Improve iniBuilds A350 performance in MSFS 2020 with practical LOD, traffic, cockpit, DLSS, DX11/DX12 and frame-cap settings.
For the iniBuilds A350 in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, start with Terrain LOD 100, Object LOD 100, High clouds, Medium glass-cockpit refresh and low airport traffic. Use TAA at 100% for clarity or DLSS Quality when GPU-limited. Cap the frame rate at a stable 30 or 40 FPS rather than chasing 60.
Recommended iniBuilds A350 performance preset
This balanced preset preserves readable flight-deck displays while reducing the CPU and GPU load found at large airports. Treat it as a starting point rather than a universal prescription, because resolution, airport scenery, traffic and weather can shift the bottleneck.
| MSFS 2020 setting | Recommended starting point | When to lower it |
|---|---|---|
| Anti-aliasing | TAA at 100% render scaling, or DLSS Quality | Use DLSS Balanced only when clearly GPU-limited |
| Terrain Level of Detail | 100 | Reduce to 80 if MainThread-limited at major hubs |
| Objects Level of Detail | 100 | Reduce when dense terminals or city scenery hurt FPS |
| Glass Cockpit Refresh Rate | Medium | Try Low if performance is much worse inside the cockpit |
| Volumetric Clouds | High | Use Medium when weather makes the GPU frame time spike |
| Texture Resolution | High | Use Medium if VRAM fills or pauses appear while changing views |
| Shadows, reflections and ambient occlusion | Medium | Lower these before sacrificing cockpit resolution |
| Offscreen Terrain Pre-Caching | High | Lower it if VRAM is constrained; raise it if panning causes pauses |
| AI or live traffic | Off while testing, then add modestly | Keep it low at complex airports |
| Ground aircraft and airport vehicles | 0 to 10 | Use zero when CPU-limited at the gate |
For the surrounding visual options, use our balanced MSFS 2020 graphics baseline rather than setting every option to Ultra. Terrain LOD above 200, dense traffic and high-detail airport scenery are particularly expensive when combined with the A350's systems.
Which settings matter most in the A350 cockpit?
Terrain LOD, traffic and cockpit display rendering usually matter more than texture quality when the A350 is limited by the CPU. Lower them first if the frame rate falls at the gate but improves after departure.
- Glass Cockpit Refresh Rate: Medium is the best starting point. Try Low if the cockpit is markedly slower than the external view; the size of the gain can vary between aircraft builds.
- Detached instrument windows: Close any popped-out displays while testing. Rendering instruments in separate windows can add a substantial penalty.
- Optional cabin detail: If the installed A350 build provides controls for cabin occupants or optional interior rendering, disable them to establish whether they contribute to the slowdown.
- Traffic: AI aircraft, live traffic, ground aircraft, service vehicles and workers all compete for MainThread time at a busy terminal.
- Frame-rate cap: A steady 30 FPS usually feels better than repeated swings between 30 and 50. A 40 FPS cap works well with a compatible 120 Hz or variable-refresh display.
Use one frame limiter only. Stacking an in-simulator cap, driver cap and V-Sync can produce uneven frame pacing or extra latency.
How do I tell whether the A350 is CPU or GPU limited?
Use the built-in Developer Mode FPS display and check whether it reports a MainThread or GPU limitation in the same cockpit view where the slowdown occurs.
- Create a repeatable test: Load the same gate, aircraft state, weather preset and cockpit camera. Disable traffic initially.
- Check the limiting component: Do not judge solely from the FPS number or total CPU utilisation.
- For MainThread limitations: Lower Terrain LOD, Objects LOD, traffic and glass-cockpit refresh rate.
- For GPU limitations: Reduce render scaling, clouds, shadows, reflections and ambient occlusion, or enable DLSS Quality on a supported Nvidia RTX GPU.
- For VRAM pressure: Lower texture resolution, avoid unnecessarily large livery textures and reduce demanding airport scenery options.
- Change one group at a time: Re-run the same test before adjusting anything else.
Our bottleneck-led MSFS tuning method explains how to read MainThread, GPU, VRAM and streaming symptoms. A common mistake is reducing render scaling while MainThread-limited; that makes the displays softer without addressing the actual constraint.
Should I use DX11, DX12 or DLSS with the A350?
Start with DX11 for a stable MSFS 2020 baseline, then compare DX12 in the identical flight if your hardware supports features that require it. DX12 can perform well, but it may consume more VRAM and can introduce stuttering on a system already close to its memory limit.
At 1440p or 4K, DLSS Quality is the sensible first choice when the GPU is the bottleneck. TAA at 100% generally provides sharper labels and avionics text, especially at 1080p. Our DLSS mode comparison for cockpit readability covers the trade-offs between Quality, Balanced and Performance.
Frame Generation, where supported, can improve displayed smoothness under DX12. It does not reduce the A350's underlying systems workload, fix MainThread pauses or turn a poor base frame rate into responsive performance.
Why does the A350 still stutter at large airports?
At a detailed hub, the aircraft, terminal scenery, traffic, ground services, weather and streamed terrain are all competing for resources. If FPS is acceptable at a default airport but poor at one particular add-on hub, the A350 is not the only cause.
- Test the A350 at a default airport with traffic disabled before changing dozens of settings.
- Temporarily remove unrelated Community-folder add-ons that affect traffic, airports, weather or cockpit displays.
- Watch for VRAM exhaustion when using detailed airports, high-resolution liveries and Ultra textures together.
- Use High or Ultra offscreen terrain pre-caching only when enough VRAM remains; it can reduce pauses while panning.
- Change DX mode or texture resolution, restart the simulator, then repeat the same test.
- Do not clear the rolling cache routinely. Rebuild it only when corruption or a streaming problem is a credible cause.
If average FPS is reasonable but the simulator pauses during camera movement, approach or touchdown, follow our MSFS stutter and micro-pause diagnosis checklist. Those symptoms often require a different fix from simply lowering the overall graphics preset.