Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT compare to its closest rivals in overall CPU performance?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800XT posts an average benchmark score of 29774, placing it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS and AMD Ryzen 7 7840H by 0.3% each, making this a tightly contested group where the 5800XT effectively matches its peers.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, scores 13564, a 0% delta, while the AMD Radeon Pro 455 is 1.1% behind and the NVIDIA P106-090 is 1.1% ahead.

Q: What frame rates can this combo achieve at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS ranges from 54.8 on Low settings down to 30.2 on Ultra. Medium settings deliver 42.3 FPS, while High settings produce 28.8 FPS, showing that only the Low preset approaches smooth playability.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p compared to 1080p?

A: Dropping resolution from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces average frame rates across all presets. For example, Low settings fall from 54.8 FPS to 43.9 FPS, while Ultra drops from 30.2 FPS to 21.6 FPS, indicating a substantial performance penalty at the higher resolution.

Q: Is 4K gaming feasible with this hardware?

A: At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves 32.4 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 19 FPS. These results indicate that 4K is not a practical target for this combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What is the CPU's multithreaded capability based on benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800XT scores 23794 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 7683 in 3DMark 16-thread tests. Its PassMark multithread score of 27988 reinforces that this 8-core, 16-thread processor excels in heavily threaded workloads, which is relevant for flight simulation's complex scenery and physics calculations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost up to 4.80 GHz. This processor, built on a 7 nm process with 32 MB of L3 cache, delivers strong single-thread performance with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3359. That single-thread strength matters because Microsoft Flight Simulator relies heavily on main-thread processing for flight dynamics, weather simulation, and user interface responsiveness.

The CPU's multithreaded results are equally significant. With a Cinebench R20 multicore score of 9993 and a PassMark multithread score of 27988, the 5800XT handles the game's background tasks—terrain streaming, AI traffic, and complex airport environments—without becoming the primary bottleneck. The processor's 86th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its position well above average, though its nearest rivals show that it doesn't dominate its immediate competition. The deltaPct values of just 0.1% to 0.3% against the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, Ryzen 7 6800HS, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360, and Ryzen 7 7840H indicate that all five processors deliver nearly identical average scores.

In the measured frame rates, the CPU's contribution becomes visible when comparing Low preset results across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 54.8 FPS, but at 1440p Low it manages 43.9 FPS, and at 4K Low it drops to 32.4 FPS. This scaling pattern suggests the CPU maintains consistent performance while the GPU becomes increasingly strained at higher resolutions. The 5800XT's 16 threads ensure that background simulation tasks don't introduce stutter, even when the game is pushing the GPU to its limits.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580, built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, provides 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 1257 MHz boosts to 1340 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU's 2304 shading units and 32 ROPs produce 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which places it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs.

The RX 580's age shows clearly in the benchmark data. Its PassMark G3D score of 8813 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005 reflect a GPU designed for 1080p gaming from an earlier era. The nearest rival comparisons—0% delta against the GTX 570, 0.1% against the GTX 950, and 1.1% against the Radeon Pro 455—position this card as a mid-range performer that has fallen behind modern standards.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's limitations become the dominant factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU manages 54.8 FPS on Low but only 28.8 FPS on High, a 26 FPS penalty. Moving to 1440p, the gap widens: Low produces 43.9 FPS, while High drops to 27.8 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, with Low yielding just 32.4 FPS and Ultra falling to 19 FPS. The VRAM allocation of 8 GB is sufficient for the game's textures, but the raw compute power of the Polaris 20 chip cannot sustain high frame rates. The GPU's texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s prove insufficient for the dense scenery and detailed aircraft models in this simulator.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1654 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking stems primarily from the GPU's age and performance class, as the CPU itself sits comfortably in the 86th percentile. The pairing creates a significant imbalance: the processor has ample headroom while the graphics card constrains overall frame rates.

The data confirms this bottleneck pattern. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 54.8 FPS, which is the only measured scenario above 55 FPS. Every other preset and resolution combination falls below 44 FPS, with Ultra settings at 4K producing just 19 FPS. The rank of 1654 indicates that most other tested combinations deliver better results, reflecting how the RX 580's 53rd percentile GPU performance drags down the 86th percentile CPU.

Comparisons to other combos in the database show that pairing this CPU with a more capable GPU would dramatically improve the ranking, while pairing this GPU with a weaker CPU would likely yield similar results. The deltaPct values for the CPU's rivals (0.1% to 0.3%) suggest that swapping the 5800XT for one of its nearest competitors would produce nearly identical in-game performance, reinforcing that the GPU is the limiting factor in this configuration.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and playability, the Low preset at 1920x1080 provides the highest measured average FPS of 54.8. This is the only setting that approaches smooth, consistent frame rates suitable for a flight simulator where precision matters. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 42.3 FPS, which remains playable but introduces more visible stutter during complex scenes.

Users willing to accept lower frame rates for improved visuals might consider 1080p High at 28.8 FPS, though this falls below the 30 FPS threshold often cited as a minimum for playable simulation. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 30.2 FPS, marginally better than High, but both options risk noticeable frame pacing issues.

At 1440p, only the Low preset (43.9 FPS) remains viable for serious play. Medium (33.3 FPS) is borderline, while High (27.8 FPS) and Ultra (21.6 FPS) are too sluggish for responsive flight control. At 4K, all presets—ranging from 32.4 FPS on Low to 19 FPS on Ultra—fall below acceptable thresholds, making this resolution impractical for this hardware combination.

The data suggests that 1080p Low is the recommended configuration, offering the highest frame rate with the least risk of sim-induced frustration. For users who prioritize visuals over speed, 1080p Medium at 42.3 FPS presents a reasonable compromise, but the measured results indicate that any preset above Medium will struggle to maintain playable performance in demanding flight scenarios.