Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

This analysis covers the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 in Microsoft Flight Simulator, based on twelve distinct benchmark runs spanning three resolutions and four quality presets. The data shows a configuration that scales predictably with resolution, while the CPU's strong single-thread and multi-thread scores suggest headroom that the GPU cannot always exploit at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the gap between 1080p and 4K widening more sharply at lower settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 135 FPS at 1920x1080 to 109 FPS at 2560x1440, a 26 FPS reduction, and then to 80 FPS at 3840x2160, another 29 FPS drop. This represents a 41% reduction from 1080p to 4K, highlighting that even at Low presets, the RTX 3070 becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

At Medium settings, the scaling is slightly less severe in absolute terms but proportionally similar: 105 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The 42 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K Medium aligns closely with the Low preset's 55 FPS gap, suggesting that the rendering load scales nearly linearly with pixel count across these two settings. The min-to-max ranges at Medium settings reinforce this: at 1080p, frames span 89 to 121 FPS, while at 4K, the range compresses to 53 to 72 FPS, indicating that the GPU's output variability shrinks as it approaches its ceiling.

High and Ultra presets show the most compressed scaling, which is revealing. At High, the average FPS falls from 79 at 1080p to 64 at 1440p and 47 at 4K; at Ultra, the corresponding numbers are 75, 61, and 45 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 4K at High is 32 FPS, while at Ultra it is only 30 FPS. This narrowing delta suggests that at these quality levels, the game's simulation and CPU-bound aspects become proportionally more influential, limiting the FPS ceiling regardless of resolution. The fact that Ultra at 1080p (75 FPS) is only 2 FPS ahead of High at 4K (47 FPS) is a strong indicator that the RTX 3070's 8 GB frame buffer and bandwidth are stressed by the Ultra preset's additional draw distance and texture demands, making resolution a secondary factor once settings are maxed.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global ranking of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this pairing sits at position 1575 out of 3714 total combos, placing it in the upper half of all tested configurations at approximately the 58th percentile. This rank reflects the RTX 3070's middling position in the GPU hierarchy—its average benchmark score of 17208 places it at the 61st percentile among all GPUs—combined with the CPU's strong but not top-tier standing. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's average benchmark score of 39768 puts it at the 87th percentile among all CPUs, yet the combo ranking is dragged down by the GPU's relative weakness.

Comparing to the nearest rivals in the database, the CPU's performance is tightly clustered: the Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS scores 39603 (0.4% behind), the Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40048 (0.7% ahead), the Ryzen AI 7 450 scores 39485 (0.7% behind), and the Ryzen 7 7700 scores 40081 (0.8% ahead). This sub-1% spread indicates that the 9800X3D's raw compute capability is not dramatically different from these peers, despite its newer Zen 5 architecture. For the GPU, the RTX 3070's rivals similarly cluster tightly: the RX 7600 XT scores 17083 (0.7% behind), the GTX 690 scores 17037 (1% behind), the HD 7970M scores 17019 (1.1% behind), and the Tesla K40c scores 17468 (1.5% ahead). The combo's rank of 1575 suggests that in this game, the GPU's impact on overall ranking is more decisive than the CPU's, consistent with the resolution scaling data that shows the RTX 3070 becoming the bottleneck at higher settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, with memory clocks running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Its base clock of 1500 MHz boosts to 1725 MHz, and the card's 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs deliver a peak FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS. The GPU's pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s, figures that become relevant when considering how Microsoft Flight Simulator renders terrain and cockpit details at different presets.

In this game, the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM appears to be a limiting factor at Ultra settings across all resolutions. The measured FPS at Ultra are 75 at 1080p, 61 at 1440p, and 45 at 4K, which are only 4, 3, and 2 FPS lower than High at the same resolutions, respectively. This small gap between High and Ultra (e.g., 79 vs 75 FPS at 1080p) suggests that the game's Ultra preset likely pushes texture and geometry data beyond what 8 GB can efficiently handle, causing the GPU to rely on slower memory operations. At Medium, the same resolutions yield 105, 85, and 63 FPS, showing a more substantial 26 FPS jump from High at 1080p, indicating that Medium settings fit comfortably within the memory budget. The GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17208, places it near the RX 7600 XT (17083) and GTX 690 (17037), but the game-specific results show that its 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p High but strained at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured FPS values, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the most balanced experience, delivering 105 FPS average with a range of 89 to 121 FPS. This represents a 26 FPS improvement over High at the same resolution while maintaining a minimum well above 60 FPS, making it suitable for smooth simulation gameplay. At 2560x1440, Medium at 85 FPS (range 72 to 98) is the only preset that keeps the minimum above 70 FPS, whereas High drops to 64 average and Ultra to 61, both of which could produce noticeable stutter in dense scenery. For 4K displays, the data does not show any preset that consistently maintains 60 FPS: Medium averages 63 FPS with a minimum of 53, while High and Ultra fall to 47 and 45 FPS respectively.

