Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its closest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 posts an average benchmark score of 19,593, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19,617, a -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12500 (19,668, a -0.4% delta). It sits slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-10700F (19,499, a +0.5% delta) but trails the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19,723, a -0.7% delta).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 holds a percentile ranking of 68 against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 23,172, which places it within a tight cluster of rivals: the NVIDIA P106-100 (23,249, -0.3% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23,250, -0.3% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23,273, -0.4% delta), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23,276, -0.4% delta) all score within a fraction of a percent.

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS in the measured data is 158 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at the same resolution delivers 123 FPS average, while High yields 92 FPS and Ultra drops to 88 FPS.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but barely. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 52. This is the lowest average in the entire measured set, though still above 30 FPS. The High preset at 4K improves to 55 FPS average, and Medium reaches 73 FPS.

Q: How many total combos were tested for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and where does this one rank?

A: This combo ranks 1,036 out of 3,714 tested combos for the game. That places it in the upper portion of the field, roughly in the 72nd percentile of all tested CPU-GPU pairings.

Q: What memory specifications does the CPU support?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. ECC memory is not supported.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for streaming the high-resolution terrain and photogrammetry data the game loads continuously. The GPU's base clock runs at 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz, and its memory operates at an effective 19 Gbps.

The RTX 3080's Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process, contains 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. Its 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores handle the game's optional ray-traced effects and DLSS processing. With a pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s, the card has substantial raw throughput. The FP32 compute rating of 29.77 TFLOPS indicates strong general-purpose shader performance.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 158 FPS, but this drops to 127 FPS at 1440p Low and 94 FPS at 4K Low — a 40.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K at the same settings. The Ultra preset tells a similar story: 88 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. This indicates the RTX 3080 remains the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the gap between resolution tiers grows when settings increase.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 68 against all GPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 23,172, shows it is a mid-to-upper-tier performer. However, in Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically, the 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS suggests the game's extreme draw distances and volumetric effects push the card to its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 3,714 tested CPU-GPU combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 5500 and RTX 3080 achieves rank 1,036. That places it comfortably in the top 28% of all tested combos, though not in the elite tier. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely bottlenecks the other, but neither is top-tier either.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 73 against all processors is slightly higher than the GPU's 68 percentile ranking. This suggests the CPU is marginally more capable relative to its peers than the GPU is relative to its own peers. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for heavy single-threaded CPU loads, this balance works in the combo's favor — the Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread performance is sufficient to feed the RTX 3080 adequately.

The combo's position at rank 1,036 indicates that roughly 2,678 other combinations performed better in this game. Given that the RTX 3080 is an end-of-life product and the Ryzen 5 5500 is a budget-oriented 5000-series chip, this mid-pack ranking is consistent with their respective positions in the broader hardware landscape. The data shows this is a capable combination for the game, but not one that challenges high-end pairings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset achieves 158 FPS average, which is exceptionally smooth for a flight simulator. Medium settings drop this to 123 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS. High settings yield 92 FPS average, while Ultra produces 88 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 70 FPS, representing a 44.3% performance penalty for the highest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results scale predictably. Low settings produce 127 FPS average, a 19.6% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium delivers 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. High settings drop to 74 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 71 FPS average. The penalty from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 56 FPS, or 44.1% — nearly identical to the 1080p percentage drop.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 begins to show its limits. Low settings still manage a respectable 94 FPS average, but Medium falls to 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. High settings produce 55 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS average. The Low-to-Ultra penalty at 4K is 42 FPS, or 44.7%, maintaining the same proportional drop seen at lower resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all resolutions. At 1080p, the spread is 104 to 141 FPS; at 1440p, it narrows to 84 to 114 FPS; at 4K, it tightens further to 62 to 84 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor, reducing frame-time variance as the workload shifts more heavily toward the graphics card.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 provides six cores and twelve threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz boosts up to 4.20 GHz. The 16 MB L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core support the game's simulation logic, which includes complex flight physics, weather systems, and AI traffic.

The CPU's benchmark results show a strong multi-threaded profile. In Cinebench R23, it scores 16,429 multi-core and 2,319 single-core. The single-core score is particularly relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on a few threads for the main simulation loop. The PassMark single-thread score of 3,058 reinforces this capability. Multi-threaded performance is solid as well, with PassMark multi-thread at 19,330 and Geekbench multi-core at 7,976.

The Ryzen 5 5500's percentile ranking of 73 against all CPUs indicates it outperforms nearly three-quarters of tested processors. Its nearest rivals in average score — the Ryzen AI 5 430, Core i5-12500, Core i7-10700F, and Core i5-11600KF — are all within 0.7% of its score, showing this chip sits at a competitive performance plateau.

In the context of this game, the CPU's role is to maintain the simulation state while the GPU renders the world. The data suggests the Ryzen 5 5500 is sufficient for this task: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 158 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 88 FPS result indicates the GPU is carrying the load, as the CPU's single-thread performance is adequate for the game's demands.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 support at 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are modest specifications, but they do not appear to limit performance in the measured scenarios. The PCIe Gen 3 interface is a potential consideration, as the RTX 3080 supports PCIe 4.0, but the measured FPS data shows strong results regardless of this interface limitation.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 60 FPS as a playable threshold, the data shows that at 4K, only the Low preset (94 FPS) and Medium preset (73 FPS) clear this bar. The High preset at 55 FPS and Ultra at 52 FPS fall short of 60 FPS. At 1440p, all four presets exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 127 FPS, Medium at 99 FPS, High at 74 FPS, and Ultra at 71 FPS. At 1080p, every preset delivers well above 60 FPS, from 158 FPS at Low to 88 FPS at Ultra.

For a balanced experience prioritizing visual quality while maintaining smooth frame rates, the Medium preset at 1440p is the standout choice. It delivers 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 FPS, ensuring consistent performance without frame drops below 60 FPS. The 114 FPS maximum shows headroom for less demanding scenes. This preset at 1440p offers a 25 FPS advantage over High settings at the same resolution, while the visual difference between Medium and High is typically less impactful in a flight simulator than in fast-paced action games.

At 4K, users seeking the best visual fidelity should accept the trade-off: Medium at 73 FPS is the highest preset that maintains 60+ FPS average, though the 62 FPS minimum shows occasional dips. The High preset at 55 FPS may be acceptable for users who prioritize visuals over smoothness, but the data suggests Medium is the safer choice for consistent performance. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is only recommended for users with VRR displays who can tolerate sub-60 FPS operation.

The Low preset at any resolution provides the highest frame rates but sacrifices the game's atmospheric effects, which are a major part of the experience. Given that even 4K Low achieves 94 FPS, there is little reason to use Low at 1080p or 1440p unless chasing maximum refresh rates. The Medium preset at 1080p (123 FPS) is the best option for high-refresh monitors, while Medium at 1440p (99 FPS) offers the best combination of resolution, visual quality, and performance headroom.