Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, producing a dataset that reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. The measured frames per second show a component that scales predictably with workload, but the relationship between the CPU's 8-core/16-thread configuration and the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity defines the experience. This analysis walks through the numbers to explain what this combination delivers in practice.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 106 FPS. This is the highest average across all tested configurations in the dataset, indicating that the combination is not heavily constrained at this resolution and preset.

Q: How much does the average FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average is 59 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it falls to 35 FPS. This represents a drop of 24 FPS, or approximately 41% lower performance when moving from the lowest to the highest resolution tested.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest average is 35 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration in the measured results that falls below the 37 FPS recorded at 4K High.

Q: Which settings preset at 1440p produces an average FPS closest to 60?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 66 FPS. The High preset at the same resolution produces 50 FPS, while Low reaches 85 FPS, making Medium the only 1440p option that exceeds the 60 FPS mark.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the average of 106 FPS suggests the GPU is not saturated, as the frame rate is substantially higher than at other settings. The CPU, with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz and a single-thread 3DMark score of 1280, appears capable of feeding frames at this level, though the data does not isolate individual component utilization.

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

A: The combination ranks 1814 out of 2996 total tested combos. This places it in the 60th percentile of all combinations, meaning roughly 60% of tested setups perform better in this specific game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB207 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process. Its 2560 shading units operate at a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 13.17 TFLOPS, which provides the raw computational throughput for rendering the complex scenery and weather systems in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Memory configuration is a critical factor for this game. The RTX 5050 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. In the measured results, the impact of this memory capacity becomes apparent at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 35, and at 4K High it is 37, suggesting that the GPU is struggling with the memory footprint required for high-detail textures at 3840x2160. The 8 GB capacity may be insufficient for the largest texture loads, as the frame rate does not improve significantly between High and Ultra at 4K — a difference of only 2 FPS.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its position. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 17326 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713 (a 1.6% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL at 21153 (a -0.6% delta). These comparisons indicate that the RTX 5050 sits in a mid-range performance tier, which aligns with the measured FPS results showing playable but not exceptional frame rates at 1440p and below.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a consistent FPS decline as resolution increases, but the rate of decline varies by settings preset. At Low settings, the average FPS moves from 106 at 1080p to 85 at 1440p and 63 at 4K. This represents a 40% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is less severe than the reductions seen at higher presets.

At Medium settings, the averages are 82 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 33 FPS, or approximately 40%. At High settings, the averages are 62 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K, a 40% reduction as well. Ultra settings show the steepest relative decline: 59 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K, which is a 41% drop.

The consistency of these percentage drops across presets suggests that the scaling is driven primarily by the GPU's rendering workload rather than a sudden CPU bottleneck. However, the absolute numbers tell a more nuanced story. At 1080p Low, the 106 FPS average indicates headroom, but at 4K Ultra the 35 FPS floor suggests the GPU is fully saturated. The 1440p Medium configuration, with an average of 66 FPS and a minimum of 57 FPS, appears to be the sweet spot where the GPU's 8 GB memory and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient without being overwhelmed.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 5050 achieves a rank of 1814 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the setup in the 60th percentile of all combinations, meaning that 60% of tested configurations deliver better performance in this game. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier positioning, as the CPU's benchmark scores are comparatively strong.

The Ryzen 7 9700X sits in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37943. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14901E with an average score of 37911 (a 0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 37904 (a 0.1% delta). In contrast, the RTX 5050's 66th percentile GPU ranking is lower, indicating that the GPU is the more limiting component in this pairing.

The delta between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's mid percentile explains why the combo rank (60th percentile) is closer to the GPU's position than the CPU's. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield a more significant improvement in this game than upgrading the CPU, as the current frame rates are likely constrained by the RTX 5050's rendering capabilities rather than the 9700X's processing power.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with a 4 nm process. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, boosting to 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 8 MB of L2 cache (1 MB per core) and 32 MB of shared L3 cache, which supports its strong single-thread performance. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 1280, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2211, indicating robust per-core capability.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, single-thread performance is often critical for simulation logic and draw call processing. The 9700X's 5.50 GHz boost clock and single-thread benchmark scores suggest it can handle these tasks effectively. The CPU's multi-thread scores are also strong — a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20485 and a 3DMark max-threads score of 9771 — which may help with background simulation and AI traffic.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Core i9-14901E (37911, 0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37904, 0.1% delta). These comparisons show that the 9700X performs nearly identically to these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks. However, the measured FPS data in this game does not isolate CPU performance, so it is not possible to determine the exact CPU contribution to the frame rates. The 106 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at low GPU load, but the 35 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at high resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides 12 measured configurations across four settings presets and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 106 FPS, Medium reaches 82 FPS (with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 95), High produces 62 FPS, and Ultra yields 59 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 47 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 66 FPS (minimum 57, maximum 76), High averages 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 48 FPS. The spread here is 37 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that resolution scaling compresses the differences between presets. The Medium configuration at 1440p is the only one in this resolution that maintains an average above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 63 FPS, Medium averages 49 FPS (minimum 42, maximum 56), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 35 FPS. The spread is 28 FPS, the smallest of all resolutions. This compression suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity are becoming the primary constraints, as the performance gap between settings narrows when the rendering resolution demands more from the 8 GB VRAM.

The data shows that the 4K Low configuration, at 63 FPS, is the only 4K setting that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. All other 4K presets fall below 50 FPS, with High and Ultra both below 40 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS, while at 1080p, all presets except Ultra exceed 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth experience at 60 FPS or above, the data supports specific configurations.

At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 106 FPS, Medium delivers 82 FPS, and High delivers 62 FPS — all above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 59 FPS falls just below, so players seeking maximum visual quality at 1080p should consider High as the best balance, as it provides a 3 FPS improvement over Ultra with presumably lower rendering overhead.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the only configuration that averages above 60 FPS, with 66 FPS and a minimum of 57 FPS. The Low preset at 85 FPS offers higher performance but with reduced visual quality, while High at 50 FPS and Ultra at 48 FPS drop below the 60 FPS line. For a 1440p display, Medium is the recommended preset, as it maintains playable frame rates while offering better visuals than Low.

At 4K, the Low preset at 63 FPS is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS. Medium at 49 FPS, High at 37 FPS, and Ultra at 35 FPS all fall short. The data indicates that 4K gaming with this combination requires significant compromises, and Low is the only viable option for smooth performance. Players prioritizing visual fidelity at 4K would need to accept frame rates in the 35-49 FPS range, which may be acceptable for a flight simulator's slower pacing but does not meet the 60 FPS standard.

The measured minimum FPS values provide additional context. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 57 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the minimum is 42 FPS. These lows indicate that even the recommended settings can experience dips, though the averages suggest stable overall performance. For the best experience across all resolutions, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the most balanced combination of frame rate and visual quality, with an average of 66 FPS and a minimum above 55 FPS.