Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a decisive performance profile in Microsoft Flight Simulator, where the data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution but shows its strongest headroom at 1080p. The measured frame rates indicate that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling, while the CPU maintains a stable foundation across all tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling pattern in this dataset is textbook GPU-bound behavior, with frame rates dropping consistently as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 172.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 150.8 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 110.5 FPS at 3840x2160 — a cumulative decline of 62 FPS from the 1080p baseline. This 36% reduction between 1080p and 4K at Low settings shows that the RX 7900 XTX has ample compute headroom at lower resolutions, but the workload becomes increasingly demanding as resolution climbs.

The Medium settings row reinforces this trend: 151.6 FPS at 1080p drops to 117.4 FPS at 1440p and further to 86.4 FPS at 4K. The High settings tier shows the same pattern, with 114.8 FPS at 1080p sliding to 91.5 FPS at 1440p and 66.9 FPS at 4K. Interestingly, the Ultra settings tier compresses this scaling — 105.5 FPS at 1080p drops to 87 FPS at 1440p and 63.9 FPS at 4K, representing a 39% reduction from 1080p to 4K, slightly less pronounced than the Low settings decline.

What this data implies is that the RX 7900 XTX is the limiting component at 4K, where the GPU's rasterization throughput is taxed by the higher pixel count. At 1080p, the system achieves frame rates well above 100 FPS even at Ultra settings, suggesting that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this scenario. The 172.5 FPS at Low/1080p indicates the GPU can render frames faster than the Ryzen 7 5700 can feed it, but the gap narrows as settings increase, pointing to a balanced interaction rather than a severe CPU limitation.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of CPU and GPU ranks 252nd out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 86th percentile of all configurations. That ranking is notable because it shows the combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, despite not featuring the absolute fastest components available. The data suggests that the Ryzen 7 5700's 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides sufficient processing power to keep the RX 7900 XTX well-fed in this title.

The ranking context becomes clearer when examining the CPU's standalone benchmark performance. The Ryzen 7 5700 achieves an average benchmark score of 27220, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-9900K with a score of 27043 (0.7% delta), the Intel Core i7-12700H at 27006 (0.8% delta), and the Intel Core i7-1370P at 26991 (0.8% delta). The AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 trails slightly at 26909 (1.2% delta). This clustering within 1.2% indicates the CPU is performing at a level comparable to several high-end processors from previous generations.

For the GPU, the RX 7900 XTX holds an 85th percentile ranking with an average benchmark score of 44019. Its nearest rivals show interesting deltas: the AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 44195 (-0.4% delta, meaning the Pro 580 is slightly ahead), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti scores 44900 (-2% delta, also ahead). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile trails at 43667 (0.8% delta behind the XTX), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 scores 43313 (1.6% behind). This data indicates the XTX is competitive with but not dominant over its closest peers.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX brings substantial hardware to this pairing, with 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is particularly relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which loads extensive terrain and aircraft data. The 24 GB capacity ensures that memory pressure is unlikely to be a limiting factor at any of the tested settings, even at 4K Ultra where texture streaming demands are highest.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base clock of 1929 MHz, a game clock of 2365 MHz, and a boost clock of 2498 MHz. The memory runs at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. These clocks, combined with 6144 shading units and 96 RT cores, produce 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s are substantial, supporting the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p.

The benchmark results for the GPU show a Passmark G3D score of 31238 and a Passmark GPU compute score of 17689, alongside 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6841. These synthetic benchmarks align with the measured in-game performance, where the GPU maintains 105.5 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 63.9 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data suggests that the XTX's memory bandwidth is well-utilized in this flight simulator, as the 960.0 GB/s throughput supports smooth texture streaming without visible hitches in the average frame rate metrics.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 117.4 FPS, which represents a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. This setting provides 31 FPS more than High at the same resolution (91.5 FPS) while sacrificing some visual quality. For users prioritizing smoothness, Medium at 1440p offers a 35% improvement over High while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 4K resolution, the Medium preset achieves 86.4 FPS, which is playable but below the 100 FPS mark that 1440p Medium reaches. The High preset at 4K yields 66.9 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 63.9 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS baseline. Given that the jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 19.5 FPS (from 86.4 to 66.9), the data suggests that Medium is the optimal choice for 4K users who want a comfortable margin above minimum playable frame rates.

