Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

The benchmark data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT presents a clear picture of a system that scales predictably across resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 177 FPS, which drops to 99 FPS at 1080p Ultra, while at 4K the range narrows from 106 FPS on Low to 59 FPS on Ultra. These measured results, combined with the hardware's architectural characteristics, indicate that this pairing is well-balanced for the simulator's demands, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint as resolution and visual fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a consistent pattern across all four settings presets, revealing how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 177 at 1080p to 143 at 1440p and then to 106 at 4K — a 40% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This relatively moderate drop suggests that at Low settings, the CPU (with 8 cores and 16 threads) still has headroom, and the GPU's 20 GB of VRAM is not being stressed by texture loads.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 138 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 41%, nearly identical to Low, indicating that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. However, the High preset tells a slightly different story: 104 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K — a 40% decline overall, but with a steeper relative drop between 1440p and 4K (26% versus 19% from 1080p to 1440p).

Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling behavior. The combo delivers 99 FPS at 1080p, 80 FPS at 1440p, and 59 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19%, but from 1440p to 4K it is 26%, suggesting that at Ultra, the GPU's compute resources (51.48 TFLOPS FP32) are becoming the limiting factor at higher pixel counts. The 4K Ultra result of 59 FPS sits just below the 60 FPS threshold, which is notable for a flight simulator where smooth panning is critical.

The limiting component analysis is straightforward: at 1080p Low, the 177 FPS figure is likely near the CPU's practical ceiling for this game, given that the Ryzen 7 9700F boosts to 5.50 GHz and scores 4691 in PassMark single-thread tests. As resolution climbs, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck, evidenced by the narrowing gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (106 FPS versus 59 FPS, a 44% spread) compared to the wider gap at 1080p (177 FPS versus 99 FPS, a 44% spread — though the absolute numbers show the GPU's increasing dominance at higher resolutions).

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At High settings, the system delivers 84 FPS at 1440p, which is comfortably above the 62 FPS at 4K High and close to the 104 FPS at 1080p High. The 1440p Medium preset (111 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, with min FPS of 95 ensuring consistent performance.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700F perform relative to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996, placing it 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875) and 0.7% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515). It trails the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163) by 0.2% and the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355) by 0.9%. These deltas are small, meaning the CPU is competitive with those parts in general compute, though game-specific performance may vary.

Q: Is 20 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game at 4K Ultra?

A: The measured 4K Ultra result of 59 FPS suggests that VRAM is not a limiting factor — the GPU's 20 GB GDDR6 memory with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the simulator's highest preset. The performance drop from 4K High (62 FPS) to 4K Ultra (59 FPS) is modest (5%), indicating that the GPU's compute throughput, not memory capacity, is the constraint.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 489th out of 2996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 16.3% of all systems. This percentile position, combined with the measured FPS numbers, indicates a high-performing setup that should handle the game smoothly at most settings.

Q: Does the CPU's 65W TDP affect performance in this game?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has a 65W TDP but boosts to 5.50 GHz, and the benchmark scores show strong single-thread performance (4691 in PassMark single-thread). In Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-core performance for flight dynamics and scenery streaming, this combination of modest TDP and high boost clock appears sufficient — the 1080p Low result of 177 FPS suggests no CPU bottleneck at lower settings.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark percentile compare to its rivals?

A: The RX 7900 XT has a PassMark G3D score of 29009 and a percentile rank of 55 among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, scores 13543 in average benchmark — a 1.5% difference. However, these average scores include many workloads; in actual game testing, the RX 7900 XT's compute capabilities (51.48 TFLOPS FP32) drive the measured FPS figures here.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT plays the decisive role in determining frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Microsoft Flight Simulator's streaming terrain and aircraft models. The GPU's boost clock of 2394 MHz (with a game clock of 2025 MHz) translates to a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s, both of which contribute to the measured performance.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU's influence grows with resolution. At 1080p Low, the 177 FPS result is likely CPU-limited, as the Ryzen 7 9700F's 8 cores can feed the GPU quickly. But at 4K Ultra, the 59 FPS figure reflects the GPU's compute ceiling under heavy load. The fact that the 4K Low result (106 FPS) is 44% higher than 4K Ultra (59 FPS) indicates that the GPU has significant headroom when texture and shading loads are reduced, but the architecture's 192 ROPs and 5376 shading units become the constraint at maximum settings.

The VRAM capacity of 20 GB is particularly relevant for this game. Flight simulators are known for large texture sets, and the data shows no evidence of VRAM-related stuttering — the Medium preset reports min FPS of 70 at 4K, 95 at 1440p, and 117 at 1080p. These minimums are within 15% of the average FPS, suggesting consistent memory allocation. The GPU's 84 RT cores are not directly relevant here, as Microsoft Flight Simulator does not heavily utilize ray tracing in the tested presets, but the raw rasterization performance at 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 drives the results.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 489 out of 2996 tested combinations places it in the 84th percentile of all systems tested for this game. This ranking is notable because it puts the setup ahead of a majority of configurations, but not in the top tier — the 4K Ultra result of 59 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that many users target, and even the 1080p Ultra result of 99 FPS, while strong, is not exceptional for a high-end GPU.

