Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a commanding performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with measured frame rates that keep every preset at every tested resolution well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The data shows a combination that scales predictably with resolution, with the RTX 5090’s raw throughput ensuring that even the most demanding Ultra preset remains fluid at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest raw frame rates, with the Low preset averaging 183.7 FPS. Moving up the settings ladder, Medium drops to 172.8 FPS, High to 142.3 FPS, and Ultra still holds a strong 133.9 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra is roughly 50 FPS, indicating that the CPU and GPU combination has ample headroom even when the simulator’s most taxing visual features are enabled.

The 2560x1440 results show a typical scaling pattern. The Low preset averages 175.5 FPS, while Medium reaches 152.4 FPS. High falls to 115.1 FPS, and Ultra settles at 106.2 FPS. The performance delta between 1080p and 1440p is modest at the lower presets — about 8 FPS on Low — but widens to 27.7 FPS on Ultra, reflecting the increased pixel workload that begins to engage the RTX 5090 more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the impact of resolution becomes pronounced. The Low preset still delivers an excellent 139.2 FPS average, and Medium is not far behind at 109.6 FPS. High and Ultra produce nearly identical averages of 80.5 FPS and 80.6 FPS, respectively. This clustering suggests that at 4K, the simulator’s Ultra preset does not introduce a significantly heavier load than High, or that the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are sufficient to keep both settings within a narrow performance band.

Notably, the min and max FPS figures are not recorded in the dataset, so all analysis relies on average frame rates. The consistency of the averages across presets, however, implies stable performance without severe dips under typical flight scenarios.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, which delivers an average of 133.9 FPS. This is the most demanding preset available, and it clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin, making it the recommended choice for users who prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

For 2560x1440, Ultra also emerges as the best setting, with an average of 106.2 FPS. The system maintains a comfortable buffer above 60 FPS, allowing for full graphical detail at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, Ultra remains the best choice, averaging 80.6 FPS. While this is the lowest average across all tested configurations, it still exceeds the playable threshold by over 20 FPS, confirming that the RTX 5090 can handle the simulator’s peak settings at 4K. The verdict data corroborates this, listing all four presets — High, Low, Medium, and Ultra — as playable at every resolution.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 80.6, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High averages 115.1 FPS while Ultra averages 106.2 FPS, a difference of 8.9 FPS in favor of High.

Q: Does lowering settings from Ultra to Low provide a significant boost at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080, Low averages 183.7 FPS compared to Ultra’s 133.9 FPS, a gain of 49.8 FPS.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 109.6, which is well above the playable threshold.

Q: Is the Ultra preset at 4K significantly slower than the High preset at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, High averages 80.5 FPS and Ultra averages 80.6 FPS, showing virtually no performance difference between the two presets.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 1440p for maximum visual quality?

A: Ultra, since it delivers an average of 106.2 FPS at 2560x1440, maintaining high frame rates while using the most demanding settings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT sits at the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29879. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (avg score 29868, delta 0%), the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (avg score 29955, delta -0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (avg score 29955, delta -0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (avg score 29713, delta 0.6%). For Microsoft Flight Simulator, these processors would likely produce similar CPU-bound behavior, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU has a greater influence on frame rates.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (avg score 79605, delta 0.3%), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (avg score 79396, delta 0.6%), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (avg score 78940, delta 1.1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (avg score 80959, delta -1.4%). In practice, these alternatives would offer comparable GPU throughput, though the RTX 5090’s 32 GB memory and Blackwell architecture provide features that the older Tesla and Radeon parts lack for gaming workloads.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals a clear shift in workload balance. At 1920x1080, the CPU plays a more prominent role, as evidenced by the relatively small frame rate drop from Low to Ultra (183.7 to 133.9 FPS) despite the increased graphical load. The Ryzen 7 5800XT’s 8 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, are sufficient to feed the RTX 5090’s massive compute capacity at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take over. The frame rate penalty from Low to Ultra is 69.3 FPS (175.5 to 106.2), a larger absolute drop than at 1080p. This indicates that the RTX 5090 is now the limiting factor, as the higher pixel count demands more from the graphics pipeline.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s dominance is unmistakable. The Low preset averages 139.2 FPS, but Ultra drops to 80.6 FPS. The fact that High and Ultra are nearly identical (80.5 vs 80.6 FPS) suggests that at 4K, the simulator’s Ultra preset does not substantially increase the GPU load beyond High, or that the RTX 5090’s 32 GB frame buffer and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth allow it to handle both presets with similar efficiency. Across all resolutions, the CPU remains a capable partner, but the data shows that Microsoft Flight Simulator with this hardware is increasingly GPU-bound as resolution rises.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Microsoft Flight Simulator, and it does so with substantial headroom. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 133.9 FPS, making it the best choice for high-refresh-rate displays. At 2560x1440, Ultra still delivers 106.2 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience on standard 1440p monitors. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset clears the 60 FPS threshold with an average of 80.6 FPS, so 4K users can enable maximum settings without compromising playability.

The verdict data confirms that all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at every resolution tested. The RTX 5090’s 32 GB of memory and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute provide ample power for the simulator’s demanding scenery and weather rendering. The Ryzen 7 5800XT, with its 3.80 GHz base and 4.80 GHz boost clocks, keeps up without bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions. For users targeting 60 FPS as the minimum bar, this combination exceeds it at every settings level, making it a top-tier choice for flight simulation enthusiasts.