Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, this combo delivers an average of 70 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. The measured data confirms all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 4K.

Q: How much headroom is there at 1440p?

A: At 2560×1440, the average FPS ranges from 95 at Ultra to 162 at Low. Even the most demanding preset keeps nearly 60% headroom above the playable threshold, with Ultra sitting at 95 FPS average.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset runs at an average of 117 FPS at 1920×1080, which is the most demanding setting tested and still well above 60 FPS. The data indicates Ultra is the best choice at 1080p.

Q: How does the CPU contribute to this game's performance?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 has a passmark multithread score of 24,303 and a single-thread score of 3,296, with a 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its 8 cores and 16 threads with 16 MB of L3 cache are relevant since Flight Simulator is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance.

Q: What GPU is this combo compared against?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, which is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209, deltaPct 0.1). It sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs tested, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance.

Q: Does the measured FPS data come from real testing?

A: Yes, the data is marked as "dataIsMeasured": true. The combo ranks 319th out of 3,714 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top 8.6% of all tested system configurations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all close enough that in-game performance differences would be minimal. The Intel Xeon D-2752TER scores 25,530, a delta of -0.1% from the Ryzen's 25,517 average. The AMD Ryzen 5 7640U scores 25,485 (deltaPct 0.1%), while the Ryzen 5 6600H is at 25,550 (-0.1%) and the Ryzen 7 5825U at 25,446 (0.3%). Any of these CPUs paired with the RTX 4080 would produce near-identical frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator, since the differences are all within a fraction of a percent.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080's nearest rivals are similarly clustered. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209 against the RTX 4080's 54,247 — essentially a statistical tie at a deltaPct of 0.1%. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (-1.1%), while the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is at 55,698 (-2.6%) and the Radeon 8060S at 55,757 (-2.7%). Interestingly, the RTX 4080 sits slightly below its nearest rivals in average benchmark score, yet the differences are so small that real-world game performance would be indistinguishable. A system with any of these GPUs and the Ryzen 7 5700 would be expected to land within the same FPS range at every resolution tested.

The practical implication for someone researching this combo is that swapping in any of these near-identical parts would not meaningfully change the measured FPS numbers in the FACT PACK. The CPU and GPU are both at the center of a cluster of similar-performing hardware, which means the combo's results represent a broad zone of performance rather than a unique outcome.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920×1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo pushes exceptionally high frame rates. The Low preset reaches 174 FPS average, while Medium drops to 159 FPS (with a minimum of 135 and maximum of 183 measured). High reduces to 123 FPS, and Ultra brings the average down to 117 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is only 15 FPS, whereas the drop from Medium to High is 36 FPS — a much larger step. From High to Ultra, the loss is just 6 FPS, suggesting the Ultra preset at 1080p is almost as efficient as High.

At 2560×1440, the pattern shifts. Low runs at 162 FPS, Medium at 132 FPS (112 min, 152 max), High at 99 FPS, and Ultra at 95 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 30 FPS, between Medium and High is 33 FPS, and between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset at 1440p is very close to High in cost, making it a logical choice for that resolution.

At 3840×2160, performance tightens considerably. Low sits at 125 FPS, Medium at 97 FPS (83–112 range), High at 73 FPS, and Ultra at 70 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 28 FPS, from Medium to High costs 24 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs just 3 FPS. The trend across all resolutions is consistent: the gap between Low and Medium is large, the gap between Medium and High is even larger, but High to Ultra is nearly free in terms of frame rate cost.

The min/max data only exists for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the minimum of 135 FPS is 15% lower than the average of 159 FPS, while the maximum of 183 FPS is 15% higher. At 1440p, the range is 112 to 152 around a 132 average, a spread of 30% between extremes. At 4K, Medium spans 83 to 112 FPS, centered on 97 — a 30% window. This indicates that the frame pacing at Medium settings is consistent across resolutions, with similar relative variance.

The Verdict

This PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at every resolution and every preset tested. The verdict data lists all four settings — Low, Medium, High, Ultra — as playable at all three resolutions, with the playable threshold set at 60 FPS.

At 3840×2160, the best settings are Ultra with an average of 70 FPS. At 2560×1440, Ultra again is the best choice, averaging 95 FPS. At 1920×1080, Ultra runs at 117 FPS. In each case, the most demanding preset clears the 60 FPS bar by a comfortable margin — 10 FPS at 4K, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 1080p.

The 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS is the most marginal, but it is still clearly above the threshold. There is no playability concern at any setting, and no reason to sacrifice visual quality for performance with this configuration. The data shows that the RTX 4080 paired with the Ryzen 7 5700 handles this flight simulator at full graphical load even at the highest resolution tested.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling pattern between resolutions and presets reveals how the workload shifts. At 1080p, the FPS across presets is high — 174 at Low, 123 at High, 117 at Ultra — which suggests that the CPU, with its single-thread score of 3,296 in Passmark and 901 in 3DMark single-thread, is keeping up with the GPU demands. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 57 FPS, which is a 33% drop, indicating that the graphics load is still the primary variable.

At 1440p, the Low-to-Ultra difference is 162 to 95 FPS, a 41% drop. At 4K, the drop is from 125 to 70 FPS, a 44% reduction. The increasing percentage loss as resolution rises points to the GPU becoming more the dominant constraint at higher resolutions, which aligns with the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The GPU is being pushed much harder at 4K, while the CPU can maintain the simulation thread.

The CPU's role is most visible when comparing the 1080p and 1440p Low settings: 174 versus 162 FPS, a 7% difference. That is a relatively small drop, indicating that the CPU is still keeping up at 1440p. But between 1440p Low (162 FPS) and 4K Low (125 FPS), the 23% reduction shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck as the pixel count rises. The game's flight simulation logic depends heavily on the Ryzen 7 5700's 8 Zen 3 cores, but the graphics work scales with resolution in a way that the CPU cannot compensate for.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3,714 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, this specific configuration ranks 319th. That places it in the top 8.6% of all tested combos. The rank is a function of the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and it reflects a system that is decidedly above average but not at the very top tier.

The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54,247 is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and the CPU's 25,517 average is in the 78th percentile. The combo rank of 319 out of 3,714 is consistent with those percentiles; it is not a perfectly linear relationship because game-specific workloads vary, but the overall position shows that this pairing is capable of high-end performance without being the absolute highest-scoring combination. The 4K Ultra average of 70 FPS is a strong result, and the 1080p Ultra average of 117 FPS is excellent, so the rank likely reflects the GPU's 86th percentile rather than a CPU limitation.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920×1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 117 FPS. The Low preset reaches 174 FPS, Medium 159 FPS, and High 123 FPS — but the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it delivers the highest visual quality while still nearly doubling the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560×1440, Ultra is also the best setting, averaging 95 FPS. The Low preset runs at 162 FPS, Medium at 132 FPS, High at 99 FPS, and Ultra at 95 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, which makes Ultra the obvious choice for the best experience.

At 3840×2160, Ultra remains the best setting with an average of 70 FPS. This is the thinnest margin above the 60 FPS threshold, but it still passes. High runs at 73 FPS, Medium at 97 FPS, and Low at 125 FPS. For the highest resolution, Ultra is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS, and the data shows it is the best setting for maximum visual fidelity.