Performance

Increase frame rate

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Built-in Non-Synthetic Benchmark Framerate Test

When optimizing your X-Plane settings, you need to have a reliable way to ascertain the effectiveness of your hardware than just the fps display. The test ignores your Graphics Settings and just uses preset graphics values, giving you a reliable baseline to compare any hardware changes or Windows changes to.There is a hopelessly obsolete article in the X-Plane knowledge base which does not work as written. However this test is still available for X-Plane 12 as follows:

For Windows users:

Open the command prompt [cmd].
Assuming your X-Plane installation is located in C:\X-Plane 12, copy this line below and paste into the black command prompt window:

C:\X-Plane 12\x-plane –fps_test=13 –load_smo=Output/replays/fps_test_flight_737.fps –pref:_prefs_found=0 –no_sound

and X-Plane will load and run a test flight for a few minutes. Once it stops, open your log.txt file and search for “FRAMERATE”
The text editor will jump to these lines

FRAMERATE TEST: time=226.0, frames=10499, fps=46.45
GPU LOAD: time=226.0, wait=143.3, load=63.4%

The average frame rate (fps) for that flight is shown and the GPU load

In the X-Plane 12\Output\Replays folder there are 7 test flights
To test a different flight, replace fps_test_flight_737.fps with fps_test_kjfk.fps (or one of the other filenames) so that the command line appears as:

C:\X-Plane 12\x-plane –fps_test=13 –load_smo=Output/replays/fps_test_kjfk.fps –pref:_prefs_found=0 –no_sound

For Linux users:

Open the terminal.
Assuming your X-Plane installation is located in your home folder, paste in:

./X-Plane-x86_64 –fps_test=13 –load_smo=Output/replays/fps_test_flight_737.fps –pref:_prefs_found=0 –no_sound

./X-Plane-x86_64 –fps_test=13 –load_smo=Output/replays/fps_test_eddf.fps –pref:_prefs_found=0 –no_sound

./X-Plane-x86_64 –fps_test=13 –load_smo=Output/replays/fps_test_kjfk.fps –pref:_prefs_found=0 –no_sound

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Some Bullet-form Tips for Using X-Plane 12

Stability

  • Disable Unnecessary Plugins. Unused or incompatible plugins can tank performance. This is the #1 Stability tip of all time. Don’t just disable them; remove them from the directory hierarchy.
  • Optimize, but do not overclock your CPU or your graphics card
  • Cool your motherboard, RAM, and M2 SSDs. More than passive chassis fan cooling is required.
  • Use a UPS [UN-interruptible Power Supply] and an over-specced PSU [Power Supply Unit]

Graphics Optimization

  • Tweak Render Settings. Lower the visual effects (e.g., shadows, reflections, and antialiasing) if performance lags. Balance quality and frame rate for your hardware.
  • Try FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution). X-Plane 12 supports AMD FSR, which can boost performance without significant visual loss.
  • Monitor VRAM Usage: High texture settings can overload your VRAM. Use the “Texture Quality” slider to optimize.

Aircraft Handling

  • Calibrate Controllers. Properly calibrate yokes, pedals, and throttle quadrants in the settings menu to ensure smooth aircraft control.
  • Adjust Control Sensitivity. Use the sensitivity sliders to fine-tune aircraft response, especially if it feels too twitchy.
  • Study the Flight Model Adjustment. X-Plane’s physics engine is advanced – experiment with “Flight Model per Frame” in the settings if you encounter unrealistic behaviour.

Weather System

  • Real Weather Accuracy. Ensure you’re connected to the internet for real-time weather updates. If the weather seems incorrect, force a refresh in the settings.
  • Adjust Turbulence Sensitivity. The new weather system is more dynamic. If turbulence feels overdone, tweak the realism sliders.

Customizing Views

  • Save Custom Camera Angles. Use the [Ctrl] + [number keys] to save cockpit or external views and quickly recall them with the corresponding number key.
  • Use Free Camera Mode. [c] or [Shift] + [4] activates free camera mode, great for screenshots or inspecting scenery.

Multiplayer and ATC

  • Use Default ATC. While not perfect, X-Plane 12’s ATC has improved tremendously over the past year. The latest update, 12.1.3 (about to be released – Time of writing: Late November), contains a huge ATC system update.
  • If you feel more confident, join online networks like VATSIM, IVAO, or PilotEdge for realistic ATC and multiplayer flying.

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Too many active AI aircraft plays havoc with ATC

In the constant search for realism it is tempting to activate more than three AI aircraft. This can lead to all sorts of troubles with ATC.

Apart from your own aircraft there are three other possible types of aircraft found at an airport:

Static aircraft – These are simply non moving models and use very few resources. The just make the airport seem fuller.

Traffic aircraft – there are a number of traffic addons available – both freeware and payware which are controlled by the traffic add-on they are paired with. They move, taxi, take off and land but they are actually not connected to the X-Plane ATC system at all. They have relatively little effect on X-plane’s performance.

AI Aircraft – These are aircraft that are controlled by X-Plane’s ATC – with ever increasing intelligence. They are essentially the default aircraft of X-Plane itself. They even talk to ATC. The problem is that each additional aircraft uses a lot of extra resources and this extra load first becomes noticeable when ATC has long pauses before giving you instructions. Too many active AI aircraft also make conversation with ATC difficult because there is much more chatter, and you have to find a gap to send your message.

One or two AI aircraft should suffice with an absolute maximum of 3.

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Windows Performance tip

Don’t do this if your X-plane machine is also your general home/office machine.

This works both for Windows 10 or Windows 11.

The most effective Windows performance tip: Turn off Windows indexing.

Windows is constantly indexing new folders and can suddenly start doing this while you are flying. If you are using your PC exclusively for X-Plane or gaming, turn this indexing service off.

