Crystal Light Settings Optimization Guide | DCS | MSFS

Today we're looking at optimization for the Crystal Light, based upon the 3060Ti, 3080, 4060Ti, and 4090, in DCS and MSFS.
For a quality discount on the Pimax Crystal, use the following link:
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AutoFPS: github.com/ResetXPDR/MSFS2020...
Processor: Intel i9 11900KF (overclocked to 5.2GHz)
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Hero VIII
Memory: 128GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO 3600MHz (4x32GB)
System Cooling: CORSAIR iCUE H150i Elite LCD XT Liquid CPU Cooler - IPS LCD Screen
Graphics Cards: MSI GeForce RTX 4090
Operating System: MS Windows 11 Professional
Operating System Drive: 2TB Samsung 990 Pro M2 NVMe
DCS Hard Drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PRO M2 NVMe
Power Supply: CORSAIR AX1000i ATX Titanium
Motion Platform: DOF Reality P3
Virtual Reality: Quest2, Quest3, Varjo Aero, Pimax 8KX and Pimax Crystal (eye-tracking)
Hand tracking: Pimax Hand Tracking module (LeapMotion IR170)
WinWing DDIs and UFC
Thrustmaster F/A-18C and F-16 Hornet stick and Warthog Throttle.
Thrustmaster TRP pedals.
Sim-shaker software driving 3 tactile bass-shakers: andres-shop.simshaker.com/
If you enjoy aircraft, flight or flight simulation, consider getting yourself into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
If you enjoy military aircraft, flight or flight simulation, consider getting yourself into DCS World.
Music:
Bliss Orchestral Orchestrated by TallyMouse
#msfs #aviation #flightsimulator #dcs #airplanes #jets #gpu #pimax #crystal #light

[@wildbillkelso2083]

I used your video to rapidly set up a review kit. I took the liberty of mentioning you and placed a link to this page. I'm a fan. Keep at it please.

[@farmertrueVR]

Good stuff! This will be a huge time saver for so many folk venturing into the world of Crystal clarity!

[@tallymouse]

Thank you, kind sir!

[@scarryharry1]

Very NiceTallymouse. I like it very much! Can't wait the light arives from the postman.

[@davekral7274]

Looking for something to replace my Reverb G2 before it bricks. Running it with a 3060 TI. This pretty much seals my decision to go with a Pimax Crystal Light. By far the best settings video I've ever seen. Subscribed.

[@ben433]

Agreed about quad views for MSFS. I’m playing a lot more DCS these days because of that. With a well tuned Crystal, I can get 90 fps and supesampling. For those not aware, there is a wishlist topic for MSFS and we should all vote it up! Hopefully already planned for MSFS 2024.

[@user-tc6kf3we2p]

Well done. Fantastic piece of work. Thank you

[@albertpalahi]

Thank you so much for this video! I didn't know about the foveated rendering and my vr experience has improved a lot. Now I can play with a good resolution and good fps!

[@zigzagfly1635]

Much needed. Thank you sir !

[@iontesu2911]

Exactly what I needed. Thank you!!!

[@brogers4416]

Thank you! This is informative and easy to follow. Even if I don’t have one of the graphics cards featured in this video, it provides a great reference point from which to determine where I should start. You’re the best!

[@tallymouse]

You are very welcome, sir!

[@liebesmaennchen]

THX! I will try a performance test with the crystal and crystal light!

[@Jogngood]

For someone who would like to try both simulators but is put off with the settings. I thank you ❤

[@wildbillkelso2083]

Very nice work. Thank you.

[@Schwing27]

Wow this is so awesome! This makes me even more excited to get this headset. I’m coming from a Reverb G2.

[@tallymouse]

It connects every time. You are going to be happy coming from the G2!

[@Schwing27]

@@tallymouse I see what ya did there. If you know you know. ;). Also, Thanks for creating this video.

[@foreignmandirector]

Ha ha! No 4k.. what's going on? Great vid so far..

[@tallymouse]

Working on it!

