Microsoft Flight Simulator

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combination ranks 1,324 out of 2,996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the field—roughly the 56th percentile of all tested configurations.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X posts an average benchmark score of 29,123. It sits within 0.5% of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (29,093, +0.1% delta) and the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (29,245, -0.4% delta), while edging out the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28,940, +0.6% delta) and trailing the Intel Core i5-13500HX (29,270, -0.5% delta).

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile and how does it stack against its closest competitors?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 15,852. It is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862, -0.1% delta), slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014, -1% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129, -1.7% delta), while ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, +1.1% delta).

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 126 avg FPS, which is the highest measured result across all resolutions and settings. The Medium preset delivers 98 avg FPS, High delivers 74, and Ultra drops to 70.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for high-resolution flight simulation?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. This substantial VRAM allocation supports the high texture loads typical in flight simulators, and the data shows playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra (42 avg FPS), indicating memory capacity is not a limiting factor in these measurements.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts, and what do its synthetic benchmarks suggest?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X has 8 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 15,476 multi-core and 1,574.5 single-core, while Geekbench shows 11,036 multi-core and 2,032 single-core—indicating strong single-thread performance that benefits simulation workloads.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7700 brings RDNA 3.0 architecture with 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines. Its clock behavior is notable: a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The memory subsystem pairs 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth—a configuration designed for high-resolution texture streaming.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role shifts dramatically with settings and resolution. The measured data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 126 avg FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 42 avg FPS. This 3x reduction in frame rate as resolution and quality scale up points to the GPU becoming the dominant bottleneck at higher loads. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is generous for this title, and the 40 ray accelerators (RT cores) suggest future-proofing for ray-traced effects, though the current measurements do not isolate ray tracing performance.

The GPU's pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for dense terrain and cockpit instrumentation. With FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS, the card handles the compute-heavy aspects of flight physics and weather simulation. The 58th percentile standing among all GPUs indicates this is a mid-to-upper tier part, and the benchmark results in this game reflect that positioning—capable but not class-leading.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 126 avg FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 102 avg FPS (a 19% reduction), and 4K Low yields 75 avg FPS (a 40% reduction from 1440p). This scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is still contributing meaningfully, as the GPU has headroom to spare.

At High settings, the pattern shifts: 1080p delivers 74 avg FPS, 1440p drops to 60 avg FPS (a 19% reduction), and 4K falls to 44 avg FPS (a 27% reduction from 1440p). The smaller relative drop from 1440p to 4K at High compared to Low indicates the GPU is becoming more saturated as quality increases.

Ultra settings show the steepest absolute declines: 70 avg FPS at 1080p, 57 at 1440p, and 42 at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 13 FPS (19%) and 1440p-to-4K drop of 15 FPS (26%) suggest the GPU is the primary limiter at this quality tier. The data implies that at 1080p Ultra, the CPU still has some influence, but by 4K Ultra, the GPU is almost certainly the binding constraint. The 4K Medium result (59 avg FPS) versus 1440p Medium (79 avg FPS) shows a 25% reduction, reinforcing that resolution scaling follows expected GPU-bound behavior.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1,324 out of 2,996 tested configurations, this pairing sits just below the median of all tested systems in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component percentiles: the CPU is in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The combination appears to underperform relative to what the individual parts might suggest, indicating that Microsoft Flight Simulator's specific workload characteristics do not fully leverage this pairing's strengths.

The CPU's nearest rivals—all within 0.6% in average benchmark score—include mobile and desktop parts with varying core counts. This suggests the 5800X's 8-core/16-thread configuration is competitive but not exceptional in synthetic tests. The GPU's nearest rivals include the RTX 3060 Ti, a well-regarded 1080p/1440p card, and the RX 9060, indicating the 7700 competes in a crowded mid-range segment.

The rank of 1,324 implies that roughly 1,672 other combos perform better in this specific game. Given that Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for being demanding on both CPU (for physics and scenery generation) and GPU (for rendering), this mid-pack ranking suggests the pairing is balanced but not optimized for the game's unique demands. The data indicates that users seeking higher frame rates would need either a stronger GPU for 4K play or a faster CPU for maximum 1080p performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 126 avg FPS, Medium yields 98 avg FPS (with min/max of 84/113), High achieves 74 avg FPS, and Ultra manages 70 avg FPS. The gap between Medium and High is substantial at 24 FPS, while the High-to-Ultra gap is only 4 FPS—suggesting diminishing returns beyond High settings.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low hits 102 avg FPS, Medium delivers 79 avg FPS (with min/max of 67/91), High reaches 60 avg FPS, and Ultra drops to 57 avg FPS. The Medium-to-High gap narrows to 19 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is just 3 FPS. Notably, 1440p Ultra (57 avg FPS) is nearly identical to 1080p Ultra (70 avg FPS) in relative terms, showing the GPU handles the resolution increase with only a 19% penalty.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high refresh rates. Low produces 75 avg FPS, Medium yields 59 avg FPS (with min/max of 50/67), High drops to 44 avg FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 42 avg FPS. The Low-to-Medium drop is 16 FPS, Medium-to-High is 15 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is only 2 FPS. The tight grouping between High and Ultra at 4K suggests the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling, and additional quality settings have minimal impact.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p users, the Medium preset at 98 avg FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, with a minimum of 84 FPS ensuring consistent play. High at 74 avg FPS is also viable for users prioritizing visuals, while Ultra at 70 avg FPS provides minimal gain over High—the 4 FPS difference does not justify the potential stability concerns. Low at 126 avg FPS is only recommended for competitive or maximum-smoothness scenarios.

At 1440p, Medium at 79 avg FPS (min 67) is the sweet spot, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High at 60 avg FPS is exactly at the threshold for smooth gameplay, making it a reasonable choice for users with adaptive sync displays. Ultra at 57 avg FPS dips below 60, which may introduce perceptible stutter. Low at 102 avg FPS is excessive for this resolution unless frame rate is the sole priority.

For 4K, the recommendation depends on tolerance for lower frame rates. Medium at 59 avg FPS (min 50) is the highest playable preset, with the minimum still above 48 FPS for console-like smoothness. High at 44 avg FPS and Ultra at 42 avg FPS are borderline, suitable only for slow, scenic flight where frame rate fluctuations are less noticeable. Low at 75 avg FPS is surprisingly playable and may be the best 4K option for users prioritizing fluidity over fidelity.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X, built on TSMC's 7 nm process with Zen 3 (Vermeer) architecture, provides 8 cores and 16 threads. Its 3.80 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost clocks, combined with 32 MB of L3 cache, deliver strong single-thread performance that is critical for flight simulation's physics and scenery generation. The CPU's percentile standing at 81st among all CPUs reflects its solid position, though it is not at the top tier.

Synthetic benchmarks show a capable processor: Cinebench R23 multi-core of 15,476 and single-core of 1,574.5, Geekbench multi-core of 11,036 and single-core of 2,032, and 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,586. The single-thread scores are particularly relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-threaded simulation logic. The 3DMark single-thread score of 943 and 2-thread score of 1,846 indicate the processor's ability to handle lightly-threaded workloads efficiently.

In the game's measured FPS, the CPU's influence is most evident at low resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 126 avg FPS suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately, but at 1080p Ultra (70 avg FPS), the GPU is likely the limiter. The CPU's 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide sufficient memory bandwidth for the game's streaming requirements. The 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes ensure the GPU has adequate bandwidth, and the CPU's 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it outperforms the GPU's 58th percentile—meaning the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.