies, mostly following suggestions I encountered in this and other forums, and had no success whatsoever. These included: changing settings within MSFS2020 and in the Nvidia control panel; changing Nvidia drivers many times; adding or deleting entries to the register; and others, all to no avail -- until I came across a video   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzhnNFGYr5E that solved the problem. It consists of a detailed, line-by-line set of instructions on settings in the Nvidia control panel that are specifically designed to optimize performance in MSFS2020, and this did the trick. To what extent it might help others with CTD problems, I don't know, but I wanted to share it for those who may not have seen it.

There are really two issues involved: there is the instability that was introduced to MSFS by SU12, well-known and reported by many users, that makes the sim more vulnerable to CTDs and is fixable only by Asobo, if they ever get around to it. Then there is the question of how to deal with this instability on one's system. It is the second of these for which I have managed to find a solution, and I have encountered almost no CTDs since implementing it.

Thanks for this changed a few settings!

@cobalt  I am glad you are now getting some mileage out of the sim now.  Quite mysterious how these simple settings can affect things so profoundly.  

Edited February 18, 20242 yr by bobcat999

46 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

@cobalt  I am glad you are now getting some mileage out of the sim now.  Quite mysterious how these simple settings can affect things so profoundly.  

Thanks. I actually enjoyed it a lot for over 3 years until SU12, so now I am getting back to what I was used to!

Thanks for posting this. It's always good to have ideas on how to improve MSFS performance.

I'm far away to be an expert on the subject, but I would say that maybe changing the Max Frame Rate to a certain value in the NVCP could interfere with the setting you might have inside the sim (General Options - Graphic Settings) or even worse, if you use V-Sync you could already have your frames limited to 33%-50%-100% of your monitor refresh rate (depending on your setting). I would recommend to carefully verify this before making the adjustment related to Max Frame Rate in NVCP.

Any comment from a knowleadgeable person would be welcome.

 

Thanks, edpatino. I'm not an expert either, but what I do know is that the settings recommended in the video I cited above solved the long-running CTD problem for me. As the saying goes, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

6 minutes ago, cobalt said:

Thanks, edpatino. I'm not an expert either, but what I do know is that the settings recommended in the video I cited above solved the long-running CTD problem for me. As the saying goes, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

Do you expect a reset to default values at the time of each driver update?

5 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Do you expect a reset to default values at the time of each driver update?

No, I believe driver updates have no effect on Nvidia control panel settings. There is an option in the control panel to revert to default (factory) settings, but that's only an option.

Is there a way to save the existing Nvidia Control Panel settings in case you want to revert to those settings after

making changes?

Thanks,

Al

 

On 2/18/2024 at 10:08 PM, cobalt said:

until I came across a video   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzhnNFGYr5E that solved the problem. It consists of a detailed, line-by-line set of instructions on settings in the Nvidia control panel that are specifically designed to optimize performance in MSFS2020, and this did the trick.

Thanks for this info. I’m curious which of the settings helped resolve your issue. Of course that’s tricky to know. Glad you got it sorted - I’ve had my share of CTDs and they are incredibly frustrating!

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Thanks for this info. I’m curious which of the settings helped resolve your issue. Of course that’s tricky to know. Glad you got it sorted - I’ve had my share of CTDs and they are incredibly frustrating!

Good question -- I'm not sure, and at this point I am just glad to be flying again without CTDs! If I figure it out at some point, I will share that info. There are very likely others in the flightsim community who could shed some light on this.

15 hours ago, ark said:

Is there a way to save the existing Nvidia Control Panel settings in case you want to revert to those settings after

making changes?

Thanks,

Al

 

You can use Nidia Inspector to save a settings profile which you can then import to restore your NCP settings.

 

 

 

16 hours ago, ark said:

Is there a way to save the existing Nvidia Control Panel settings in case you want to revert to those settings after

making changes?

Thanks,

Al

 

https://superuser.com/questions/1245160/how-to-backup-nvidia-control-panel-preferences

Control Panel preferences are stored in nvdrsdb0.bin and nvdrsdb1.bin files in ~/ProgramData/NVIDIA Corporation/Drs

 

or you can use ndivia inspector.

An update -- As I noted in the OP back in February, a video I had found on changing MSFS settings in the NVidia control panel mostly solved a long-running problem of CTDs I had been plagued with ever since SU12. However, they did not completely end, and I continued trying to eliminate CTDs entirely, but without success until I made a discovery a few days ago that does indeed appear to finish the job. In the video (address given in the OP), it is recommended to set low latency to Ultra in the Nvidia control panel. I have now discovered that if I instead set it to OFF, and also turn LL OFF in MSFS itself, presto -- no more CTDs after several days and many flights with different aircraft under varying conditions. As a bonus, I have been able to revert to the mostly High or Ultra graphics settings I was using prior to SU12 (I had lowered them considerably in trying to eliminate CTDs), and the performance is excellent. 

I would have thought that turning off low latency completely would cause an increase in stuttering, but I don't see this even in high density situations such as Miami or Atlanta with substantial air traffic.

Beyond the oft-noted fact that results vary considerably on different systems, and therefore what I am reporting may not be all that surprising, I will leave it to others with expertise in this area to explain what is going on here, but I am now completely happy -- finally!

 

Edited June 26, 20241 yr by cobalt