Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, a combination that ranks in the 307th position out of 1795 tested combos for this title. The measured data reveals a system capable of smooth flight at high resolutions, though the relationship between settings and frame rate shows clear scaling patterns worth investigating. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, examines the roles of the CPU and GPU, and interprets what the benchmark results imply about system bottlenecks.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 307th out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the top 17% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X3D scores 24673 on average, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1360P (24627) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D (24605), while sitting 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (24811).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576, placing it just 0.2% behind the NVIDIA RTX A6000 and 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE.

Q: What is the best frame rate achieved at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 155.7 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, while the Ultra preset at the same resolution yields a still-strong 103.6 FPS average.

Q: How much performance drops when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 103.6 at 1920x1080 to 56.5 at 3840x2160, representing a 45.5% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Does the GPU support modern graphics APIs for this game?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, providing full compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator's rendering requirements.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is paired with a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory running at an effective 21 Gbps. The GPU's 7168 shading units and 224 tensor cores provide substantial compute capacity, evidenced by its FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU handling the load across all settings tiers. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 56.5 FPS, which is playable but close to the edge of smoothness for a flight simulator. Dropping to High at 4K yields 63.7 FPS, indicating the GPU is the primary driver of performance at this resolution. The 109 FPS average at 4K Low demonstrates that the GPU has significant headroom when settings are reduced, suggesting the VRAM and bandwidth are not limiting factors even at high pixel counts.

The GPU's 84th percentile ranking among all graphics cards positions it as a strong performer, though its nearest rivals include the workstation-class RTX A6000 and the Radeon RX 7650 GRE, with delta percentages of -0.2% and -0.3% respectively. This tight grouping suggests the 4070 SUPER is well-matched to its competition in raw compute terms, but the game-specific results show how architecture and drivers influence real-world FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 307 out of 1795 tested systems places it in the upper tier of configurations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This position suggests that the pairing of the 8-core Ryzen 7 5700X3D with the RTX 4070 SUPER is well-balanced for this title, which is known to stress both CPU and GPU depending on the scenario.

Benchmark results indicate the CPU's 82nd percentile ranking and the GPU's 84th percentile ranking are closely aligned, meaning neither component dramatically outclasses the other. This balance is reflected in the measured FPS, where the system avoids severe bottlenecks at most settings. The 307th rank out of 1795 combos means roughly 83% of tested systems perform worse in this game, a strong showing for a mid-high range configuration.

The data implies that higher-ranked combos likely feature more expensive GPUs or newer CPU architectures, but the 5700X3D's 96 MB of shared L3 cache and 16 threads provide a solid foundation. The rank also suggests that this combo is a reliable choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p play and respectable 4K performance, as the measured FPS will show.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling across four settings presets and three resolutions:

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 155.7 FPS on Low, 146.1 FPS on Medium, 109.8 FPS on High, and 103.6 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 52.1 FPS, showing that the CPU and GPU can maintain high frame rates even at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 146.6 FPS on Low, 116.2 FPS on Medium, 85.9 FPS on High, and 84.2 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Ultra costs 62.4 FPS, with a notable drop between Medium and High of 30.3 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 109 FPS on Low, 83.6 FPS on Medium, 63.7 FPS on High, and 56.5 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra is 52.5 FPS, similar to the 1080p spread, but the absolute values are considerably lower.

The data shows that the High and Ultra presets are close in performance at 1440p and 4K, differing by only 1.7 FPS and 7.2 FPS respectively, while Medium offers a significant boost over High at all resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 1440p, Medium delivers 116.2 FPS, which is 30.3 FPS higher than High (85.9 FPS) and 32 FPS higher than Ultra (84.2 FPS). This represents a 35% performance gain over High with presumably a modest visual trade-off.

At 4K, Medium produces 83.6 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while High (63.7 FPS) and Ultra (56.5 FPS) dip closer to or below that mark. For players targeting 4K, Medium is the clear recommendation, as it provides a 19.9 FPS improvement over High and 27.1 FPS over Ultra.

At 1080p, even Ultra achieves 103.6 FPS, so players with 1080p displays can select any preset. However, the data suggests Medium (146.1 FPS) offers a significant frame rate buffer for demanding scenes, while High (109.8 FPS) still exceeds 100 FPS. The Ultra preset's 103.6 FPS is only 6.2 FPS lower than High, making it a viable choice for maximum visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D features 8 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process, includes 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 6764 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22366 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, while the single-thread score of 3157 shows competent single-core capability.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU handles simulation logic, physics, and AI traffic, which can be demanding. The 5700X3D's ranking in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24673, places it just 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1360P and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600. This indicates the CPU is not a weak link in the system, though its single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 804) may limit frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

The measured FPS at 1080p Low (155.7 FPS) versus 4K Low (109 FPS) suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU's 16 threads and large cache help maintain consistent frame pacing, which is crucial for a smooth flight simulation experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals how the system scales from 1080p to 4K, highlighting which component becomes the bottleneck. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 155.7 FPS at 1080p to 146.6 FPS at 1440p (a 5.8% reduction) and then to 109 FPS at 4K (a 30% reduction from 1440p). This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is more heavily utilized, and the GPU has enough headroom to handle the resolution increase up to 1440p before becoming strained at 4K.

At Ultra settings, the drop is more pronounced: from 103.6 FPS at 1080p to 84.2 FPS at 1440p (an 18.7% reduction) and then to 56.5 FPS at 4K (a 32.9% reduction from 1440p). The larger percentage drops at Ultra settings suggest the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as higher settings increase pixel and shader workload disproportionately.

The data implies that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU and GPU are relatively balanced, with the CPU able to feed the GPU sufficiently. However, at 4K, the GPU's 504.2 GB/s bandwidth and 12 GB VRAM become more stressed, leading to the significant FPS drops. For players wanting to maintain 60+ FPS, the data suggests 1440p Medium or High (116.2 and 85.9 FPS) or 4K Medium (83.6 FPS) are the optimal resolution-settings combinations, as they avoid the steep performance cliff seen when pushing Ultra at 4K.