Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptional performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with benchmark results showing this combination ranks in the top 4.1% of all tested system configurations. The measured data indicates that this pairing achieves fluid, highly playable frame rates across every resolution and preset combination tested, from 1080p Low at 187.2 FPS to 4K Ultra at 75.9 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers average frame rates that consistently exceed even the most demanding refresh rate requirements. The Low preset produces an average of 187.2 FPS, while Medium reaches 168.1 FPS and High achieves 139 FPS. The most demanding preset, Ultra, still maintains an average of 127.9 FPS, making every setting at this resolution far above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains remarkably strong. The Low preset averages 170.6 FPS, Medium hits 144.9 FPS, and High delivers 108.5 FPS. Even at Ultra settings, the system sustains an average of 103.8 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4090 has ample headroom at this resolution to handle the most graphically intensive scenes the flight simulator can present.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers well above playable performance across all settings. Low averages 136.1 FPS, Medium reaches 104.8 FPS, High holds 80.1 FPS, and Ultra remains smooth at 75.9 FPS. The delta between the lowest and highest presets at 4K is approximately 60 FPS, showing how significantly the Ultra preset taxes the GPU while still remaining comfortably above the playability threshold.

The scaling pattern across resolutions is consistent: dropping from 4K to 1440p yields roughly a 35-37% increase in average FPS across equivalent settings, while moving from 1440p to 1080p provides another 20-28% improvement depending on the preset. The largest relative gain occurs when moving from 4K Ultra to 1440p Ultra, where the average frame rate jumps from 75.9 to 103.8 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 152nd out of 3714 tested configurations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 96th percentile of all system pairings evaluated by the benchmark suite. This top-tier ranking reflects the synergy between the Ryzen 7 5800XT's strong multi-threaded performance and the RTX 4090's massive graphics throughput.

The CPU's benchmark scores support this high ranking. In Cinebench R23, the processor achieves a multi-core score of 23794 and a single-core score of 3359, indicating excellent balanced performance for a flight simulator that relies heavily on both single-threaded scenery loading and multi-threaded physics and AI calculations. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7683 and max-thread score of 7680 confirm that the 8-core, 16-thread configuration maintains consistent performance as thread count scales.

The GPU side is equally impressive, with the RTX 4090 posting a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 271631. These figures demonstrate the Ada Lovelace architecture's dominance in both rasterization and compute workloads, which directly translates to the high average frame rates observed in the flight simulator's demanding rendering pipeline.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, benchmark results show playable performance at all tested settings in 3840x2160. The Ultra preset averages 75.9 FPS, High averages 80.1 FPS, Medium reaches 104.8 FPS, and Low delivers 136.1 FPS.

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains above 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: All four tested presets exceed the 60 FPS threshold at 2560x1440. The most demanding Ultra preset averages 103.8 FPS, which is well above the playable threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800XT compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800XT has an average benchmark score of 29879, placing it within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (29713) and essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS by only 0.3% (both scoring 29955).

Q: Is the RTX 4090 significantly faster than its nearest GPU competitors?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60347. The nearest rival, Intel Arc Pro A60, scores 60326 with a 0% delta, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60140 (0.3% slower). The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% faster at 61896, and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% slower at 58657.

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

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 127.9 FPS, which provides a substantial margin above the 60 FPS playability threshold and is sufficient for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does performance scale between 1080p and 4K?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 127.9 at 1080p to 103.8 at 1440p and finally to 75.9 at 4K. This represents a 40.7% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, demonstrating predictable scaling with resolution increases.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals are all within 0.6% of the Ryzen 7 5800XT's average benchmark score of 29879. The AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868, 0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (29955, -0.3% delta) would provide nearly identical CPU-bound performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (29713, 0.6% delta) is also within a negligible margin, making it a viable alternative if system configuration requirements differ.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals show more variance. The Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326, 0% delta) is essentially identical in average benchmark score. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60140, 0.3% delta) is also closely matched. The AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58657, 2.9% delta) is slightly slower but would still deliver comparable frame rates in most scenarios. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61896, -2.5% delta) is the only nearby option that is faster, though the margin is small.

When considering alternative pairings, a system with the Ryzen 7 8845HS or Ryzen 7 7840HS would exhibit essentially identical CPU performance, while swapping the RTX 4090 for an Arc Pro A60 would maintain the same GPU benchmark score. These substitutions would produce frame rates within a few percentage points of the measured values across all resolutions and settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals that the GPU is the dominant performance factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU plays a more significant role at lower resolutions. At 4K, the RTX 4090's raw throughput is the primary constraint, as evidenced by the 44.5% performance gap between Low (136.1 FPS) and Ultra (75.9 FPS) settings at 3840x2160. This large preset-to-preset delta indicates that graphics workload scaling is the limiting factor.

At 1080p, the CPU's contribution becomes more apparent. The performance gap between Low (187.2 FPS) and Ultra (127.9 FPS) narrows to 46.5%, but the absolute frame rates are high enough that CPU-bound scenarios may emerge in dense urban areas or complex weather systems. The Ryzen 7 5800XT's strong single-thread score of 3359 in Cinebench R23 and 3535 in PassMark ensures that the CPU rarely becomes a bottleneck, even at lower resolutions where the GPU has excess capacity.

The scaling between resolutions provides further insight. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops by 18.8% from 1080p to 1440p (127.9 to 103.8 FPS) and by 26.9% from 1440p to 4K (103.8 to 75.9 FPS). The larger drop at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is increasingly responsible for performance as pixel count grows. Conversely, the relatively modest 18.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the CPU maintains adequate frame pacing even as GPU load increases.

The Verdict

This system can definitively run Microsoft Flight Simulator with excellent performance at all tested resolutions and settings. The verdict by resolution confirms that 3840x2160 is fully playable with all four settings exceeding the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra delivering 75.9 FPS and High at 80.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, all presets are playable, with Ultra achieving 103.8 FPS and Medium reaching 144.9 FPS. The 1920x1080 results are even stronger, with every setting averaging above 127 FPS, including the most demanding Ultra preset at 127.9 FPS.

The data indicates that this combination provides a substantial performance margin across the board. Even the most stressful scenario tested — 4K Ultra — maintains an average of 75.9 FPS, which is 26.5% above the 60 FPS playability threshold. Users can confidently enable maximum settings at any resolution without concern for frame rate drops below playable levels.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 75.9 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while delivering the highest visual fidelity the game offers.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings achieve an average of 103.8 FPS, making it the optimal preset for this resolution. The substantial headroom above 60 FPS allows for consistent performance even in the most demanding flight scenarios.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 127.9 FPS, which is the highest visual quality setting tested and remains well above the playability threshold. The significant performance margin at this resolution means users can enable Ultra without any trade-offs in smoothness.