Microsoft Flight Simulator

The data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT reveals a system that is heavily influenced by the graphics card at higher resolutions, but shows a more balanced profile as resolution drops. The measured frames per second at 1080p suggest a CPU that can keep pace, while the 4K results point directly at the GPU as the primary bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At the Low preset, the system delivers 140.1 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 129.3 FPS at 1440p, and then falls significantly to 102.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is a reduction of approximately 26.7%, indicating that even at the lowest graphical load, the GPU is starting to feel the pressure of the increased pixel count.

Moving to the High preset, the scaling is steeper. The system produces 102.5 FPS at 1080p, 82.3 FPS at 1440p, and 57.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 44.1% decline from 1080p to 4K, which is a much larger relative drop than what is seen at Low settings. This pattern strongly suggests that the Radeon RX 7900 XT is the limiting component at 4K, as the additional graphical detail of the High preset combined with the high resolution saturates the GPU's capabilities.

The Medium and Ultra presets follow the same trend. Medium goes from 130.2 FPS at 1080p to 108.1 FPS at 1440p, and then to 79.8 FPS at 4K. Ultra, the most demanding preset, starts at 99.2 FPS at 1080p, falls to 80.3 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 56.2 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these drops across all presets confirms that the GPU is the dominant constraint. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is generally smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K, which reinforces that the jump to 4K is where the GPU workload becomes overwhelming for this combination. The data indicates that for smooth gameplay at 4K, users will need to make significant compromises in graphical fidelity, while 1080p and 1440p offer much more headroom.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores show a solid multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19087 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 8083. The single-thread performance, while not class-leading, is respectable, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2694 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1672.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is crucial for handling the simulation's complex physics and world-building logic. The 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallelism for these tasks. The performance data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. The fact that the FPS increases from 99.2 FPS at Ultra to 140.1 FPS at Low at 1080p shows that the GPU is still capable of scaling with settings, meaning the CPU can feed it enough data. However, the difference between the 1080p and 1440p scores at the same settings is relatively small, which implies the CPU is starting to reach its limits in terms of frame generation, but it is not yet a hard ceiling.

The Ryzen 7 3700X sits in the 85th percentile when compared to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28631. It is closely matched with rivals like the Intel Core i5-12600, which has a deltaPct of -0.1, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, which is 0.1% ahead. This indicates that the CPU is a capable mid-to-high-range part that should not hold back the GPU in most scenarios. In this game, the data shows that the CPU's influence on the final frame rate is most apparent at lower resolutions, where the GPU has less work to do, but the overall system performance is still largely dictated by the graphics card.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture. It features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. Its raw compute power is substantial, with an FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s.

The 20 GB of VRAM is a significant asset for Microsoft Flight Simulator, a game known for its vast, detailed environments. The high memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and loading of terrain data can occur without stuttering. The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358. It is closely matched with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (0.6% delta), showing it is a competitive high-end part.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's dominance in this pairing. The RX 7900 XT is clearly the component that determines the playability of this game. At 4K, even the Low preset only achieves 102.7 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 56.2 FPS. This sharp decline with increasing settings is a direct result of the GPU's workload. The card's performance is more than adequate for high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, but the demands of 4K in this simulator push it to its limits. The data suggests that the GPU's architecture is well-suited for the game, but the sheer graphical load of Microsoft Flight Simulator is a challenge even for a card of this caliber.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 3700X and the RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 408 out of 1795 tested combos in this game. This places the system in the top 22.7% of all tested configurations. The ranking indicates that while this is a strong pairing, there are many other combinations that outperform it, likely with more modern CPUs that have higher single-thread performance.

The GPU's high benchmark percentile (82nd) is somewhat offset by the CPU's more modest position (85th percentile, but with a lower average score relative to other top-tier CPUs). This suggests that the combo's overall rank is held back by the CPU, which, while capable, is not the absolute best for this specific game. The data shows that the system is well-balanced for a high-end build, but the CPU is the component that prevents it from ranking higher. The 408th position out of 1795 is a strong result, but it also shows that users with top-of-the-line processors will see better performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU has a more significant impact.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system performs exceptionally well. The Low preset yields 140.1 FPS, which is excellent for a smooth experience. The Medium preset delivers 130.2 FPS, and the High preset produces 102.5 FPS. The Ultra preset is still highly playable at 99.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 40.9 FPS, showing that the GPU has plenty of headroom to handle higher settings without a massive performance penalty.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. The Low preset achieves 129.3 FPS, which is still very high. The Medium preset delivers 108.1 FPS, and the High preset drops to 82.3 FPS. The Ultra preset maintains a solid 80.3 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is more noticeable at the High and Ultra settings, with decreases of about 19.7% and 19.1% respectively, indicating the GPU is working harder.

At 3840x2160, the workload becomes demanding. The Low preset manages 102.7 FPS, which is still good. The Medium preset drops to 79.8 FPS, and the High preset falls to 57.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 56.2 FPS. At this resolution, the gap between Low and Ultra is 46.5 FPS, and the system struggles to maintain a consistent 60 FPS at the higher presets. The data shows that 4K gaming is possible, but it requires careful selection of settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience depends on the user's target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 99.2 FPS is the clear recommendation. The high frame rate ensures smooth gameplay, and the system has enough performance headroom to handle the maximum graphical detail without any issues.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 82.3 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 80.3 FPS is also a viable option, as the difference is marginal. Both are well above the 60 FPS threshold, but High provides a slightly more stable frame rate for demanding flight scenarios.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 79.8 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a good visual experience while keeping the frame rate well above 60 FPS. The High preset at 57.3 FPS and Ultra at 56.2 FPS are just below the 60 FPS mark, which could lead to noticeable stuttering in a simulator that requires smooth visuals for accurate control. The Low preset at 102.7 FPS is smooth but involves a significant visual downgrade. Therefore, Medium is the sweet spot for 4K, offering a strong frame rate without sacrificing too much detail.