Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a distinct performance profile in Microsoft Flight Simulator, a flight simulation title released on 2020-08-17. The data shows a combination that leans heavily on the GPU's immense resources, while the CPU's eight-core architecture provides a stable foundation. Measured results across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal where this pairing excels and where it leaves performance on the table, particularly at lower settings where the CPU becomes a limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combination ranks 44th out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the top 2.5% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 compared to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84306 is 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, which scores 83209, and 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, which scores 84241.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26214 and a multithread score of 26612 in PassMark tests.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between settings at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the difference between Low (141.4 fps) and Ultra (76.9 fps) settings is 64.5 fps, representing a 45.6% drop in average frame rate when moving to maximum quality.

Q: Does the GPU outperform its nearest rivals in the PassMark G3D test?

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 scores 39650 in PassMark G3D, which is 1.6% higher than the NVIDIA CMP 40HX's score of 85637 in average benchmark, though the CMP 40HX has a higher average score overall.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the Intel Core i9-11900KF in average score?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X scores 26214, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900KF's 26196, making them statistically equivalent in overall CPU performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU packs 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines, alongside 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. Its clock speeds are substantial, with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, while memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Microsoft Flight Simulator's massive texture streaming demands.

The data shows the GPU's raw compute capabilities translate directly into frame rates. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the combo produces 83.6 fps, but lowering to Medium yields 111 fps, and Low reaches 141.4 fps. The RTX 5090's FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s allow it to handle the game's complex terrain rendering and weather effects without becoming the bottleneck. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s supports 4K output comfortably, as evidenced by the 76.9 fps at Ultra settings. The GPU's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 84306 confirm its position near the top of the performance hierarchy, though its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, is only 0.1% behind at 84241.

Memory bandwidth plays a pivotal role in this simulation. The 1.79 TB/s figure is exceptionally high, and the 32 GB capacity means the GPU never contends with VRAM limitations even at Ultra settings with high-resolution textures. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, with 20 lanes from the CPU, provides ample transfer rates for streaming scenery data. The GPU's 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU indicate a power-hungry design, but benchmark results show this energy translates into sustained high frame rates across all tested resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X provides the processing backbone with 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. Base clock sits at 3.40 GHz with a boost up to 4.60 GHz, while the 32 MB shared L3 cache and 512 KB per-core L2 cache help feed the GPU with draw calls and simulation data. The CPU's 65 W TDP is modest, and its dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth is older technology compared to the GPU's memory subsystem, yet adequate for this game's CPU demands.

In synthetic tests, the 5700X shows strong multithreaded capability, scoring 22620 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 9500 in Cinebench R20 multicore. Single-thread performance is also solid, with 3193 in Cinebench R23 singlecore and 921 in 3DMark single-thread. The PassMark multithread score of 26612 and Geekbench multicore score of 9720 demonstrate balanced performance across workloads. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking places it above average, but its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i9-11900KF at 26196 (0.1% lower) and AMD Ryzen 5 7600X at 26272 (0.2% higher) — show that it sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The CPU role in Microsoft Flight Simulator becomes apparent when analyzing frame rate scaling. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 181.2 fps, but this is the only setting above 180 fps. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 17.2 fps (181.2 to 164), while the gap between Medium and High is 21 fps (164 to 143). This compression suggests the CPU's 8-core/16-thread configuration handles the game's simulation loop adequately, but the 4.60 GHz boost clock limits peak performance in lightly threaded scenarios. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1821 and single-thread score of 921 indicate that the game's primary thread benefits from the boost clock, yet the CPU cannot fully feed the RTX 5090 at lower resolutions where GPU load diminishes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 44th out of 1795 tested configurations, placing it in the top 2.5% of all pairings evaluated for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This rank reflects the GPU's dominant contribution; the RTX 5090's 94th percentile among GPUs outweighs the CPU's 83rd percentile. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of this ranking, as the CPU's performance band closely matches rivals like the Ryzen 5 7600X, which scores 26272 (0.2% higher), and the Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U at 26262 (0.2% higher). The Intel Core i9-11900KF at 26196 trails by 0.1%, meaning the CPU choice has minimal impact on the overall rank compared to GPU selection.

At 44th position, the combo sits below configurations pairing the RTX 5090 with higher-tier CPUs, but above the vast majority of systems. The rank indicates that for flight simulation, the GPU's 32 GB VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide headroom that compensates for the CPU's mid-range position. The measured FPS data supports this: at 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo achieves 76.9 fps, which is playable but not maximal, suggesting that a stronger CPU might push this figure higher. However, the 0.1% to 0.2% differences among the CPU's nearest rivals indicate that swapping to a marginally faster processor would yield single-digit percentage improvements, not dramatic shifts in rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the combo delivers 83.6 fps on High, 111 fps on Medium, and 141.4 fps on Low, while Ultra drops to 76.9 fps. The 64.5 fps spread between Low and Ultra shows the GPU's scaling under load; Ultra's 76.9 fps remains above the 60 fps threshold, but the step from High to Ultra costs only 6.7 fps, indicating diminishing returns at the highest preset. Medium offers the best balance, delivering 111 fps which is 34.1% faster than Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, results improve across all settings. High produces 111.4 fps, Medium reaches 152.3 fps, and Low hits 164.9 fps. Ultra at 104.7 fps is notably higher than at 4K, with a 27.8 fps improvement over the 4K Ultra figure. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 60.2 fps, showing that at this resolution the CPU begins to influence results less, allowing the GPU to stretch further. Medium at 152.3 fps is particularly strong, offering near-Low performance with better visual quality.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its highest numbers. Low settings produce 181.2 fps, Medium reaches 164 fps, High delivers 143 fps, and Ultra hits 135.5 fps. The spread between Low and Ultra is 45.7 fps, the smallest of any resolution, which indicates CPU limitation. The 1080p results show that the Ryzen 7 5700X's 4.60 GHz boost clock and 8 cores cap performance around 181 fps, regardless of GPU headroom. The RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 power is underutilized at this resolution, as evidenced by the modest 17.2 fps difference between Low and Medium.

The data reveals a clear pattern: the RTX 5090 dominates at 4K and 1440p, where its memory bandwidth and compute resources are fully engaged, while the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p. The 83.6 fps at 4K High and 111 fps at 1440p Medium are the standout results, offering smooth gameplay with high visual fidelity. The 181.2 fps at 1080p Low is the absolute peak, but the 135.5 fps at 1080p Ultra demonstrates that even the most demanding preset remains highly playable, with the combo's 44th rank reflecting its strength across the resolution spectrum.