Building Your Professional Performance Profile
Estimated Lesson Time: 45 Minutes
Lesson Overview
Throughout the Performance Academy, you’ve learned how to optimise your PC, benchmark Microsoft Flight Simulator and measure performance using professional techniques.
Now it’s time to bring everything together.
In this lesson, you’ll create your own Professional Performance Profile.
Think of this as your simulator’s health record.
Rather than relying on memory, you’ll have a complete document containing your hardware specifications, graphics settings, benchmark results and performance data.
Every major change you make in the future can be recorded here, allowing you to track improvements, diagnose problems and understand exactly how your simulator has evolved over time.
Professional reviewers, system builders and optimisation specialists all maintain detailed records like these because good documentation is just as important as good optimisation.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll have created a Performance Profile that you can continue updating for years to come.
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will understand:
What a Performance Profile is.
Why documenting your system is important.
Which information should always be recorded.
How to monitor changes over time.
How to identify performance trends.
How to maintain a professional benchmark history.
What Is a Performance Profile?
A Performance Profile is a complete record of your Flight Simulator system.
It contains everything needed to understand how your simulator performs.
Instead of asking questions such as:
“I think my simulator was smoother last year.”
You’ll know.
You’ll have the evidence.
Your Performance Profile becomes your own technical reference document.
Why Create One?
Imagine this scenario.
Six months from now you decide to upgrade from:
RTX 4070
↓
RTX 5080
You rerun your benchmark.
Immediately you can compare:
- FPS
- GPU usage
- VRAM
- Temperatures
- MainThread behaviour
- Graphics settings
Everything is documented.
There is no guessing.
Section 1 – Hardware Specifications
The first section of your profile should describe your hardware.
Record:
CPU
Example:
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
GPU
Example:
NVIDIA RTX 5080
RAM
Record:
- Capacity
- Speed
- DDR generation
Example:
32GB DDR5 6000MHz
Storage
Include:
- Drive type
- Capacity
- Installation location
Example:
2TB NVMe SSD
Monitor
Record:
- Resolution
- Refresh Rate
- HDR Enabled or Disabled
- G-SYNC or FreeSync support
Example:
3840 × 2160
144Hz
HDR On
G-SYNC Enabled
Why Hardware Matters
Every benchmark depends on the hardware being used.
If you later upgrade:
- CPU
- GPU
- RAM
- SSD
- Monitor
You should update your Performance Profile immediately.
This allows future benchmark comparisons to remain meaningful.
Section 2 – Graphics Settings
Your graphics settings should also be documented.
Record:
- Resolution.
- Render Scaling.
- Anti-Aliasing.
- DLSS / FSR Mode.
- Frame Generation.
- Terrain LOD.
- Object LOD.
- Texture Resolution.
- Clouds.
- Shadows.
- Reflections.
- Ambient Occlusion.
- Glass Cockpit Refresh Rate.
- Traffic Settings.
These settings have a direct influence on performance and should always accompany benchmark results.
Section 3 – Driver Version
Record:
Graphics Driver Version
Example:
NVIDIA Driver 577.xx
Also note:
- Clean Installation?
- Driver Rollback?
- Studio Driver?
- Game Ready Driver?
Driver versions often influence performance, stability and compatibility.
Section 4 – Windows Version
Record:
- Windows Edition.
- Windows Build Number.
- Major Feature Update.
Example:
Windows 11 Pro
24H2
This becomes valuable when comparing performance before and after Windows updates.
Section 5 – Benchmark Performance
This is where your benchmark data is recorded.
Include:
FPS
- Average FPS.
- Minimum FPS.
- Maximum FPS.
- 1% Lows.
- 0.1% Lows.
Frame Analysis
- Frame Times.
- Frame Pacing.
Performance Limitation
Record:
MainThread Limited?
GPU Limited?
Balanced?
Knowing the limiting component is often more useful than the FPS itself.
Section 6 – GPU Information
Record:
GPU Utilisation
VRAM Usage
Clock Speed
Power Draw
GPU Temperature
These values help determine whether your graphics card is working efficiently.
Section 7 – CPU Information
Record:
CPU Utilisation
MainThread Behaviour
CPU Temperature
Clock Speed
Power Consumption (if available)
This helps identify thermal throttling, bottlenecks and workload changes.
Section 8 – System Temperatures
Temperature monitoring is essential.
Record:
CPU Temperature
GPU Temperature
SSD Temperature (if available)
Chipset Temperature (optional)
High temperatures may reduce performance through thermal throttling.
