Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator with AMD Ryzen 7 5700G + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

This pairing of an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 produces a surprisingly balanced result in Microsoft Flight Simulator, a title known for stressing both CPU simulation logic and GPU rendering. The measured data reveals a system that can handle the game at playable framerates across most settings, though the demanding Ultra preset and 4K resolution push this combination to its limits. The combo ranks 1507th out of 1795 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested combos, which suggests that while the hardware is aging, it still delivers a functional experience in this specific flight simulator.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the GTX 1070 becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average framerate falls from 82.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 69.1 FPS at 2560x1440, then plunges to 50.2 FPS at 3840x2160 — a total reduction of 31.9 FPS from the lowest to highest resolution. This pattern holds across other presets: High settings drop from 51.1 FPS at 1080p to 36.5 FPS at 1440p and finally to 28.3 FPS at 4K. The scaling curve suggests that 1440p represents a reasonable middle ground, while 4K demands nearly double the rendering workload that the 1080p Low setting requires.

The fact that even Low settings at 4K cannot reach 60 FPS (topping out at 50.2 FPS) strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck in high-resolution scenarios. However, the relatively modest performance gap between Low and Ultra at 4K — from 50.2 FPS to 26.5 FPS — indicates that the game's visual complexity at 4K overwhelms the GTX 1070's 8 GB GDDR5 memory and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth regardless of quality settings. At 1080p, the scaling is more forgiving: Low hits 82.1 FPS while Ultra still manages 47.3 FPS, showing that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower pixel counts. The data implies that users targeting 60 FPS should stick to 1080p with Low or Medium settings, as 1440p only reaches that threshold on Low (69.1 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay, Medium settings at 1920x1080 deliver 64.8 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold while providing significantly better visuals than Low. This represents the sweet spot for this hardware combination. At 1440p, Medium produces 51.9 FPS, which is playable but not fluid, suggesting that users with 1440p monitors should consider Low settings (69.1 FPS) for a more consistent experience. High settings at 1080p yield 51.1 FPS — a marginal improvement in visuals over Medium but a noticeable drop in smoothness, making it less attractive than the Medium preset.

Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p where 47.3 FPS remains above 30 FPS, but the performance cost is substantial. Compared to Medium at the same resolution, Ultra drops from 64.8 FPS to 47.3 FPS, a 17.5 FPS penalty for the highest quality tier. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra falls to 35.9 FPS and 26.5 FPS respectively, with the 4K figure dipping below the playable threshold for most users. The measured rows indicate that Medium at 1080p offers 64.8 FPS, which is 21.9% higher than High at the same resolution (51.1 FPS) and 37% higher than Ultra (47.3 FPS). Given that the game is a flight simulator where smooth camera panning matters, prioritizing framerate over extreme detail is advisable with this hardware.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 Cezanne architecture, clocked at 3.80 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost. In CPU benchmarks, this processor shows strong multi-threaded capability with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20755 and a single-core score of 2930, placing it in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs. The 3DMark results reveal scaling from 899 (single-thread) to 6629 (16-thread), indicating that the CPU can leverage multiple cores effectively — a trait that benefits Microsoft Flight Simulator's complex flight dynamics and world simulation systems.

However, the game's performance at lower resolutions suggests the CPU is not the primary constraint in most scenarios. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 82.1 FPS, which is close to the practical ceiling for this GPU generation. The PassMark multithread score of 24419 and 16-thread 3DMark score of 6629 indicate ample headroom for simulation tasks, while the single-thread score of 899 in 3DMark and 3283 in PassMark single-thread suggest that the game's main thread benefits from the 4.60 GHz boost clock. The 16 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game's terrain streaming, but the benchmark data shows that GPU limitations emerge before CPU bottlenecks become apparent — particularly at 4K, where even Low settings drop to 50.2 FPS despite the CPU's capabilities.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1920x1080 with Low (82.1 FPS) or Medium (64.8 FPS) settings. At 1440p, only Low settings achieve 60+ FPS (69.1 FPS), while High and Ultra fall to 36.5 FPS and 35.9 FPS respectively. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with the highest being Low at 50.2 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070's 8 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR5 memory with 256.3 GB/s bandwidth appears insufficient for smooth 4K operation. Even at Low settings, 4K produces 50.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 26.5 FPS. This suggests the memory capacity and bandwidth become limiting factors at high pixel counts, though the GPU's 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 compute also plays a role.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5700G holding back the GTX 1070 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the bottleneck. The processor's 8-core/16-thread configuration and strong single-thread performance (2930 in Cinebench R23 single-core) allow it to feed the GPU adequately, as evidenced by the 82.1 FPS at 1080p Low. The FPS drops at higher resolutions align with GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The data suggests 1920x1080 is optimal, as all settings remain playable (47.3 FPS minimum on Ultra). At 1440p, only Low and Medium presets exceed 50 FPS (69.1 and 51.9 FPS), while 4K struggles to maintain 30 FPS on most presets, with only Low achieving 50.2 FPS.

