Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a dataset that is remarkable for its consistency: every tested preset at every resolution clears the 60 FPS playability threshold, often by a wide margin. The measured results show a system that is heavily GPU-bound at lower settings but still delivers exceptional headroom for flight simulation workloads, where frame pacing and minimums matter as much as averages.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers its highest raw frame rates. The Low preset produces an average of 195 FPS, with Medium averaging 178 FPS (min 151, max 205). High averages 136 FPS, and Ultra averages 130 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4090 has substantial headroom even at the highest settings. The minimum recorded frame rate at Medium—151 FPS—is still more than double the 60 FPS playability threshold, meaning even sudden scene complexity spikes will not drop below playable levels.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern holds but the margins tighten slightly. Low averages 181 FPS, Medium averages 146 FPS (min 124, max 168), High averages 110 FPS, and Ultra averages 105 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 76 FPS, showing that resolution scaling has a measurable impact on the GPU's workload. Notably, the High and Ultra presets at 1440p both remain above 100 FPS average, which is impressive for a flight simulator that typically stresses CPU single-thread performance heavily.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090's 24 GB frame buffer and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth come into play. Low averages 138 FPS, Medium averages 108 FPS (min 92, max 124), High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 77 FPS. The minimum at 4K Medium is 92 FPS, which is still 32 FPS above the playability threshold. The step from High to Ultra at 4K costs only 4 FPS on average, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional visual features are relatively cheap to render at this resolution. The overall trend shows that even at 4K, this combo never approaches the 60 FPS floor.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 4 architecture, is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 are strong enough to feed the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance across all tested resolutions. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the simulator's terrain streaming and aircraft systems.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 77 FPS, which is 17 FPS above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The verdict data lists Ultra as the best playable setting at 4K.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in the game?

A: 195 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest tested average is 77 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra, meaning every configuration tested stays above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance drops when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, 1080p averages 195 FPS while 4K averages 138 FPS—a 57 FPS drop. At Ultra, 1080p averages 130 FPS and 4K averages 77 FPS—a 53 FPS drop. The relative performance loss is consistent across presets.

Q: Does the High preset at 4K provide better minimum frame rates than Medium?

A: No minimum data is recorded for High at 4K. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS, with an average of 108 FPS. High averages 81 FPS with no min/max data provided.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 bottlenecked by the Ryzen 5 8400F in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 195 FPS average, and scaling to 4K reduces performance proportionally to resolution. The CPU's single-thread score of 2943 in Cinebench R23 supports sufficient frame generation for the GPU.

Q: What is the playable settings list at 2560x1440?

A: All four tested presets—Low (181 FPS), Medium (146 FPS), High (110 FPS), and Ultra (105 FPS)—are listed as playable at this resolution. Ultra is identified as the best setting with an average of 105 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3714 tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 124th in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 3.3% of all tested combos, which is a strong result given the game's reputation for being demanding on both CPU and GPU. The percentile data supports this: the CPU ranks in the 77th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 88th percentile against all GPUs.

The rank of 124 means there are 123 combinations that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title. Given that the RTX 4090 is the flagship GPU in its generation and the Ryzen 5 8400F is a lower-tier 8000-series part, the ranking reflects the CPU's position as the limiting factor—though the data shows this only matters at extremely high frame rates above 195 FPS. The combo's rank is consistent with what the FPS measurements show: this is a very fast configuration that sits just below the absolute top tier of tested hardware.

The gap between this combo and the top 123 is likely due to CPUs with higher single-thread performance or more cores that can feed the RTX 4090 even more effectively in CPU-bound scenarios. However, for practical flight simulation use, the 124th rank out of 3714 is an excellent position, especially considering that the game's minimum playable threshold is 60 FPS and this combo exceeds that by at least 17 FPS in the worst case (4K Ultra).

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Ryzen 5 8400F, based on average benchmark scores, are the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% higher score), Intel Core i7-11850H (0.3% higher), Intel Core i7-13620H (0.4% higher), and AMD EPYC 9474F (0.4% lower). These deltas are negligible—all within 0.4% of the 8400F's average score of 25005. A system builder swapping the 8400F for the Ryzen 5 7500F or the i7-13620H would see virtually identical frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator, assuming the same RTX 4090 is used.

For the GPU side, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% difference), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% higher), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (2.5% lower), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (2.9% higher). These are workstation-oriented cards rather than gaming GPUs, but the benchmark scores indicate they would produce similar frame rates in this title. The AMD Radeon PRO V710's 2.9% higher average score suggests it could deliver marginally better FPS, though real-world game performance may differ from synthetic benchmarks.

The practical takeaway is that the Ryzen 5 8400F sits in a performance class where its direct peers—particularly the Ryzen 5 7500F—offer nearly identical CPU performance. Combined with the RTX 4090, choosing any of these alternative CPUs would not meaningfully change the FPS measurements in this game. The GPU's nearest rivals are less relevant for gaming due to their workstation focus, but the benchmark data shows they occupy the same performance envelope.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding setting that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 130 FPS. The measured minimum at Medium is 151 FPS, with no min/max data provided for Ultra, so the average of 130 FPS represents the baseline for this preset. Given the wide margin above 60 FPS, users can enable Ultra without concern for playability.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is again the best choice, averaging 105 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 124 FPS, and the Ultra average of 105 FPS still leaves 45 FPS of headroom above the threshold. This resolution provides a balanced experience with high visual fidelity and smooth frame rates.

At 3840x2160, Ultra remains the best setting with an average of 77 FPS. This is the lowest average across all tested configurations but still clears the 60 FPS threshold by 17 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a documented minimum of 92 FPS, which suggests Ultra's minimum is likely lower but still above 60 FPS based on the playable verdict. For users who prioritize absolute smoothness over maximum visual quality, Medium at 4K offers a higher average of 108 FPS with a 92 FPS minimum.

The Verdict

This configuration can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS or higher across all tested resolutions and presets. The verdict data confirms that Low, Medium, High, and Ultra are all playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The best settings at each resolution are Ultra, with 77 FPS at 4K, 105 FPS at 1440p, and 130 FPS at 1080p.

The 4K Ultra result of 77 FPS is the most demanding test this combo faces, and it passes with a 28% margin above the playability threshold. The data shows no scenario where this pairing drops below 60 FPS, even in the worst-case combination of highest resolution and highest preset. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 82.58 TFLOPS of compute power, combined with the Ryzen 5 8400F's 6-core/12-thread Zen 4 architecture, delivers a consistently smooth experience in one of the most demanding flight simulators available. For users targeting 4K Ultra with high frame rates, this combo is more than sufficient; for those using 1440p or 1080p displays, the performance headroom is substantial enough to enable maximum settings with frame rates well above 100 FPS.