Tracking temperatures over time helps detect cooling problems before they become serious.
Section 9 – Notes
Every benchmark should include observations.
Examples:
- New NVIDIA Driver Installed.
- New Sim Update.
- New Airport Installed.
- Rolling Cache Cleared.
- Community Folder Disabled.
- Windows Update Completed.
- Slight shader stutters during first flight.
Small notes often explain unexpected benchmark results months later.
Updating Your Performance Profile
Your Performance Profile should be updated whenever you make significant changes.
Examples include:
Hardware Upgrades
↓
Graphics Driver Updates
↓
Simulator Updates
↓
Windows Updates
↓
BIOS Updates
↓
Major Graphics Setting Changes
↓
New Add-ons
↓
Cooling Upgrades
Every update tells the story of how your simulator has evolved.
Example Performance Profile
Hardware
CPU:
Ryzen 7 7800X3D
GPU:
RTX 5080
RAM:
32GB DDR5
Storage:
2TB NVMe
Monitor:
4K 144Hz
Graphics
DLSS Quality
Frame Generation On
Terrain LOD 200
Object LOD 200
Clouds Ultra
Textures Ultra
Software
Windows 11 Pro
Graphics Driver 577.xx
MSFS Version
Current Sim Update
Benchmark
Average FPS:
82
1% Low:
69
MainThread:
Occasionally Limited
GPU Utilisation:
98%
VRAM:
12.4GB
GPU Temperature:
67°C
CPU Temperature:
63°C
Notes
New graphics driver installed.
Shader cache rebuilt.
Airport benchmark repeated using the permanent benchmark flight.
Why This Is Valuable
A Performance Profile transforms random benchmark results into a complete performance history.
It allows you to:
- Compare upgrades.
- Track simulator updates.
- Monitor hardware health.
- Troubleshoot performance problems.
- Make informed optimisation decisions.
Instead of wondering why your simulator performs differently, you’ll have the evidence to explain it.
Common Mistakes
Only recording FPS.
Forgetting hardware changes.
Not recording graphics settings.
Ignoring temperatures.
Forgetting driver versions.
Never updating the profile.
Losing benchmark history.
Student Exercise
Today you’re going to create your own Professional Performance Profile.
Step 1
Create a new document titled:
My Microsoft Flight Simulator Performance Profile
Step 2
Complete the following sections:
Hardware
- CPU
- GPU
- RAM
- Storage
- Monitor
Graphics Settings
Record your complete graphics configuration.
Software
Record:
- Windows Version
- Graphics Driver Version
- Microsoft Flight Simulator Version
Benchmark Results
Record:
- Average FPS
- Minimum FPS
- Maximum FPS
- 1% Lows
- 0.1% Lows
- MainThread Status
- GPU Limited Status
Hardware Monitoring
Record:
- GPU Utilisation
- VRAM Usage
- CPU Temperature
- GPU Temperature
- Clock Speeds
Notes
Document anything unique about the benchmark.
Step 3
Save your Performance Profile.
Update it after every significant hardware, software or simulator change throughout the rest of the Performance Academy.
Student Checklist
Hardware recorded.
Graphics settings documented.
Windows version recorded.
Driver version recorded.
Benchmark results entered.
GPU information recorded.
CPU information recorded.
Temperatures monitored.
Performance Profile completed.
Lesson Summary
Congratulations.
You have now created your own Professional Performance Profile—a comprehensive record of your Flight Simulator system.
Remember:
- A Performance Profile is more than a list of specifications; it is a living document that records the evolution of your simulator over time.
- Documenting hardware, software, graphics settings and benchmark results allows you to measure improvements with confidence and troubleshoot issues more effectively.
- Recording temperatures, utilisation figures and bottleneck information provides valuable insight into how your PC behaves under real flight conditions.
- Updating your profile after every major change ensures that your benchmark history remains accurate and useful.
- Professional optimisation is not only about making changes—it’s about understanding and documenting the results of those changes.
Knowledge Check
- What is the purpose of a Performance Profile?
- Why should hardware specifications be recorded alongside benchmark results?
- Which graphics settings are most important to document?
- Why is it useful to record your Windows version and graphics driver version?
- How can temperature monitoring help diagnose performance issues?
- Why should benchmark notes be included after every test?
- When should you update your Performance Profile?
- How will maintaining a Performance Profile help you make better optimisation decisions in the future?