Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a system that scales predictably with pixel count, but the shape of that curve changes dramatically depending on the quality preset. At 1080p High settings, this combination delivers 113 FPS, which drops to 91.1 FPS at 1440p and further to 67.7 FPS at 4K. That represents a 19.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 40.1% reduction from 1080p to 4K. These are substantial but not catastrophic drops, indicating a balanced system where neither component is an extreme bottleneck.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system produces 184.7 FPS, which is remarkably high for a flight simulator known for heavy CPU workloads. At 1440p Low, frame rates fall to 152.6 FPS, a 17.4% drop. At 4K Low, the system still manages 114.4 FPS, which is a 38.1% decline from the 1080p figure. The fact that Low settings at 4K still exceed 114 FPS suggests the GPU has substantial headroom even at high pixel counts when the visual load is minimal.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern. At 1080p Medium, the system hits 154.1 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 120.5 FPS, a 21.8% reduction. At 4K Medium, it falls to 87.5 FPS, a 43.2% decline from the 1080p baseline. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings is 27.4%, which is larger than the equivalent drop on Low settings (25.0%). This suggests that as settings increase, the GPU becomes progressively more engaged and the resolution scaling becomes steeper.

Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 107.7 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 84.5 FPS, a 21.5% reduction. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 65.1 FPS, a 39.6% decline from the 1080p figure. Notably, the gap between 1080p Ultra and 1080p High is only 4.7%, while the gap between 4K Ultra and 4K High is 3.8%. This indicates that the Ultra preset adds complexity that affects both resolutions similarly, but the absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra approach the edge of smoothness for demanding flight simulation.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-limited on lower presets, given that the frame rates scale well above what typical GPU-bound workloads would produce. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, especially on Ultra settings where the 65.1 FPS result is the lowest of the entire dataset. The scaling pattern suggests that this combination is well-suited for high-refresh 1440p gaming, where it maintains over 84 FPS even on Ultra.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It carries 32 MB of L3 cache and operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a single-thread score of 959 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 7683 in the 16-thread test. Its Cinebench R23 results are 3359 single-core and 23794 multi-core, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs.

The 5800XT's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE with a delta of 0.1%, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 with a delta of 0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS and AMD Ryzen 7 7840H, both with deltas of -0.3%. These are all mobile or low-power variants, which underscores that the 5800XT's desktop-oriented performance is competitive with efficient mobile parts but does not dominate them by a wide margin.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is significant because the simulation engine relies heavily on single-thread performance for flight dynamics and scenery processing. The 5800XT's single-thread capabilities, demonstrated by its 3359 Cinebench R23 score, are strong but not exceptional. The boost clock of 4.80 GHz helps maintain responsiveness in complex scenarios, but the benchmark results indicate that at 1080p Low, where the GPU is less burdened, the system still reaches 184.7 FPS. This suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the frame rate ceiling is likely set by the CPU's single-thread performance rather than its multi-thread capabilities.

The 16 threads and 8 cores provide ample parallel processing for the game's background tasks, such as terrain loading and AI traffic, but the measured results show that the CPU does not become a hard bottleneck at higher resolutions. The transition from 1080p to 4K on Ultra settings shows that the GPU takes over as the primary limiter, with the CPU maintaining enough throughput to avoid stalling the pipeline. The 32 MB L3 cache is beneficial for the game's data-heavy workload, as it reduces memory latency when accessing frequently used simulation data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 379 mm² and 45,900 million transistors. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 672.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2340 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with 8448 shading units and 66 RT cores. Its FP32 throughput is 44.10 TFLOPS, and it achieves a Passmark G3D score of 31811, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score include the NVIDIA CMP 50HX with a delta of -0.7%, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 with a delta of 1.6%, the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile with a delta of 2%, and the Intel Arc A550M with a delta of -2.1%. These rivals are a mix of professional and mobile parts, indicating that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's performance profile is competitive with workstation-class hardware but not positioned at the very top of the consumer stack.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's 16 GB VRAM is particularly relevant because the game streams high-resolution textures for terrain and aircraft. The 672.3 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture data can be fed to the rendering pipeline without stuttering. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU scales well with resolution: at High settings, the frame rate drops from 113 FPS at 1080p to 67.7 FPS at 4K, a 40.1% reduction that is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher pixel counts.

The boost clock of 2610 MHz allows the GPU to maintain high throughput in less demanding scenes, which is reflected in the 184.7 FPS result at 1080p Low. However, at 4K Ultra, the same GPU produces only 65.1 FPS, indicating that the pixel fill rate and shading workload become the limiting factors. The 44.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for the game's lighting and shadow calculations, but the Ultra preset demands more from the rasterization pipeline, which explains the steep drop at 4K.

The GPU's 16 GB VRAM does not appear to be a limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios, as even the 4K Ultra result of 65.1 FPS is achieved without catastrophic drops. The memory bus width of 256 bits and the high bandwidth work together to prevent texture streaming bottlenecks, which is critical for a game that loads detailed scenery in real time. The RT cores and tensor cores are present but are not directly implicated in the FPS results, as the measured settings do not specify ray tracing usage.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows that 1440p Ultra yields 84.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth flight simulation. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 65.1 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom. For maximum smoothness with high visual quality, 1440p Ultra is the sweet spot, while 4K High at 67.7 FPS is a viable alternative if resolution is prioritized.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 5800XT is within 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360, and within 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS and AMD Ryzen 7 7840H. This means it performs essentially on par with those parts in aggregate benchmark scores, despite being a desktop processor with a higher boost clock.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 184.7 FPS, which suggests the GPU is not the limiting factor at that resolution and preset. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by its 959 3DMark single-thread score, likely caps the frame rate. At 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 107.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU becomes more involved, but neither component is fully saturated.

Q: What does the 86th percentile ranking mean for this GPU?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms 86% of tested graphics cards in aggregate benchmark scores. This aligns with its measured performance in this game, where it delivers over 65 FPS at 4K Ultra, a result that many lower-ranked GPUs would not achieve.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on High settings?

A: The frame rate drops from 113 FPS at 1080p High to 67.7 FPS at 4K High, representing a 40.1% reduction. This is a significant but expected loss, as the pixel count increases by a factor of four, and the data indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM cause any issues in this game?

A: The measured results show no signs of VRAM-related stuttering or frame rate collapse at any resolution or preset. The 16 GB GDDR6X memory, combined with 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, is sufficient to handle the game's texture streaming demands, as evidenced by the stable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 195th out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 10.9% of all tested combinations, which is a strong showing for a desktop CPU paired with a high-end consumer GPU. The rank reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates across all resolutions and presets, with the weakest result being 65.1 FPS at 4K Ultra.

This ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: both the CPU and GPU are in the 86th percentile of their respective categories. The combo rank of 195 out of 1795 suggests that there are 194 combinations that perform better, likely featuring more recent high-end CPUs or top-tier GPUs. However, the measured data indicates that this combination does not suffer from significant bottlenecking, as the frame rates scale smoothly with resolution and settings changes.

The rank is particularly notable because Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for being one of the most demanding simulation titles, with heavy CPU and GPU requirements. Achieving a top 11% ranking in this game means the system can handle the game's complex scenery rendering, weather simulation, and physics calculations without compromising playability. The data shows that this combination is well-balanced for the game, with no single component dragging down the overall performance.