Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling - how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 183 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 169 FPS, a reduction of 14 FPS or roughly 7.7%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 125 FPS, which is 58 FPS below the 1080p result. This translates to a 31.7% performance loss when going from 1080p to 4K at the lowest preset.

The pattern shifts when looking at higher settings. At Ultra, the 1080p result is 117 FPS, 1440p is 94 FPS, and 4K is 69 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 48 FPS, a 41% reduction. This larger percentage drop at higher settings indicates that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as both resolution and graphical complexity increase. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 256-bit bus, has the bandwidth to handle 4K, but the demands of Ultra settings at 4K still pull the frame rate down to 69 FPS.

The data suggests that at 1080p and even 1440p, the CPU is doing more of the heavy lifting. The Ryzen 9 5900X with 12 cores and 24 threads provides strong single-thread performance, which matters greatly in flight simulation where the flight model and scenery loading are often CPU-bound. The relatively small FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (183 to 169 FPS) supports this interpretation: the GPU has headroom at these resolutions, but the CPU is still feeding it enough data to maintain high frame rates.

At 4K, the GPU takes over as the primary constraint. The RTX 4080 SUPER has a boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10240 shading units, but rendering a full 3840x2160 frame with complex scenery taxes even this hardware. The 4K Ultra result of 69 FPS shows that the GPU is working near its limit, while the 4K Low result of 125 FPS indicates that even when the GPU load is reduced, the engine still cannot push much beyond that figure in this scenario.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data with min and max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 163 FPS with a range of 138 to 187 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 131 FPS with a range of 112 to 151 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 97 FPS with a range of 82 to 111 FPS. These ranges show that the frame pacing is consistent, with no severe stutters or drops, which is important for a flight simulator where smooth scenery transitions matter.

GPU Role - VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. The chip, designated AD103, contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz. Memory runs at 1438 MHz with 23 Gbps effective speed. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is paired with a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the VRAM capacity and bandwidth directly affect how much scenery detail can be loaded and streamed. The game is known for its vast world, streaming terrain and buildings from the cloud. The 16 GB frame buffer on this GPU is sufficient for 4K Ultra settings, as the measured 69 FPS at that preset indicates the card is not running out of memory. If VRAM were a bottleneck, the frame rate would collapse or the game would stutter, but the recorded data shows a stable 69 FPS average.

The GPU's pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for high-resolution rendering. At 4K, the number of pixels to process is four times that of 1080p, and the texture rate must keep up with the increased detail. The RTX 4080 SUPER also has 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, though Microsoft Flight Simulator does not heavily rely on ray tracing in its standard rendering path.

The benchmark scores for this GPU place it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 54209. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the SUPER variant is essentially at parity with the non-SUPER in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, which is 2.7% higher. These small deltas suggest that in this particular game, the GPU is not the differentiating factor; the measured FPS differences across presets come from the game engine's demands rather than raw GPU benchmark scores.

The 4K Medium result of 97 FPS with a minimum of 82 FPS shows that the GPU can maintain a playable frame rate even with moderate settings at the highest resolution. The 4K Low result of 125 FPS demonstrates that when the GPU load is reduced, the card has plenty of headroom. The 4K Ultra result of 69 FPS is the only figure below 70 FPS across all measured combinations, indicating that the GPU is the main constraint at that extreme setting.

CPU Role - cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It is manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process with 8,300 million transistors across a dual-die design with each die measuring 74 mm². The base clock is 3.70 GHz and the boost clock reaches 4.80 GHz. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 and has a TDP of 105 W.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU handles the flight model, weather simulation, and the complex scenery loading system. The game is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance, and the Ryzen 9 5900X delivers a strong single-core result in synthetic benchmarks. The 3dmark single thread score is 941, the Cinebench R23 single core score is 1527, and the Geekbench single core score is 2083. These scores indicate that the CPU has the per-core strength needed to keep the simulation logic running smoothly.

The multi-thread performance is also substantial. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 16262, the Geekbench multicore score is 14118, and the 3dmark max threads score is 10075. In a flight simulator, these threads are used for scenery loading, AI traffic, and background tasks. The 12-core, 24-thread configuration provides ample parallelism for these workloads.

The CPU's percentile ranking among all CPUs in the database is 87, with an average benchmark score of 41376. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H with an average score of 41263 (0.3% lower), the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H at 41215 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 at 41208 (0.4% lower). The Intel Core i7-14650HX scores 41576, which is 0.5% higher. These close scores show that the Ryzen 9 5900X is competitive with modern mid-range and upper-mid-range mobile processors in aggregate benchmarks.

The FPS data reveals how the CPU influences results. At 1080p Low, the 183 FPS average is likely near the CPU's limit for frame generation in this game. The 1440p Low result of 169 FPS and the 4K Low result of 125 FPS show that even when the GPU is not heavily loaded, the frame rate does not scale linearly with resolution, indicating that the CPU is still a factor. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Low is 14 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K Low is 44 FPS. This larger gap at 4K suggests that the GPU begins to take over as the limiting component at that resolution.

