Microsoft Flight Simulator

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 291st out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it comfortably in the top 16% of all tested configurations, which is a strong result for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 8-core/16-thread Zen 4 architecture and the GPU's Ada Lovelace design, both of which contribute to this game's demanding simulation workloads.

The CPU itself sits at the 91st percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 40468. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H scores 40431 (just 0.1% behind), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40262 (0.5% behind), the Intel Core i9-13905H scores 40712 (0.6% ahead), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 235T scores 39995 (1.2% behind). This clustering shows the Ryzen 7 7700 is right at the performance plateau for its class — you are not leaving meaningful CPU performance on the table with this chip.

The GPU ranks at the 84th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 42576. Its nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping: the NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 42653 (0.2% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE scores 42723 (0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro 580X scores 41991 (1.4% behind), and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 scores 41897 (1.6% behind). The RTX 4070 SUPER holds its own against much more expensive workstation cards, which tells you the raw compute performance is solid.

What matters for Flight Simulator specifically is how these two components interact. The measured FPS data shows the combo is capable of playable frame rates at every resolution tested, even at Ultra settings. The ranking of 291 out of 1795 suggests that while there are faster combinations, this pairing delivers a consistently good experience without being held back by a clear bottleneck in either component.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for settings selection. At 1080p, the combo delivers 182.9 FPS on Low, 143.4 FPS on Medium, 109.5 FPS on High, and 100.3 FPS on Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra is only 9.2 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 33.9 FPS. If you want the best visual quality without sacrificing much smoothness, High is the sweet spot at 1080p — it is only 9.2% slower than Medium, but the visual uplift in a flight simulator is substantial.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low delivers 146.8 FPS, Medium 115.7 FPS, High 85.7 FPS, and Ultra 80.3 FPS. Here, Medium is the most balanced choice — it is 30.0 FPS faster than High, and the difference between High and Ultra is just 5.4 FPS. If you have a 144Hz monitor, Medium gets you close to that target, while High would require a 60-75Hz display to feel fully smooth.

At 4K, the data tells a different story. Low produces 107.5 FPS, Medium 81 FPS, High 59.8 FPS, and Ultra 60.5 FPS. Interestingly, Ultra is actually 0.7 FPS faster than High here, which suggests a measurement anomaly or that the Ultra preset at 4K is not meaningfully more demanding than High in this particular scene. For 4K gaming, High or Ultra are both viable if you can tolerate around 60 FPS, but Medium at 81 FPS offers a noticeably smoother experience if you prefer frame rate over eye candy.

The best overall experience across all resolutions is Medium at 1440p, delivering 115.7 FPS with a good balance of visual fidelity and fluidity. For 4K users, Medium is the practical recommendation unless you insist on maximum settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, 1080p produces 182.9 FPS, 1440p 146.8 FPS, and 4K 107.5 FPS. That is a 75.4 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, or roughly 41.2% lower performance. On Medium, the numbers are 143.4 FPS, 115.7 FPS, and 81 FPS — a 62.4 FPS drop (43.5%). On High, the progression is 109.5 FPS, 85.7 FPS, and 59.8 FPS — a 49.7 FPS drop (45.4%). On Ultra, it is 100.3 FPS, 80.3 FPS, and 60.5 FPS — a 39.8 FPS drop (39.7%).

The pattern is consistent: as resolution increases, the frame rate drops by roughly 40-45% from 1080p to 4K, regardless of settings. This indicates the GPU is the primary scaling factor — the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being fully utilized. The CPU's impact is visible at lower resolutions, but the GPU dominates the scaling curve.

The fact that Ultra at 4K (60.5 FPS) barely differs from High at 4K (59.8 FPS) suggests that at this resolution, the GPU is saturated and additional settings have diminishing returns. The Ryzen 7 7700's strong single-thread performance — evidenced by its 4136 Cinebench R23 single-core score — is sufficient to keep up, but the GPU is clearly the constraint at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p: Low settings produce 182.9 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. Medium drops to 143.4 FPS, High to 109.5 FPS, and Ultra to 100.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 82.6 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact at 1080p. The step from High to Ultra is only 9.2 FPS, making Ultra a reasonable choice if you want maximum fidelity without a major frame rate penalty.

