Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Resolution Scaling

Microsoft Flight Simulator shows an interesting scaling pattern with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on Ultra settings drops average FPS from 142 to 114, a 28-frame reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 Ultra yields 84 FPS average, another 30-frame drop. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is proportionally steeper than from 1080p to 1440p, which indicates the GPU is becoming the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the pattern shifts notably. The 1080p Low average of 202 FPS drops to 188 FPS at 1440p, only a 14-frame difference. At 4K Low, the average is 151 FPS, which is 51 frames below the 1080p result. This wider gap at 4K Low compared to the 1440p step suggests the RTX 5090 D's massive compute resources are being tapped more heavily as pixel count increases, while at lower resolutions the CPU's six-core Zen 4 architecture may be holding back frame rates.

The Medium settings row provides the only complete min/max data in the measured set. At 1080p Medium, the average is 185 FPS with a minimum of 157 and maximum of 212. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 159 FPS, with min/max of 136 and 183. At 4K Medium, the average is 118 FPS, with min/max of 100 and 135. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS remains fairly consistent around 55-58 FPS across all three Medium resolutions, which points to a stable frame pacing profile even as the average shifts downward.

High settings show a similar trend: 149 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is notably close to the 4K Ultra result of 84 FPS, suggesting that at 4K, the additional settings headroom between High and Ultra yields diminishing returns. This compression of performance at the top end is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are being utilized heavily.

The data indicates that 1080p and 1440p results are partially CPU-limited, particularly at Low and Medium presets where the 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 7500F with its 5.00 GHz boost clock may not be able to feed frames fast enough to fully saturate the RTX 5090 D. The 4K results, by contrast, show the GPU scaling more predictably with settings changes, reinforcing that 4K is where this combo becomes firmly GPU-bound.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D brings substantial hardware to this flight simulator. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for loading large terrain textures and detailed aircraft models at high resolutions. The GPU's 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs handle the rasterization workload, while 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are available for any ray-traced or AI-accelerated effects the simulator might employ.

Clock speeds for the RTX 5090 D are listed at a base of 2017 MHz and boost up to 2407 MHz. These clocks, combined with the massive shader count, produce 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In practical terms, this compute headroom explains why the 4K Ultra setting still manages 84 FPS average despite the demanding nature of flight simulation, which often renders vast draw distances and dense urban environments.

The GPU's memory subsystem deserves attention. With 32 GB of VRAM, the RTX 5090 D is unlikely to encounter capacity limits at any settings preset in this game, even at 4K Ultra. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth means texture streaming and asset loading should not become bottlenecks, which is particularly relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator's streaming-based world rendering. The 512-bit bus width ensures the memory controller can feed data to the GPU cores efficiently.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database provide context for its overall compute position. The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, placing it 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904 score) and 1.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940 score). It also sits 2.1% above the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396 score) and 2.4% above the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605 score). These deltas are small, suggesting the RTX 5090 D's synthetic benchmark performance is competitive with those GPUs, though the real-world gaming results in this simulator may differ due to architectural differences.

The Ryzen 5 7500F pairs with this GPU through a PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes from the CPU. The CPU's 83.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth is adequate for feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but at 4K the workload shifts more toward the GPU's own memory subsystem. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps with simulation logic and flight model calculations, which are single-thread-sensitive tasks in this genre.

# FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K Ultra smoothly?

A: The measured data shows 84 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered playable, though the minimum FPS is not recorded for this preset, so occasional dips may occur. The 4K Medium setting provides a more comfortable margin at 118 FPS average with a 100 FPS minimum.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7500F bottlenecking the RTX 5090 D at 1080p?

A: The evidence suggests yes at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 202 FPS, but moving to 1080p Medium only drops to 185 FPS, and 1080p High is 149 FPS. The relatively small differences between Low and Medium at 1080p indicate the CPU may be limiting frame delivery before the GPU's full potential is reached.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its closest GPU rivals in this context?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D scores 77712 on average, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT. It also trails the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB by 2.1% and the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB by 2.4%. These are small margins, but they indicate the RTX 5090 D is not the absolute top performer in its immediate benchmark peer group.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want high FPS?

A: At 1440p High, the combo delivers 120 FPS average, which is a strong balance of visual quality and performance. For maximum frame rates, 1080p Low hits 202 FPS, while 1080p Medium still manages 185 FPS with a 157 FPS minimum. The 4K High setting at 88 FPS is viable for slower-paced flight simulation where frame times are less critical.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM matter for this game?

