Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator with AMD Ryzen 5 7500F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a compelling desktop platform for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing 373rd out of 1,795 tested combos in this title. The measured data shows a system capable of smooth flight simulation at most settings, with the GPU acting as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 5 7500F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, pairs with the Radeon RX 7900 XT, which features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, producing a balanced yet GPU-bound experience across the tested spectrum.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 178.1 FPS at 1080p to 142 FPS at 1440p, then further to 102 FPS at 4K. This represents a 42.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that even at the lowest graphical preset, the resolution demand significantly impacts performance. The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher settings, where the GPU workload dominates more heavily.

At High settings, the average FPS falls from 105.7 at 1080p to 83.3 at 1440p, and finally to 62.3 at 4K — a 41.1% drop from 1080p to 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with frames declining from 98 at 1080p to 77.5 at 1440p and 54.5 at 4K, a 44.4% reduction. These consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the scaling is largely resolution-driven rather than settings-driven, pointing to the GPU as the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate differences between 1080p and 4K would be smaller, as lower resolutions typically shift the burden toward the processor. Instead, the data shows that each step up in resolution produces a substantial FPS penalty, a hallmark of GPU-bound performance.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p is notably smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K at every settings level. For instance, at Medium settings, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 26.8 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 28 FPS. This near-linear scaling suggests that the Radeon RX 7900 XT’s memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s and 20 GB VRAM are sufficient to handle the increased pixel count, but the sheer rendering load at 4K eventually overwhelms the GPU’s compute capabilities. At Ultra settings, the 4K average of 54.5 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combo can handle 4K Ultra, but with little headroom for demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. Built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, this GPU operates at a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. These clocks, combined with 5,376 shading units and 192 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS provides the raw compute needed for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s complex scenery rendering.

The memory subsystem is particularly relevant for this game. The 20 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the high-resolution textures and detailed terrain that Flight Simulator loads. At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS of 54.5 suggests that the GPU is approaching its limits, but the VRAM capacity prevents any potential memory-related stuttering. The GPU’s benchmark scores support this: a PassMark G3D score of 29,009 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,623 place it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, scores 38,349 on average, a delta of 0%, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX trails by 0.3%.

The GPU’s performance in this game aligns with its synthetic benchmarks. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (178.1) and 1080p Medium (136.6) indicates that the RX 7900 XT has substantial headroom at lower resolutions, but the drop to 98 FPS at 1080p Ultra shows that even this powerful GPU is taxed by the game’s highest settings. The fact that 4K High (62.3 FPS) beats 1080p Ultra (98 FPS) by a wide margin underscores how settings changes affect the GPU load more than resolution changes at these tiers.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this CPU-GPU combination ranks 373rd out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 20.8% of all configurations. This rank reflects the synergy between the Ryzen 5 7500F and the RX 7900 XT, where neither component severely bottlenecks the other in this title. The combo’s percentile standing is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU also sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, suggesting a well-matched pairing.

The data indicates that this combo outperforms a significant majority of tested systems, but it is not at the very top tier. The 373rd rank out of 1,795 means that 1,422 combos perform worse in this game, while 372 perform better. Given that the RX 7900 XT is end-of-life and the Ryzen 5 7500F is a mid-range desktop processor, this ranking is respectable. The combo’s performance is likely limited by the CPU in CPU-bound scenarios, as the 6-core, 12-thread processor has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and a base clock of 3.70 GHz, which is adequate but not top-tier for a simulation game that can utilize multiple threads.

The combo rank also reflects the balance of the two components. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for its demanding rendering pipeline, the GPU typically plays a larger role, and the RX 7900 XT’s 82nd percentile standing helps push this combo into the top quarter of results. However, the CPU’s 82nd percentile score, with an average benchmark score of 24,993, is comparable to the Intel Core i7-11850H (24,974, delta 0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25,057, delta -0.3%), showing that it is a competent but not exceptional processor for this workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 54.5, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but still playable for a flight simulator.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 373rd out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 20.8% of all systems.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded in the data?

A: The highest average FPS is 178.1, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to be the limiting factor?

A: The data shows that FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, with a 42.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating the GPU is the primary limiting component.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and bandwidth?

A: The Radeon RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 320-bit bus and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24,993, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H (24,974) and 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25,057).

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 178.1 FPS on Low, 136.6 FPS on Medium, 105.7 FPS on High, and 98 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 45% reduction in performance, with the Ultra preset costing 80.1 FPS compared to Low. This indicates that the graphical settings have a substantial impact at this resolution, but the GPU has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates even at Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 142 on Low, 109.8 on Medium, 83.3 on High, and 77.5 on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 64.5 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more constrained as resolution increases. At 1440p Ultra, the 77.5 FPS average is still well above the 60 FPS target, making this resolution a sweet spot for this combo.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 102 on Low, 81.8 on Medium, 62.3 on High, and 54.5 on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, while 4K High just barely exceeds it. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 47.5 FPS, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed at this resolution. The data reveals that 4K Medium (81.8 FPS) outperforms 1440p Ultra (77.5 FPS), which is counterintuitive but highlights how settings affect performance more than resolution at these levels.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F plays a supporting but crucial role in this combo. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it provides enough parallelism for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s simulation logic, which benefits from multiple threads. The CPU’s base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz, combined with a 32 MB shared L3 cache, ensure that the processor can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck at most settings. Its 65W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC make it an efficient choice, though the data shows that the CPU is not the primary driver of performance in this game.

The benchmark results for the Ryzen 5 7500F illustrate its capabilities. It scores 22,799 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 3,218 in single-core, and 6,376 in 3DMark 16-thread tests. Its PassMark multithread score of 26,825 and single-thread score of 3,841 place it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-11850H (avg score 24,974, delta 0.1%) and AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (avg score 25,057, delta -0.3%), show that this CPU is competitive with older high-end parts. However, its 6-core design means it may struggle in scenarios where more than 6 threads are heavily utilized, though the measured FPS data suggests this is not a significant issue in this game.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent when examining the FPS scaling at different settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low (178.1 FPS) and Ultra (98 FPS) is 80.1 FPS, which is a large gap, indicating that the GPU is handling the graphical load. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS differences between settings would be smaller, as the CPU would cap performance regardless of graphics quality. The fact that the FPS drops by roughly the same percentage from 1080p to 4K across all settings (42.7% at Low, 41.1% at High, 44.4% at Ultra) further confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, while the CPU maintains a consistent level of performance.