How to wreck performance in MSFS with a decent rig

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

Just loaded up the Fenix at a KBOS gate. AutoFPS gives me 84 fps. By dynamically reducing TLOD to 50. Still haven't injected any traffic yet though 😉

[Fielder 3,822]

This was the easiest to understand explanation of using AutoFPS that I have seen on Youtube. AutoFPS has competition with a couple similar apps which the video does not discuss.

 

 

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

7 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Just loaded up the Fenix at a KBOS gate. AutoFPS gives me 84 fps. By dynamically reducing TLOD to 50. Still haven't injected any traffic yet though 😉

No FPS drop after injecting AIG at 50%. Still 80-84 fps. According to AIG there are 79 airplanes around me. What kind of new sorcery is this?! Did AI traffic just suddenly seize to have a performance impact?

Edited March 9 by Cpt_Piett

[El Diablito 367]

I just bit the bullet and splurged on a 5800x3D, I want to enter your realm, Captain!

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

3 minutes ago, El Diablito said:

I just bit the bullet and splurged on a 5800x3D, I want to enter your realm, Captain!

Haha nice - congrats! You'd be most welcome - and we do have a few available cabins left on the Executor. They're going pretty fast though, so other people better hurry!

If I knew then (summer of '20) what I now know, I would have gone team red. Don't get me wrong, the 12900KF is a fine chip, overclocked to 5.1GHz on all P-cores. But from what I've read, the red chips are even better for MSFS. 

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

By the way, I think I just found a secret portal 😅 Could it be leading to a new dimension?

 

[threexgreen 3,160]

47 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Just loaded up the Fenix at a KBOS gate. AutoFPS gives me 84 fps. By dynamically reducing TLOD to 50. Still haven't injected any traffic yet though 😉

Is AutoFPS good at increasing TLOD again as soon as you get high enough on takeoff to see terrain so it doesn't look like FS98?

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

29 minutes ago, threexgreen said:

Is AutoFPS good at increasing TLOD again as soon as you get high enough on takeoff to see terrain so it doesn't look like FS98?

In full auto mode (set and forget) I think it reduces TLOD as much as needed to maintain your target FPS. That could be as low as TLOD 50 like in my example below. I think it lowers TLOD gradually to reach a minimum value at 1000ft AGL on descent, and then it'll stay locked. This is to avoid TLOD changes during final approach. 

Conversely it will gradually increase TLOD once above 1000ft on climb.

The expert mode gives a bit more flexibility. It's possible to set a higher TLOD min to avoid the FS98 phenomenon. You can also set a very high TLOD max - I've had it as high as 600. It might seem silly to do this - but it can actually make sense when flying in mountainous regions. 

Or - as I experienced the other day when arriving into Honolulu in the A300, TLOD was way too low on final approach to appreciate the lush green hills adjacent to the city. Then it did look a bit FS98ish. However - if TLOD in that situation* was any higher - FPS would have of course been lower. So yeah, it's a case of "can't have your cake and eat it too". 

*final approach in a complex aircraft into a major airport with lots of AI traffic

I hope that made sense. I would highly recommend to test AutoFPS if you haven't already done so. It certainly has changed my simming experience dramatically. You can find the latest test version here. 

 

Edited March 9 by Cpt_Piett

[Christopher Low 5,425]

I guess that we all see performance differently, but......when I see a target framerate of 76, I can't help thinking that there is a huge amount of headroom to increase detail levels, not hold them back.

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

22 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

I guess that we all see performance differently, but......when I see a target framerate of 76, I can't help thinking that there is a huge amount of headroom to increase detail levels, not hold them back.

Exactly! When I first got the 4090 autumn '22 I was so blinded by the FPS boost that I wanted to always see 120+ (even though my monitor is max 120Hz, lol). I got a bit delusional by the ground-breaking performance boost. 

1+ yr later and I see things a bit differently, like you mention above. My preferred setting is FPS locked at 80 (my rig can handle it in most situations with AutoFPS) - and then increase visual settings as much as possible. Hence, I'm at TLOD max 600, OLOD max 1000, resolution 5K, shadows size 6K etc etc. Sure - my 4090 is at 90-100% all the time, and I've seen VRAM use as high as 22-23GB, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be. Except for the fan noise I guess. 

Actually, with my insane settings, there's very little GPU headroom left. If I unlock FPS it won't increase much. Well, I guess it would if I was flying at FL300 in the C172 over the Pacific Ocean... But my point is that I've managed to squeeze every ounce of juice out of the card. I guess I could say that I'm getting my money's worth!

If you dine in a 3-star Michelin restaurant, you wouldn't eat just half the meal, would you?

Warning: I'll go ballistic if someone tells me the C172 service ceiling is 14,000 feet

Edited March 9 by Cpt_Piett

[threexgreen 3,160]

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

If you dine in a 3-star Michelin restaurant, you wouldn't eat just half the meal, would you?

This is all with FG on I assume? What are your FPS with it off?

Also, did you know that the service ceiling of the C172 is 14,000 ft?

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

41 minutes ago, threexgreen said:

This is all with FG on I assume? What are your FPS with it off?

With FG yeah. About half that with FG off. 

41 minutes ago, threexgreen said:

Also, did you know that the service ceiling of the C172 is 14,000 ft?

🤣 You're lucky as my mood improved considerably since my last post. Was having some issues opening cargo doors on the Fenix, faulty aircraft, needed to call maintenance. 

(I had forgotten to connect external power. I hope no one are able to read this)

Edited March 9 by Cpt_Piett

[sonny147 591]

21 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

With FG yeah. About half that with FG off. 

🤣 You're lucky as my mood improved considerably since my last post. Was having some issues opening cargo doors on the Fenix. 

(I had forgotten to connect external power. I hope no one are able to read this)

i can just make it out , thanks 

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

Just a bit more info re: AutoFPS and too demanding settings. 

The situation above (FPS around 80 at KBOS with AIG 50%) got a bit worse as I was at the RWY holding point. Although AutoFPS heroically tried to chase target FPS (76), this turned out to be futile, even at lowest settings (TLOD 50, clouds high). At 16,000' FPS had still not reached target (screenshot below). And the reason is, like I mentioned in my OP, that the mainthread simply cannot keep up. 

In the screenshot below, mainthread 27.4ms and GPU 19.9ms i.e. mainthread limited. Even at this altitude! Looking at AIG, there's almost 100 aircraft around me, so that could be the reason. 

Anyway, this just goes further to show that even with an RTX 6090, it won't matter, if the mainthread can't keep up. 

Some might say "hey, 69 FPS is not bad!". It's not in itself bad, BUT with FG on and low native FPS, there's an increased likelihood of FG-induced artifacts, which can be quite distracting. 

Big thing (for me) is to avoid stutters (mainthread), screen tearing (G-Sync) and artifacts (FG). Only with optimal settings I'll have all three. But I still won't be able to eat my cake! 😄

[Cpt_Piett 4,921]

Aaaaaaand MSFS just CTD'd with a silly GPU error message. 

@sonny147, just saw this in your sig:

Quote

oh and a usb fan to cool me down on approach !

😅

Edited March 9 by Cpt_Piett