Q: How does Ultra compare to High settings across resolutions?

A: On average, Ultra is only 2-3 FPS slower than High. At 1080p, Ultra runs at 47.3 FPS versus 51.1 FPS for High; at 1440p, 35.9 FPS versus 36.5 FPS; at 4K, 26.5 FPS versus 28.3 FPS. The performance difference is minimal, making Ultra a reasonable choice if visual quality is prioritized.

Q: Does this combo rank well among tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 1507th out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the 16th percentile of all configurations. This is consistent with the GTX 1070's 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs, suggesting the pairing is balanced but dated relative to modern hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, built on the Pascal architecture with a GP104 chip, is the clear performance limiter in this configuration, particularly at higher resolutions. With 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the GPU delivers 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory operates at 2002 MHz with an effective 8 Gbps data rate, providing 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth over a 256-bit bus. These specifications place the GPU in the 51st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12331 — nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241) and GTX 1650 SUPER (12504).

The GPU's DirectX 12 benchmark score of 48 in PassMark is notably low compared to DirectX 11 (100) and DirectX 9 (197), which may impact Microsoft Flight Simulator's DX12 rendering path. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1082 reinforces this potential weakness. In the measured FPS data, the GPU shows a consistent pattern: at 1080p, it delivers 82.1 FPS at Low but only 47.3 FPS at Ultra, indicating a 34.8 FPS range across presets. At 4K, the range narrows to 23.7 FPS (from 50.2 at Low to 26.5 at Ultra), suggesting that pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint. The GTX 1070's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design are modest by modern standards, but the data shows that this aging GPU still provides playable performance in flight simulation at moderate settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance: Low settings average 82.1 FPS, Medium reaches 64.8 FPS, High drops to 51.1 FPS, and Ultra yields 47.3 FPS. This represents a 34.8 FPS spread between the lowest and highest presets, with each tier stepping down roughly 15-17 FPS from Low to Medium, then 13.7 FPS from Medium to High, and only 3.8 FPS from High to Ultra — indicating diminishing returns beyond Medium.

At 2560x1440, performance scales predictably: Low produces 69.1 FPS, Medium 51.9 FPS, High 36.5 FPS, and Ultra 35.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to a negligible 0.6 FPS, suggesting that Ultra's additional effects are not the primary cost at this resolution. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs between 13 FPS (Low) and 14.6 FPS (Ultra), a consistent penalty of roughly 17-20% across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles: Low maintains 50.2 FPS, Medium drops to 38.4 FPS, High falls to 28.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 26.5 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe: Low loses 18.9 FPS (27.4% drop), Medium loses 13.5 FPS (26% drop), High loses 8.2 FPS (22.5% drop), and Ultra loses 9.4 FPS (26.2% drop). This uniform percentage loss across presets indicates that resolution scaling affects all settings equally, reinforcing that the GPU's rendering throughput — not specific effects — is the limiting factor at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination ranks 1507th out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 16% of all configurations. This ranking aligns with the GPU's modest 51st percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU sits higher at the 83rd percentile. The discrepancy suggests that the GPU drags down the overall combo ranking, despite the CPU's capable performance. The GTX 1070's nearest rivals — the Quadro K4200 (12241), GTX 880M (12490), GTX 1650 SUPER (12504), and Tesla K20Xm (12547) — all have nearly identical average scores, with deltas ranging from -1.7% to +0.7%, indicating that this GPU sits in a tightly clustered performance band.

The CPU's nearest rivals — the Ryzen 7 6800U (25706, -0.3%), Xeon D-2752TER (25532, +0.4%), Core 5 210H (25490, +0.5%), and Ryzen 5 7640U (25485, +0.6%) — show that the 5700G (25626 average) is competitively positioned within its class. Given the combo's low overall rank, the data implies that users with this hardware would see the largest gains from a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU swap. The measured FPS at 1080p Medium (64.8 FPS) suggests the system is suitable for casual flight simulation, but the 4K Ultra result of 26.5 FPS confirms that this pairing is not designed for high-end visual experiences in this demanding title.