Poor Performance in Flight Simulator 2020

MashTheKeyboard · 6 Dec 2020 at 12:30

Computer specs: OcUK Gaming Firefly Enthusiast - Intel Core i7 9700K, SATA 2TB SSD and my computer's specifications according to "GeForce Expierence" are: GeForce RTX2070 Super, Driver version 457.09, 31.92GB DDR4 RAM. My internet is FTTP.

A few weeks ago, something changed with the performance of Flight Simulator 2020 with my computer. I bought this PC from Overclockers with the specific goal of playing flight simulator. It worked great, very smooth until about a week ago. Now every few seconds the computer stops to think and then resumes. I've tried turning the graphic settings down to help with performance, but nothing helps.

With the Task Manager open during play, I can see every few seconds the CPU and GPU usage drops to 0% for a second, and nothing seems to spike. I spoke with Overclockers UK who advised me to buy a SSD, I removed my HDD, reinstalled Flight Simulator onto this 2TB MX500 SSD from Overclockers and nothing has changed.

I know nothing about computers. It used to work perfectly and then it stopped working perfectly. Nothing I'm aware of has changed. I have no idea what I would Google, or what to buy to help with performance. I don't know where to start with troubleshooting either.

I'm really hoping someone can help me.

Quartz · 6 Dec 2020 at 12:50

MashTheKeyboard said:
It worked great, very smooth until about a week ago.

Chances are you've had an update that has bollixxed things. Check which updates - not just Windows updates - have been installed and uninstall them one by one to find out which is causing the problem.

Something else to try is checking the Rolling / manual cache size (Under Options, General, Data). Maybe an update has set it too low? Try 50 GB, maybe more.

Tetras · 6 Dec 2020 at 15:18

Have you recently installed anything, like anti-virus software, or a new wireless device?

Does the audio stop playing too, or just the graphics? Does the mouse and keyboard still respond?

MashTheKeyboard · 6 Dec 2020 at 15:46

Thanks for the responses.

I've got no idea how to tell how many updates I've had. MSFS2020 doesn't let you play without updating (as far as I can tell as it checks for updates immediately after opening it). I've also set the cache sizes to 300GB.

Nothing new installed, I don't have anti-virus on this computer except for the built in Windows one. The audio continues and the the mouse continues to move, just the image freezes for a noticeable amount of time. I played it with Task Manager open and you can see the downward to 0% spikes in the Graphics and CPU sections. No new devices, just took out the old hard disk drive and replace with the solid state drive.

Quartz · 6 Dec 2020 at 15:59

MashTheKeyboard said:
I've got no idea how to tell how many updates I've had.

Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features, View Installed Updates.

Birdseed007 · 6 Dec 2020 at 18:46

I think it can help to temporarily turn off antivirus software. My specs are similar to yours (I7-7700, GTX1080, 16Gbx2 2667 DDR4) and I'm getting a steady 38fps in 1440 res with most details set high. This is an improvement on the 30fps I was getting running with 16GB of single stick 2400 DDR4 Ram so evidently dual channel ram is important.

I'm not sure if this helps but I thought a benchmark may be valuable. It's clear to me that I'm going to need something better than a GTX1080 to be able to run it in VR though so I have my eye on the RTX3080 with a view to being able to also add an HP Reverb G2.

That's no small investment though (£1350) - especially at the prices retailers are gouging out of customers right now and the frustrations associated with the poor availability of hardware. With every passing day a PS5 looks like incredible value for money but unfortunately my preference fro flight and space sims and driving games means that PC is the best platform - especially for running a serious HOTAS system like the Warthog.

In 35 years of gaming I cannot ever remember the supply chains failing so completely. It used to be possible to at least buy things if you had the money, now it isn't even possible to buy them when you have the money!

Birdseed007

Palladium · 6 Dec 2020 at 18:56

Update gfx drivers.

Tetras · 6 Dec 2020 at 21:29

MashTheKeyboard said:
Thanks for the responses.

I've got no idea how to tell how many updates I've had. MSFS2020 doesn't let you play without updating (as far as I can tell as it checks for updates immediately after opening it). I've also set the cache sizes to 300GB.

Nothing new installed, I don't have anti-virus on this computer except for the built in Windows one. The audio continues and the the mouse continues to move, just the image freezes for a noticeable amount of time. I played it with Task Manager open and you can see the downward to 0% spikes in the Graphics and CPU sections. No new devices, just took out the old hard disk drive and replace with the solid state drive.

I'm not sure what to read into that 0% spike, if it is meaningful in relation to the problem, or just a red herring.

That the audio and mouse/keyboard continue to operate suggest it is not a hardware issue and the CPU or GPU are not too busy to process.

A background task could be responsible, but surely that would use the CPU, not send it to 0%.

Something interrupting the functioning of the game is possible, one of those overlays, like in Steam, Microsoft game mode, or graphics driver software.

A gamepad, joystick, or other wireless device causing the game to drop out of full-screen mode, crashing the rendering process?

A rogue key macro?

Overheating, or power issues can cause mini-throttling, but that seems unlikely that it would drop both the CPU and GPU to 0.

From what I understand, the game uses stuff from the Internet and I'm not sure how gracefully it handles a change in connection speed? I'm just imagining what might happen if someone started watching Netflix, but you're using fibre and a cabled connection, so this seems unlikely.

MashTheKeyboard · 9 Dec 2020 at 12:30

Palladium said:
Update gfx drivers.

The "Geforce Experience" suggests it's up to date?

Birdseed007 said:
I think it can help to temporarily turn off antivirus software.

I can't seem to do that with Windows Defender?

Tetras said:
I'm just imagining what might happen if someone started watching Netflix, but you're using fibre and a cabled connection, so this seems unlikely.

There's nothing resource hungry I'm ware of using my internet at the same time as playing.