[@_od_7825]

Thanks a lot for this. It does confirm that I could run DCS on my 3080. Not in a rush, but the looming G2 deadline concerns me and I’m seeking a viable alternative. It would seem that the Crystal Light does trump the Quest 3 after all. So much for the naysayers on my post on your previous video.

[@tallymouse]

If I already owned a Quest3, I'd only be updating for the increase in clarity (twice the pixels per eye), however, if I owned a G2 or a Quest2 and was only doing PCVR (not standalone Meta stuff) then it'd be a no-brainer to go for the Light IMHO.

[@_od_7825]

@@tallymouse I have the G2, perfectly happy with it in all honesty. I’m just thinking ahead to when it’s switched off by Microsoft, which I think is scandalous. Switching off perfectly good hardware that wasn’t cheap is really poor. They don’t switch off old X-boxes. I can’t afford a new headset and a new GPU, but I’m happy to get a headset that would benefit from a later upgrade to the GPU in future.

[@tallymouse]

@@_od_7825 it's crazy what's happening with WMR!

[@Daniel-zy3zm]

I've only had a moment in DCS since optimizing with these settings, and holy batman I think the sharpening setting in Nvidia control panel fixed that "blurry long distance" aspect of DCS. If this holds and isn't placebo it is going to help spotting and dogfighting tremendously!

[@VRFlightSimGuy]

Great video and some interesting settings to try there. I'm personally not a fan of DLSS in VR but it certainly helps performance. Keep up the stellar content. Best wishes.

[@tallymouse]

Thank you, sir! Hopefully it'll get new Crystal Light users started on the wondeful journey of endless tweeking! 😂

[@andyakarudolfhessiansack7936]

Ok, some of my year long obsession notes regarding msfs settings. Shadows batter cpu and fps. Put them at low, the lot. It isnt worth it, and isnt noticeable. Ambient inclusion off. Raymaeched off. Light shafts low. All other cubemap and shadow map lowest figure setting. Use autofps. Set your highest and lowest. Massive difference! Everthing else high and ultra. 4090/7800x3d. Persinally i will chop down the shadows and stuff above in order to eliminate rhe need for FFR. I really dont want that fuzzynes at the edges of the eye. This is really a very good service to VR users. Really like you tallymouse.

[@andyakarudolfhessiansack7936]

Tally.... if i look out the side of the plane upon takeoff, and say i was at 36fps, is is smooth? Because i have the quest3 and use 36fps asw on - i see 72hz/fps. I was never able to use asw off, as it produced ghosting. Was this ghosting the low framerate of 36fps...or something else? 36fps in 2d is perfectly fine for me. But in 3d vr, its so much more different perhaps? Please help me mange my expectations.

[@tallymouse]

Great feedback! I've been messing around with 8k shadows recently, as I got annoyed with the cruddy shark-tooth shadows marching across my cockpit - however, I agree, shadows are a killer!

[@andyakarudolfhessiansack7936]

​​@@tallymouseAhhh yes, agreed on the "tooth shadows" in cockpit. Forgot abou that one. Yes that one high, the rest low and even off. Tally. I am still not clear how the pimax light will perform at 36 or 45fps out the side of the aircraft. Is it smooth at those figures? You said you would see what you can do? Can you show this please 🙏 I would even pay you for your time and service for this. So...just a view to the left or right upon takeoff with 36 or 45. Can the little mouse with huge IPD manage this feat? 🎉❤ Name the price... i will happily pay via paypal link for this sevice to humanity.

[@tallymouse]

@@andyakarudolfhessiansack7936 no worries.. i'll make a short video and upload it unlisted and send you the link!

[@andyakarudolfhessiansack7936]

@@tallymouse Tally....that would be so good of you. I really want to thank you. You've twinkled like a star amongst the darkness. Waiting excitedly. ❤️

[@jakeperl5857]

Thank you! This gives me hope I will do well with my 4070ti and i5-13600 when my Crystal Light arrives in 8 weeks or so...gonna be a long wait 🤪

[@Crazy-Bear-Gamer-Channel]

thank you!😀

[@rotormann]

Great work! I already got my settings dialed in, having an original Crystal (not light). Quadview makes so much difference for the fps. (Having a i9 13900k+RTX4090). But I didn't know about the image sharpening setting in nVidia control panel. Will check that out. I really miss my Almalence plug in i DCS :)

[@tallymouse]

Me too.. that's why I started looking into poor-mans' replacements..

