DCS Best VR Settings & Optimization (2024)

Jaap Grolleman Updated onMay 11, 2024

Going back and forth to find the perfect settings in DCS (Digital Combat Simulator) can be a bit frustrating and time-consuming! Here we cover our findings (and those from the Pimax community). You may need to do a bit of tweaking depending on your system, but hopefully, we save you some time with these recommended VR graphic settings for DCS.

Scroll down for the best profiles and settings for:

Crystal, 4090 GPU, OpenXR
Crystal, 4070ti GPU, SteamVR
8KX, 4090, OpenXR
8KX, OpenXR, 4060ti
8K, 3080ti, SteamVR
AMD 6900XT, SteamVR

We also share some other tips below, including on DFR.

Settings for Crystal, 4090 & OpenXR

System Setup 4090 i9-11900kF 64GBRAM DDR4	DCS Settings Textures: High; Terrain: High; Traffic: Low; Water: High; Visib Range: Extreme; Heat Blur: Low; Shadows: High; Flat Shadows Blur: On Secondary Shadows: On; Resolution: 19201080; Res of cockpit displays: 1024 Monitors: 1 Screen; MSAA: 2x; Depth of field: Off; Clouds: Ultra; SSAA: Off; SSLR: On; SSAO: On; Clutter/Grass: 1170; Forest Visibility: 85%; Preload Radius: 150000; Gamma: 2; External field of view: 125%; Anisotropic Filtering: 16x; Terrain Objects Shadows: Flat; cockpit Global Illumination: On; Messages font scale: 1 Scale GUI: 1; Rain Droplets: On; Vsync: On; Full screen*: Off
Graphic Card Setting Nvidia: Global Settings: Power Management Mode: Prefer Maximum Power
Runtime: Open XR: Native Resolution CAS Sharpness: 70% FFR: On
Pimax Play Settings Everything Default Refresh Rate: 90Hz

Contributed by TallyMouse from r/Pimax

Settings for Crystal, 4070ti & SteamVR

System Setup 4070Tii7-13700F 16GB RAM	DCS Settings Textures: High; Terrain: High; Traffic: Off; Water: High; Visib Range: Medium; Heat Blur: High; Shadows: High; Flat Shadows Blur: Off Secondary Shadows: On; Resolution: 25601440; MSAA: Off; Depth of field: Off; Clouds: Standard; SSAA: Off SSLR: On; SSAO: Off; Clutter/Grass: 0; Forest Visibility: 65%; Preload Radius: 70200; Gamma: 2; External field of view*: 78%
Graphic Card Setting
Runtime: Steam VR Refresh Rate: 90Hz Motion Smoothing: Off Render Resolution: 44% 26902972 Advanced Supersample: Off Overlay Render Quality*: Medium
Pimax Play Settings Refresh Rate: 90Hz Eye Tracking: On Render Quality: 1 FFR: On Smart Smoothing: Off

Settings 8KX, 4090, OpenXR

System Setup 4090i9-11900kF 64GBRAM DDR4 3600MHz	DCS Settings Textures: High; Terrain: High; Traffic: Low; Water: High; Visib Range: High; Heat Blur: Low; Shadows: High; Flat Shadows Blur: On Secondary Shadows: On; Resolution: 19201080; Res of cockpit displays: 1024 Monitors: 1 Screen; MSAA: off;Depth of field: Off; Clouds: High;SSAA: Off; SSLR: On;SSAO: On; Clutter/Grass: 1170; Forest Visibility: 85%; Preload Radius: 150000; Gamma: 2; External field of view: 125%; Anisotropic Filtering: 16x; Terrain Objects Shadows: Flat; cockpit Global Illumination: On; Messages font scale: 1 Scale GUI: 1; Rain Droplets: On; Vsync: Off; Full screen: Off; Rain Droplets*: On
Nvidia Settings Power Management Mode: PreferMaximum Power
Runtime: Open XR Native Resolution CAS Sharpness 100% FFR: on 40deg - 1 60deg - 1/4 80deg - 1/16th
PimaxPlay Settings FOV: Wide Refresh: 90Hz

Contributed by TallyMouse from r/Pimax

8KX, OpenXR, 4060ti

System Setup 4060Tii9-11900kF 64Gb RAM DDR4 3600MHz	DCS Settings Textures: High; Terrain: Low; Traffic: Off; Water: Medium; Visib Range: Medium; Heat Blur: Low; Shadows: Low; Flat Shadows Blur: On Secondary Shadows: Off; Resolution: 19201080; Res of cockpit displays: 1024 Monitors: 1 Screen; MSAA: off;Depth of field: Off; Clouds: High;SSAA: Off; SSLR: Off; SSAO: Off; Clutter/Grass: 500; Forest Visibility: 75%; Preload Radius: 150000; Gamma: 2; External field of view: 125%; Anisotropic Filtering: 16x; Terrain Objects Shadows: Flat; cockpit Global Illumination: On; Messages font scale: 1 Scale GUI: 1; Rain Droplets: On; Vsync: Off; Full screen: Off; Rain Droplets*: On
Nvidia Settings Power Management Mode: PreferMaximum Power
Runtime: Open XR Native Resolution CAS Sharpness: 100% FFR" on 35deg - 1, 55deg -1/4, 70deg -1/16th
PimaxPlay Settings FOV: Medium Refresh: 90Hz

