Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 in this configuration, and the benchmark data shows the pairing clears the 60 FPS playable threshold at every tested resolution — though not at every preset. The RTX 5070, a Blackwell 2.0 part with 12 GB of GDDR7 and a PassMark G3D score of 29137, sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 5500, a 6-core/12-thread Zen 3 processor with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429, occupies the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. All figures below are measured results from this exact combination.

FAQ

Q: Can the Ryzen 5 5500 + RTX 5070 run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, every preset from Low through Ultra averages at or above 81.3 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low (103.7 FPS), Medium (81 FPS), and High (62.4 FPS) all clear the threshold; only Ultra at 4K falls short at 59.1 FPS.

Q: What is the highest setting preset usable at 4K?

A: High, averaging 62.4 FPS. The step up to Ultra drops the average to 59.1 FPS, missing the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How much frame rate is gained by dropping from Ultra to Low at each resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, from 99.3 to 164.4 FPS; at 2560x1440, from 81.3 to 143.4 FPS; at 3840x2160, from 59.1 to 103.7 FPS. The gap widens as resolution increases.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to similar CPUs?

A: Its average benchmark score of 19593 places it essentially dead even with its nearest rivals: the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19617, within 0.1%), the Intel Core i5-12500 (19668, within 0.4%), the Intel Core i7-10700F (19499, within 0.5%), and the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723, within 0.7%).

Q: Where does this CPU + GPU combination rank among tested combos for this game?

A: It ranks 762 out of 3714 tested combinations — roughly the top fifth of configurations benchmarked for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What are the headline specifications of the two parts?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 (Cezanne) desktop processor on the AM4 socket with a 3.60 GHz base clock, 4.20 GHz boost, and 65 W TDP, with a launch MSRP of $159. The RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 GPU with 6144 shading units, 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a 250 W TDP, and a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

How This Combo Ranks

A rank of 762 out of 3714 tested combinations puts this pairing at approximately the 79th percentile for Microsoft Flight Simulator — a strong showing, but not elite. The result is consistent with the composition of the build: a GPU in the 82nd percentile paired with a CPU in only the 73rd percentile. The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 and PassMark G3D result of 29137 place it comfortably ahead of the mainstream field, while the Ryzen 5 5500's average score of 19593 is more modest — its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319 and multi-core score of 16429 describe a mid-range processor.

The rank reflects that asymmetry. Combinations that outrank this one in the flight simulator typically pair comparable GPUs with faster processors, since Microsoft Flight Simulator's simulation and streaming workload is known to be CPU-sensitive. Nonetheless, ranking within the top fifth of more than three and a half thousand tested configurations confirms the pairing is more than sufficient for playable performance at mainstream resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data reveals which component is the limiting factor at each resolution. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Ultra drops the average from 99.3 to 81.3 FPS — a reduction of about 18 percent. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Ultra drops it further from 81.3 to 59.1 FPS, a reduction of roughly 27 percent. The steady decline in frame rate as pixel count rises indicates the GPU is absorbing progressively more of the load, which is expected behavior.

At 1920x1080, however, the picture changes. The Low preset at 1080p returns 164.4 FPS, while the Low preset at 1440p returns 143.4 FPS — a drop of about 13 percent for a 78 percent increase in pixels. That shallow scaling slope is the signature of a CPU ceiling: at lower resolutions and lighter presets, the Ryzen 5 5500's single-threaded throughput (a Geekbench single-core score of 1730, a PassMark single-thread score of 3058) becomes the constraint before the RTX 5070 does. In practical terms, the GPU matters most at 1440p and especially 4K, while at 1080p the 6-core, 12-thread processor defines the upper frame rate boundary.

This is not a problem for playability — even the CPU-limited 1080p figures are far above 60 FPS — but it does mean an owner of this configuration would gain little frame rate from lowering settings at 1080p beyond a point, and would gain more from resolution adjustments than from preset adjustments when chasing higher averages.

The Verdict

Yes — this PC runs Microsoft Flight Simulator well. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous:

• 1920x1080: All four presets are playable, with Ultra delivering 99.3 FPS — comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold.
• 2560x1440: All four presets are playable, with Ultra delivering 81.3 FPS.
• 3840x2160: Low, Medium, and High are playable; the best setting is High at 62.4 FPS. Ultra at 59.1 FPS narrowly misses the threshold and should be avoided if a strict 60 FPS floor matters.

In short, the pairing is fully playable across the entire resolution range, with a single exception: 4K Ultra, which falls short by less than one frame per second on average. A user wanting maximum visual fidelity at 4K could use the High preset, which is the highest measured configuration to clear 60 FPS at that resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest-rivals data indicates several processors would deliver statistically indistinguishable overall performance. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 averages 19617 against the Ryzen 5 5500's 19593 — a gap of just 0.1 percent. The Intel Core i5-12500 (19668, 0.4 percent ahead) and Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723, 0.7 percent ahead) sit marginally above, while the Intel Core i7-10700F (19499, 0.5 percent behind) sits marginally below. Any of these substitutes would leave this game's frame rates effectively unchanged, though a buyer choosing among them should note the Ryzen 5 5500's specific strengths here: a 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and per-core L2 cache of 512 KB on the Zen 3 architecture.

For the GPU, the closest alternatives by average benchmark score are a mix of professional and mobile parts: the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318, 0.1 percent behind the RTX 5070's 40377), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, 0.8 percent behind), the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870, 1.2 percent ahead), and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, 2 percent behind). By aggregate score these would behave similarly, though the RTX 5070's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 672.0 GB/s of GDDR7 bandwidth are what underpin the measured frame rates in this DirectX 12 title.

Best Settings per Resolution

• 1920x1080 — Ultra at 99.3 FPS. The most demanding preset still averages nearly 100 FPS; there is no reason to go lower at this resolution.
• 2560x1440 — Ultra at 81.3 FPS. All presets clear 60 FPS by a wide margin, so maximum settings are the correct choice.
• 3840x2160 — High at 62.4 FPS. High is the most demanding preset that stays at or above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra averages 59.1 FPS and does not qualify. Medium (81 FPS) or Low (103.7 FPS) are available if additional headroom is desired.

Measured FPS Breakdown

All results are measured averages from this exact CPU/GPU combination; minimum and maximum frame rates were not captured for these runs.

1920x1080

| Preset | Avg FPS |

|---|---|

| Low | 164.4 |

| Medium | 138 |

| High | 103.3 |

| Ultra | 99.3 |

2560x1440

| Preset | Avg FPS |

|---|---|

| Low | 143.4 |

| Medium | 111.3 |

| High | 83.1 |

| Ultra | 81.3 |

3840x2160

| Preset | Avg FPS |

|---|---|

| Low | 103.7 |

| Medium | 81 |

| High | 62.4 |

| Ultra | 59.1 |

The pattern across the table is consistent: each resolution step costs roughly 15–30 percent of the average frame rate depending on the preset, and each preset step from Low to Ultra costs between 35 and 45 percent. The tightest squeeze is 4K Ultra at 59.1 FPS — the sole sub-threshold result in the entire dataset. Everywhere else, the Ryzen 5 5500 and RTX 5070 deliver Microsoft Flight Simulator at or comfortably above the playable line.