These are my optimal settings for playing Microsoft Flight Simulator on an entry level laptop. FPS mostly stays over 24, with ocassional drops, but no serious stutters. Video shows performance on a circuit flight around Moorabbin, Melbourne.
Specs:
i5-7300hq
8GB Ram
GTX 1050 4GB
Installed on HDD
SETTINGS
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Graphics:
Display Mode: Full Screen
Full Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1090
V-Sync: Off
Render Scaling: 80
Anti-Aliasing: FXAA
Terrain Level of Detail: 95
Terrain Vector Data: Off
Buildings: Medium
Trees: Medium
Grass and Bushes : Off
Objects Level of Detail: 50
Volumetric Clouds: Medium
Texture Resolution: Ultra
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Texture Supersampling: 2x2
Texture Synthesis: Medium
Water Waves: Low
Shadow Maps: 512 - change in setting file
Terrain Shadows: Off
Contact Shadows: Off
Windshield Effects: Medium
Ambient Occlusion: Low
Reflections: Medium
Light Shafts: Medium
Bloom: On
Depth of Field: Medium
Lens Correction: Off
Lens Flare: On
Use Generic Plane Models (AI Traffic): Off
Use Generic Plane Models (Multiplayer): Off
Glass Cockput Refresh Rate: Low
Traffic:
Aircraft Traffic Type: AI Offline
Airliners Traffic Density: 50
General Aviation Traffic Density: 25
Aiport World Density: 50
Ground Aircraft Density: 50
Worker Density: 50
Lesiure Boats: 50
Road Vehicles: 50
Ships and Ferries: 50
Data:
Online Functionality: On
Bing Data World Graphics: On
Photogammetry: Off
Live Real-World Air Traffic: On
Multiplayer: Off
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Rolling Cache: Off
Manual Cache: Off
Thanks for Watching!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueEiEViDv4Y