Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER produces a clear frame-rate hierarchy across resolutions and presets. The measured data reveals a combination that scales predictably with both CPU and GPU load, though the nature of that scaling shifts dramatically depending on the resolution. This analysis breaks down the measured results to identify where the bottleneck lies and which settings offer the most balanced experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame-rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but not uniform across settings, indicating a transition from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 199.2 at 1920x1080 to 119.7 at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 40%. This is a substantial drop, but the 4K result remains highly playable, suggesting that even at the highest pixel count, the CPU is still contributing meaningfully to performance. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is less severe, with the average falling from 164.8 to 119.7, a 27% decrease.

At the High preset, the scaling pattern changes. The average FPS at 1920x1080 is 120.1, which drops to 99.3 at 2560x1440 and then to 70.1 at 3840x2160. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 29%, which is similar to the Low preset's drop, but the absolute values are much lower. This suggests that as settings increase, the GPU becomes a more dominant limiter, but the CPU's role remains significant. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 119.4 FPS at 1080p, 91.8 at 1440p, and 68.4 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is nearly identical to the 4K High result, differing by only 1.7 FPS, which indicates that at 4K, the GPU is saturated regardless of whether High or Ultra is selected.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K for most presets. For example, at Medium settings, 1080p produces 160.4 FPS, 1440p produces 131.5 FPS, and 4K produces 96.5 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 18%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 27%. This indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER has enough headroom at lower resolutions to be partially limited by the CPU, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering load becomes the primary constraint. The 4K results across all settings—ranging from 68.4 FPS at Ultra to 119.7 FPS at Low—show that this combination is capable of smooth frame rates at 4K, but the choice of preset has a significant impact on the visual quality versus performance trade-off.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a 16 GB GDDR6X card with a 256-bit memory bus and 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is rated at 2550 MHz, and it features 10240 shading units. In this game, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K resolution, where the average FPS across all presets stays within a 51.3 FPS range (from 68.4 at Ultra to 119.7 at Low). This range shows that the card has enough raw throughput to handle Microsoft Flight Simulator's demanding scenery rendering, but the settings dictate how much of that power is utilized.

The benchmark data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is not the limiting factor at 1080p. At Low settings, the average FPS reaches 199.2, which is close to the refresh rate limits of many monitors, but at Ultra settings, it drops to 119.4. This 67% reduction in performance from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows that the GPU is doing significantly more work, yet the CPU is still able to feed it enough data to maintain high frame rates. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is a notable asset for this game, as flight simulators often require large texture loads; the data suggests that even at Ultra settings, the card does not run out of memory, as the frame rates remain consistent across repeated runs.

The card's compute capabilities, measured at 52.22 TFLOPS FP32, contribute to its ability to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 68.4 FPS is respectable for a simulation title, and the 4K High result of 70.1 FPS shows that the GPU handles the increased shading load without a significant penalty. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 1.7 FPS, which is within the margin of error, indicating that the GPU's shader units are the bottleneck rather than memory bandwidth or VRAM capacity. This is further supported by the fact that the GPU's average benchmark score of 53610 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 0.2% higher.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a key asset for gaming workloads. In this game, the CPU's role is most pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS of 199.2 is notably higher than the 1440p Low result of 164.8, showing that the CPU is capable of driving very high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 at 4115, is strong, but its multi-thread score of 29149 is equally impressive. Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for its heavy single-thread usage, and the 7800X3D's high boost clock and large cache help maintain frame rates in complex scenarios. The data shows that at 1440p High, the average FPS is 99.3, which is 21% lower than at 1080p High. This drop is primarily due to the GPU's increased workload, but the CPU is still able to keep up, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate at 1440p Ultra (91.8 FPS) is only 8% lower than at 1440p High.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is tight. Its average benchmark score of 31580 places it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12700F, scores 31543, a difference of only 0.1%. This indicates that the 7800X3D is not significantly ahead of its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks, but the in-game data shows that its cache configuration provides a tangible benefit in this particular simulation. The CPU's boost clock of 5.00 GHz is the highest among its listed rivals, which helps in the single-threaded scenarios that flight simulators often present. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (199.2) is the highest recorded in the dataset, and even at 4K Low (119.7), the CPU is not holding back the GPU, as the frame rate is still well above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate. At 4K, the High preset offers the best balance, with an average FPS of 70.1. The Ultra preset provides only a marginal improvement in visual quality (as inferred from the settings hierarchy) but costs 1.7 FPS, resulting in 68.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K produces 96.5 FPS, which is significantly higher but may not offer the same level of visual fidelity as High. For users with 4K displays who prioritize smoothness over maximum detail, Medium is a strong choice, as it maintains a frame rate comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 99.3 FPS, which is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset drops to 91.8 FPS, which is still playable, but the 7.5 FPS difference may not justify the increased graphics load. The Low preset at 1440p produces 164.8 FPS, which is excessive for most displays and suggests that the CPU is not being fully utilized. For 1080p, the High preset at 120.1 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 119.4 FPS is nearly identical, indicating that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution, but the CPU is still able to maintain high frame rates.

The data shows that the Low preset at any resolution produces frame rates that are substantially higher than necessary, with 199.2 FPS at 1080p being the maximum recorded. This indicates that the combination is heavily CPU-bound at Low settings, and users can afford to increase settings without sacrificing playability. The Medium preset at 1080p (160.4 FPS) and 1440p (131.5 FPS) are both excellent choices for users who want a balance of performance and visual quality. Ultimately, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot across all resolutions, as it offers a significant improvement over Medium in visual quality while maintaining frame rates that are at least 70% of the Low preset's performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 122nd out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 7% of all tested configurations, which is a strong result for a simulation game that is known to be demanding on both CPU and GPU. The rank of 122 indicates that while this combo is not at the absolute top of the leaderboard, it outperforms the vast majority of other pairings.

The CPU's percentile rank of 87 and the GPU's percentile rank of 88 are both high, but the combo's in-game rank of 122 suggests that the interaction between the two components is not perfectly optimized for this specific title. The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the Intel Core i7-12700F, are within 0.1% in average benchmark score, but the in-game results show that the 7800X3D's 3D V-Cache technology provides a tangible benefit in flight simulation scenarios. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is only 0.2% ahead in average score, but the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of VRAM and higher memory bandwidth likely contribute to its better performance in this memory-intensive game.

The rank of 122 out of 1795 reflects the balanced nature of this combo. It is neither CPU-bound nor GPU-bound to an extreme degree, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rates scale predictably across resolutions. The combination is particularly well-suited for 4K gaming, where the GPU's power is fully utilized and the CPU's cache helps maintain consistent frame rates. For users seeking a high-end experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, this combo ranks among the top 7% of all tested configurations, making it a reliable choice for high-resolution, high-detail play.