This article is a reprint, to learn more please click on the original link: https://pimax.com/msfs-3080-crystal/

This guide is written for and with DiscoVR‘s video on MFSF with the Pimax Crystal, using a 3080.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 isn’t a very optimized game for VR, but it is still one of the most amazing experiences to have in VR. It requires some tinkering, regardless of which VR headset you use. It cannot run on maximum, not even with the 4090.

But you can definitely play it with high FPS in VR on a 3080! (If you have a 3090Ti, you will need a DisplayPort signal repeater. This GPU has this problem with many VR headsets and is acknowledged by Nvidia.)

You can use the below settings as a baseline and tweak from there.

This may look like difficult but we’ll take you through it step-by-step! If you run into problems, you can also always reach out on our Discord channel.

First, installing Pimax Client, OpenXR, Pimax XR & OpenComposite

You will need these pieces of software installed. We have a guide for this here.

Pimax Client settings

For the 3080, use 0.75 Render Quality, turn foveated rendering off, as well as Smart Smoothing and Hidden Areas Mask:

Opt for 90 Hz Refresh Rate in the Device tab. The IPD settings are for yourself; for everyone this is different and this doesn’t affect performance.

SteamVR Settings

These are not important! Do not load MSFS via SteamVR. Load it through Steam with OpenXR, PimaxXR and OpenComposite running. Then press CTRL+Tab to enable VR.

Make sure you have enabled OpenComposite in OpenComposite Runtime Switcher:

OpenXR Toolkit Settings

You need to open the menu in-game and it’s only visible in VR. For the 3080, select the NIS profile, 75% size and 40% Sharpness, and use Turbo Mode! Don’t turn on foveated rendering.

Lastly, go into the Systems menu and make sure Override Resolution is selected.

(Photo by DiscoVR.)

MSFS In-Game settings

Render Scaling: 80% (this has a general quality effect and can be increased)
Global Render Quality: Medium
Anti-Aliasing: TAA (you can also disable this)
Terrain LoD: 85%
Terrain Vector: Data Low
Objects LoD: 85%
Windshield Effects: High
Ambient Occlusion: Off (this one is important)
Volumetric Clouds: Low
Texture Resolution: Medium
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x (Can be lower)
Texture Supersampling: 4×4 (Can lower this if needed)
Texture Synthesis: High (This affects distance sharpness)
Water Waves: High
Shadow Maps: 768
Terrain Shadows: Off
Contact Shadows: Off
Reflections: Low
Light Shafts: Off
Bloom: Off
Depth of Field: Off
Lens Correction: Off
Lens Flare: Off
Cockpit Refresh Rate: Low
Buildings: High
Trees: Medium
Grass And Bushes: Medium

This should yield a rather high FPS with decent graphics.