Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title that stresses both CPU and GPU heavily, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT proves to be a capable pairing. The benchmark data shows this combo delivers playable performance across a wide range of settings, with the sweet spot varying by resolution. The 16 GB of VRAM and the 8-core/16-thread processor provide a strong foundation for this flight sim's complex scenery and physics calculations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows show a clear hierarchy of performance across the three resolutions and four quality presets. For a crisp and consistent experience, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the optimal choice for most users. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers a robust average of 119 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS, ensuring that even demanding scenery loads remain fluid. In contrast, the Ultra preset drops the average to 85 FPS at the same resolution, which is still playable but sacrifices the headroom that ensures smooth transitions. Similarly, at 2560x1440, Medium yields a strong 96 FPS average with a minimum of 82 FPS, which is a better balance between visual fidelity and performance than High (72 FPS) or Ultra (69 FPS). The data suggests that Medium provides the best combination of frame rate stability and visual quality across the board.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is still the recommended choice, producing an average of 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains a floor at the 60 FPS mark. The High preset at 4K dips to 53 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 51 FPS, which shows that the top presets are too demanding for a consistently smooth 4K experience with this combo. Low settings at 4K are the only way to reach above the 90 FPS mark, but the visual compromise is likely too severe for a game that relies on scenery detail. Therefore, the data clearly indicates that the Medium preset is the best compromise across all resolutions, providing the highest frame rate that still maintains a minimum of 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT at rank 1156 out of 3714 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This puts the combo in the upper third of all tested systems, indicating that it is a capable configuration for this title. The percentile ranking shows it is a viable mid-to-high tier setup. The data suggests that this pair is well-suited for the game, offering a solid performance baseline. The rank of 1156 out of 3714 means that it outperforms a significant majority of other tested combos, but there is still a large number of configurations that will deliver higher frame rates. This combo ranks in the 69th percentile for the CPU and 85th for the GPU, showing the graphics card is a stronger component relative to the processor in a general benchmark context. The game's performance is a result of how these two components interact with the sim's specific demands.

When considering the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows it is closely matched with several other processors. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X's average benchmark score is 29879, and it is only slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, which both have an average score of 29955 and a deltaPct of -0.3. It also narrowly edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, which has a score of 29713 and a deltaPct of 0.6. The AMD Ryzen 7 7840H is the closest rival with an average score of 29868 and a deltaPct of 0. This suggests that within its performance tier, the 5800XT is a competitive processor, with minor variations in score that would not produce a noticeable difference in frame rates. The data shows the CPU is performing as expected for its class.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the primary driver for the frame rate in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and its memory configuration is a key factor. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. This large memory capacity is crucial for a flight sim, as the game loads high-resolution textures for terrain, aircraft, and airports. The 16 GB of VRAM ensures that the card does not run out of memory even at 4K with High settings, which allows for smoother texture streaming. The GPU's clock speeds are also relevant: the base clock is 1825 MHz and the boost clock is 2250 MHz. The higher boost clock is what the card reaches under load, which helps to maintain performance. The GPU also has a game clock of 2015 MHz, which is the expected clock during typical gaming scenarios.

The benchmark results show that the GPU is performing well in this game, but the 4K data reveals the limits of its raw power. At 4K with the Ultra preset, the average FPS is 51, which is below the 60 FPS target that many users prefer. This indicates that the card's compute power, rated at 20.74 TFLOPS FP32, is not sufficient to handle the Ultra preset at 4K with this CPU. However, at lower resolutions, the GPU is not the bottleneck. The 1080p Low preset achieves an average of 153 FPS, showing that the card is more than capable of handling the game's demands when the resolution and settings are lower. The GPU's performance is within expectation when compared to its nearest rivals. It is about 1.5% faster than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, but it is slower than the Intel Arc A550M by 2.5% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 3%. This places the RX 6800 XT in a competitive position among these other cards.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of how this combo performs across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset produces an average of 153 FPS, which is the highest of any setting. The Medium preset is very playable, with an average of 119 FPS and a minimum of 101 FPS. The High preset drops to 90 FPS average, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 85 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the game is very fluid even at the highest settings, though the Ultra preset's frame rate is lower.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are lower but still solid. The Low preset yields 123 FPS on average. The Medium preset provides an average of 96 FPS with a minimum of 82 FPS, which is a good result. The High preset averages 72 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the lowest, with 69 FPS. The 1440p data shows that the combo can handle the higher resolution well, with the Medium settings offering the best balance between visual quality and speed. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, with the Ultra preset losing about 16 FPS on average.

At 3840x2160, the performance is the most demanding. The Low preset yields 91 FPS, which is the only 4K setting to break the 90 FPS barrier. The Medium preset averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, which is the best combination of quality and speed at 4K. The High preset drops to 53 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the lowest at 51 FPS. This data shows a clear trend: the Medium preset is the highest setting that can maintain an average above 60 FPS at 4K. The High and Ultra presets are too demanding for this GPU to deliver smooth gameplay, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 4K is 60, which is the lockstep, but the High and Ultra presets do not have reported minimum data, suggesting they may be too variable.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for 60 FPS at 4K?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, which is the only setting that maintains a 60 FPS floor at 4K.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 153 FPS, Medium 119 FPS, High 90 FPS, and Ultra 85 FPS. This shows the combo is capable of high frame rates at 1080p.

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

A: The combo ranks 1156 out of 3714 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the upper half of tested setups.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is sufficient for high-resolution textures.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p Ultra?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 69 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU's clock speed?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a desktop processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, which is a sizeable amount of parallel processing power. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. This processor is a strong match for the flight in the game, as flight simulators often rely on a few cores for the main simulation loop. The boost clock is particularly important for single-threaded tasks, and the 5800XT has a single-thread score of 3535 in the Passmark test, which is a respectable figure. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps to keep data fast for the core.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is performing as expected. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 23794, and the single-core score is 3359. This indicates that the CPU is well-balanced for a mix of multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU is responsible for the simulation logic, which is heavily single-threaded, but also has to handle background tasks, which can utilize the multi-core capabilities. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the CPU can deliver 153 FPS on average, which suggests it can keep up with the GPU's output. The CPU's performance is also influenced by its memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, which is a standard dual-channel DDR4 setup.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, and its performance is closely matched by the nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 7840H has a score of 29868, the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and 7840HS are at 29955, and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is at 29713. The deltaPct is only -0.3 for two of these rivals, which means the 5800XT is nearly identical in performance. This indicates that the CPU is a well-balanced chip that is not a limiting factor for this game. The overall combo rank of 1156 out of 3714 shows that the combination is a good fit for the game, and the CPU's role is to provide enough processing power to feed the GPU's frame output, which it does effectively.