Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator with AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT

This combo ranks in the 990th position out of 1,795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The pairing of AMD's Zen 5 flagship CPU with a RDNA 2 mid-range GPU produces a system that is clearly CPU-capable but GPU-limited at higher resolutions, as the measured frame rates show a predictable scaling pattern that reveals where the bottleneck shifts. The data indicates that this is a competent 1080p and 1440p setup, while 4K requires settings compromises to stay playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 6700 XT sits at rank 990 out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the pairing in the 55th percentile of all tested systems, which is a respectable position given that the GPU is from the previous generation while the CPU is current flagship silicon. The rank reflects the fact that Flight Simulator is heavily single-thread dependent, and the 9800X3D's single-core strength compensates for the GPU's mid-range positioning.

Benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The 9800X3D achieves a 90th percentile rank among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,780. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (37,811, just 0.1% ahead), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37,831, 0.1% ahead), the Intel Core i9-13900HK (38,020, 0.6% ahead), and the Intel Core i5-13600KF (38,028, 0.7% ahead). The CPU is essentially tied with these competitors, showing no meaningful performance gap in either direction.

The GPU, conversely, sits at a 77th percentile rank among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 33,721. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (33,493, 0.7% behind), the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (34,050, 1% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 480 (34,059, 1% ahead), and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33,294, 1.3% behind). The RX 6700 XT is effectively in a dead heat with these cards, which explains why the combo's overall rank is driven more by the GPU tier than the CPU's top-tier status.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D provides 8 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. This Zen 5 architecture chip, built on a 4 nm process with 8,315 million transistors, features a 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a gaming workload like Flight Simulator that benefits from large cache pools. The CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant here, as the game's simulation logic is largely serial in nature.

The 3DMark single-thread score of 1,212 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,800 indicate strong single-core throughput, which directly supports the game's primary thread. The multi-thread scores are also robust — Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 34,004, and Geekbench multicore hits 18,413 — but these are less critical for Flight Simulator's frame rate. The Passmark single-thread score of 4,430 reinforces the picture of a CPU that excels at the type of workload this game presents. The 90th percentile CPU rank confirms that this processor is among the top tier for the game's requirements, even if the GPU holds the combo back in higher-resolution scenarios.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6700 XT brings 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2,321 MHz, boost clock is 2,581 MHz, and the game clock is rated at 2,424 MHz. The GPU features 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, with 40 ray tracing cores. The FP32 performance of 13.21 TFLOPS positions this card firmly in the mid-range of the RX 6000 series.

The GPU's 77th percentile rank among all GPUs is the more telling statistic for this combo's in-game performance. While the 9800X3D can feed frames quickly at lower resolutions, the RX 6700 XT becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases. The 12 GB VRAM is adequate for Flight Simulator's texture-heavy environments at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra setting pushes the card to its limits, as evidenced by the measured FPS data. The GPU's benchmark scores, including a Passmark G3D score of 19,786 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,435, indicate solid DirectX 12 performance, which is what the game uses.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 92 FPS, which is a 25% improvement over High (73.9 FPS) while still maintaining smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Medium produces 76.8 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, and it represents a 38% improvement over High's 55.6 FPS. Even at 4K, Medium manages 53.5 FPS, which is playable if not ideal.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset is the clear choice. It delivers 121.1 FPS at 1080p, 94.3 FPS at 1440p, and 70.7 FPS at 4K — each of these is the highest measured score for its resolution. The Ultra preset, conversely, should be avoided at 4K, where it drops to 40.5 FPS, and even at 1440p it only reaches 55.1 FPS. The High preset is a reasonable middle ground at 1080p (73.9 FPS) but falls below 60 FPS at 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression across settings. Low averages 121.1 FPS, Medium averages 92 FPS, High averages 73.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 65.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 55.4 FPS, demonstrating that the RX 6700 XT has headroom at this resolution even with the most demanding settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably but remain playable. Low averages 94.3 FPS, Medium averages 76.8 FPS, High averages 55.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 55.1 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal at just 0.5 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not heavily taxing the GPU at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. Low averages 70.7 FPS, Medium averages 53.5 FPS, High averages 40.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 40.5 FPS. The fact that High and Ultra produce nearly identical results (40.2 vs 40.5 FPS) indicates that the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution regardless of the preset, and the bottleneck has shifted entirely to the graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steepest at the Low preset, where the average falls from 121.1 FPS to 70.7 FPS, a 42% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 92 FPS to 53.5 FPS, a 42% reduction as well. At High, the drop is from 73.9 FPS to 40.2 FPS, a 46% reduction, and at Ultra, from 65.7 FPS to 40.5 FPS, a 38% reduction.

This scaling pattern reveals that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution, since the frame rates scale consistently with resolution. The RX 6700 XT's 12 GB VRAM and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show the card running out of compute headroom. The fact that High and Ultra converge at 4K (40.2 and 40.5 FPS) confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck in this scenario, as additional settings changes produce no meaningful FPS difference. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures that the GPU is fed adequately, and the settings presets have their expected impact on frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play this game with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p with the Medium preset (76.8 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, all presets are playable, but 1440p Medium provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p Ultra (65.7 FPS) while maintaining higher frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU perform relative to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is essentially tied with its nearest rivals. It scores 0.1% behind the Intel Xeon 6353P and Intel Core Ultra 5 225, 0.6% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HK, and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i5-13600KF in average benchmark scores.

Q: Is the RX 6700 XT sufficient for 4K gaming in Flight Simulator?

A: At 4K, the card manages 53.5 FPS on Medium and 40.2 FPS on High. The Low preset reaches 70.7 FPS. For smooth gameplay, the Medium preset is the highest setting that stays above 50 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the CPU's single-core performance, and why does it matter?

A: The CPU achieves a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,212 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,800. Flight Simulator's simulation logic is largely single-threaded, so these scores directly influence the game's frame rate, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 6700 XT scores 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800, 1% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and AMD Radeon RX 480, and 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5000. These deltas are all within 1.3%, indicating very close performance among these cards.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in the database?

A: The combination ranks 990th out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the upper-middle range, reflecting the GPU's mid-tier status while the CPU sits at the 90th percentile among all processors.