Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator — AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + AMD Radeon RX 570

This pairing combines a modern 6-core Zen 4 processor with a legacy 2017-era graphics card, producing a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The measured frames per second across all resolutions and settings tell a consistent story: the RX 570's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and GCN 4.0 architecture are the primary constraint, while the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's strong single-thread performance is largely left underutilized. The data shows a playable experience only at the lowest settings and resolution, with steep degradation as both resolution and graphical fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the GPU as the definitive bottleneck. At Low settings, average frames drop from 48 FPS at 1920x1080 to 39 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 29 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 39.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K at the same settings. At High settings, the decline is even steeper in percentage terms: 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K — a 39.3% drop from 1080p to 4K. Medium settings follow a similar pattern: 38, 30, and 22 FPS respectively. Ultra settings start at just 27 FPS at 1080p, drop to 22 FPS at 1440p, and fall to 16 FPS at 4K.

These scaling patterns are consistent with a GPU that is saturated even at 1080p. When the resolution increases, the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth demands grow faster than the RX 570's capabilities. The GPU's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are simply insufficient for the higher pixel counts. Notably, the relative FPS differences between settings compress at higher resolutions — at 4K, Low produces 29 FPS while Ultra produces 16 FPS, a gap of 13 FPS. At 1080p, that same Low-to-Ultra gap is 21 FPS. This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so far beyond its limits that even reducing settings cannot recover meaningful performance.

The fact that 1080p Low (48 FPS) is the only configuration exceeding 40 FPS demonstrates that the limiting component is unequivocally the graphics card. A CPU-bound scenario would show far less FPS variation across resolutions. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D, with its 96 MB shared L3 cache and 4.50 GHz boost clock, is not being pushed to its limits here; the GPU is the wall.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 2870 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the bottom 4.2% of all tested configurations — a very low standing that reflects the GPU's age and limited memory capacity.

The CPU alone, however, is a strong performer. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D scores an average benchmark of 44573, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (avg score 44466, 0.2% lower), the Intel Core i9-13950HX (avg score 44342, 0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (avg score 44309, 0.6% lower). Only the Intel Core i5-14600 scores higher at 44889, a 0.7% advantage. In synthetic CPU tests, the 7500X3D is essentially tied with these competitors, all within a 1% band.

The GPU tells a different story. The RX 570's average benchmark score is 28766, placing it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are a mixed bag: the AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 28874 (0.4% higher), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580 (0.7% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996 (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 28421 (1.2% lower). The RX 570 is competitive with these GPUs in synthetic benchmarks, yet the in-game combo rank is poor because Microsoft Flight Simulator is particularly demanding on memory capacity and bandwidth — areas where the 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth fall short.

The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile (89) and the combo's low rank (2870 of 2996) is the clearest indicator of imbalance. The data suggests that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would likely yield far better in-game results, as the processor is not the constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the only settings that produce an average above 30 FPS are Low at 1080p (48 FPS) and Low at 1440p (39 FPS). Medium at 1080p achieves 38 FPS, with a minimum of 32 FPS and maximum of 43 FPS. All other configurations fall below 30 FPS average, with Ultra at any resolution being essentially unplayable (27, 22, and 16 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively).

For a target of 30 FPS as a minimum playability threshold, the data supports only two viable configurations: 1080p Low (48 FPS average) and 1080p Medium (38 FPS average, 32 FPS minimum). The 1080p Medium setting provides a 10 FPS improvement over High (28 FPS) and 11 FPS over Ultra (27 FPS), while the minimum of 32 FPS suggests relatively stable frame delivery. However, the 6 FPS gap between minimum and maximum (32-43) indicates some variance.

At 1440p, only Low settings (39 FPS) exceed 30 FPS. Medium at 1440p drops to 30 FPS average with a 26 FPS minimum, making it borderline. High at 1440p (23 FPS) and Ultra (22 FPS) are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

At 4K, no settings achieve 30 FPS. Low (29 FPS) is closest, but Medium (22 FPS), High (17 FPS), and Ultra (16 FPS) are all far below playable thresholds.

The recommended preset for this combination is 1080p Medium, as it offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. The 38 FPS average with a 32 FPS minimum is acceptable for a flight simulator, where precise timing is less critical than in action games. If the user prioritizes smoother frame rates over visuals, 1080p Low at 48 FPS is the safer choice. For higher resolutions, the data strongly suggests sticking to 1080p, as the GPU cannot sustain playable performance at 1440p or 4K with this game.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K?

A: No configuration at 3840x2160 reaches 30 FPS average. Low settings produce 29 FPS, Medium 22 FPS, High 17 FPS, and Ultra 16 FPS. The RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K in this title.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU-GPU combo?

A: 1080p Medium provides 38 FPS average with a 32 FPS minimum, making it the highest quality preset that stays above 30 FPS. 1080p Low offers 48 FPS average if frame rate is prioritized over visual fidelity.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7500X3D the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 44573. The GPU ranks in the 74th percentile with a score of 28766. The FPS scaling across resolutions indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 570's average benchmark score of 28766 is within 1.2% of its nearest rivals: the RX 6800M (28874, 0.4% higher), R9 M295X (28580, 0.7% lower), RX 470 (28996, 0.8% higher), and Quadro RTX 8000 (28421, 1.2% lower). These are all closely matched in synthetic tests.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with this setup?