1440p: Low delivers 146.8 FPS, Medium 115.7 FPS, High 85.7 FPS, and Ultra 80.3 FPS. The delta from Low to Ultra is 66.5 FPS. The High-to-Ultra gap narrows to 5.4 FPS, which is negligible in practice. For 1440p gaming, Medium at 115.7 FPS is the standout option, as it clears 100 FPS while still looking good. High at 85.7 FPS is also solid for 60Hz displays.

4K: Low produces 107.5 FPS, Medium 81 FPS, High 59.8 FPS, and Ultra 60.5 FPS. The unusual Ultra-vs-High result (Ultra being 0.7 FPS faster) suggests the game's renderer is hitting a hard limit around 60 FPS at this resolution. Low is the only setting that breaks 100 FPS at 4K, which tells you the GPU is working hard. Medium at 81 FPS is the best balance for 4K if you want smoothness.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Medium offers roughly 60-70% of Low's frame rate, while High and Ultra cluster closer together. This is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4070 SUPER's compute resources are the deciding factor.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER plays the dominant role in this combo's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for Flight Simulator's large texture workloads and streaming terrain data. The 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores support the game's DirectX 12 Ultimate features, though the benchmark data suggests rasterization performance is the primary driver of the measured FPS.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable: the base clock of 1980 MHz boosts to 2475 MHz under load, and the memory runs at 1313 MHz (effectively 21 Gbps). These clocks, combined with 7168 shading units and 224 texture mapping units, deliver 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The 80 ROPs handle pixel output at 198.0 GPixel/s, which is what you are seeing in the 4K results — the pixel throughput is adequate for 60 FPS at 4K but not much beyond.

The GPU's 220 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU rating indicate it is a power-hungry part, but the performance per watt is strong given the Ada Lovelace architecture. The 267 mm length and dual-slot design mean it fits in most mid-tower cases, and the 1x 16-pin power connector is standard for this generation.

The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K — the FPS stalls around 60 FPS on High and Ultra, which aligns with the GPU's pixel rate and memory bandwidth constraints. At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (evidenced by 1049 in 3DMark single-thread and 4136 in Cinebench R23 single-core) keeps the GPU fed, resulting in 182.9 FPS on Low. This is a well-balanced pairing, but if you plan to play at 4K, the GPU is where the performance ceiling lives.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo good for 1440p gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes. At 1440p, the combo delivers 146.8 FPS on Low, 115.7 FPS on Medium, 85.7 FPS on High, and 80.3 FPS on Ultra. Medium at 115.7 FPS is the standout for smooth 100+ FPS play, while High and Ultra are both above 60 FPS for solid visual quality.

Q: What is the best setting for 4K with this hardware?

A: Medium at 81 FPS is the best balance at 4K. High and Ultra both hover around 60 FPS (59.8 and 60.5 respectively), which is playable but not as smooth. Low at 107.5 FPS is the only setting that breaks 100 FPS at 4K, but the visual trade-off is significant.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40468, which is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (40431), 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40262), 0.6% behind the Intel Core i9-13905H (40712), and 1.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235T (39995). It is effectively tied with its nearest competitors.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes. The FPS at 4K Ultra (60.5 FPS) is nearly identical to 4K High (59.8 FPS), and the drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 40-45% across all settings. This pattern indicates the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are fully saturated at 4K.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 + RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 291st out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 16.2% of all configurations, which is a strong result for a mid-high-end pairing.

Q: How much difference does Ultra make compared to High?

A: At 1080p, Ultra is 9.2 FPS slower than High (100.3 vs 109.5). At 1440p, the gap narrows to 5.4 FPS (80.3 vs 85.7). At 4K, Ultra is actually 0.7 FPS faster than High (60.5 vs 59.8), which suggests the settings difference has minimal impact at higher resolutions.