For 1080p users, the High preset at 114.8 FPS offers excellent performance, while Ultra at 105.5 FPS remains highly playable. The Low preset at 172.5 FPS is only relevant for competitive or framerate-maximizing scenarios, as the visual trade-offs are significant. The recommendation from the data is clear: Medium at 1440p or High at 1080p provide the best experience per measured frame rate, with 4K users shouldering the Medium preset for headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 172.5, Medium at 151.6, High at 114.8, and Ultra at 105.5. The spread from Low to Ultra is 67 FPS, indicating that settings have a moderate impact at this resolution. The step from Medium to High is the largest single drop at 36.8 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra is only 9.3 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns beyond High.

At 2560x1440, the values are: Low at 150.8, Medium at 117.4, High at 91.5, and Ultra at 87. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 12.8% at Low (172.5 to 150.8) to 17.5% at Ultra (105.5 to 87). The Medium to High gap at 1440p is 25.9 FPS, similar in proportion to the 1080p gap. The High to Ultra gap narrows to 4.5 FPS at this resolution, reinforcing that Ultra offers minimal gains over High.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low at 110.5, Medium at 86.4, High at 66.9, and Ultra at 63.9. The 4K resolution imposes a significant penalty, with even Low settings falling below the 1440p Medium mark. The Medium to High drop at 4K is 19.5 FPS, while High to Ultra is only 3 FPS. The Ultra setting at 4K is the only configuration that dips near the 60 FPS threshold, making it the least recommended option based on the measured data.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 at Medium settings delivers 117.4 FPS, which is the highest frame rate above 100 FPS that maintains reasonable visual quality. At 4K, the best option is Medium at 86.4 FPS, while 1080p High achieves 114.8 FPS.

Q: Does the RX 7900 XTX bottleneck the Ryzen 7 5700 at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 172.5 FPS, which suggests the GPU is not fully saturated and the CPU may be the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck as the frame rate drops to 63.9 FPS.

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

A: This combo ranks 252nd out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all configurations. The CPU ranks in the 84th percentile and the GPU in the 85th percentile of their respective categories.

Q: Is the 24 GB VRAM sufficient for this game at 4K?

A: Yes, the 24 GB GDDR6 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate. The measured 4K Ultra frame rate of 63.9 FPS indicates no memory-related performance degradation.

Q: What settings preset should I avoid based on the measured data?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K is the least recommended, as it only achieves 63.9 FPS and provides only a 3 FPS improvement over High at the same resolution. At 1080p, Low at 172.5 FPS is excessive unless maximizing frame rate is the priority.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700 scores 27220 on average benchmarks, which is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i9-9900K (27043) and 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-12700H (27006). The AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 trails at 26909, a 1.2% gap.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 provides 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. The base clock of 3.70 GHz boosts up to 4.60 GHz, with 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for feeding the GPU in this flight simulator.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 20655, while single-core scores 2916. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 6628, and the max-thread score is 6617, indicating consistent scaling across thread counts. Passmark multithread scores 24303 with a single-thread score of 3296. These numbers suggest the CPU has sufficient headroom for the game's physics and AI calculations, which do not appear to bottleneck the GPU in most tested scenarios.

The 65 W TDP and PCIe Gen 3 interface with 20 lanes (CPU only) are notable specifications. The fact that the system achieves 172.5 FPS at 1080p Low indicates the CPU can process game logic faster than the GPU can render frames at lower resolutions. However, as settings increase to Ultra, the frame rates converge toward the GPU's rendering limits, with the CPU maintaining a steady supply of frames. The 16 MB L3 cache is shared across all cores, which benefits the game's multi-threaded workload patterns. Overall, the data shows the Ryzen 7 5700 is a capable partner for the RX 7900 XTX, providing enough processing power to avoid becoming the primary constraint except in the lowest-resolution, highest-frame-rate scenarios.