Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a wide spread of frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator, ranging from a comfortably playable 94 FPS at 4K Low to a marginal 52 FPS at 4K Ultra. The measured data, captured across three resolutions and four presets, shows that this combination is consistently capable of clearing the 60 FPS playable threshold at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires a careful preset choice. The benchmark results indicate a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the most demanding configuration—4K Ultra—being the only tested scenario that falls below the playable mark.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates across all presets. The Low preset delivers an average of 158 FPS, which is the single highest average recorded in the entire dataset. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 123 FPS, with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS. High settings yield 92 FPS on average, while the Ultra preset still manages a strong 88 FPS average. These numbers show that at 1080p, even the most demanding settings leave ample headroom above the 60 FPS threshold, with the gap between Low and Ultra being roughly 70 FPS.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the performance remains robust but begins to show the influence of increased pixel count. Low settings average 127 FPS, a 31 FPS reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, indicating that even the lower bound stays well clear of 60 FPS. High settings average 74 FPS, and Ultra settings average 71 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 56 FPS, suggesting that the preset selection has a slightly larger impact at this resolution than at 1080p, where the same drop was 70 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the data reveals the most significant performance constraints. Low settings average 94 FPS, which remains highly playable. Medium settings average 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS—the minimum barely clears the 60 FPS threshold. High settings drop to 55 FPS on average, falling below the playable mark. Ultra settings produce an average of 52 FPS, the lowest figure in the entire dataset. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep: for example, High settings fall from 74 FPS to 55 FPS, a 26% reduction, while Ultra falls from 71 FPS to 52 FPS, a 27% reduction.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database ranks this specific CPU-GPU combination at position 1036 out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the upper third of all tested systems, roughly in the 72nd percentile of the overall distribution. The ranking reflects the balance between the Ryzen 5 7400F’s single-thread performance and the RTX 3080’s rasterization throughput, both of which are relevant for a flight simulator that relies heavily on draw calls and terrain rendering.

The combo’s rank suggests that while it is not among the top-tier configurations capable of maxing out 4K Ultra at high frame rates, it outperforms a substantial majority of tested systems. The data shows that the combo sits closer to the median of high-end configurations than to the absolute top, but its measured FPS at 1440p and 1080p places it well ahead of many mid-range alternatives. In practical terms, the rank of 1036 out of 3714 means that the combo is better suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p play than for 4K enthusiast settings, which aligns with the measured FPS patterns.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU’s role is more pronounced at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low and Ultra is 70 FPS, which is the largest absolute difference across all resolutions. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach 158 FPS on Low, but the GPU’s workload scales significantly with preset changes, pulling the average down to 88 FPS on Ultra. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, appear sufficient to avoid limiting performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the resolution increase of 1.78x over 1080p (in terms of pixel count) causes the GPU to become more stressed, as evidenced by the narrower spread between Low and Ultra (56 FPS). The CPU still has headroom, as the Low preset averages 127 FPS, which is 69 FPS above the Ultra average. The shift suggests that the GPU is now doing more work per frame, but the CPU is not yet a limiting factor for the majority of presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the primary constraint. The Low preset averages 94 FPS, which is 64 FPS lower than 1080p Low, indicating that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed by the 4K pixel count. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 42 FPS, the smallest absolute gap of any resolution, which implies that the GPU is nearing its saturation point regardless of preset. The RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are likely the limiting factors here, as the higher presets require more memory throughput and shading work. The CPU’s role at 4K is diminished; even at Low settings, the 94 FPS average is likely GPU-bound, not CPU-bound.

The Verdict

The verdict is clear: this PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS or above for the majority of tested configurations. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS threshold, with averages ranging from 88 FPS to 158 FPS. The best setting at this resolution is Ultra, with an average of 88 FPS, which provides the highest visual quality while maintaining a comfortable margin above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the same four presets are playable, with Ultra averaging 71 FPS and Low averaging 127 FPS. This makes 1440p Ultra a viable option for users who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates. At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium settings clear 60 FPS, with averages of 94 FPS and 73 FPS respectively. High settings fall short at 55 FPS, and Ultra is even worse at 52 FPS. The best playable setting at 4K is Medium, which averages 73 FPS and has a minimum of 62 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate never dips below the threshold. Users seeking 4K play must avoid High and Ultra presets unless they are willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The highest playable 4K preset is Medium, averaging 73 FPS.

Q: What is the best 1440p setting for this system?

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 deliver an average of 71 FPS, making it the most demanding preset that remains playable. All presets at this resolution clear 60 FPS, so users can choose based on visual preference.

Q: How does the RTX 3080’s memory affect 4K performance?

A: The 10 GB GDDR6X memory, with a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s, appears sufficient for Medium settings at 4K (73 FPS average), but the High and Ultra presets cause the average to drop to 55 FPS and 52 FPS respectively, indicating memory capacity or bandwidth constraints.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 158 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it still averages 88 FPS. The CPU’s single-thread score of 3072 in Cinebench R23 indicates strong per-core performance, which is sufficient for this simulator’s CPU-bound scenes at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS is 62 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 Medium settings. No other preset in the dataset reports a minimum below 84 FPS (at 1440p Medium) or 104 FPS (at 1080p Medium).

Q: Does the combo rank higher than average in the database?

A: Yes. It ranks 1036 out of 3714 tested combos for this game, placing it in the upper 28th percentile of all tested systems.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 88 FPS. This provides the highest visual quality without sacrificing playability.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings also remain viable, averaging 71 FPS. This is the best choice for users who want maximum fidelity at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding playable preset is Medium, averaging 73 FPS. High and Ultra settings fall below the 60 FPS threshold, so Medium is the recommended ceiling for 4K users.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the Intel Core i5-14600T, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. The Intel Core i5-14600T scores 32,707 on average, which is 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 5 7400F’s 32,750 average benchmark score. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H scores 32,697, a 0.2% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H scores 32,812, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 scores 32,662, a 0.3% difference. These CPUs would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with deltas under 0.3%.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA P106-100, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23,249 on average, which is 0.3% lower than the RTX 3080’s 23,172 average benchmark score. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 scores 23,250, also 0.3% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23,273, a 0.4% difference, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 23,276, also 0.4% different. These GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in this game, given their benchmark scores are within 0.4% of the RTX 3080. However, it is important to note that the RTX 3080’s percentile rank of 68 among all GPUs indicates that while these rivals are close in aggregate score, actual in-game performance may vary slightly depending on driver optimizations and memory subsystem differences not captured in the average benchmark score.