Update 5 looks like it will be a big moment for the evolution of Microsoft Flight Simulator as Asobo will be introducing some significant performance updates. The details of which were covered in the most recent Q&A session with the team working on the sim. Here’s what you need to know.
Fifty percent performance improvement?
At the 2:52 minute mark on Asobo’s Twitch Q&A stream (now available on YouTube as well), Sebastian Wloch goes into detail on the differences between Update 4 and 5. The test system Sebastian was making use of showed a significant 20 fps increase in frame rates and stutters eliminated in the test. The testing was done on a relatively powerful but no longer top of the line Core i7-9700k CPU with a RTX 2060 Super GPU.
Follow up comments confirm that the performance improvement is not actually tied to the DirectX12 update. Instead, optimizations of CPU usage have been done and systems like the glass cockpits on many aircraft now have their own separate CPU thread which helps to smooth things out.
Xbox performance is targeting a variety of frame rates including a default 30 fps which is what many TV’s still operate at. Other TV’s with higher frame rates and variable refresh rates are also supported.
Update 5 will come at the same time as the Xbox launch on July 27.
Stormbirds 
Man…I never want to get my hopes too high for news like this, but…I’ve been totally ignoring MSFS lately because of poor performance and stuttering, so I’d really, really like this to be true!
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you haven’t flown it in months, Update 4 solved a ton of problems with performance. I put my UK tour on hold because of poor performance but I’m doing it now and having a great time because its running smoothly again.
This seems like a further step forward and a great evolution of the sim.
LikeLike
Unfortunately, I still have not great performance even in Update 4. microstutters I can’t get rid of no matter what I try, even though frame rates are usually excellent. Plus some pretty nasty graphics driver crashes that are only present in MSFS, all add up to my focus shifting to other sims. It seems like this update may be tailor made to address a lot of that, though, and that’s pretty great
LikeLike
Not to mention finally getting the ability to smoothly fly anything with a G1000 in the sim, which I’ve essentially had to avoid since day one. Which is a hefty chunk of the available planes! Fingers crossed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are pretty heavy on CPU performance. Have you tried running them at a lower refresh rate? That functionality was added sometime in the last few updates. I have mine set to medium refresh and that seems to be a nice balance.
LikeLike
Nope, even on the lowest refresh they torpedo framerates and cause huge stuttering. It’s good to see it specifically mentioned, that gives me hope
LikeLiked by 1 person
They said the glass cockpits now will have their own dedicated cpu thread, which should help a lot.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yep, that should be a big help!
LikeLike
It’s good to see they found a way to significantly improve the perfs 🙂
I don’t really know what to do about this sim. Haven’t bought it yet, even though it’s tempting, because of the great A2A aircraft I have in P3D (v3). On the other hand, it’s very unlikely I buy a P3D upgrade, if I’m correct it’s still only a hub to plug aircraft, weather add-ons, scenery add-ons, navigation add-ons, etc. Whereas FS2020 has most of that by default.
If A2A were to port planes like the B17, the Connie, … it would be easier to decide. A costly hobby, flight sim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A2A is indeed working on some stuff right now and we’re waiting on them to provide another big update (they don’t tend to update often). Should be interesting to see what they come up with though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe the boost is partly related to DLSS support?
LikeLike
Not according to what they said. DLSS was not really mentioned.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They mentioned CPU related efficiencies and moving the glass cockpit instrumentation to its own thread. DLSS was not mentioned.
LikeLike