Learn how ReShade affects FPS in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024, which effects cost most, and how to test performance properly.
Yes. ReShade can lower FPS in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 because every enabled effect adds post-processing work to each rendered frame. The loss may be negligible with lightweight colour filters, but depth-based effects, high resolutions and several shaders can produce a clear FPS drop or uneven frame times.
The cost falls mainly on the GPU. If Microsoft Flight Simulator is limited by its CPU main thread, ReShade may initially show little or no change on the FPS counter; once its effects push GPU frame time beyond the main-thread frame time, performance drops.
How much FPS does ReShade cost in MSFS?
There is no reliable fixed percentage because the result depends on the preset, output resolution, GPU headroom and active effects. A capped frame rate can also hide the impact: the counter may remain at 30 or 60 FPS while GPU utilisation rises and the safety margin against stutters shrinks.
| Effect type | Examples | Usual relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Colour and tone adjustment | Levels, curves, LUTs, tint and vibrance | Low |
| Simple image processing | Sharpening, film grain and basic contrast filters | Low to moderate |
| Multi-pass effects | Bloom, complex sharpening and denoising | Moderate and shader-dependent |
| Depth-based effects | Ambient occlusion, depth of field, reflections and global illumination | Often high |
Most ReShade passes process the final back buffer, so output resolution matters greatly. Lowering MSFS Render Scaling can free simulator GPU time, but it may not reduce ReShade's own cost by the same proportion when the final image is still presented at the display's native resolution. Ultrawide, 4K and supported VR configurations therefore expose expensive presets more readily.
How do you test ReShade's FPS impact accurately?
A controlled comparison is the only useful way to measure ReShade on your system. A mistake we see constantly is comparing a freshly loaded flight against one that has already finished loading scenery and compiling shaders.
- Create a repeatable scenario. Park the same aircraft at the same airport and use an identical cockpit view, weather preset, time of day and traffic configuration.
- Allow the flight to settle. Wait for scenery loading and initial shader activity to subside before recording results.
- Keep every graphics variable unchanged. Use the same resolution, Render Scaling, anti-aliasing or upscaler, DirectX mode, V-Sync, frame cap and Frame Generation setting.
- Record the baseline. Use the simulator's developer FPS and frame-time display to identify whether the run is GPU- or main-thread-limited. Our guide to identifying GPU, main-thread, VRAM and streaming limits explains what those readings mean.
- Toggle all ReShade effects. Use ReShade's global effects toggle rather than merely hiding its overlay. Compare FPS, GPU frame time and frame-time consistency over the same interval.
- Enable shaders individually. This identifies the expensive effect instead of blaming the entire preset. Costs accumulate when several passes are active.
If ReShade still appears to affect performance with its effects globally disabled, uninstall it cleanly through its installer and repeat the test. The global toggle stops the shader passes, but the injection layer remains loaded.
Why can ReShade cause stutters instead of a steady FPS loss?
ReShade can affect frame pacing even when average FPS looks acceptable. Brief hitches after loading a preset may be shader compilation, while persistent pauses usually indicate GPU saturation, memory pressure or a conflict with another overlay or graphics injector.
- Several full-resolution effects can consume GPU time and additional buffer memory at once.
- A system already close to its VRAM limit may begin paging when a heavy preset is enabled.
- Recording overlays, monitoring tools and other injectors can conflict or add their own frame-time cost.
- Hiding the ReShade interface does not disable the active effects.
Remove suspect effects one at a time. If the pauses remain after ReShade has been fully uninstalled, work through our MSFS stutter and micro-pause checks rather than assuming the preset caused them. A start-up crash immediately after installation usually points to an injection, graphics API or overlay conflict rather than ordinary shader load.
Which ReShade settings preserve the most FPS?
A small preset built around colour correction and one sharpening pass gives the best balance between appearance and performance. Start with the minimum visual changes you actually need, then add effects individually.
- Prefer LUT, curves, levels and simple colour filters when GPU headroom is limited.
- Use one sharpening method rather than stacking several similar passes.
- Disable ambient occlusion, depth of field and lighting effects unless their visual benefit justifies their cost.
- Remove effects that are technically enabled but make no visible difference from the cockpit.
- Leave enough GPU headroom for dense airports, clouds and glass-cockpit displays, not just an easy cruise test.
If the simulator is already GPU-limited before ReShade is enabled, establish a sensible native baseline using our recommended MSFS graphics-setting priorities. Lowering one expensive simulator option can create more headroom than stripping out a lightweight colour filter.
Can ReShade improve FPS?
No. ReShade itself always adds some rendering work. A sharpening filter may let you tolerate lower Render Scaling or a more aggressive upscaler, producing a net performance gain, but that gain comes from reducing the simulator's rendering workload rather than from ReShade.
Does ReShade behave differently in MSFS 2020 and 2024?
The underlying performance rule is the same in both PC simulators: shader complexity, output resolution and available GPU time determine the cost. Their native performance bottlenecks can differ, however, so the same preset may appear free in a main-thread-limited situation and expensive in a GPU-limited one.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 can also behave differently between its graphics APIs. If changing APIs alters performance or frame pacing, compare the practical DX11 and DX12 trade-offs for MSFS 2020 before attributing the whole difference to ReShade.
Can ReShade run on Xbox or PlayStation?
Conventional ReShade is a PC graphics injector. It cannot be installed in the normal way on the Xbox versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or 2024, or on the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Practical rule: use ReShade when the GPU has measurable headroom and the preset provides a visible improvement. Trim or remove it when the simulator is already GPU-limited, barely holding its target frame rate, or showing worse frame-time spikes with the effects enabled.