Microsoft Flight Simulator’s Update 5 greatly improves performance

During a Live dev Q&A livestream,  Asobo Studio CEO Sebastian Wloch, showcased the upcoming performance improvements for PC and the upcoming Xbox release. 

Throughout the live stream, Wloch compared the current build against the new Update 5, which is set to launch on July 27th, to show off just how much of an improvement this technical update brings to Microsoft Flight Simulator. 

Running an Intel Core i7-900K CPU and an NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2060 Super GPU, Wloch’s PC is absolutely no slouch, yet on Ultra graphics with a 4k upscale, he only managed to achieve 30 to 40 FPS when flying over Manhattan, with his CPU maxing out at 100% capacity. 

Switching to Update 5 however has the framerate soar to a much more appropriate 55 to 60 FPS, with the GPU becoming the bottleneck at 100% rather than the CPU since Update 5 is targeted at making primarily CPU based improvements. 

Update 5 is set to launch on July 27th, the same day that the Series X|S versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator launch. With this performance improvement, hopefully, console players can expect to see the gorgeous vistas of Microsoft Flight Simulator without the framerate being more akin to a slideshow.