Microsoft Flight Simulator

The benchmark data for Microsoft Flight Simulator on the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination reveals a system of exceptional capability, where the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions shifts decisively to the CPU. This pairing manages to deliver high frame rates across the board, yet the scaling patterns between resolutions and presets tell a story of a GPU that is often waiting for more data, particularly at 1080p. The measured results indicate that while the RTX 5090 provides immense graphical headroom, the Ryzen 7 9700F's performance becomes the limiting factor for achieving the highest possible frame rates at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear ceiling imposed by the CPU. With the Low preset, the average frame rate reaches 238 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo in any configuration. Moving to the Medium preset, the average drops to 185 FPS, with a minimum of 158 FPS and a maximum of 213 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 139 FPS, while the Ultra preset still maintains a very strong average of 133 FPS. The relatively small gap between the High and Ultra presets at this resolution, compared to the larger gap between Low and Medium, suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated until higher settings are engaged. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance is the primary driver of frame rate, as the GPU has ample resources to spare.

The 2560x1440 resolution shows a more balanced workload between the CPU and GPU. The Low preset here averages 192 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 238 FPS seen at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to take on more work. The Medium preset averages 149 FPS, with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS. High settings produce an average of 112 FPS, and the Ultra preset maintains a robust 107 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a more linear decline in frame rates compared to 1080p, suggesting that the system is moving into a more GPU-bound territory, though the CPU still plays a substantial role.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5090's capabilities are fully utilized. The Low preset averages 142 FPS, which is a notable drop from the 192 FPS at 1440p, demonstrating the massive pixel throughput required at 4K. The Medium preset averages 110 FPS, with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS. High settings deliver an average of 83 FPS, while the Ultra preset still manages a respectable 79 FPS average. The frame rate deltas between resolutions for each preset are substantial, confirming that 4K is entirely GPU-limited. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system still clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably, which confirms the raw power of the RTX 5090.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K with the Ultra preset?

A: Yes, the measured data shows an average of 79 FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 238 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the performance scale between 1080p and 4K at the Medium preset?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 185 FPS. This drops to 149 FPS at 2560x1440 Medium, and further to 110 FPS at 3840x2160 Medium, showing a significant performance hit as resolution increases.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p. The frame rate at Low settings is 238 FPS, which is exceptionally high, but the scaling between resolutions is steep, indicating the GPU is not fully taxed until higher resolutions are used.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings?

A: The minimum frame rate is 127 FPS, and the maximum is 172 FPS, with an average of 149 FPS.

Q: Does the system maintain over 60 FPS at all tested settings in 4K?

A: Yes, even the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 maintains an average of 79 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance data reveals a clear division of labor between the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 depending on the resolution. At 1920x1080, the CPU is the dominant factor. The frame rate at the Low preset is 238 FPS, which is only slightly higher than the 192 FPS at 2560x1440 Low. This relatively small drop suggests that the CPU is hitting its maximum throughput for the game's simulation logic, and the GPU is simply waiting for new frames to render. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is only 46 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is 50 FPS. However, the absolute numbers at 1080p are so high that they indicate a CPU bottleneck, as the GPU has the raw power to render far more frames if the CPU could feed it data faster.

At 2560x1440, the workload becomes more balanced. The frame rate drop from Low to Medium is 43 FPS, and from Medium to High is 37 FPS, showing that both the CPU and GPU are contributing to the performance envelope. The CPU's role is still significant, but the GPU's rendering capabilities are now being taxed more heavily, as evidenced by the more substantial drop in frame rates when moving to 4K. At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck. The frame rates at 4K are roughly half of what they are at 1080p for most presets, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. For instance, the High preset drops from 139 FPS at 1080p to 83 FPS at 4K, a 40% reduction that is driven by the sheer number of pixels the RTX 5090 must process.

The scaling between presets also highlights the CPU's influence. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 105 FPS, while at 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 63 FPS. This compression of frame rates at higher resolutions indicates that the CPU can still push enough data to keep the GPU busy at 4K, but the GPU's rendering time dominates the total frame time. The data implies that for users targeting 1080p or 1440p gaming, the Ryzen 7 9700F's 8 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, are sufficient to feed the RTX 5090 at high frame rates, but the GPU is not being fully utilized until the resolution is increased to 4K.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, which scores 69,875 with a delta of 0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70,163 with a delta of -0.2%. These processors are essentially performance peers, meaning that a system with either of these CPUs would likely produce very similar frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator, assuming the same GPU is used. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515 with a delta of 0.7%, and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69,355 with a delta of 0.9%, both of which are also within a 1% performance margin. For this specific game, which is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance, the data suggests that swapping the Ryzen 7 9700F for any of these rivals would not yield a meaningful change in FPS, as the differences are negligible.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's nearest rivals are somewhat unexpected. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605 with a delta of 0.3%, and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396 with a delta of 0.6%. These are data center cards, not consumer gaming GPUs, but their benchmark scores are close. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 with a delta of 1.1%, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959 with a delta of -1.4%. While these cards may not be direct consumer alternatives, the data implies that their raw compute performance is in the same ballpark as the RTX 5090. However, for gaming, the RTX 5090's specific features, such as its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and dedicated ray tracing cores, would likely provide a better experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is a demanding title.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 44th out of 3,714 tested combos in this game. This places the system in the top 1.2% of all configurations tested, which is an exceptional result. The high ranking is a direct reflection of the measured frame rates, which show that the system can handle the most demanding settings at 4K resolution with ease. The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of other CPU and GPU pairings in the database, making it a top-tier choice for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The rank of 44 suggests that there are a few other combinations, likely with even more powerful CPUs or specialized hardware, that edge out this pairing, but for practical purposes, this system is among the best available.

The Verdict

The measured data provides a clear answer: this PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator exceptionally well at all tested resolutions and presets. The verdict by resolution confirms that at 1920x1080, all presets from Low to Ultra are playable, with the Ultra preset averaging 133 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 107 FPS, again comfortably above the playable threshold. Even at 3840x2160, the most demanding configuration, the Ultra preset maintains an average of 79 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS mark. The data shows that this system never dips below the 60 FPS threshold in any tested scenario, making it a definitive yes for running the game at high frame rates. The only minor caveat is that the minimum frame rates were only recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution, with values of 158 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K, all of which are still far above the playable threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

For players seeking the most demanding visual experience that still maintains 60 FPS or higher, the data points to the Ultra preset at every resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 133 FPS, which is the highest quality setting that stays well above the threshold. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 107 FPS, providing a high-fidelity experience without sacrificing smoothness. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 79 FPS, which is the best possible visual quality while still clearing the 60 FPS requirement. The data suggests that there is no need to compromise on settings for this game with this hardware, as even the most demanding preset at 4K yields a playable frame rate. The recommendation is to use the Ultra preset at all resolutions to fully utilize the RTX 5090's capabilities, with the knowledge that the frame rate will remain above 60 FPS in all cases.