Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a measured performance profile in Microsoft Flight Simulator that places the combination at rank 665 out of 1,795 tested combos. The CPU sits in the 84th percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 76th percentile, and the measured frame rates across four presets and three resolutions show a system that is consistently GPU-limited at higher settings. The CPU's launch MSRP is $449, and the GPU's launch MSRP is 499 USD.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how each preset behaves across resolutions. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 86.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 79.4 FPS—a 7.5 FPS penalty for the highest quality tier. Medium sits at 114.3 FPS, and Low reaches 145.8 FPS. For a smooth experience at 1080p, High is the recommended preset because it offers a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while still maintaining a frame rate well above 60. Ultra, on the other hand, yields a lower average than High, so it provides no performance benefit and is not worth the additional load.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Medium produces 94.7 FPS, High falls to 67.6 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 64.3 FPS. Low is at 116 FPS. Here, Medium is the sweet spot: it keeps the frame rate near 95, which is comfortable for a flight simulator, while High and Ultra both dip below 70. The gap between High and Ultra is only 3.3 FPS, so Ultra offers no meaningful advantage. For 1440p, Medium is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 4K, the situation becomes more constrained. Medium yields 67.1 FPS, High 49.4 FPS, and Ultra 49.5 FPS—essentially identical to High. Low reaches 86.6 FPS. The data shows that High and Ultra are nearly indistinguishable at 4K, with a difference of just 0.1 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is saturated at this resolution, and the extra settings in Ultra do not translate into measurable frame rate changes. For 4K, Medium is the highest preset that maintains a playable frame rate above 60, while High and Ultra fall below 50. The recommendation is to use Medium for 4K, High for 1080p, and Medium for 1440p, based on the measured averages.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1295 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. These specifications directly influence the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the GPU produces 49.5 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it reaches 79.4 FPS—a 37.6% reduction when moving from 1080p to 4K. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound workload, where the rendering resolution is the primary factor.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores reinforce its position. Its Passmark G3D score is 24,176, and its average benchmark score is 32,619, placing it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 and 0.7% ahead of the AMD FirePro S10000, while trailing the NVIDIA P104-100 by 0.4% and the NVIDIA T600 Mobile by 0.7%. These deltas are small, indicating that the RX 7800 XT sits in a tightly packed performance band. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for the game's textures at 4K, as evidenced by the negligible difference between High and Ultra at that resolution (49.4 vs 49.5 FPS). The GPU is not VRAM-limited; rather, its compute throughput is the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 5800X and RX 7800 XT ranks 665th out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, specifically at the 37th percentile. The CPU's individual percentile is 84, and the GPU's is 76, so the combo's rank is lower than either component's standalone standing. This suggests that the pairing is not perfectly balanced for this particular game, and the GPU is the more restrictive element.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, has an average benchmark score of 27,535, which is 0.3% lower than the 5800X's 27,606. The Intel Core i5-12600KF scores 27,827, 0.8% higher. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD FirePro S9300 X2, scores 32,540, 0.2% lower than the RX 7800 XT's 32,619, while the NVIDIA P104-100 scores 32,747, 0.4% higher. These small deltas indicate that both components are closely matched to their immediate competitors, yet the combo's rank of 665 out of 1,795 suggests that many other pairings achieve higher frame rates in this specific title. The data shows that the CPU is strong enough to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but at 4K the GPU becomes the bottleneck, which likely explains why the combo does not rank higher.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p?

A: High yields 86.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 79.4 FPS. High is recommended because it provides a higher average frame rate than Ultra and remains well above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X has an average benchmark score of 27,606, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800's 27,535, and 0.8% lower than the Intel Core i5-12600KF's 27,827.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity?

A: The Radeon RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s.

Q: What is the combo's rank in this game?

A: It ranks 665 out of 1,795 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all configurations.

Q: What is the measured FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: The average FPS is 49.5, which is nearly identical to the High preset's 49.4 FPS, indicating that Ultra provides no measurable benefit at 4K.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K?

A: The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High is from 86.9 to 49.4, a 43% reduction. This consistent scaling across resolutions indicates the GPU is the limiting component at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 86.9 FPS at 1080p to 67.6 FPS at 1440p, a 22.2% drop, and then to 49.4 FPS at 4K, a further 26.9% drop. At Low settings, the progression is 145.8 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p (a 20.4% drop), and 86.6 FPS at 4K (a 25.3% drop). The percentage reductions are similar across presets, which suggests that the scaling is driven by the GPU's rendering load rather than by CPU limitations.

At 4K, the difference between High and Ultra is only 0.1 FPS (49.4 vs 49.5), while at 1080p the difference is 7.5 FPS (86.9 vs 79.4). This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is fully saturated, and additional settings have no impact on frame rate. The data also shows that the gap between 1080p and 4K is roughly 43% at High and 41% at Low, meaning the GPU is the primary constraint across all presets. The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions, where the frame rates are high enough to expose any CPU bottleneck, but the measured values—145.8 FPS at 1080p Low—suggest the CPU is not limiting in this scenario.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its L3 cache is 32 MB, and it is built on a 7 nm process. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 23,571 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,327 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 10,220 and single-core of 2,194. Its average benchmark score is 27,606, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and 0.8% behind the Intel Core i5-12600KF.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's strong single-thread performance is likely beneficial, as the game often relies on a single main thread for simulation logic. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 145.8, which is high enough to indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU at lower settings. However, at 1080p Ultra, the FPS drops to 79.4, showing that the GPU becomes the limiting factor even at 1080p when settings are maxed. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallelism for background tasks, but the data shows that the GPU is the primary constraint in this title. The CPU's 32 MB L3 cache and 7 nm process contribute to its efficiency, but the measured frame rates across resolutions confirm that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher settings.