A: At 2560x1440, only Low settings (39 FPS) exceed 30 FPS. Medium averages 30 FPS with a 26 FPS minimum. High (23 FPS) and Ultra (22 FPS) are below playable thresholds.

Q: Does the 4 GB VRAM capacity affect performance in this game?

A: The 4 GB GDDR5 memory is a significant limitation. The steep FPS drops from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, combined with the compression of differences between settings at higher resolutions, indicate that memory capacity and bandwidth are exhausted as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the decisive component in this pairing. Built on the GCN 4.0 architecture (Polaris 20 chip) using a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, the GPU has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. Its base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, and memory runs at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus. The memory configuration is 4 GB GDDR5 with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

The GPU's pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s and texture rate is 159.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS. These specifications, while respectable for 2017, are insufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator's demanding rendering. The game's reliance on detailed terrain, dynamic lighting, and complex geometry quickly saturates the RX 570's capabilities.

The measured FPS data confirms this. At 1080p Low, the GPU manages 48 FPS, but this drops to 28 FPS at High settings — a 41.7% reduction from merely increasing graphical fidelity. The 4 GB VRAM is likely a key factor; as settings increase, more texture data must be stored, and the limited capacity forces swapping that impacts frame times.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 74 among all GPUs places it above average in synthetic benchmarks, but those benchmarks (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 880, Geekbench Metal at 39349, OpenCL at 32084, Vulkan at 42752) do not capture the specific demands of flight simulation. The combo rank of 2870 out of 2996 in this game is far worse than the GPU's percentile would suggest, indicating a poor fit for this workload.

The RX 570's 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU are modest, but power is not the issue here. The GPU's 14 nm process and 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die produce a 24.6M transistors per mm² density that is now dated. The end-of-life production status and 2017 release date (with predecessor Arctic Islands and successor Vega) frame this as legacy hardware. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the data shows it simply cannot keep up with modern rendering demands.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and a substantial 96 MB shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, and the CPU supports ECC memory. It uses the AMD Socket AM5 and has PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results are impressive. The PassMark multithread score is 25047, single-thread score is 3494, and floating-point math scores 43594. Integer math scores 70774, data compression scores 271649, and data encryption scores 15797. Extended instructions score 20455, random string sorting scores 32999, and find prime numbers scores 221. Physics score is 2779. The average benchmark score is 44573, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is less critical than the GPU's, as evidenced by the FPS data. The game is known for heavy single-thread loads, and the 7500X3D's strong single-thread score (3494) and large L3 cache (96 MB) should theoretically handle these well. However, the measured FPS does not show CPU-related bottlenecks — the FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, which is the signature of GPU limitation.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 0.7% of its average score: the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (0.2% higher), Core i9-13950HX (0.5% higher), Ryzen AI Max 385 (0.6% higher), and Core i5-14600 (0.7% lower). This clustering suggests that any of these CPUs would perform similarly in this game when paired with the same GPU. The 7500X3D's 96 MB L3 cache is a differentiator in some workloads, but Microsoft Flight Simulator's performance here is not cache-limited.

The CPU's release date of 2025-11-11 and launch MSRP of $269 position it as a modern mid-range option. Its 5 nm process and 11,270 million transistors on a 71 mm² die are efficient, but that efficiency is wasted when the GPU holds back the entire system. The data shows the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 48 FPS average
• Medium: 38 FPS average, 32 FPS minimum, 43 FPS maximum
• High: 28 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

At 1080p, the progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline. Low (48 FPS) is the only setting above 45 FPS. Medium (38 FPS) is 10 FPS lower but still playable, with a 32 FPS minimum that stays above 30. High (28 FPS) drops below 30, and Ultra (27 FPS) is only 1 FPS lower than High, suggesting the GPU is already saturated at High.

2560x1440:

• Low: 39 FPS average
• Medium: 30 FPS average, 26 FPS minimum, 35 FPS maximum
• High: 23 FPS average
• Ultra: 22 FPS average

At 1440p, only Low (39 FPS) remains comfortably above 30 FPS. Medium (30 FPS) is borderline, with a 26 FPS minimum that will be noticeable as stutter. High (23 FPS) and Ultra (22 FPS) are nearly identical, again showing GPU saturation. The gap between Low and Medium is 9 FPS, while High to Ultra is just 1 FPS.

3840x2160:

• Low: 29 FPS average
• Medium: 22 FPS average, 19 FPS minimum, 26 FPS maximum
• High: 17 FPS average
• Ultra: 16 FPS average

At 4K, all settings fall below 30 FPS. Low (29 FPS) is closest to playable but still below the threshold. Medium (22 FPS) has a 19 FPS minimum, which indicates significant frame drops. High (17 FPS) and Ultra (16 FPS) are effectively unplayable, with only a 1 FPS difference between them.

The data across all resolutions shows a clear pattern: the RX 570's performance ceiling is reached at 1080p Medium, and any increase in resolution or settings beyond that results in sub-30 FPS performance. The minimum and maximum FPS values for Medium settings (32-43 at 1080p, 26-35 at 1440p, 19-26 at 4K) reveal increasing frame time variance at higher resolutions, consistent with memory bandwidth limitations. This combination is only suitable for 1080p gaming with reduced settings in Microsoft Flight Simulator.