Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable but inconsistent experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, depending heavily on resolution and quality preset. The data shows a clear pattern: this combo is CPU-capable at lower resolutions but becomes GPU-bound as pixel count rises, with Ultra settings proving too demanding at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 113.6 FPS, which is the highest measured figure across all configurations. Medium drops to 86.8 FPS, while High sits at 64.5 FPS and Ultra falls to 62 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 2.5 FPS, suggesting that Ultra at 1080p provides nearly identical performance to High with minimal visual penalty. However, the data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER has headroom here, so Medium or High are the sensible choices for maintaining smooth flight over dense scenery.

At 2560x1440, the situation tightens. Low produces 85.4 FPS, Medium 67.6 FPS, High 52.4 FPS, and Ultra 51.5 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is less than 1 FPS, making Ultra the better pick for 1440p if visual fidelity is prioritized—the performance cost is negligible. Medium offers a 15 FPS advantage over High, which could matter for users who prefer higher frame rates over maximum detail. Given that flight simulators often involve panning across large vistas, the 67.6 FPS of Medium is a solid middle ground.

For 3840x2160, the data becomes restrictive. Low averages 64.9 FPS, Medium 48.4 FPS, High 35.9 FPS, and Ultra 35.1 FPS. The High and Ultra figures are nearly identical, but both dip below 40 FPS, which is marginal for a sim that benefits from smooth panning. Low is the only preset that clears 60 FPS at 4K, while Medium stays above 45 FPS. The recommendation here is Low for playable performance, or Medium if the user accepts a 48 FPS average. Ultra at 4K is not advisable given the sub-40 FPS result.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: Medium provides 86.8 FPS, while High yields 64.5 FPS and Ultra 62 FPS. Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, as the jump to High costs over 22 FPS for diminishing returns.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes, but only comfortably at Low settings, which average 64.9 FPS. Medium drops to 48.4 FPS, and both High and Ultra fall below 36 FPS. The data suggests 4K is playable only with reduced detail.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU scores an average benchmark of 22206, placing it 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307) and 2.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729). It outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670) by 2.5%.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark standing relative to similar processors?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has an average benchmark score of 37780, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811) and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-13600KF (38028). It sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is there a significant FPS difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 64.5 FPS versus 62 FPS for Ultra, a 2.5 FPS difference. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 0.9 FPS (52.4 vs 51.5). At 4K, High and Ultra are nearly identical at 35.9 and 35.1 FPS. The data shows Ultra costs almost nothing over High in this game.

Q: What does the combo's rank in this game indicate?

A: The combo ranks 1108 out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier. This reflects the GPU's age and its limitation at higher resolutions, despite the CPU's strong performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo holds a rank of 1108 out of 1795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, which places it in the 62nd percentile of all combos. This is a modest position, driven primarily by the RTX 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU, in contrast, sits in the 90th percentile of all processors, indicating that the processor is not the limiting factor in most scenarios.

The data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 113.6 FPS, which is strong, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 35.1 FPS. The GPU's average benchmark score of 22206 is only 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006), yet it trails the RTX 4060 Mobile by 2.3%. This places the GPU in a competitive but aging bracket. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6353P, scores 37811 versus 37780 for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, a negligible 0.1% difference.

Given the rank, users should expect this combo to handle 1080p and 1440p well, but 4K will require significant settings compromises. The CPU's high percentile rank (90) versus the GPU's lower one (65) means that upgrading the GPU alone would likely yield larger gains than swapping the processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low delivers 113.6 FPS, Medium 86.8 FPS, High 64.5 FPS, and Ultra 62 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 26.8 FPS drop, from Medium to High a 22.3 FPS drop, and from High to Ultra only a 2.5 FPS drop. This suggests that the High preset is the last meaningful step before diminishing returns.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 85.4 FPS, Medium 67.6 FPS, High 52.4 FPS, and Ultra 51.5 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 17.8 FPS, from Medium to High 15.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra just 0.9 FPS. The near-identical High and Ultra figures indicate that the GPU is saturated at these settings, with the Ultra preset adding little over High.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 64.9 FPS, Medium 48.4 FPS, High 35.9 FPS, and Ultra 35.1 FPS. The scaling is steeper: Low to Medium drops 16.5 FPS, Medium to High drops 12.5 FPS, and High to Ultra drops only 0.8 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU lacks the bandwidth to maintain playable frame rates above Medium, with High and Ultra essentially identical in output.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: the gap between High and Ultra is minimal, while the gap from Medium to High is substantial. This indicates that the Ultra preset is not a meaningful performance tier for this combo, and users should treat High as the effective ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals how this combo scales from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 113.6 at 1080p to 85.4 at 1440p and 64.9 at 4K. That is a 28.2 FPS loss moving to 1440p and a further 20.5 FPS loss moving to 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is roughly 43%, indicating that the GPU is still managing the load but with significant degradation.

At Medium settings, 1080p averages 86.8 FPS, 1440p 67.6 FPS, and 4K 48.4 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19.2 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 19.2 FPS as well, showing a linear decline. At High settings, 1080p is 64.5 FPS, 1440p 52.4 FPS, and 4K 35.9 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 12.1 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 16.5 FPS, indicating a steeper decline at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern points to the GPU as the primary limiting component. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong—its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 34004 and single-core 4800—but the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the average FPS collapses to 35.1. At 1080p, the combo achieves 113.6 FPS on Low, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower pixel counts.

The fact that High and Ultra produce nearly identical FPS at all resolutions reinforces the GPU-bound nature. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect larger differences between settings as the GPU load changes. Instead, the data shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the wall, and resolution scaling only widens that gap. This combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring a GPU upgrade to unlock the CPU's potential.