[@4secsharkmr352]

Good one. Subscribed

[@xraycharli]

my doughts about that video. 1. Crystal light does no have eye tracking and furthermore the OpenXR Toolkit does working together with the light version. Beside I saw only 10sec for update each single line as you open a line is not userfriendly. The light version works great (with RX4090 ) without any tweaking but it needs improvment on the driver due to problems on the tracking mode.

[@4_am]

Thank you! Its an good sweep of cards. Annoyingly ive 7800 yay team red.

[@billbaggins1688]

Very helpful. FYI, turning off Anistropic Filtering in MSFS, and turning it on in Nvidia control panel gives a very nice little performance boost with my 3080.

[@tallymouse]

Great tip! Thank you!

[@Chris85EBW]

Thanks from Germany looks Good and fast ❤ Ryzen 5800X3D and RTX 4090❤

[@GT1GT]

Nice Video. I am rocken a 4090, accept my CPU is only a I9 9900K. Not sure how much of a difference my settings will be compared to the performance your getting but I'm hopefull it will be close to it. I am also using a Pimax Crystal OG and soon trying the Larger FOV Lenses that should have already been shipped.

[@tallymouse]

Once you're used to them, you'll love the BIG FOV lenses.. at least I do!

[@MrMartin0815]

Thank you for your informative videos! Question: I enthusiastically use Motion Reprojection with my G2 in MSFS - 45 FPS without vs. with Motion Reprojection makes a huge difference for me. What does Pimax offer here? Is there a working solution? I keep reading about Smart Smoothing, but it either doesn't work or creates unsightly artifacts and is actually turned off by everyone. That almost sounds like a dealbreaker to me. How smooth do you perceive the image in MSFS on the Light compared maybe to the G2 with Motion Reprojection?

[@juliantaffa4089]

It looks like even a 4090 is a little underpowered for what the Crystal Light can really do, which is incredible. Hopefully the 50-series brings a whole new level of performance

[@tallymouse]

@juliantaffa4089 imagine what the Crystal Super is going to be like..😂 though eye-tracking and DFR will help a lot there!

[@Burtlancaster1945]

Hi, do you override resolution on open xr for 3080 in MSFS, and if so what is your resolution set at please? Thanks

[@NorbertLing]

GREAT vidéo Tally Mouse !! What was the resolution of the headset in msfs for the different cards ? Thanks !

[@tallymouse]

I left the headset at maximum resolution in Pimax Play, and without override in OpenXR toolkit.

[@NorbertLing]

@@tallymouse Thanks ! I will give a try with my " classical" crystal.

[@iontesu2911]

Excellent video, thank you. A quick question: is Quadviews necessary for MSFS as well? If so, are the settings shown for DCS applicable for MSFS for the 3080 case? I really appreciate your help.

[@tallymouse]

@@iontesu2911 quadviews only works with DCS and Pavlov, currently.

[@bigmakbm1]

Unfortunately no benchmark using 7900XTX. I would expect it about the 4080 level in VR.

[@keithbriscoe99]

I just noticed there are no OpenXR settings here - were those left as default everything? No CAS for sharpening needed? or NIS for re-sizing? Turbo mode? Thx - - Mine is scheduled to arrive today!!

[@tallymouse]

@keithbriscoe99 Quadviews requires default OXRT settings.

[@Endure808]

What about OpenXR settings? Do you leave it at 100%? I‘ve been using 220% with DLSS (G2) still waiting on my Crystal

[@wormeaten]

Good job m8. Very informative vide but I have one question is this, as you call it native resolution 4312x5102 per eye or combined and how this is related to display resolution 2880x2880? Thanks.

[@tallymouse]

All modern VR headsets render a much larger image for the headset to accommodate for the distortion profile. That is then displayed on the 2880x2880 per eye.

