today I decided to change my refresh rate in the Pimax Crystal Light Pimax Play from 72 Hz (which I was using ever since day 1 installation) and today changed it to 90 Hz. I had it originally set to 72 because in the early days of MSFS 2024 I would have been overwhelmed but I never expected to ever see anything beyond 60 fps.

Little did I know: several MSFS 2024 SU updates, DLSS versions, SmoothMotion and DLSS Enabler later et voila: with everything else the same now up to 90 fps in VR even on my "lousy" RTX 4090 and my even "lousier" AMD 7800X3D. 😁

while not consistently and so far mostly during cross country in the GA Beech Baron, but nevertheless, usually fluctuating between 70 - 90 fps. I must have limited myself artificially all this time to 72 fps.

Arrivederci RTX 5090! 😀

 

Edited May 3May 3 by turbomax

 

The three choices are 72, 90, 90 upscale.

Since Pimax Play version 1.33.01 I have used the 90 Hz Upscale Mode. This renders at 2160x2160 per eye and then upscales to the full 2880x2880. The increased fps over either 72 or 90 non upscale is enormous. 

And the new Pimax drivers for about 3 months or so now give better tracking stability. 

Also in msfs2024 SU5, the msfs foveated rendering gives a much higher fps increase, compared to SU4. So turn off FR in Pimax Play and use the built in msfs FR. Whereas with SU4 I got high 30's low 40's fps, I get high 40's low 50's fps due to the improved foveated rendering in SU5.

Edited May 3May 3 by Fielder

53 minutes ago, Fielder said:

I have used the 90 Hz Upscale Mode.

I have not, I think NVidia's DLSS knows upscaling better than Pimax 😀

 

AI says:

With an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and a Pimax Crystal Light, you’re basically in the “no excuses” tier of VR hardware—so 90 Hz Upscale (Lab) is usually not what you want as your default.

Here’s the real, practical guidance:

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🧠 What you should run most of the time

• Native 90 Hz (no upscale)
• High render resolution (often 1.0–1.25 in Pimax / SteamVR)

Your GPU can handle it in most titles, and the Crystal Light’s strength is clarity—which upscale mode directly sacrifices.

1 hour ago, Fielder said:

So turn off FR in Pimax Play and use the built in msfs FR

thanks, I thought we needed both, have disabled it now in Pimax play. thanks for the info! 

this is what AI had to say:

don’t run both at the same time—for MSFS 2024, you generally want to use the in-game foveated rendering and disable/avoid duplicating it in Pimax Play.

Here’s why, and when you might break that rule:

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🧠 How the two implementations differ

1) MSFS 2024 built-in foveated rendering

• Native feature (since Sim Update 2)
• Uses Quad View / OpenXR integration, optimized specifically for the sim
• Supports:
  • Fixed FFR (all headsets)
  • Eye-tracked DFR (if your headset supports it)
• Directly tied into the rendering pipeline → more efficient and stable

👉 In practice: this is the “correct” implementation for MSFS.

 

with Pimax built in upscaling I get no stutters and no loss of tracking no matter how fast I turn my head. With upscaling off, I get problems and issues on every flight.