Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, creating an interesting asymmetry between a mid-range 6-core CPU and a flagship 24 GB GPU. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a system where the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, with the CPU’s Zen 3 architecture and 16 MB of L3 cache shaping the overall performance envelope. The data shows a combination that ranks in the 85th percentile of tested combos for this title, yet the scaling patterns suggest the experience is heavily dependent on the graphics preset chosen.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant but not uniform across settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 161.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 109.9 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 51.8 FPS or roughly 32%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 105.9 FPS to 62.9 FPS, a 43 FPS decline or about 41%. This difference in scaling percentages indicates that at higher presets, the RX 7900 XTX’s rendering workload becomes more demanding, while at Low settings, the CPU’s single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 836) begins to cap the frame rate.

The 1440p results sit closer to the 1080p figures than to 4K, particularly at Medium and High settings. At Medium, 2560x1440 delivers 121.9 FPS versus 149.3 FPS at 1080p, showing only an 18% drop. This suggests that the flight simulator’s engine is not purely GPU-bound at these resolutions, and the Ryzen 5 5500’s boost clock of 4.20 GHz and 12 threads provide adequate headroom for the GPU to stretch its legs. The 4K Ultra result of 62.9 FPS is the only sub-60 result, indicating that the combo can maintain playable frame rates at 4K but with noticeable compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 263rd out of 1795 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 15% of all configurations. This rank reflects a balance between the CPU’s 79th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU’s 85th percentile position. The Ryzen 5 5500’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, scores nearly identically (20897 vs 20875 avg benchmark score), yet the RX 7900 XTX outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti by 2% in average GPU benchmarks. This combination leverages the GPU’s strength while the CPU’s multi-threaded score of 19330 in PassMark keeps the system from bottlenecking in less demanding scenes.

The rank suggests that in this specific simulation, the pairing is more effective than the raw component percentiles might imply. The RX 7900 XTX’s 24 GB memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth help with the large texture loads typical of flight simulators, while the CPU’s 16 MB L3 cache and 3.60 GHz base clock handle the game’s simulation logic. The deltaPct values for the CPU’s nearest rivals are all within 0.2%, indicating that the processor choice has minimal impact on this ranking, whereas the GPU’s 2% edge over the RTX 4070 Ti contributes more meaningfully to the overall position.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 at High settings provides 88 FPS, which balances visual fidelity with smoothness. 4K is playable at 66.1 FPS on High, but the 62.9 FPS at Ultra may be too low for some users.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data suggests so. At Low settings, 1080p yields 161.7 FPS versus 148.3 FPS at 1440p, a smaller gap than expected for a GPU-bound scenario, indicating the Ryzen 5 5500’s single-thread performance limits the frame rate.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The RX 7900 XTX benchmarks 2% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti on average, but in this game, the measured FPS shows the GPU is often not the limiting component, so that advantage may not always be visible.

Q: Is 4K Ultra achievable with this setup?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 62.9, which is technically playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 66.1 FPS offers a slightly safer margin.

Q: What does the combo rank of 263 out of 1795 mean?

A: It means this configuration performs better than approximately 85% of all tested CPU-GPU combinations for this game, placing it in the upper tier of systems.

Q: How much FPS is lost when switching from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 149.3 at 1920x1080 to 87.8 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 61.5 FPS or about 41%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 161.7 FPS, followed by Medium at 149.3 FPS, High at 113.6 FPS, and Ultra at 105.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 12.4 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High is a more substantial 35.7 FPS, suggesting that the High preset introduces significant rendering effects that impact the CPU.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. Low yields 148.3 FPS, Medium 121.9 FPS, High 88 FPS, and Ultra 84.5 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to just 3.5 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional features have minimal cost at this resolution. The Medium to High drop of 33.9 FPS mirrors the 1080p behavior, reinforcing that the High preset is a major performance threshold.

At 3840x2160, the results compress further. Low produces 109.9 FPS, Medium 87.8 FPS, High 66.1 FPS, and Ultra 62.9 FPS. The scaling from Medium to High represents a 24.7% reduction, while High to Ultra is only 4.8% lower. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading units (6144) become more critical, but the CPU still influences the Low preset result, which is 22 FPS higher than Medium.

GPU Role

The RX 7900 XTX’s 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s vast terrain textures. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (62.9) shows that the GPU’s 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 192 ROPs are sufficient to push high resolutions, but not without the CPU keeping pace. The GPU’s boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz allow for consistent performance across presets, as seen in the relatively small FPS gap between High and Ultra at 1440p and 4K.

The GPU’s percentile rank of 85 versus all GPUs indicates it is a top-tier part, but in this game, the benchmark results show that the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads can hold it back at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 161.7 FPS result is likely near the CPU’s maximum rendering rate, given the Ryzen 5 5500’s passmark_single_thread score of 3058. The GPU’s 24 GB memory is not fully utilized in this scenario, as the frame rate is not memory-bound. The data implies that the RX 7900 XTX is over-provisioned for 1080p with this CPU, but its strengths become evident at 4K where it maintains over 60 FPS even at Ultra.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500, with 6 cores and 12 threads, has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its single-thread 3dmark score of 836 and multi-thread score of 5386 for 16 threads indicate modest performance compared to modern CPUs. The 16 MB of L3 cache is smaller than some competitors, which can affect flight simulator’s complex scenery loading. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is a limiting factor, as evidenced by the 161.7 FPS cap at Low settings, which is only 12.4 FPS higher than Medium despite the GPU having much more headroom.

The CPU’s PassMark multi-thread score of 19330 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 suggest it can handle the simulation’s background tasks, but its 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR4 support may throttle data transfer in dense areas. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, has an almost identical average score (20897 vs 20875), confirming the CPU is not a differentiator. At 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes, as the FPS drop from Low to Medium is only 22.1 FPS, compared to 41.9 FPS at 1080p. This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck, freeing the CPU from its constraints.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing smooth frame rates at 1080p, the Medium preset at 149.3 FPS offers the best balance, as it is only 12.4 FPS lower than Low but likely provides noticeably better visuals. At 1440p, the Medium preset at 121.9 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a high refresh rate while the High preset drops to 88 FPS, a significant step down. The Ultra preset at 84.5 FPS is viable for those who want maximum detail, but the data shows it is only 3.5 FPS slower than High, making High a more efficient choice.

At 4K, the High preset at 66.1 FPS is the best experience, as it stays above 60 FPS while the Ultra preset at 62.9 FPS is marginally slower and the Medium preset at 87.8 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality. The Low preset at 4K (109.9 FPS) is not recommended because the CPU is likely not the bottleneck at this resolution, and the visual degradation outweighs the frame rate benefit. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the most consistent scaling, with frame rates that are at least 66% of the Low preset’s performance, making it the safest choice for varied hardware conditions.