A: Given the streaming nature of Microsoft Flight Simulator's world rendering, the 32 GB capacity provides ample headroom for high-resolution textures and detailed scenery. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures rapid data transfer, which is more relevant than raw capacity for avoiding stutter during fast camera movements or dense urban flyovers.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500F's CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24964, which is 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935) and 0.2% above the Intel Core i7-13620H (24911). It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F by 0.2% (25005 score) and sits 0.4% above the Intel Core 5 210H (24872). These differences are negligible in practical terms.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield 202 FPS average, which represents the absolute ceiling for this pairing in this game. Medium settings drop the average to 185 FPS, with a minimum of 157 and maximum of 212. High settings reduce the average further to 149 FPS. Ultra settings bring the 1080p average down to 142 FPS, the lowest result at this resolution but still well above typical display refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales downward as expected. Low settings produce 188 FPS average, a 14 FPS drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings at 1440p average 159 FPS, with a minimum of 136 and maximum of 183. High settings average 120 FPS, which is a 29 FPS reduction from 1080p High. Ultra settings at 1440p average 114 FPS, showing an 28 FPS drop from the 1080p Ultra result.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload becomes more demanding. Low settings still deliver 151 FPS average, which is surprisingly high for 4K and suggests the RTX 5090 D's raw compute power is well-suited to this game's rendering pipeline. Medium settings average 118 FPS, with a minimum of 100 and maximum of 135. High settings drop to 88 FPS average, and Ultra settings bottom out at 84 FPS average.

The Medium settings row is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the spread from min to max is 55 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the spread is 47 FPS. At 4K Medium, the spread is 35 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame delivery when the GPU is more heavily utilized, as opposed to the CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions where frame times can vary more.

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 30th out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the pairing in the top 1% of all combinations in the database, which is an exceptional result given the game's reputation as one of the most demanding titles available.

The rank of 30 out of 2996 means the combo outperforms approximately 99% of all other tested configurations. This is notable because the Ryzen 5 7500F is a mainstream six-core processor, not a flagship HEDT or workstation chip. The RTX 5090 D's massive GPU performance is clearly carrying much of the weight in this ranking, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU's 32 GB VRAM and 104.8 TFLOPS compute capability shine.

The CPU's own percentile ranking is 77th among all processors, which puts it above the majority of CPUs in the database but not in the top tier. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-11850H (0.1% higher score), AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (0.2% lower score), Intel Core i7-13620H (0.2% higher score), and Intel Core 5 210H (0.4% higher score). These tight margins indicate the Ryzen 5 7500F is competitive with a range of mid-range to upper-mid-range processors.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 92nd among all GPUs, placing it in the upper echelon. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are all within 2.4% of its performance, which demonstrates that the RTX 5090 D is at a performance plateau where many high-end GPUs cluster together. The fact that this combo still achieves 30th place overall suggests that the RTX 5090 D's specific strengths in this simulator — likely its memory bandwidth and VRAM capacity — matter more than raw synthetic benchmark scores.

# Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo. The 114 FPS average at 2560x1440 Ultra provides smooth motion while delivering the highest quality settings the game offers. At 4K, Ultra drops to 84 FPS average, which may be acceptable for a flight simulator where the pacing is slower and frame drops are less jarring than in fast-action genres.

For those who value high frame rates over absolute visual quality, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 202 FPS average, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. Even at 4K, Low settings produce 151 FPS average, making this a viable option for users with 4K displays who want to maximize smoothness. This is an unusual outcome, as most GPUs struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K even on Low settings.

The Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality in the measured data. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 159 FPS average with a 136 FPS minimum, ensuring no noticeable stutter. At 4K Medium, the 118 FPS average with a 100 FPS minimum provides a consistent experience that remains above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset also has the most complete min/max data, indicating the developers tuned this level for consistent frame pacing.

High settings represent the middle ground, but the data shows diminishing returns compared to Medium. At 1080p High, the average is 149 FPS, only 36 FPS below Medium. At 1440p High, the average is 120 FPS, which is 39 FPS below Medium. At 4K High, the average is 88 FPS, 30 FPS below Medium. The performance gap between Medium and High is consistent, but the visual uplift from Medium to High may not justify the frame rate cost for all users.

The Ultra preset at 4K, at 84 FPS average, is the most demanding configuration tested. This is still playable, but the lack of min/max data for this preset means users cannot verify how low frame rates might dip during dense scenery or complex weather conditions. For a flight simulator where smoothness during critical phases like landing approach is important, the Medium or High preset at 4K provides more safety margin.