‘Microsoft Flight Simulator’ Sim Update 5 demo reaches 60 FPS frame rate on relatively older PC setup

“Microsoft Flight Simulator” players on PC will have something important to look forward to this month as developers recently demonstrated how the upcoming Sim Update 5 will improve the frame rate. To further show the significance of the patch, developers showed fans how the update performs even on a relatively older PC rig.

The team behind the game held an hour-long Twitch livestream earlier this week, including “Microsoft Flight Simulator” head Jorg Neumann, Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch, and the sim’s executive producer Martial Bossard. They provided a sneak peek on how the next update will be more than a typical patch, especially with how it instantly improves the game’s performance even without the latest PC parts.

To showcase the difference, Wloch ran “Microsoft Flight Simulator” on his PC with Intel Core i7-9700K and Nvidia GeForce 2060 Super. The sim was set in Ultra graphics settings and rendering at 4K. While flying over Manhattan with the Sim Update 4 version, the frame rate plays just above 30 frames per second. Wloch also showed that with this build and setting, the sim uses 100 percent of the CPU, 75 percent of the GPU, and a whopping 26.9GB RAM.

However, when Wloch flew over Manhattan again using the same PC and graphics settings but with the “Microsoft Flight Simulator” Sim Update 5, the game started immediately at 60 FPS and even going above for a few seconds. While there were slight drops in the frame rate, Wloch pointed out how the updated version got rid of the stutter in the system.

Wloch also showed that the Sim Update 5 is making the GPU do most of the work as “Microsoft Flight Simulator” Sim Update 5 uses 99 percent of the GPU, but the CPU utilization dropped to 75 percent. Memory used was also drastically reduced to 14.5GB.

Granted that the specs of Wloch’s computer are not really that old, this should still be a welcome change for PC gamers who have yet to acquire newer components due to the ongoing chips shortage. The “ Microsoft Flight Simulator” Sim Update 5 is expected to become available to PC users once the game is released on Xbox Series X/S on July 27.