[@simonoregan4744]

I was hoping for a side by side comparison between the cards but I suppose I could use that single adjustment as a reference point

[@tallymouse]

Actually quite difficult to fit all those details side by side on a 4k screen!

[@AdamLindgrenComposer]

How are you capturing the video? OpenXR capture through OBS? Native Pimax software? Something else?

[@tallymouse]

OpenXr Mirror capture through OBS. However, you have to zoom and rescale as the original is a 1:1 box.

[@AdamLindgrenComposer]

@@tallymouse Awesome! So it'll take some tweaking, but will capture similar to my current Reverb G2

[@nahemoth0843]

Great video! From what I understood, you don´t set any antialiasing option in DCS, just use the settings from the NVidia control panel, am I right? Did you notice any difference (performance or quality) compared to set MSAA in DCS options?

[@tallymouse]

Note that I am also using supersampling through QuadViews Companion in the Foveate region - so it's a bit like running MSAA over the central portion of the image only, so has better performance than running MSAA over the whole image.

[@mayacakil]

@@tallymouse Hi Tally, its a great video! Thank you for the Sharpening tip in Nvidia. I have quest3 and 4080. Only thing that bothers me is shimmering in MSAA. When you play online you can't use DLSS or DLAA due to spotting. Does Quadviews work with Quest3? Many thanks in advance. (In description it say : Works with Pimax Crystal, Pimax 12k, Quest Pro, and Varjo Aero, Varjo XR3.)

[@RobertParkinson-vh1it]

Tally, in Quad Views Companion I've found that having the Turbo box Checked seems to cause some stutter in the HMD, have you noticed anything like that?

[@tallymouse]

If you're using QuadViews, ensure that you blank/default your OXRT OSD settings, as QuadViews settings can cause issues with OXRT settings if they are not default.

[@RobertParkinson-vh1it]

Thanks, I'm pretty sure I reset everything to default, but I'll double check.

[@keithbriscoe99]

@@tallymouse To confirm... Tally, are you saying that you do NOT use OpenXR Toolkit for these tests and other software settings.. OR.. is it that you use OXRT but return to all default values? Thank you.

[@tallymouse]

@keithbriscoe99 in DCS, i am using default OXRT values, so that they do not conflict with the QuadViews override. In MSFS, i am using OXRT settings.

[@Tatsukoa808]

What nVida drivers are you using in the video. The latest drivers don't have the same sharpening settings in the video just sharpen and a %.

[@nickatgmail]

I’m seeing the same ‘Sharpen’ and %, and he did mention we might see this, but he did neglect to tell us what % to set.. should we set 25% to match the 0.25 setting that Tally mouse said?

[@tallymouse]

I think they moved it under image scaling.

[@tallymouse]

25%.. or 0.25.. may be found under image scaling in new driver

[@nickatgmail]

@@tallymouse Luvyawork sir ;)

[@buikhan]

I have amd 7900 gre. What setting of yours should I model after? It won’t coming until later July. 😊

[@tallymouse]

I would start with the 4060Ti setting, and then slowly turn things up until you're starting to see a noticeable drop in fps. The 7900gre is closest to a 4070 Super, so the 4060Ti would be a great place to start!

[@johncrichton4341]

Just a heads-up, did you know that using the image scalinh option increases load on the processor.

[@tallymouse]

Yes.. so does QuadViews. However, the results are just dreamy!

[@blit1z_]

hello mate do you think that dcs can run in vr with 2080super and quest 3 ?

[@tallymouse]

It can, yes. I have a friend running just that setup. He uses the link cable.

[@Malamutefirst]

Very good stuff🐭 My Problem: MSFS 2020, 7800x3d/4090, using Pimax Open XR and OpenXR toolkit, 90HZ, half refresh rate, no SS, Maximum, Turbo Mode on, 46xx Resolution in OXRtoolKit with DLSS Quality, FFR preset, MSFS with high/ultra, TLOD 130. Sharpness and colours are amazing but when i move my head a little bit or the plane itself, the Cockpit and the landscape become blurry and some stutters too. I tried different settings, nothing helped. Any idea, what i am missing or doing wrong? Any help appreciated…. Solid locked 45 FPS/90 HZ or 36 FPS/72 HZ, no problems there.

