Microsoft Flight Simulator

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT sits at rank 750 out of 1795 tested combinations. This places the combo in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, roughly in the 58th percentile of configurations evaluated for this specific title. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing rather than an outlier in either direction — the system is neither a top-tier enthusiast configuration nor a marginal one, but a solid mid-pack performer that handles the simulation's demands without being exceptional.

The CPU's standalone benchmark profile provides context for this placement. The Ryzen 5 5500 achieves an average benchmark score of 20875, which places it in the 79th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i5-12500 scores 20897 (a negligible 0.1% difference), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE scores 20900 (also 0.1% away), and the AMD EPYC 7J13 scores 20845 (0.1% behind). This tight grouping indicates the processor's performance is extremely consistent with its direct competitors, meaning the combo's rank is not dragged down by CPU weakness.

On the GPU side, the RX 7700 XT holds an average benchmark score of 30097, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, scores 30109 — a 0% difference that is effectively a statistical tie. The AMD Radeon RX 570 scores 30158 (0.2% higher), while the NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 29969 (0.4% lower). This GPU-level data suggests the graphics card is performing at a level consistent with its expected tier, and the combo's rank in Flight Simulator reflects that mid-pack positioning.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT brings 12 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. For a flight simulator that streams vast terrain and scenery data, this memory configuration is significant — the 12 GB capacity allows for large texture loads without excessive swapping, while the bandwidth supports the continuous data flow required for smooth scenery rendering.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable for this title. The base clock runs at 1435 MHz, but the boost clock reaches 2544 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2171 MHz. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, which can be heavily GPU-bound at higher settings and resolutions, the boost behavior determines sustained performance. The 96 ROPs and 549.5 GTexel/s texture rate provide the raw throughput needed for the simulator's complex geometry and texture work.

The GPU's benchmark results reinforce its capability. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 3316, while Geekbench OpenCL shows 127549 and Vulkan 132758. Passmark G3D gives 22547 and GPU Compute 12912. These scores, combined with the 35.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance, indicate a card that can handle the simulator's demands at mainstream settings. The 54 ray tracing cores are present, though Flight Simulator's use of RT features is generally light compared to other modern titles.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 provides 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-thread performance for its main simulation loop, the processor's single-core capabilities are crucial. The 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319 indicate solid, if not class-leading, single-threaded performance.

The processor's 16 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the simulation's data requirements. The 3DMark multi-thread scores show scaling: 5386 for 16 threads, 5411 for max threads, but only 1645 for 2 threads and 3151 for 4 threads. This pattern suggests the CPU handles multi-threaded workloads reasonably well, though the simulation's primary thread remains the bottleneck in many scenarios.

Cinebench results paint a similar picture: R20 multicore scores 6900, R23 multicore reaches 16429, but single-core R20 is 973 and R23 is 2319. The Passmark multi-thread score of 19330 and single-thread of 3058 confirm this balance. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20875, places it in the upper quartile of processors, though its nearest rivals show it is not a standout — the Intel Core i5-12500 matches it within 0.1%, making the CPU a predictable, reliable component rather than a performance outlier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive view of the combo's behavior in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 136.1 FPS average, Medium reaches 109.4 FPS, and High achieves 79.5 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 79 FPS, which is remarkably close to the High setting result — a difference of only 0.5 FPS. This clustering at the top settings suggests that at 1080p, the CPU begins to limit performance at higher quality levels, as the GPU has sufficient headroom to render the scene but the processor cannot feed it faster.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale predictably. Low settings yield 111.9 FPS average, Medium drops to 86.5 FPS, High falls to 63 FPS, and Ultra reaches 60.5 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to 2.5 FPS, again indicating a CPU limitation at these settings. The step from Low to Medium represents a 25.4 FPS drop, while Medium to High is a 23.5 FPS drop, showing the GPU's workload increasing substantially with each quality tier.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. Low settings produce 83 FPS average, Medium drops to 59.4 FPS, High falls to 47.7 FPS, and Ultra reaches 46.4 FPS. The Ultra result is only 1.3 FPS below High, indicating that at 4K, the GPU is fully utilized and the CPU's role diminishes. The spread from Low to Ultra is 36.6 FPS, the largest of any resolution, confirming that 4K is where the graphics card's capabilities are most thoroughly tested.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling behavior from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU limitations. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 136.1 FPS at 1080p to 111.9 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2 FPS decrease) and then to 83 FPS at 4K (a further 28.9 FPS decrease). The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 39%, indicating that even at the lowest quality settings, the GPU is still the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the progression is 109.4 FPS at 1080p, 86.5 FPS at 1440p, and 59.4 FPS at 4K — a total drop of 50 FPS, or 45.7% from the 1080p baseline. This steeper decline suggests that as quality increases, the GPU workload grows more rapidly, making the graphics card the clear bottleneck at 4K Medium.

High settings show 79.5 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 47.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 31.8 FPS, or exactly 40%. Ultra settings follow a similar pattern: 79 FPS at 1080p, 60.5 FPS at 1440p, and 46.4 FPS at 4K — a 32.6 FPS total drop, or 41.3%.

The most telling observation is that at 1080p, High and Ultra produce nearly identical results (79.5 vs 79 FPS), while at 1440p they differ by only 2.5 FPS, and at 4K by just 1.3 FPS. This convergence indicates that the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p High and Ultra — the GPU can render these settings quickly, but the processor's single-thread performance caps the frame rate. The Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread scores, including the 3DMark single-thread result of 836 and Cinebench R23 single-core of 2319, support this interpretation.

At 4K, the situation reverses. The GPU's workload becomes so heavy that the CPU has ample time to prepare frames, and the RX 7700 XT's 12 GB memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are fully exercised. The 47.7 FPS at 4K High and 46.4 FPS at 4K Ultra are respectable for a flight simulator, which is notoriously demanding, but they clearly show the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

The data indicates a well-matched system for 1440p gaming, where the 63 FPS at High settings represents a good balance. At 1080p, the CPU holds the system back at higher quality settings, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the constraint. This combination of components works best at 1440p High, where neither component is fully saturated and the frame rate remains playable.