Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a strong 4K experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with benchmark results showing that the GPU is the dominant performance driver across most settings. At 3840x2160, the combo achieves 73 fps on High settings, and while the CPU does influence lower resolution performance, the overall frame rates remain consistently above 60 fps at every tested quality level at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the most balanced experience, with frame rates ranging from 95.2 fps on Ultra to 129.2 fps on Low, while 3840x2160 still delivers playable results with 67.2 fps on Ultra and 117.1 fps on Low.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086), according to the nearestRivals data.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark standing relative to its closest competitors?

A: The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 28631, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-12600 (28654, -0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28591, +0.1% delta), indicating near-identical synthetic performance.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the frame rates scale significantly with settings—from 142.9 fps on Low down to 112.3 fps on High—but the gap between Low and Ultra (27.7 fps) is smaller than at 4K, suggesting that the Ryzen 7 3700X's 8-core/16-thread configuration becomes more relevant as resolution drops.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, moving from Low to Ultra reduces average frame rate from 117.1 fps to 67.2 fps, a drop of 49.9 fps, which represents a substantial 42.6% decrease in performance.

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

A: The combo ranks 269th out of 1795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 15% of all systems evaluated for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of frame rates in this pairing, especially at higher resolutions. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for Microsoft Flight Simulator's large texture datasets. The core operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and the 10240 shading units provide substantial compute throughput for the simulator's rendering demands.

In the 4K benchmarks, the GPU's capabilities are clearly the limiting factor. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops from 117.1 fps on Low to 67.2 fps on Ultra, a spread of 49.9 fps that reflects the increasing pixel shader workload as quality settings rise. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this flight simulator title, as the measured data shows no ray tracing-specific metrics. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610, confirms it sits near the top of the performance hierarchy.

The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are exercised heavily when the simulator renders terrain, weather, and aircraft geometry. At 2560x1440, the frame rates compress to a narrower range (95.2 fps Ultra to 129.2 fps Low), indicating that the GPU still has headroom but the gap between settings narrows as pixel count decreases. The RTX 4080 SUPER's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s proves sufficient even at 4K Ultra, as the 67.2 fps result shows no memory-related bottleneck. The GPU's 1x 16-pin power connector and 320 W TDP are consistent with a high-end Ada Lovelace part, but the benchmark data focuses entirely on the measured frame rates rather than power characteristics.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X contributes to overall performance through its 8 cores and 16 threads, but its influence diminishes at higher resolutions. The CPU's base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide adequate single-thread performance for the simulator's main thread, which typically handles flight model calculations and scenery loading. The 32 MB of L3 cache helps with frequently accessed game data, and the 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs (average benchmark score of 28631) indicates strong general-purpose capability.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at 1920x1080, where the frame rate spread between settings is narrower than at 4K. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 142.9 fps, while at 1080p Ultra it maintains 115.2 fps—a difference of 27.7 fps. This smaller gap compared to the 4K spread (49.9 fps) suggests that at lower resolutions, the Ryzen 7 3700X begins to constrain the RTX 4080 SUPER, as the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can feed it data. The CPU's dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth may also contribute to these limits, though the measured data does not isolate memory performance.

The nearestRivals data shows the Ryzen 7 3700X is nearly identical in synthetic benchmarks to the Intel Core i5-12600 (delta of -0.1%) and the AMD EPYC 7203P (delta of +0.2%), indicating that its 8-core configuration is competitive with modern mid-range parts. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's 16 threads allow for background tasks like terrain streaming and AI traffic processing, but the simulator's reliance on single-thread performance is evident in the PassMark single-thread score of 2656 versus the multithread score of 22458. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node are notable efficiency characteristics, but the benchmark results focus on the frame rates achieved rather than power draw.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 269 out of 1795 tested configurations places it in the 85th percentile of all systems benchmarked for Microsoft Flight Simulator, a strong showing given the game's demanding nature. This ranking means that roughly 85% of tested combos perform worse than this pairing, while the top 15% of systems achieve higher frame rates. The rank reflects the balance between the Ryzen 7 3700X's mid-range CPU performance and the RTX 4080 SUPER's high-end GPU capability.

The ranking is particularly impressive at 4K, where the combo's 67.2 fps on Ultra settings exceeds the 60 fps threshold that many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440, the combo achieves 95.2 fps on Ultra, which is above the 90 fps mark that competitive players often target. The rank of 269 suggests that while there are faster configurations, this pairing delivers a premium experience without requiring top-tier CPU hardware.

The gap between the RTX 4080 SUPER and its nearest GPU rivals—0.2% ahead of the RX 6900 XT and 2.1% ahead of the RX 7700S—combined with the CPU's near-tie with the i5-12600, means that the combo's relative position is heavily influenced by the GPU. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 88th percentile ranking indicates that the GPU is slightly more capable relative to its peers, which is reflected in the game's frame rates scaling more with resolution than with CPU-bound settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience across different resolutions. At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers 73 fps, which is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance—it is only 5.8 fps slower than the Ultra preset's 67.2 fps but offers a meaningful reduction in rendering load. The Medium preset at 92.6 fps is also viable for players prioritizing higher frame rates, though the drop in visual quality from High to Medium is noticeable in a simulator where terrain detail matters.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves 95.2 fps, making it the recommended choice for this resolution—the frame rate is well above 90 fps, and the visual quality benefits are substantial. The High preset at 96 fps is nearly identical in performance, so players should choose Ultra for the best image quality without sacrificing frame rate. The Medium preset at 119.1 fps is unnecessary unless the player has a 120 Hz display and wants to maximize refresh rate headroom.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 115.2 fps, which is the best overall choice—the frame rate is high enough for smooth gameplay on most displays, and the visual quality is at its maximum. The High preset at 112.3 fps offers almost identical performance, so Ultra is the clear winner. The Low preset at 142.9 fps may appeal to competitive players, but the simulator genre prioritizes visual immersion over raw frame rates, making Ultra the recommended setting for the majority of users. Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset provides a playable experience (all above 67 fps), but the data suggests that High at 4K is the optimal compromise for players who want maximum visual quality with a safety margin above 70 fps.