Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X with the AMD Radeon RX 570 in a configuration that yields highly constrained frame rates across all tested resolutions. The measured data indicates a system where the GPU, a 2017-era Polaris 20 part with 4 GB of GDDR5, becomes the dominant performance limiter under most settings. The CPU, a Zen 3 chip with 8 cores and 16 threads, provides ample processing headroom, but the combination's overall ranking in this title is low, sitting at 1692 out of 1795 tested combos. The following analysis breaks down the optimal settings, scaling behavior, and component roles based strictly on the provided benchmark rows.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows a clear hierarchy across presets, with the lowest settings providing the only playable experience at 1080p. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 45.9 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo in any configuration. This represents a significant jump over the Medium preset, which drops to 36.8 FPS, and the High preset at 28.5 FPS. The Ultra preset is marginally better than High at 29.3 FPS, but the difference is negligible and still far below the smoothness threshold.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Low preset at 1080p is the only viable option for acceptable fluidity. The data shows that moving from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 9.1 FPS (a 19.8% drop), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 8.3 FPS. This steep penalty suggests the RX 570's shading units and memory bandwidth are severely taxed by even moderate quality increases. At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 41.2 FPS, which is respectable but still below the 1080p Low figure; however, the 1440p Medium preset falls to 29.6 FPS, making it less desirable. At 4K, all presets are effectively unplayable, with the best case being Low at 28.3 FPS.

Given the data, the recommended preset is Low at 1920x1080. This setting provides the highest average FPS (45.9) and the most consistent experience relative to the other options. While the Ultra preset at 1080p shows 29.3 FPS, which is 0.8 FPS higher than High, the difference is within measurement noise and does not justify the quality trade-off when Low is so much faster. Users seeking higher visual fidelity should note that the Medium preset at 1440p (29.6 FPS) is the only non-Low option that approaches 30 FPS, but it still falls short of the 1080p Low performance. The data strongly indicates that any setting above Low at any resolution will result in average frame rates below 37 FPS, which is suboptimal for a flight simulator requiring precise control inputs.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combination?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 45.9, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. No other configuration in the measured rows exceeds this value, with the next closest being 41.2 FPS at 2560x1440 on Low.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 29.3 FPS, which is 0.8 FPS higher than the High preset's 28.5 FPS. This minor 2.8% improvement suggests that the Ultra preset does not impose a significantly heavier load on the RX 570 relative to High at this resolution.

Q: Is the CPU a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data does not indicate CPU limitation. The Ryzen 7 5800X has a high average benchmark score of 27606, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. The frame rates scale heavily with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance, not CPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves 45.9 FPS, while the 3840x2160 Low preset averages 28.3 FPS. This represents a 17.6 FPS drop (a 38.3% reduction) when moving from Full HD to 4K at the same settings.

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

A: The combination ranks 1692 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the bottom 5.7% of all configurations, indicating that the GPU significantly hampers performance.

Q: Does the RX 570's 4 GB memory capacity affect results?

A: The measured data shows severe FPS drops at higher settings and resolutions, which is consistent with a 4 GB frame buffer being exceeded. For instance, at 4K High the combo averages 17.7 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 28.3 FPS, suggesting that texture memory pressure is a key factor in the lower scores.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a pronounced GPU bottleneck, with frame rates dropping sharply as pixel count increases. At the Low preset, the average FPS falls from 45.9 at 1920x1080 to 41.2 at 2560x1440 and then to 28.3 at 3840x2160. This equates to a 10.2% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 31.3% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 38.3%, which is substantial but not as severe as the higher presets.

At the High preset, the scaling is more punishing: 28.5 FPS at 1080p, 23.0 FPS at 1440p, and 17.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a 19.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 23.0% drop from 1440p to 4K, for a combined 37.9% reduction. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern, with 36.8 FPS at 1080p, 29.6 FPS at 1440p, and 23.1 FPS at 4K, translating to a 19.6% drop and then a 22.0% drop. The Ultra preset mirrors High: 29.3 FPS at 1080p, 25.0 FPS at 1440p, and 18.6 FPS at 4K, with drops of 14.7% and 25.6% respectively.

The data indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as the FPS degradation is consistent with rendering resolution scaling rather than CPU overhead. The RX 570's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are insufficient for the higher pixel counts. The fact that the percentage drops are similar across presets suggests that the GPU is saturated even at Low settings, and the CPU's strong single-thread performance (3,327 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is not the bottleneck. The 4 GB memory capacity likely exacerbates the issue at 4K, where the frame buffer is more easily exhausted, leading to the sharp decline from 1440p to 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this configuration at 1692 out of 1795 tested combos, which is a low position in the overall distribution. This rank reflects the RX 570's age and limited capabilities relative to modern GPUs. The GPU's average benchmark score is 30158, placing it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (deltaPct 0.2), AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (deltaPct 0.2), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.8). These rivals have nearly identical average scores, which suggests that the RX 570's benchmark performance is not directly indicative of its gaming prowess in this specific title, as the rank is much lower than its percentile might suggest.

The CPU, on the other hand, ranks higher in its own field. The Ryzen 7 5800X has an average benchmark score of 27606, with nearest rivals being the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (deltaPct 0.3), AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (deltaPct -0.4), Intel Core i7-13700H (deltaPct -0.4), and Intel Core i5-12600KF (deltaPct -0.8). These deltas are small, indicating that the 5800X is competitive with its peers, but this does not translate to a good overall combo rank because the GPU drags down performance. The rank of 1692 out of 1795 means that 94.3% of tested combos outperform this one in Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is a stark indicator of the GPU's inadequacy for this simulation.

The data shows that the combo's ranking is not a reflection of CPU weakness; rather, it is a direct consequence of the GPU being a 2017 part with 4 GB of memory. The high CPU score (84th percentile) cannot compensate for the GPU's low frame rates at all tested settings. This rank should be interpreted as a caution for users expecting playable performance at higher resolutions, as the measured FPS values at 4K are all below 30 FPS, and even 1440p Medium is below 30 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X provides a robust foundation for this combo, but its role is overshadowed by the GPU's limitations. The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 23,571 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3,327 in single-core, demonstrating strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 943 (single-thread) to 7,586 (16-thread), indicating efficient utilization of all cores.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls, which typically benefit from higher single-thread performance. The 5800X's single-core score of 3,327 in Cinebench R23 is high, and its boost clock of 4.70 GHz should provide responsive frame times. However, the measured FPS data does not show CPU-related dips; instead, the frame rates are uniformly low across all settings, which is a sign of GPU saturation. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 45.9 FPS while 1080p Ultra only reaches 29.3 FPS suggests that the GPU is the sole limiting factor, as the CPU would likely maintain similar frame rates if it were the bottleneck.

The CPU's 105 W TDP and 7 nm process node indicate an efficient design, but its performance in this game is not the reason for the low combo rank. The 16 threads are more than sufficient for modern titles, and the 32 MB L3 cache helps with data locality. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s for DDR4 is adequate for the CPU's needs, though it is far lower than the GPU's 224.0 GB/s, which again points to the GPU as the bottleneck. In summary, the Ryzen 7 5800X is a capable processor that would not hinder performance in most scenarios, but in this specific combo, it is paired with a GPU that cannot deliver playable frame rates at higher settings, making the CPU's strengths largely irrelevant to the final experience.