The 12 cores and 24 threads also help with the game's loading and streaming behavior. The L3 cache of 64 MB is substantial and helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores. The L1 cache is 64 KB per core and L2 is 512 KB per core. These cache sizes are standard for the Zen 3 architecture and contribute to the CPU's responsiveness.

Measured FPS Breakdown - resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The recorded data provides a complete matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. Each entry is an average FPS figure, with some entries including minimum and maximum values for the Medium preset.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 183 FPS average
• Medium: 163 FPS average, with a minimum of 138 FPS and a maximum of 187 FPS
• High: 123 FPS average
• Ultra: 117 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 169 FPS average
• Medium: 131 FPS average, with a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS
• High: 99 FPS average
• Ultra: 94 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 125 FPS average
• Medium: 97 FPS average, with a minimum of 82 FPS and a maximum of 111 FPS
• High: 73 FPS average
• Ultra: 69 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: the difference between High and Ultra is small at every resolution. At 1080p, High is 123 FPS and Ultra is 117 FPS, a gap of 6 FPS. At 1440p, High is 99 FPS and Ultra is 94 FPS, a gap of 5 FPS. At 4K, High is 73 FPS and Ultra is 69 FPS, a gap of 4 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset adds graphical features that have a modest impact on performance compared to High.

The Medium preset provides the most balanced performance. At 1080p, Medium delivers 163 FPS, which is 20 FPS below Low but 40 FPS above High. At 1440p, Medium delivers 131 FPS, which is 38 FPS below Low and 32 FPS above High. At 4K, Medium delivers 97 FPS, which is 28 FPS below Low and 24 FPS above High. The minimum FPS figures for Medium are also reasonable: 138 at 1080p, 112 at 1440p, and 82 at 4K. These minimums indicate that the frame rate does not dip to unplayable levels even in demanding scenes.

The Low preset at 1080p achieves 183 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. This is likely close to the CPU's maximum frame generation capability in this game. The 4K Ultra figure of 69 FPS is the lowest, showing the combined effect of maximum resolution and maximum settings.

How This Combo Ranks - use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The database records the performance of this specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The combo rank is 304 out of 3714 tested combinations. This places the combo in the top 8.2% of all tested systems for this game.

This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The Ryzen 9 5900X is in the 87th percentile among CPUs, and the RTX 4080 SUPER is in the 86th percentile among GPUs. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, where both components matter, having both in the upper percentile range produces a strong overall result. The 304th rank out of 3714 combos means that 304 other system configurations delivered higher average FPS across the measured presets, but the vast majority of combinations scored lower.

The ranking also implies that there are systems with higher raw benchmark scores that still rank lower in this game, which would indicate a mismatch between CPU and GPU capabilities. The data shows that this combo achieves high frame rates across all resolutions and settings, with only the 4K Ultra preset falling below 70 FPS. This consistency suggests that the CPU and GPU are well matched for this title, with neither component creating a severe bottleneck at any tested setting.

The nearest rival GPUs in the database have similar synthetic scores. The RTX 4080 (non-SUPER) is within 0.1% of the SUPER variant, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 2.7% higher in aggregate. However, in this game, the actual FPS results depend on the specific CPU pairing. The combination with the Ryzen 9 5900X produces the measured results, and any change in CPU would shift the ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest average FPS is 183 at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 69 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

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

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 163 at 1080p to 131 at 1440p and then to 97 at 4K. This is a drop of 66 FPS from 1080p to 4K.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 112, with a maximum of 151 and an average of 131.

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

A: The combo ranks 304 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 8.2% of all systems tested in the database.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, High delivers 73 FPS and Ultra delivers 69 FPS, a difference of 4 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the most balanced combination of visual quality and frame rate: 131 FPS average with a minimum of 112 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold that most users consider smooth, and the minimum of 112 FPS ensures that even demanding scenes do not cause noticeable stuttering.

For users with 4K displays, Medium at 3840x2160 is the recommended choice. The 97 FPS average with an 82 FPS minimum provides a smooth experience while still offering a substantial visual upgrade over Low settings. The High preset at 4K drops to 73 FPS, which is still playable but closer to the edge of what might be considered smooth in a flight simulator where scenery pans across the screen. Ultra at 4K drops to 69 FPS, and while it is the highest visual quality, the 4 FPS gain from High to Ultra may not justify the additional graphical load.

At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 163 FPS with a minimum of 138 FPS. This is the best choice for users who want a very high frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality. The Low preset at 183 FPS is the maximum performance option, but the visual downgrade is significant. High at 1080p delivers 123 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium offers 40 more FPS with only a modest visual difference.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. The frame rates are consistently high, the minimum FPS figures are stable, and the visual quality is adequate for a flight simulator where the focus is on the flight experience rather than pixel-perfect graphics. The Ultra preset at any resolution provides diminishing returns, as the FPS difference between High and Ultra is only 4 to 6 FPS depending on resolution. Users who prioritize maximum visual fidelity can choose Ultra, but the measured data suggests that Medium provides the best overall experience for this combo.