[@tallymouse]

Ensure that you have smart smoothing turned off in Pimax Play.

[@peppetheking7]

Can you help me with iracing settings please?

[@phillindsay5575]

Why would you turn eye tracking on in Pimax XR? I thought the Light didn't have eye tracking?

[@tallymouse]

It doesn't but, at least on my setup, helps trick QuadViews into enabling, so you can use it as a FFR system.

[@phillindsay5575]

@@tallymouse Right-oh, good to know. Thanks for doing the work. I've got a Crystal Light coming (allegedly), and I'm considering upgrading the GPU from 3090, tis should help in that decision.

[@IRRE_Schwarzy]

I doesn't have the image sharpening option on my nvidia control panel

[@tallymouse]

3D settings > Image Scaling : select on.. sharpening is in there!

[@valentinis84]

the problem with this video is that it is not an example of the classic use of DCS starting from the MP, up to the clouds which are totally absent here

[@sundog8775]

Thanks for the video. In DCS I have some light flickering when set at 72hz... Does anyone have a solution?

[@tallymouse]

Is the flickering all over or at the edges?

[@sundog8775]

@@tallymouse The peripheral flickers, mostly the sky. I've read its an issue with some ppl and 72hz, just hoping someone might know a fix

[@Deinecraft]

You mentioned to activiate Eyetracking but the Crystal Light doenst have Eyetracking right?

[@tallymouse]

@@Deinecraft correct, but with eye tracking enabled, you can use QuadViews as a better form of FFR

[@user-ho9fk5ru5t]

Отличный обзор!!! Не могу понять, почему у меня в mfs2020 настройка shadow maps больше 2048 не ставится.

[@tallymouse]

Да! Я обнаружил это видео несколько месяцев назад: посмотрите. В конечном итоге вы меняете user.opt, чтобы увеличить детализацию теней. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5fEZ6yFo96qncU

[@anandss5510]

Is this crystal light compatible with gaming laptops like Predator Helios 300

[@tallymouse]

That's a 3060?

[@MCP2002]

How does the Crystal Light compare to the Varjo Aero? I love my Aero.

[@tallymouse]

The Aero's great, but I sold mine about 5 months after purchasing the OG Crystal, as I found the Crystal has a much large VFOV. The Crystal Light doesn't have eye-tracking, so there's that - unlike the OG Crystal. The colors are somewhat brighter on the Crystal Light, and it has local dimming too.

[@MCP2002]

@@tallymouse Whats the max ppd on the Light?

[@iontesu2911]

I have a an RTX 3080. I tried your settings for DCS. It’s perfect. My FPS jumped from 40-50 all the way to 71, I’m really happy. For MSFS not so much. With your MSFS settings I got 10FPS. Here are a few oddities. In your OpenXR settings (v1.3.2 same as mine) after Foveated Rendering setting (which I set as recommended to Custom) I don’t get the entry “Eye tracking” set to ON. I can see in the sim that eye tracking is ON. Just reporting it here just in case you recognize something stupid I did… Second issue is that in the MSFS VR settings for “Shaddow Maps” I can go only up to 2048 with my RTX3080. Your setting is 8192. So my question is are the MSFS settings really for 3080? Thank you for your help.

[@tallymouse]

@@iontesu2911 Google MSFS 4k shadows.. it's a setting in a config file.

[@iontesu2911]

@@tallymouse what an incredible setting. At 4096, in my case, the MSFS FPS jumped to 40-50 depending on the flight. Over New York it's 40+. Looks great! Thank you again!!!

[@guylarochelle9793]

For me, 120 hz is causing problems. I often need to reboot the computer for frequency change to work as the change itself causes Windows to totally freeze.

[@Mr4NGRY]

Enable eye tracking on Crystal Light?

[@tallymouse]

It does not have eye-tracking, hence why it's inexpensive, however, you can trick QuadViews into working and use it as a very controllable/sophisticated FFR system.

