Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combination ranks 1060 out of 2996 tested combos in the database for this game. That places it in the upper-middle portion of all tested configurations, indicating a balanced pairing that outperforms a majority of systems but does not reach the top tier.

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D has an average benchmark score of 37018, while the Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945. This puts the 5500X3D 0.2% ahead of the 5600F in average benchmark performance. The difference is negligible in practical terms, making them near-identical performers in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the VRAM capacity of the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, and how does it relate to Microsoft Flight Simulator's demands?

A: The RX 7700 XT comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. For a flight simulator that streams large terrain and scenery data, this capacity is sufficient for the tested settings, as evidenced by playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT?

A: The launch MSRP of the RX 7700 XT is 449 USD. This information is provided for reference; the performance data in this analysis is measured independently of price considerations.

Q: At which resolution does the combo achieve its highest average frame rate?

A: The highest average frame rate is 139 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the same resolution with Medium settings, it drops to 108 FPS, and with High settings it reaches 81 FPS, showing a clear scaling pattern as graphical fidelity increases.

Q: How does the GPU's PassMark G3D score compare to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080?

A: The RX 7700 XT scores 22547 in PassMark G3D, while the RTX 2080 scores 22895. This puts the RX 7700 XT 1.5% behind the RTX 2080 in that specific benchmark, indicating closely matched rasterization performance despite being a different generation.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT serves as the primary rendering engine for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and its memory configuration plays a critical role in the measured results. The GPU is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip on a 5 nm process, containing 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 1435 MHz and a boost clock of 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz that represents the typical sustained frequency during gaming workloads.

The 12 GB GDDR6 memory pool, paired with a 192-bit bus and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, is the defining feature for this simulator. Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for loading vast amounts of terrain data, and the measured frame rates indicate that this memory configuration handles the data streaming requirements without becoming a bottleneck at the tested settings. The GPU also features 3456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, yielding a pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s.

In terms of raw compute, the RX 7700 XT delivers 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is ample for the DirectX 12 workloads this game presents. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features that modern flight simulators can leverage. The 54 ray tracing cores provide hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance specifically.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows a PassMark G3D score of 22547, placing it in the 67th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival in average benchmark score is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 22435 (0.5% behind), while the RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729 (0.8% ahead). This places the RX 7700 XT in a competitive mid-range tier where small percentage differences separate it from its peers.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT achieves a combo rank of 1060 out of 2996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This rank places the pair in the 65th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the configurations in the database while trailing the top third.

This ranking is notable because the CPU sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 37018, while the GPU sits in the 67th percentile with an average benchmark score of 22549. The combo ranking suggests that the pairing does not suffer from a severe bottleneck on either side; the CPU's strong single-threaded performance (PassMark single-thread score of 2941) complements the GPU's mid-range rasterization capabilities.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average score include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945 (0.2% behind), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 at 36938 (0.2% behind), and the Intel Core i9-12900T at 37112 (0.3% ahead). These differences are within measurement noise, indicating that the 5500X3D performs equivalently to a broad set of competing CPUs.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 22435 (0.5% behind), the RTX 4060 Mobile at 22729 (0.8% ahead), the RTX 2080 at 22895 (1.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 at 22170 (1.7% behind). The RX 7700 XT sits comfortably in this cluster, with performance deltas under 2% across all four rivals.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator span three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo achieves 139 FPS on Low settings, which represents the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Moving up to Medium settings at the same resolution, the average drops to 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS. High settings produce 81 FPS, while Ultra settings yield 77 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 44.6% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly taxed as graphical fidelity rises.

At 2560x1440, the combo delivers 112 FPS on Low settings, which remains highly playable for a flight simulator. Medium settings produce 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS, maintaining smooth gameplay. High settings drop to 65 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 62 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level results in average reductions of approximately 19-24%, which is consistent with the increased pixel count demanding more GPU throughput.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding resolution tested, the combo achieves 82 FPS on Low settings, which is still a very playable result. Medium settings produce 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, showing that the combo can maintain playable frame rates with some headroom. High settings drop to 48 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 46 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay, indicating that users targeting 4K will need to dial back settings.

Across all resolutions, the delta between Low and Ultra settings is significant. At 1080p, the difference is 62 FPS (from 139 to 77); at 1440p, it is 50 FPS (from 112 to 62); and at 4K, it is 36 FPS (from 82 to 46). This pattern suggests that the GPU has more headroom at lower resolutions, where the CPU can feed it enough data to saturate the rendering pipeline, while at higher resolutions the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It operates at a base clock of 3.00 GHz and can boost to 4.00 GHz, with a TDP of 105 W. The processor is manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 74 mm², and it supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

The defining feature of this CPU is its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a 6-core processor. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, large cache capacity can help reduce memory latency when accessing frequently used game data, potentially improving frame pacing and minimum frame rates. The CPU also includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core and 512 KB of L2 cache per core, creating a robust cache hierarchy.

The CPU's single-threaded performance, as measured by PassMark, is 2941, which is critical for a flight simulator that often relies on a limited number of heavily loaded threads for simulation logic. The multithreaded score is 20363, and the processor achieves an average benchmark score of 37018, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. This strong single-threaded showing indicates that the 5500X3D can handle the simulation's main thread without becoming a bottleneck at the tested settings.

The CPU supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes, providing sufficient bandwidth for the RX 7700 XT, which uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. This ensures that data transfer between the CPU and GPU does not introduce a significant bottleneck. The processor does not have integrated graphics, meaning the discrete GPU is the sole rendering solution.

In the context of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to run the flight model, weather simulation, and scenery loading logic, while the GPU handles the visual rendering. The measured frame rates suggest that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to achieve high frame rates (139 FPS at 1080p Low), while at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the smaller FPS drops between settings at 4K compared to 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience with this combo. For users targeting 1920x1080, all settings presets are playable, with even Ultra settings delivering 77 FPS average. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a balanced experience at 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS, ensuring no noticeable stutter during demanding flight scenes. For users who prefer maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 1080p remains viable, though the 77 FPS average leaves less headroom for complex scenes.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts based on the desired frame rate target. Users seeking 60 FPS or higher can comfortably use High settings, which deliver 65 FPS average. The Medium preset at 87 FPS provides excellent smoothness with a minimum of 74 FPS, making it the best choice for users who prioritize consistent frame pacing over visual detail. Ultra settings at 62 FPS are technically playable but approach the lower bound of acceptable performance for a simulator that may experience frame drops in dense scenery.

At 3840x2160, the data indicates that users should avoid Ultra settings, as the 46 FPS average falls below the smoothness threshold. The Medium preset at 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS is the highest quality setting that maintains playable performance at 4K. For users who want a more comfortable margin, Low settings at 82 FPS provide a very smooth experience, though with reduced visual fidelity. High settings at 48 FPS may be acceptable for users who prioritize visual quality over smoothness, but the Medium preset offers the best balance of quality and performance at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the best combination of average frame rate and minimum frame rate stability. The data shows that the gap between Medium and High is substantial (approximately 25-27 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K), while the gap between Medium and Low is smaller (approximately 31 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K). This suggests that Medium represents the sweet spot where the GPU's capabilities are well-utilized without pushing into diminishing returns.