Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 compare to its closest rival in overall CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 scores 40,081 in average benchmark score, which puts it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40,048) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core 5 221E (40,144). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 270 by 0.4% and the Intel Core i9-13905H by 0.6%, making it essentially a statistical tie with all four rivals.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to the AMD Radeon RX 6800M?

A: The Radeon RX 570 scores 28,766 in average benchmark score, which is 0.4% behind the RX 6800M (28,874). It also sits 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28,580) and 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28,996), placing it in a tightly clustered performance tier.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 7700 have integrated graphics that could assist in this game?

A: Yes, the CPU includes Radeon Graphics as integrated graphics. However, the measured FPS data uses the discrete AMD Radeon RX 570, and the integrated solution is far less powerful, so it would not meaningfully contribute to flight simulator performance in the tested configurations.

Q: What is the best FPS result across all tested resolutions and settings?

A: The highest average FPS is 48, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 16 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The gap between these two extremes is 32 FPS, representing a 200% performance swing.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in this game?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 3,538 out of 3,714 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 5% of all configurations. This indicates the system is near the lower end of playable performance for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: Is the GPU's 4 GB VRAM sufficient for high-resolution flight simulation?

A: The data shows a steep decline at 4K: High settings yield 17 FPS, and Ultra drops to 16 FPS. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus (224.0 GB/s bandwidth), the card struggles with the texture loads at 3840x2160, and the low FPS reflects this limitation.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture fabricated on a 5 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boosts up to 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU has 32 MB of shared L3 cache, plus 1 MB L2 per core and 64 KB L1 per core. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the game's simulation logic and physics calculations rely heavily on single-thread performance, and this CPU delivers a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,049 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,930.

The 7700's multi-threaded capabilities are substantial: it scores 18,760 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 8,484 in 3DMark 16-thread tests. The processor also achieves 8,479 in 3DMark max-threads, showing near-perfect scaling from 16 to max threads. For flight simulation, this means the CPU can handle complex scenery generation and AI traffic in the background while maintaining headroom for the main simulation thread.

The CPU's 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a strong processor overall, but in this game, the bottleneck shifts heavily to the GPU at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system hits 48 FPS, suggesting the CPU is capable of feeding frames quickly when the GPU load is light. However, the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor in most scenarios — the data shows that resolution increases cause FPS drops that are disproportionate to CPU load changes.

The Ryzen 7 7700's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, scores nearly identically (40,048 vs 40,081, a 0.1% delta), so any difference in this game's CPU-bound scenarios would be negligible. The processor's 65 W TDP and 5 nm process keep thermals manageable, allowing consistent boost clocks during extended flight sessions. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, which helps with the streaming of terrain data, though the GPU's VRAM limitations become more apparent at higher settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a Polaris 20 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture using a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. It has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with a base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's FP32 performance is 5.095 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU is responsible for rendering vast landscapes, detailed aircraft models, and dynamic weather. The 4 GB VRAM capacity becomes a critical constraint at higher resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the card achieves 48 FPS, but at 3840x2160 High, it drops to 17 FPS — a 31 FPS reduction. The texture memory required for 4K flight sim is substantial, and the 4 GB frame buffer fills quickly, causing the card to fall back to slower memory handling.

The RX 570's 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range of the GPU spectrum, but its nearest rivals include the RX 6800M (0.4% ahead), RX 470 (0.8% behind), and Quadro RTX 8000 (1.2% ahead). These are all older or mobile parts, indicating the RX 570 is competitive only with previous-generation hardware. The card's 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU are modest, and its 1x 6-pin power connector keeps installation simple for a dual-slot card.

The fact that the RX 570 is marked as "End-of-life" and its successor is "Vega" indicates this is a dated GPU for a 2020 game release. The 7 Gbps effective memory speed and 224 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p gaming, but the 4K results show the card is out of its depth. The 32 ROPs and 159.2 GTexel/s texture rate contribute to the pixel fill limitations that manifest at 3840x2160.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3,538 out of 3,714 total tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the system in the bottom 5% of all configurations, which is a poor result for a CPU that individually ranks in the 87th percentile. The disparity highlights how severely the GPU holds back the overall system performance.