[@Mr4NGRY]

Ah I gotcha! I thought I heard you say to turn on eye tracking but couldn't figure out why 🤣 thank you!

[@mondgrille]

3:20 Why turn on eye tracking?

[@tallymouse]

At least on my system, it's to help get QuadViews enabled.

[@strider00111]

The crystal light does not have eye-tracking, or am I missing something?

[@tallymouse]

It does not have eye-tracking, hence why it's inexpensive, however, you cam trick QuadViews into working and use it as a very controllable/sophisticated FFR system.

[@strider00111]

@@tallymouse DCS 60fps with your settings, RTX 4080. 45 fps with msfs. Thanks for the tips!

[@peppetheking7]

Can you post settings for games like iracing please?

[@fadtidmbdmb]

will it run better then hp reverb g2, I have 4090

[@tallymouse]

It should with the right settings. Plus, you'll have significantly more clarity im the sweet-spot and offaxis too!

[@fadtidmbdmb]

@@tallymouse thank you

[@NWGJulian]

9:29 if I go 100% resolution and your settings with my 4070S, i get 10fps…

[@phillea708]

Will rtx 3060 GPU be OK, regards

[@tallymouse]

Yes - you'll be on the lower end of things, but it'll work. Remember that you can use OpenXR Toolkit to lower the effective resolution slightly and not notice much difference in quality. You can also do this in SteamVR, or in Pimax Play: setting "balanced" instead of "Maximum" resolution.

[@AloccoTG]

when you're so early the only quality option is 360p

[@tallymouse]

Oh the drama! .. i'm thinking 480! 😂

[@tallymouse]

'tis 4k now, sir!

[@guylarochelle9793]

You don't enable "Prefer framerate over latency" ?? I thought it was the equivalent of Turbo Mode in OpenXRToolkit and that it should always be enabled to the best framerate!? Edit: I see that you have it enabled in the toolkit itself. I think it's the same thing, but do not enable both.

[@j9murphy]

DX11 or DX12 with MSFS?

[@tallymouse]

DX12 (beta)

[@manologroot]

Which Nvidia driver are you currently using and will these 4090 settings also perform well with the Crystal for MSFS?

[@tallymouse]

A stripped down version (nVfix) version of whatever the latest is.

[@Marcin79W]

All great, but these settings goes out of the window if one tries to play DCS for real, on some MP server or real mission with multiple units, not a free flight on Caucasus map that doesn't push CPU/GPU anywhere near to what we could have on more modern maps like Syria, or so. Thanks for the video.

[@tallymouse]

...but that could be said for any VR headset. I run my own server as I have discovered that many MP servers are run on low spec machines with asymmetric low bandwidth connections.

[@Marcin79W]

@@tallymouse Yes, we could say that about any headset, I agree. It's just : when I see videos like this, it feels like it's not showing all the truth, no matter what headset. Many people could buy a headset based on what they see in the video and then be disappointed when trying to do more than just a free flight on Caucasus map. That's why I believe, videos like this one should also include a sample from busy and demanding DCS environment. Thank you for hearing me out, have a great time flying.

[@tallymouse]

@@Marcin79W I'll run my next video from a busy carrier deck, in the rain, on an MP server then..

[@Marcin79W]

@@tallymouse Thank you for all the work you put there for us.

[@vracan]

fps changing from 50 to 72 in msfs and says running "smooth"?!! NOT! In my experience if the the framerate is not locked to no more than 1fps variation there WILL be microstutter!

[@tallymouse]

If you're setup right then you do not get microstutter. You have to avoid use of smart smoothing otherwise things can go wrong quickly.

[@JohnTheBodge]

Shame you missed the 4080.

[@tallymouse]

I own the 4060Ti and 4090, and borrowed the 3060Ti and 3080.. i didn't know anybody willing to lend me their 4080, unfortunately!

[@smsheard]

May I ask why you turn eye tracking on? Just becasue the Crytal Light does not have it.

[@tallymouse]

To trick QuadViews into activating.

[@smsheard]

@@tallymouse Copy that sir. Thank you.