Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER pairing delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The data indicates that the optimal balance between visual fidelity and frame rate is found at Medium settings, which provides a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires a significant compromise in visual quality to remain fluid. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, contextualizing the results against the combo's overall ranking.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this specific CPU and GPU combination points to Medium settings as the best overall experience. This is the only preset that provides the crucial minimum frame rate data, indicating a stable frame delivery that other presets do not demonstrate. At 1920x1080, Medium yields an average of 78 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. This is a substantial 19 FPS improvement over High settings (59 FPS) and 22 FPS over Ultra (56 FPS), while only sacrificing a modest 23 FPS compared to Low (101 FPS). The 67 FPS minimum ensures that even in demanding flight scenarios, the frame rate is unlikely to drop into stutter territory, making this the most reliable preset for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, Medium continues to be the standout choice. It produces an average of 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS, which is still comfortably playable. While High and Ultra presets are also technically playable at 47 FPS and 45 FPS respectively, the Medium preset's 63 FPS average provides more headroom and a better safety margin against sudden drops. The 54 FPS minimum, while lower than the 1080p figure, is still acceptable for a flight simulator where the pace is less frantic than a first-person shooter. Choosing Medium over High at this resolution yields a 16 FPS average improvement, a significant gain for the visual trade-off.

The choice at 3840x2160 is more constrained. Neither High (35 FPS) nor Ultra (33 FPS) achieves a consistently playable frame rate. The Low preset achieves an average of 60 FPS, and Medium achieves 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS. The Medium preset is the better choice here, as it provides a more visually acceptable experience than Low while maintaining a frame rate above the 40 FPS threshold. The data shows a clear pattern: Medium is the sweet spot, offering the best compromise between the visual quality of High/Ultra and the raw performance of Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a critical factor for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for streaming large amounts of terrain and asset data. The GPU's core operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with a FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS. These specifications define the GPU's raw processing power, which is a limiting factor in this pairing, especially at higher resolutions.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM buffer is sufficient for the game's demands, but it is not limitless. The measured frame rates show a clear dependency on resolution, with performance degrading as the pixel count increases. This indicates that the GPU's processing power, rather than its VRAM capacity, is the primary bottleneck. The shift in performance from 101 FPS at 1080p Low to 60 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates a 41 FPS drop due to the increased rendering load. The GPU is being tasked with more work per frame, and its 7.181 TFLOPS of compute power is the ceiling for this task.

The GPU's architecture, based on the Turing design, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is relevant for modern game features. However, the benchmark results suggest that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a capable but not dominant performer in this title. It can handle the game's demands at lower resolutions and settings, but its limits become apparent at 4K Ultra, where the average frame rate falls to 33 FPS. The GPU is the component that determines the upper bound of performance in this pairing, and the data shows it is best utilized at 1080p and 1440p with Medium settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 101 FPS at 1080p to 81 FPS at 1440p, a 20 FPS decrease, and then further to 60 FPS at 4K, another 21 FPS decrease. This scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the workload increases significantly with each resolution step.

The scaling at Medium settings follows a similar pattern. The average FPS is 78 at 1080p, drops to 63 at 1440p (a 15 FPS loss), and then to 47 at 4K (a 16 FPS loss). The performance drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings is 31 FPS, which is a 40% reduction in frame rate. This is a substantial cost for the increased pixel count, reinforcing that the GPU is under significant strain at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the drop is from 59 FPS at 1080p to 47 FPS at 1440p (a 12 FPS loss), and then to 35 FPS at 4K (another 12 FPS loss). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 24 FPS. This pattern shows that the performance penalty for resolution scaling is consistent, regardless of the preset. The data suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is not powerful enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K, and even at 1440p, the frame rates are approaching the lower limit of playability for high-fidelity settings. The limiting component is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's performance does not scale with resolution in the same way.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a detailed view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results range from a high of 101 FPS on Low to a low of 56 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset is the most balanced, with an average of 78 FPS, a minimum of 67 FPS, and a maximum of 90 FPS. High settings produce an average of 59 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom. The Ultra preset's 56 FPS average is the lowest at this resolution, showing a 45 FPS difference between the lowest and highest quality presets.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 81 FPS (Low), 63 FPS (Medium), 47 FPS (High), and 45 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset here shows a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. The performance difference between High and Ultra is minimal, with only a 2 FPS gap, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects are not worth the performance cost at this resolution. The 1440p results are consistently lower than their 1080p counterparts by 20 FPS at Low, 15 FPS at Medium, 12 FPS at High, and 11 FPS at Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 60 FPS (Low), 47 FPS (Medium), 35 FPS (High), and 33 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset is the only one with reported minimum and maximum values, which are 40 FPS and 54 FPS respectively. The 4K results are the most demanding, with the Ultra preset producing an average of 33 FPS, which is not smooth. The data shows a clear trend: the game becomes increasingly demanding at higher resolutions, and the RTX 2060 SUPER can only maintain a 60 FPS average at 4K when using the Low preset.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER holds a combo rank of 2058 out of 2996. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, indicating that it is not a high-performance configuration for this particular game. The rank reflects the measured FPS performance across all settings and resolutions, which we have seen is limited, particularly at 4K.

This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance. The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rivals in terms of overall GPU score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (0.4% faster), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (0.5% faster), and AMD Radeon RX 460 (1.5% faster). The CPU, however, is a much stronger component. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44573, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.5% faster), and AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (0.6% faster).

The disparity between the CPU's strong percentile ranking (89th) and the GPU's more modest ranking (62nd) confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor in this combo. The CPU is capable of feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them, especially at higher resolutions. The combo's rank of 2058 suggests that many other pairings, likely with more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this game. The data indicates that this system is a mid-range performer, suitable for 1080p and 1440p gaming but not for high-fidelity 4K experiences.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU and GPU combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice. At 1920x1080, it delivers an average of 78 FPS with a 67 FPS minimum. At 2560x1440, it produces a 63 FPS average with a 54 FPS minimum. This provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability.

Q: How does the frame rate change from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 78 FPS at 1920x1080 to 63 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 47 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 31 FPS total decrease, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in this title?

A: It is only playable at the Low or Medium presets. The Low preset achieves a 60 FPS average, while Medium achieves a 47 FPS average. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended, as they produce averages of 35 FPS and 33 FPS respectively, which are below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Which component is the limiting factor for performance?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The RTX 2060 SUPER has a percentile rank of 62 among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 7500X3D has a percentile rank of 89 among all CPUs. The CPU's performance is significantly stronger, meaning the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's frame generation capabilities at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo is ranked 2058 out of 2996 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower third of the database, indicating that it is a mid-range performer that is often outperformed by systems with more powerful graphics cards.

Q: What is the difference in frame rate between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 81 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves an average of 45 FPS. This is a 36 FPS difference, showing the significant performance cost of enabling the highest visual quality settings.