In the search box type  Services and scroll down to Windows Search:

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If it shows the word Running in the status column, click that line and click Stop the service:

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Restart the PC and go back to the Services list and check that it is blank in the Status column and that Manual appears in the Startup Type column.

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X-Plane and Anti-Virus

Anti-virus programs, by and large, check each file on your drive before reading or executing it. So surely it slows X-plane down when flying? 

Yes indeed it does.
So do you disable the AV scanner on your dedicated X-plane machine?

Well, rather not…

But since you know that every file in your X-Plane12 folder is virus-free, it’s not necessary to waste system resources scanning them every time you run X-Plane. 

So, simply tell the AV scanner to skip scanning the X-plane folder.

If you use a 3rd party AV program, follow the instructions for excluding the X-Plane 12 folder from Virus scanning.

If you use the built-in Windows security app (used to be called Microsoft Defender) ,  type sec in the search box and select Windows Security

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Click Virus & threat protection

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Under Virus and threat protection settings, click Manage settings

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Under Exclusions click Add or remove exclusions. Allow the app to make changes and then

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Click + Add an exclusion.

Click Folder  from the drop-down list and select your X-Plane 12 folder.

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Perfect Power – Fewer Crashes

This tip applies to desktop computers, not laptops.

Many simulator pilots do not appreciate the importance of clean, consistent power reaching the motherboard.

X-Plane is a very demanding application that can easily stress your computer components. During times of high power draw, a “noisy” electricity supply and/or an inadequate PSU can cause problems. There are two things you can do to protect your computer system and ensure voltages to the individual motherboard sections do not fluctuate when a load is applied. 

First, ensure that your PSU (switch-mode Power Supply Unit) provides at least 30% more power than the total power requirements (at full X-Plane load) of:

  • the Graphics Card,
  • the CPU,
  • the Motherboard,
  • the RAM,
  • the SSDs
  • the mechanical hard drives,
  • the USB-powered peripherals.

Expect a modern computer system fitted with a high-end graphics card to require a PSU rated at least 850W. 

The tool to use is an online PSU calculator. Here is a good one from MSI

The other thing you can do is to invest in a small UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). A UPS’s job is to instantly switch in a battery-powered mains power voltage when a brief electricity fluctuation occurs. This may happen if the mains power fails briefly or “flickers” or if a brownout occours. Effectively, a line-interactive UPS “smooths out” the power fluctuation, protecting your flight from a sudden, unexpected crash-to-desktop. It can also protect your expensive motherboard and CPU from voltage surges far better than a surge-protector.

While the purpose of a UPS is to maintain constant power to the computer and the monitor, it does not need to be rated more than 1500VA for a high-end X-Plane system since it just needs to maintain power to cover the brief interruption or to give you enough time to save your flight and shut down properly. A much more powerful inverter would be required to bridge lengthy power interruptions.

If you dislike long flights that suddenly crash, invest in a good quality, over-specced PSU and a small UPS.

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Blurry Textures

This is a “Tip” only in the most brutal sense. It’s more of an explanation of a bad X-Plane experience!
If you are getting blurry textures – particularly noticeable with high-resolution payware addons – It is most likely that you do not have enough VRAM built into your graphics card.

If you start running out of VRAM, X-Plane won’t crash; instead it will simply make your textures “blurry” to effectively reduce VRAM usage and fit everything into the available video memory.

Many payware addons have a “recommended VRAM requirement” which is nowhere near the “minimum X-Plane 12 requirement”.
With recent improvements to X-Plane 12 more and more stuff is being handled by the Graphics card and unfortunately older Graphics cards with less VRAM are beginning to no longer be fit for purpose.
If your graphics card is fitted with 6GB or less you are bound to have a less than clear display even on a lower-resolution monitor. You may also start getting “device loss errors”.
For a decent visual X-Plane experience you will need a minimum of 8GB VRAM, and more realistically 12GB VRAM. If you are making a purchase for long-term sustainability, “bite the bullet” and look at a GeForce RTX 3090 or a 4090 which has 24GB.

If money is no object, the new GeForce RTX 5090 boasts 32GB.

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Q8Pilot’s X-Plane Settings guide

Here is a link to a potentially very useful video by flightsim YouTube blogger Q8Pilot.

This is a video of 7 ways to improve your frame rate.

Not all his settings will necessarily apply to your setup, but it is worth watching his video, comparing his settings to yours, and listening to his reasons for applying certain values and switches.

Of course, when the next major X-Plane 12 update is released, some of these settings may be outdated (The video was released in September 2026), but that’s the reality of our ever-improving X-Plane 12. 😁

Please do not consider this a “one video fixes all” solution. No flight sim computer system is identical to another. Some of his ideas will not affect your system, or may even result in worse performance, but overall, this video is full of useful settings that are worth a look. Use what works and ignore what doesn’t. 

If your system works fairly well, but you are looking for some tweaks to coax just that little bit more performance, make sure you make a note of your original settings before making alterations. I personally have to admit being very guilty of this mistake – you will never reliably remember what your original settings were after tweaking things a number of times. Ideally, simply make a second copy of your entire X-Plane 12 folder before making any changes. Ignore this paragraph at your peril!

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Nvidia Drivers – update or not?

The latest NVIDIA driver is not necessarily the best. Be cautious about updating it as soon as it is released. 
A better approach is to download a driver and keep the .zip archive file after installation. If you update the driver and X-Plane behaves worse, you can always revert to the older (better) driver.

Look at the specific improvements NVIDIA announces – I have never seen X-Plane specifically mentioned in any of their gaming improvement lists – but that doesn’t mean the new driver might not improve X-Plane’s performance on your machine.