The rank of 3,538 means only 176 tested combos perform worse, and the vast majority of systems tested — likely those with modern GPUs — outperform this pairing. The CPU's high benchmark scores (40,081 average) do not translate to in-game success because the RX 570 cannot render the flight simulator's graphics efficiently. The 8-core, 16-thread processor has enough headroom for the game's CPU demands, but the GPU becomes the sole constraint.

Compared to the nearest rival combos, the RX 570's position at 74th percentile among GPUs versus the CPU's 87th percentile shows a significant imbalance. This mismatch is typical of pairing a current-generation CPU with a previous-generation budget GPU. The combo's rank suggests that users should prioritize a GPU upgrade before considering CPU changes, as the 7700 is not the limiting factor.

The data set includes 3,714 combos, meaning this system sits near the very bottom. For context, a combo ranked 3,538 would be in the bottom 176 positions, which is less than 5% of all tested configurations. This is a clear indicator that the RX 570 is not adequate for the visual demands of Microsoft Flight Simulator at acceptable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 48 FPS, which drops to 39 FPS at 2560x1440 Low (a 9 FPS loss) and 29 FPS at 3840x2160 Low (a 19 FPS loss from 1080p). This progressive decline is typical of a GPU that is limited by pixel throughput and memory bandwidth rather than CPU performance.

At Medium settings, the 1080p result is 38 FPS, dropping to 30 FPS at 1440p and 22 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K transition costs 8 FPS, while the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 8 FPS as well, showing a consistent scaling penalty. At High settings, 1080p yields 28 FPS, 1440p yields 23 FPS, and 4K yields 17 FPS. The percentage drops are 18% from 1080p to 1440p and 26% from 1440p to 4K.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling: 27 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 5 FPS, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 6 FPS. These smaller absolute differences at Ultra settings indicate the game is already heavily GPU-limited even at 1080p, so additional resolution increases have diminishing marginal impacts.

The scaling pattern strongly suggests the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's performance is constant across resolutions, yet FPS drops by roughly 40-50% from 1080p to 4K at each setting level. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and 224 GB/s bandwidth cannot sustain the increased memory traffic at higher resolutions, leading to the observed FPS degradation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results across all settings. Low settings deliver 48 FPS average, which is the highest recorded FPS in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 38 FPS with a range of 32 to 43 FPS. High settings drop to 28 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 27 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 21 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle the resolution but struggles with higher graphical fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the FPS figures decrease across the board. Low settings achieve 39 FPS, which is still playable but 9 FPS lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings average 30 FPS with a range of 26 to 35 FPS. High settings drop to 23 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 22 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 17 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is approaching its limits.

At 3840x2160, the results become largely unplayable. Low settings produce 29 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 30 FPS — and it barely clears that threshold. Medium settings average 22 FPS with a range of 19 to 26 FPS. High settings drop to 17 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 16 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 13 FPS, showing that the GPU is so constrained that even reducing settings offers limited improvement.

The Medium settings data includes min and max FPS for each resolution: at 1080p, the range is 32 to 43 FPS; at 1440p, 26 to 35 FPS; and at 4K, 19 to 26 FPS. These ranges show that frame pacing is relatively consistent, though the 4K range is narrow, indicating the GPU is running at its maximum capacity with little variance possible.

The dataset shows that no configuration achieves 60 FPS, and only 1080p Low and 1080p Medium exceed 30 FPS. For a playable experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, the data suggests users must stick to 1080p with Low or Medium settings. Even then, the 48 FPS at Low and 38 FPS at Medium are below the 60 FPS target that many flight sim enthusiasts prefer for smooth panning over scenery.