The ranking reflects a balanced system. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 are both strong, but the 94th percentile ranking for the CPU (versus all CPUs) is higher than the GPU's 55th percentile (versus all GPUs). This suggests that in a broader system context, the GPU is the weaker component relative to its peers, even though it performs well in this specific game. The 4K High result of 62 FPS and 1440p Ultra of 80 FPS both fall below the 90 FPS mark that many enthusiasts prefer, which explains why the combo sits at 489 rather than higher in the rankings.

The nearestRivals data for the GPU shows it is closely matched with the AMD Radeon 660M (13812 avg score, -0.5% delta) and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13821, -0.5%), but those are integrated and mobile parts, respectively — the RX 7900 XT's desktop-class performance in actual game testing is far superior to what those average scores suggest. The 1.5% lead over the RX 9070 XT (13543) in average benchmark terms does not translate directly to game FPS, but the measured results here show a capable card.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience. The Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate across all resolutions, with the added benefit of having explicit min and max FPS measurements. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 138 FPS with a minimum of 117 FPS — well above any playability threshold. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS, still smooth. Even at 4K Medium, the 82 FPS average with a 70 FPS minimum is acceptable for most users.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the High preset is the better choice over Ultra. At 4K High, the system averages 62 FPS, compared to 59 FPS at Ultra — a difference of only 5%, but the High preset likely has less demanding shadows and effects. At 1440p, High delivers 84 FPS versus 80 FPS at Ultra, a similar small gap. The Ultra preset only provides marginal FPS gains in exchange for a significant performance hit at higher resolutions.

The Low preset is not recommended for this hardware, as the 177 FPS at 1080p Low and 143 FPS at 1440p Low represent frame rates far beyond what the display can show (assuming a 60-144Hz monitor) and indicate that the CPU is not being fully utilized. The 4K Low result of 106 FPS, however, could be useful for users who prioritize frame rate over visuals in competitive or fast-paced scenarios, but for a flight simulator, the Medium preset's combination of smoothness and detail is superior.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average FPS: Low at 177, Medium at 138 (min 117, max 159), High at 104, and Ultra at 99. This represents a 44% reduction from Low to Ultra, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High (25%). The min FPS at Medium (117) is higher than the average FPS at High (104), indicating that the Medium preset provides a more consistent experience.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 143, Medium at 111 (min 95, max 128), High at 84, and Ultra at 80. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 44%, consistent with 1080p, but the absolute numbers show the GPU's increasing workload. The Medium preset's min FPS of 95 is still above 60, making it a safe choice for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the figures are: Low at 106, Medium at 82 (min 70, max 94), High at 62, and Ultra at 59. The percentage drop from Low to Ultra is 44%, matching the other resolutions, but the 4K Ultra result falls below 60 FPS, which is a critical threshold for smooth flight simulation. The Medium preset's min FPS of 70 provides a 17% buffer above the 60 FPS mark, making it the recommended preset for 4K users.

The min and max FPS data for Medium settings shows consistent variance: 1080p has a 42 FPS spread (117 to 159), 1440p has a 33 FPS spread (95 to 128), and 4K has a 24 FPS spread (70 to 94). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is more consistently saturated, reducing frame-time spikes.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) architecture, provides the compute foundation for this combo. Its boost clock of 5.50 GHz and base of 3.80 GHz, combined with a 32 MB L3 cache, deliver the single-thread performance that Microsoft Flight Simulator requires for its simulation logic. The PassMark single-thread score of 4691 places the CPU in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and the nearestRivals data shows it is within 0.9% of the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355 avg score) and 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875).

In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 177 FPS is likely near the CPU's practical limit — the game's simulation thread, which handles flight dynamics and AI, benefits from high clocks. At 4K Ultra, the CPU still needs to keep up with the GPU's rendering demands, and the 59 FPS result suggests it is doing so without becoming a bottleneck, as the FPS is more likely GPU-limited at that point.

The CPU's 65W TDP and 4nm process node (TSMC) mean it runs efficiently, but the benchmark data does not include thermal throttling information. The multithread score of 36470 and integer math score of 120788 indicate strong overall compute, but for this game, the single-thread performance at 4691 is the key metric. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s (DDR5 dual-channel) is sufficient to feed the GPU's 800.0 GB/s bandwidth, as evidenced by the absence of stutter in the measured min FPS values.

The CPU's nearest rivals — the Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher), Core i7-14700KF (0.2% higher), Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% lower), and Core i7-14700K (0.9% lower) — all have similar average scores, but the 9700F's high boost clock and modern architecture give it a slight edge in game-specific scenarios where single-core performance is paramount. The percentileVsAllCpus of 94 confirms that this CPU is in the top 6% of all processors, making it a strong match for a high-end GPU like the RX 7900 XT.