Contributed by TallyMouse from r/Pimax

3080ti settings for Pimax 8K

System Setup 3080ti	DCS Settings Textures: High; Terrain Textures: High; Water: High; Visib Range: High Shadows: High; Resolution: 38402160 Aspect Ratio:* 1.7777777778; *Res.of cockpit Display: 1024; MSAA: 2x; Cloud: High Trees Visiblity: 40%; Anisotropic Filtering: Off Terrain Object Shadows: Off cockpit Global illumination:* On Gamma: 2.2
Nvidia Settings Power Management Mode: PreferMaximum Power
Runtime: Steam VR: Global Resolution: 80%
Pimax Play Settings n/a

Settings for AMD 6900XT, SteamVR

System Setup AMD 6900XT	DCS Settings Texture: High; MSAA: Off； AF: x 16; Shadows: Flat; Forest Visibility: 50%; Visual Range: High; Clouds: Standard
Graphic Card Setting Maximum FPS: 45 Anti-lagDisable everything else
Runtime: Steam VR Global Resolution: 100% Video Setting Per App: 100% Motion Smoothing: Off Advanced Super Sampling: Off
Pimax Play Settings: n/a

Basic VR requirements

Minimum	Recommended
CPU: Intel or AMD 3.0Ghz+ with 2 cores Memory: 16GB Storage: 140GB GPU: 2080	CPU: Intel or AMD 4.5Ghz+ with 6 cores Memory: 32GB Storage: 300GB GPU: 3080 or better

Extras:

Drivers: up to date; Minimize background programs and processes;
Set DCS at highest priorities through Task Manager;
Minimize WMR and SVR Windows while playing the DCS;
Powerful cooling system.

Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling: Disabled

General VR graphic optimization tips

Thanks to Rex from the Pimax Discord server.

1 - Testing settings one by one is recommended since every machine is different. Find a worst-case scenario for the GPU or CPU to test.

-> For GPU testing I recommend looking at Beyrouth on the Syria map to get a worse-case scenario. GPU wise (with lots of clouds/rain to test cloud settings, at sunset or sunrise to test shadows).

-> For CPU testing, a heavy MP server (Blueflag, Enigma Cold War, etc.) or a heavy single-player mission (dozens of AI moving offroad, SAMs searching/firing, etc.)

Useful videos for graphic optimization:

Option	Recommendation	Note
Water	Low	Water is present under every part of the DCS maps so that setting is another 15% between low and high. It's also a very subtil difference in flight. Not worth it.
Clouds	High by default, Ultra if performance available	Clouds between High and Ultra is 10-15% performance since the difference is the application of AA to them. Definitely one you'll notice either way. Very cloudy missions will kill your frames, plan for it.
Anisotropic Filt.	16x if not VRAM limited	If you're VRAM limited (3080Ti + 8KX in large FOV runs into the issue. But not the 3090), anisotropic filtering between 2x and 16x has a 15% impact on frames. Test for your machine since otherwise it's free and noticeable.
MSAA	2x	MSAA is "required" to prevent shimmering of cables/fences and such. Note, MSAA can't run at the same time as SSAA in VR (use Pixel Density as a replacement but it is less effective than MSAA)
View distance	Up to your preference/performance	Costly setting (20% between Low and Extreme) but necessary to not notice trees/buildings popping in too much. Up to your preference. The difference between Extreme and High is large in terms of visuals.
Shadows	Depending on performance	Test at sunset and sunrise to get a worse case scenario, can get quite expensive. Medium seems like a good middle ground.
Secondary Shadows	OFF / Needs testing	Shadows from light sources other than the sun. On the Super Carrier only so far from what I read. Haven't tested.
Blurred Shadows	Up to your preference	This setting targets shadows from trees (in particular) not being projected onto the ground from far away by blurring them. They almost disappear due to this so either way it's annoying, up to your preference. Costs nothing.
Terrain Textures	High	Does use more VRAM but makes quite a difference visually. Largely outweights Anisotropic filtering.
co*ckpit Textures	High	Whatever the cost this is necessary. Other settings are unusable.
SSLR	OFF	SSLR is a gimmick but surprisingly cheap (5% ish). It looks good especially on lakes. Not really worth it but up to personal preference. SSLR deals with reflections ("Ray Tracing" like but not as advanced)
SSAO	OFF	Very subtil. Does have a slight performance impact.
Global co*ckpit Illumination	OFF	Very subtil, almost as if it wasn't working properly.
Heat blur	OFF	Broken in VR (renders in one eye only) + Looks bad with Quad Views DFR
Lens effects	OFF	Broken in VR (seen in double) and looks bad with Quad Views DFR. Essentially free though.
Depth of Field	OFF	This is mostly a cinematic effect (external views) with cinematic performance levels. I'm also not sure it works well in VR. Avoid.
Preload Radius	Depending on your setup	A lower preload radius helps with RAM usage but requires loading more often. Known to cause crashes below certain settings for some people despite having ample pagefile. At maximum 32GB of RAM is borderline.
Grass	Up to your preference/performance	Grass has an impact on performance when near the ground (5% ish). Distance is quite small though and even in choppers it goes away quickly.
Tree visibility	Up to your preference/performance	Tree "growing" distance also has quite a large performance impact (double digit %) in wooded areas however they are very noticeable when "growing". Up to your tolerance. Detail factor can also balance this.