Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title that stresses both CPU and GPU heavily, and this combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a wide range of frame rates depending on how you configure it. The data shows a system capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p and solid 4K performance, but the scaling between settings and resolutions reveals where the bottlenecks lie. This analysis breaks down the measured performance to help you understand what this specific hardware pairing delivers in the 2020 flight simulator.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and tells a clear story about the limiting component at each setting tier. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 238 FPS at 1920x1080 to 192 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 142 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 40% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which indicates that even at the lowest graphical preset, the GPU is still doing substantial work. However, the absolute numbers are so high that the CPU is likely still providing enough headroom to keep the system from being fully GPU-bound at 1080p.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern shifts. The average goes from 185 FPS at 1080p to 149 FPS at 1440p, and then to 110 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 26%, which is a typical sign of the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases. At High settings, the same trend continues: 139 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is less than 60% of the 1080p figure, showing that the RTX 5090 is being pushed hard by the higher resolution.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling. The average frame rate is 133 FPS at 1080p, 107 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K here is 54 FPS, which is a 41% reduction. This suggests that at Ultra, the game is heavily taxing the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. Notably, the gap between 4K Ultra and 4K High is only 4 FPS (79 vs 83), which is smaller than the gap between 4K High and 4K Medium (83 vs 110). This indicates that the transition from High to Ultra has diminishing returns, likely due to a specific setting that is particularly expensive at high resolutions.

The data also shows that the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p. The jump from 1080p Low (238 FPS) to 1080p Medium (185 FPS) is 53 FPS, which is a larger absolute drop than the 42 FPS drop from 1440p Low (192 FPS) to 1440p Medium (149 FPS). This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is feeding the GPU fast enough that the graphics settings have a more pronounced effect on frame rate. At 4K, the drops are more consistent between settings, reinforcing that the GPU is the dominant factor.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience that prioritizes visual fidelity without sacrificing playability, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 4K, Medium delivers an average of 110 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS, which is well within the range for smooth flight simulation. The minimum FPS of 94 is particularly important for this genre, as stutters over dense scenery can be disruptive. At 1440p, Medium produces 149 FPS average with a 127 FPS minimum, giving plenty of headroom for a high refresh rate monitor.

High settings are also viable, but the trade-off becomes apparent at 4K. The average drops to 83 FPS, and while that is still playable, it is a 25% reduction from Medium. At 1080p, High runs at 139 FPS average, which is excellent, but the jump from Medium to High only gains you better visuals at the cost of 46 FPS. Given that Medium already provides a strong experience, the extra visual polish from High may not be worth the performance hit for most users, especially in a game where smoothness matters more than minor texture detail differences.

Ultra settings are only recommended for users who prioritize maximum visual quality over frame rate. At 4K, it produces 79 FPS average, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding add-ons or busy airports. At 1440p, Ultra runs at 107 FPS average, which is still smooth, but the 42 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra is substantial. The data suggests that Ultra is best reserved for 1080p, where it achieves 133 FPS average and remains comfortably above 60 FPS. The low preset, while delivering high frame rates (142 FPS at 4K, 238 FPS at 1080p), is not recommended for this hardware as it would leave significant performance on the table.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with 96 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228, which places it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not saturated.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 238 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that indicates the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls. The 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient for the game's simulation logic, which often benefits from high single-thread performance. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz is likely a key factor here, as flight simulators tend to rely heavily on a few threads for physics and AI calculations. The 96 MB of L3 cache also helps with data locality, which can reduce memory latency when loading terrain and aircraft models.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's average benchmark score of 58386 is essentially tied with the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323, 0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115, 0.5% delta). This means that in synthetic tests, the CPU is not dramatically faster than these alternatives. However, the game's performance at 1080p suggests that the combination of high clocks and large cache provides a tangible benefit in real-world scenarios. The CPU's TDP of 120 W and support for DDR5 memory also indicate a modern platform that is well-suited for this workload.

