What are the best graphics settings for MSFS on PC?
For Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC, start at native resolution with TAA, 100 render scale, High textures and clouds, 16x anisotropic filtering, and Terrain and Object Level of Detail around 100. Reduce traffic and LOD first when CPU-limited; lower clouds, shadows, reflections or render scale when GPU-limited.
These are balanced starting values for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on a flat-screen monitor. Available options and their performance costs vary between versions, so MSFS 2020 users can also consult our detailed 2020 graphics baseline. For the newer simulator, our bottleneck-led MSFS 2024 tuning method explains which settings address each performance limit.
Best MSFS graphics settings to start with
The following custom settings give most PCs a sensible balance between cockpit clarity, scenery detail and smooth frame delivery.
| Setting | Recommended starting point | What to change if performance is poor |
|---|---|---|
| Display resolution | Monitor's native resolution | Keep this native and adjust render scaling or an upscaler instead. |
| Anti-aliasing | TAA | Use DLSS Quality on a supported RTX GPU when GPU-limited, especially at 1440p or 4K. |
| Render scaling | 100 | Reduce in small steps. Around 80–90 can work well at 4K, but low values look noticeably soft at 1080p. |
| Terrain Level of Detail | 100 | Lower this first when the main thread struggles at detailed airports or over large cities. |
| Objects Level of Detail | 100 | Reduce it if dense buildings, airport objects or parked aircraft cause CPU-limited frame rates. |
| Volumetric Clouds | High | Drop to Medium when the GPU struggles in overcast weather. Use Ultra only with spare GPU capacity. |
| Texture Resolution | High | Use Ultra only when there is enough VRAM. Lower it if textures swap, degrade or cause persistent stuttering. |
| Anisotropic Filtering | 16x | Leave it high; its performance cost is usually small and runway textures remain clearer at shallow angles. |
| Shadow Maps, Ambient Occlusion and Reflections | Medium or High | Reduce these before sacrificing texture quality when GPU-limited. |
| Glass Cockpit Refresh Rate | Medium, where offered | Lower it in complex airliners if cockpit displays contribute to a main-thread limit. |
| Aircraft, airport and road traffic | Low or Medium | Reduce traffic when performance collapses near hubs but remains good in rural areas. |
| Motion Blur and Depth of Field | Off | These are preference settings with modest performance effects; disabling them gives a cleaner image. |
Do not treat Ultra as the default simply because the PC can select it. A mistake we see constantly is maximising Terrain LOD, traffic and clouds together, then reducing render scale until the entire image becomes blurry. Keep image resolution sharp and lower the setting responsible for the actual bottleneck.
How do I optimise MSFS without guessing?
Optimise Microsoft Flight Simulator with one repeatable test flight and change only one setting category at a time.
- Choose a realistic target: a stable 30 FPS is preferable to constant swings between 25 and 55. Aim for 45–60 FPS if the hardware and display allow it.
- Create a demanding test: use the cockpit view on approach to a detailed airport, with traffic and broken or overcast clouds. An empty runway in clear weather hides the settings that cause trouble later.
- Apply the baseline: set native resolution, TAA, 100 render scale, High textures and clouds, and LOD values around 100.
- Identify the limit: use the simulator's FPS or performance display where available. Check whether the main thread, GPU or VRAM is holding back performance.
- Adjust the correct group: lower LOD and traffic for a CPU limit; lower clouds, shadows, reflections and render scale for a GPU limit.
- Retest difficult conditions: verify the result at night, in heavy weather and at a busy airport. These scenarios expose problems that a cruise flight will not.
How can I tell whether MSFS is CPU- or GPU-limited?
Lowering render scale is the quickest practical test: if FPS barely changes, Microsoft Flight Simulator is probably limited by the CPU or main thread rather than the GPU.
| Limit | Typical signs | Settings to reduce |
|---|---|---|
| CPU or main thread | Low FPS around airports and cities; reducing resolution makes little difference | Terrain LOD, Objects LOD, aircraft traffic, airport activity, road traffic and glass-cockpit refresh rate |
| GPU | Performance improves when render scale or resolution is lowered; weather has a large effect | Clouds, render scale, shadows, reflections, ambient occlusion and anti-aliasing mode |
| VRAM | Stutters, texture swapping or sudden visual degradation after loading a dense area | Texture resolution, resolution, off-screen terrain caching where offered, and memory-heavy add-ons |
| Streaming | Distant terrain stays soft or photogrammetry appears malformed despite acceptable FPS | Check online scenery data, bandwidth and rolling-cache behaviour rather than lowering local graphics settings |
Should I use TAA, DLSS or frame generation?
Use TAA when cockpit text and instrument clarity matter most; use DLSS Quality when a supported RTX GPU needs relief at higher resolutions.
- TAA: the safest all-round choice at native resolution. It normally preserves glass-cockpit text better than aggressive upscaling.
- DLSS Quality: reduces GPU load, but moving displays, small labels and distant objects can look softer or leave trails. Avoid lower-quality DLSS modes unless the extra performance is genuinely needed.
- DLAA: where available, it prioritises image quality at native resolution but costs more GPU time than DLSS Quality.
- Other upscalers: begin with their Quality mode and inspect cockpit displays, power lines and moving aircraft before accepting the setting.
- Frame generation: enable it only on supported hardware after achieving a stable underlying frame rate. It improves displayed smoothness but does not remove main-thread delays, control latency or VRAM pressure.
What should I change for 4K or VR?
At 4K, preserve native output resolution and reduce render scale, clouds, shadows or reflections before cutting texture quality or LOD without evidence of a CPU limit.
VR needs a separate profile because each eye must be rendered at the headset's target resolution. Start with lower clouds, LOD and traffic, then raise cockpit clarity through render resolution or a Quality-mode upscaler. Our practical MSFS 2024 monitor and VR baselines cover the additional hardware and headset trade-offs.
Why is MSFS scenery blurry after changing the settings?
Blurry cockpit text usually points to low render scaling or aggressive upscaling, while blurry terrain can be caused by streaming, cache or online-scenery problems rather than GPU quality settings.
Restore render scale to 100 and test TAA first. If the cockpit becomes sharp but the ground remains soft, check online scenery data, photogrammetry, available bandwidth, Terrain LOD and rolling-cache behaviour. Texture Resolution cannot repair scenery data that has not streamed correctly; use our scenery-blur diagnostic steps to separate rendering faults from connection and cache problems.
Which graphics-setting mistakes should I avoid?
The biggest mistakes are copying another PC's Ultra preset and changing several unrelated settings at once.
- Do not lower texture quality to fix a main-thread bottleneck; reduce LOD and traffic instead.
- Do not tune only in the external camera. Complex cockpit displays can change the CPU and GPU load substantially.
- Do not use frame generation to conceal an unstable underlying frame rate.
- Do not maximise LOD while testing over empty countryside; validate it at a detailed airport.
- Do not confuse malformed streamed scenery with insufficient graphics hardware.
- Do not chase peak FPS at the cost of severe stutter. Consistent frame times matter more during an approach and landing.