X-Plane 11 running at sub 60 FPS

Question

I just build a new PC with a GeForce 2060 Super and a Ryzen 5 3600 and I cant seem to push more than 60 fps on the lowest settings?  Is X-Plane this intensive or do I have a setting still on that is ruining my performance?

Answer 1

Oh yes, X-Plane is very resource intensive.  It is a simulation, thus it doesn’t make much sense to compare its FPS numbers against typical gaming software.  Maxing at ~60 FPS is reasonable, given your system specs.

It begs the question, why you do need/want more?

In my opinion, X-Plane 11 can function smoothly between 30-40 FPS.  High 20s still provides acceptable margin of variability; while below 20 is unusable.  To maximize enjoyment out of my hardware, I’d much rather aim for higher rendering settings, at an acceptable framerate.

Answer 2

30 fps is the standard "Optimal" level, below which the eye percieves imperfections.

It makes sense to adjust the X-Plane settings (without any addons installed), to achieve the best performance from both graphics card and cpu to the 30fps benchmark.
It is then a decision, or tradeoff as to whether you use an addon (particularly weather) and suffer lower settings within X-Plane to achieve this.

Every simmer would love to run at 60fps with all sliders at Max, but this will be a long time coming, perticularly with Moore's Law no longer true. With such a vast area to draw, sims demand unique levels of performance.