The fact that the FPS at 1080p Low (238) is more than double the FPS at 4K High (83) highlights that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The game is clearly GPU-bound at 4K, but at 1080p, the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates is crucial. The data shows no evidence of the CPU bottlenecking the RTX 5090, as even at 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 133 FPS, which is still very high.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall database of tested hardware combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this pairing of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and RTX 5090 ranks 38th out of 2996 combos. This places it in the top 1.3% of all tested configurations, which is an exceptional result. The rank of 38 indicates that there are only 37 other combinations that perform better in this specific game, which is a strong endorsement of the hardware pair's synergy.

This high rank is consistent with the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 79 FPS, which is likely higher than what most other systems achieve at that resolution and settings. The rank of 38 also suggests that the combination is well-balanced, as neither component is severely limiting the other. If the CPU were too weak, the rank would be lower due to poor performance at 1080p. If the GPU were too weak, the rank would suffer at 4K. Instead, the data shows a system that scales well across all resolutions.

It is worth remembering the rank is based on the specific game's performance and not on synthetic benchmarks. While the CPU's percentile is 92 and the GPU's percentile is 92, the combo rank of 38 out of 2996 (top 1.3%) is higher than what either component's individual percentile would suggest. This indicates that the combination is more than the sum of its parts, likely due to the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's massive memory bandwidth. For a flight simulator that is known to be CPU-intensive, having a top-tier CPU is essential, and this combo delivers.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2407 MHz, and it has 21760 shading units. The GPU's benchmark scores include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and a Passmark G3D score of 39650, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. In this game, the GPU's role is most pronounced at 4K, where the resolution demands significant pixel throughput.

The 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator, even at Ultra settings with high-resolution textures. The data shows no signs of memory-related stuttering, as the minimum FPS values are still respectable (94 FPS at 4K Medium). The 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth ensures that the GPU can quickly access textures and geometry data, which is critical for a game that streams terrain from disk. The 512-bit bus width is also beneficial for maintaining consistent frame times in complex scenes.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The average FPS drops from 142 at Low to 79 at Ultra, which is a 44% reduction. This indicates that the RTX 5090's raw performance is being taxed by the higher resolution. However, the fact that it can maintain 79 FPS at 4K Ultra confirms its capabilities. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, and the frame rates are likely limited by the CPU, but the GPU still delivers excellent results, with 238 FPS at Low and 133 FPS at Ultra.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 79842 is very close to the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605, 0.3% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940, 1.1% delta). This means that in synthetic tests, the RTX 5090 is not vastly ahead of these other GPUs. However, in this specific game, the combination of high VRAM capacity and bandwidth likely provides an advantage, especially at 4K where texture streaming is intensive. The GPU's TDP of 575 W and suggested PSU of 950 W indicate that it is a power-hungry component, but the performance justifies the requirement.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with an average of 238 FPS, followed by Medium at 185 FPS (with a minimum of 158 and maximum of 213), High at 139 FPS, and Ultra at 133 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 6 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset might include settings that have a minimal impact on visual quality but a noticeable cost on performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 192 FPS, Medium averages 149 FPS (minimum 127, maximum 172), High averages 112 FPS, and Ultra averages 107 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 44% reduction, which is consistent with the 4K trend. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 127 is notably high, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 142 FPS, Medium averages 110 FPS (minimum 94, maximum 127), High averages 83 FPS, and Ultra averages 79 FPS. The minimum FPS of 94 at Medium is the lowest recorded in the data, but it is still above 60 FPS, which is the baseline for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K has an average of 79 FPS, which is playable but close to the edge for those who prefer a locked 60 FPS with headroom.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Medium offers the best balance between frame rate and visual quality, while Ultra provides diminishing returns for the performance cost. The RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM ensures that no settings preset is limited by memory capacity, and the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's high clock speeds ensure that the CPU does not hold back the GPU at lower resolutions. For a flight simulator where frame rate consistency is important, the Medium preset at any resolution is the recommended starting point, with High being a viable option for those who prioritize visuals and have a G-Sync or FreeSync display.