The Low preset provides the highest frame rates—135 FPS at 1080p, 109 at 1440p, and 80 at 4K—but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity that many flight sim enthusiasts would find unacceptable. Given that Medium at 1080p offers 105 FPS and at 1440p offers 85 FPS, the recommendation is to prioritize Medium at 1080p or 1440p, reserving High for users who prioritize visual detail over frame rate stability at 1080p (79 FPS) or 1440p (64 FPS). Ultra is not advisable at any resolution, as its 75 FPS at 1080p is only 4 FPS below High and the 4K result of 45 FPS falls below playable thresholds for most users. The measured min FPS data, available only for Medium settings, shows that even at this preset, 4K can dip to 53 FPS, suggesting that users targeting 4K should accept Medium as the practical ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, all four presets exceed 60 FPS: Low at 135, Medium at 105, High at 79, and Ultra at 75. At 2560x1440, Low (109), Medium (85), High (64), and Ultra (61) all stay above 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low (80) and Medium (63) average above 60 FPS, with Medium's minimum at 53 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3070's VRAM capacity affect performance in this game?

A: The 8 GB VRAM appears to constrain Ultra settings, as the FPS difference between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS at 1080p (79 vs 75), 3 FPS at 1440p (64 vs 61), and 2 FPS at 4K (47 vs 45). Medium settings, which likely use less texture memory, show a larger 26 FPS gap over High at 1080p.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 135 FPS, and the CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 and multi-thread score of 10067 indicate strong headroom. The FPS drops at higher resolutions (e.g., 135 to 80 FPS at 4K Low) align with GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the combo's global ranking in this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combo ranks 1575 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half. This is consistent with the GPU's 61st percentile ranking and the CPU's 87th percentile ranking.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In average benchmark scores, the RTX 3070 scores 17208, which is 0.7% ahead of the RX 7600 XT (17083), 1% ahead of the GTX 690 (17037), 1.1% ahead of the HD 7970M (17019), and 1.5% behind the Tesla K40c (17468).

Q: Which preset gives the highest minimum FPS at 4K?

A: The only preset with a recorded minimum FPS at 4K is Medium, with a minimum of 53 FPS and average of 63 FPS. Low and High at 4K have no min FPS data, but their averages are 80 and 47 FPS respectively.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on a 4 nm TSMC process. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, with a 120W TDP, and features a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core. Its benchmark results are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23230 and single-core score of 2080, a Geekbench multi-core score of 18696 and single-core score of 2964, and a 3DMark max-threads score of 10067 with a single-thread score of 1212. The CPU's 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average score of 39768, confirms it is a high-end part.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is evident from the scaling data. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 135 FPS, which is 29 FPS higher than 1440p Low (109) and 55 FPS higher than 4K Low (80). This scalability suggests that at Lower resolutions and settings, the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently, but the RTX 3070's rendering capacity caps the output. The fact that Ultra at 1080p (75 FPS) is lower than Medium at 1080p (105 FPS) by 30 FPS, while the CPU's multi-thread performance is identical, points to the GPU's limits rather than CPU bottlenecks. The CPU's nearest rivals—the Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS (39603, +0.4%), Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048, -0.7%), Ryzen AI 7 450 (39485, +0.7%), and Ryzen 7 7700 (40081, -0.8%)—all score within 1% of the 9800X3D, indicating that in this game, the CPU's specific cache architecture does not produce a measurable advantage over these parts. The 9800X3D's 16 threads, rated for 3DMark 16-thread at 10081, provide ample capacity for the simulator's terrain loading and AI traffic, but the measured FPS deltas between settings are dominated by GPU workload, not CPU compute.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset comprises twelve measured runs, with min and max FPS recorded only for Medium settings. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low at 135 FPS, Medium at 105 FPS (min 89, max 121), High at 79 FPS, and Ultra at 75 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 60 FPS drop (135 to 75), with the largest single-step decrease being 26 FPS from Low to Medium (135 to 105), followed by 26 FPS from Medium to High (105 to 79), and a small 4 FPS drop from High to Ultra (79 to 75). This pattern indicates that the Medium-to-High transition carries the heaviest performance cost, while Ultra adds minimal overhead over High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 109 FPS, Medium at 85 FPS (min 72, max 98), High at 64 FPS, and Ultra at 61 FPS. The total drop from Low to Ultra is 48 FPS, with step changes of 24 FPS (Low to Medium), 21 FPS (Medium to High), and 3 FPS (High to Ultra). The 1440p Medium range of 72 to 98 FPS shows a 26 FPS spread, narrower than the 1080p Medium's 32 FPS spread, suggesting reduced frame-time variability at higher resolution. At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 80 FPS, Medium at 63 FPS (min 53, max 72), High at 47 FPS, and Ultra at 45 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra drop is 35 FPS, with step changes of 17 FPS (Low to Medium), 16 FPS (Medium to High), and only 2 FPS (High to Ultra). The 4K Medium range of 53 to 72 FPS (19 FPS spread) is the tightest of all Medium settings, indicating that the GPU's output becomes more consistent as it approaches its throughput limits. Across all resolutions, the High-to-Ultra delta remains minimal (2 to 4 FPS), reinforcing that Ultra's additional visual features do not translate into proportional performance costs on this hardware.