Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a broadly capable Microsoft Flight Simulator experience, but the data reveals a clear split between 4K and lower resolutions. At 3840x2160, the combination falls short of the 60 FPS playability threshold on the High and Ultra presets, while at 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, every preset tested clears 60 FPS, with the Ultra preset remaining surprisingly fluid. The measured FPS data, drawn from direct testing, provides a precise picture of where this combo excels and where it strains.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results show a consistent scaling pattern across resolutions and presets. At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 handles the load with an average of 55 FPS on High, slipping to 52 FPS on Ultra. Dropping to Medium yields a more comfortable 73 FPS average, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS, indicating that frame pacing remains stable even when the average dips. The Low preset at 4K produces a strong 94 FPS average, showing that the GPU has ample headroom when texture and shading workloads are reduced.

Moving to 2560x1440, the picture improves markedly. The High preset averages 74 FPS, while Ultra maintains a 71 FPS average — a narrow 3 FPS gap that suggests the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The Medium preset reaches 99 FPS average, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, demonstrating smooth performance even in demanding flight scenarios. The Low preset at 1440p jumps to 127 FPS average, which is more than double the 4K High result and indicates that the CPU-GPU balance is well-suited to this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the combo shows its strongest performance. The Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, which is a notable achievement for a flight simulator that is traditionally CPU-bound in complex scenes. High settings produce 92 FPS average, while Medium reaches 123 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS — the tightest frame-time distribution in the entire dataset. The Low preset at 1080p tops out at 158 FPS average, which is the highest number recorded across all tested configurations. The data shows a clear trend: as resolution decreases, the average FPS increases by roughly 35-40% at each step down, with the 1080p results suggesting the CPU begins to assert more influence at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 1036th out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all tested systems. This is a strong showing, particularly given the game's reputation for heavy multi-threaded CPU load and high VRAM usage. The CPU's average benchmark score of 19593 places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (scoring 19617, a -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12500 (scoring 19668, a -0.4% delta). The Ryzen 5 5500 effectively trades blows with these competitors, sitting just 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i7-10700F (scoring 19499) and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i5-11600KF (scoring 19723).

The GPU's average benchmark score of 23172 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% in either direction: the NVIDIA P106-100 (scoring 23249, -0.3%), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (scoring 23250, -0.3%), the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (scoring 23273, -0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X (scoring 23276, -0.4%). The RTX 3080's position in the 68th percentile is slightly lower than the CPU's 73rd percentile, which hints that the GPU may be the more limiting component in this pairing for this specific game. However, the combo rank of 1036 out of 3714 suggests that the two components complement each other well in practice, with the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance (evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429) feeding the GPU's substantial rasterization power (29.77 TFLOPS FP32).

Best Settings per Resolution

The playability threshold is set at 60 FPS, and the verdict data is unambiguous. At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, which delivers an average of 73 FPS. The High and Ultra presets fall short, with averages of 55 FPS and 52 FPS respectively. The Low preset is also playable at 94 FPS, but Medium provides the best visual quality without crossing below the threshold.

At 2560x1440, every preset is playable, but the best setting is Ultra, which averages 71 FPS. This is a notable result — running the game at maximum settings at 1440p with a 71 FPS average means the visual experience is not compromised for smoothness. The High preset averages 74 FPS, which is technically higher, but Ultra offers more graphical fidelity for only a 3 FPS penalty.

At 1920x1080, the best setting is also Ultra, with an average of 88 FPS. This is the highest average FPS achieved at Ultra settings across all resolutions, and it indicates that the combo has significant headroom at 1080p. The High preset at 92 FPS is marginally faster, but again, Ultra provides the superior visual package without sacrificing playability. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the user should default to Ultra settings, while at 4K, Medium is the ceiling for maintaining 60+ FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K?

A: Yes, but only on Low (94 FPS average) or Medium (73 FPS average) presets. The High and Ultra presets at 3840x2160 produce averages of 55 FPS and 52 FPS respectively, which fall below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The Ultra preset is the best choice at 2560x1440, averaging 71 FPS. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) clear the 60 FPS threshold at this resolution, so there is no need to compromise on visual quality.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 19593 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19617, -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-12500 (19668, -0.4%). It edges out the Intel Core i7-10700F by 0.5% and trails the Intel Core i5-11600KF by 0.7%.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 a bottleneck for this CPU in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is slightly more limiting than the CPU. The CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. At 4K, the GPU load is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the 55 FPS average at High settings versus the 74 FPS at 1440p High settings.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 88 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset averages 123 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS, showing that even the lower presets provide excellent headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Does the game show a big performance jump between Medium and High settings?

A: At 4K, the drop from Medium (73 FPS) to High (55 FPS) is 18 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is 25 FPS (99 to 74), and at 1080p, it is 31 FPS (123 to 92). The scaling is consistent — High settings impose a significant cost across all resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear shift in component influence as resolution changes. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor. The average FPS drops from 94 on Low to 55 on High and 52 on Ultra — a 45% reduction between the lowest and highest presets. This steep scaling indicates that the RTX 3080's rasterization throughput (29.77 TFLOPS FP32) and memory bandwidth (760.3 GB/s) are being taxed heavily. The GPU's 68th percentile ranking, combined with the 4K results, suggests that the 10 GB of GDDR6X memory is sufficient but the raw compute power is the limiting factor at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts slightly toward the CPU. The FPS gap between Low (127 FPS) and Ultra (71 FPS) is 56 FPS, which is proportionally similar to 4K, but the absolute values are much higher. The Ryzen 5 5500's 12 threads and 16 MB of L3 cache appear to provide sufficient feeding for the GPU at this resolution, as the Ultra preset still manages 71 FPS. The CPU's Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 6900 and single-core score of 973 indicate that it can sustain the simulation's physics and AI workloads without bottlenecking the GPU at 1440p.

At 1920x1080, the CPU begins to assert more influence. The Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, which is only 4 FPS below the High preset (92 FPS) — a much narrower gap than at higher resolutions. This suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319) becomes a more significant factor, as the GPU has more headroom to render frames quickly. The Medium preset's 123 FPS average, with a minimum of 104 FPS, shows that the CPU can maintain high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck, but the 158 FPS Low preset result indicates that the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429) are also being utilized effectively.

The Verdict

This PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator, but the experience varies sharply by resolution. At 3840x2160, the system is playable on Low (94 FPS) and Medium (73 FPS) presets, but not on High (55 FPS) or Ultra (52 FPS). The best 4K setting is Medium, which provides a 73 FPS average and stays comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the system is fully playable across all presets, with Ultra averaging 71 FPS as the best visual option. At 1920x1080, the system shines, with Ultra averaging 88 FPS and every preset clearing the 60 FPS mark by a wide margin.

The verdict data is clear: this combination is a strong 1080p and 1440p performer, capable of running the game at maximum settings with fluid frame rates. At 4K, it requires a preset compromise, but Medium still delivers a solid 73 FPS average. The Ryzen 5 5500's 73rd percentile CPU ranking and the RTX 3080's 68th percentile GPU ranking combine to place this system in the 72nd percentile of all tested combos (rank 1036 out of 3714), which is a respectable position for a flight simulator that demands both strong single-threaded CPU performance and substantial GPU throughput. For users targeting 1440p or 1080p, this system is a confident recommendation; for 4K enthusiasts, it is a capable but not uncompromising option.