Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents a demanding workload that scales dramatically with resolution. With an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, the measured data provides a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies. At 1920x1080, the system delivers a 135 FPS average on Low settings, showing excellent headroom. However, the RTX 3070’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth can become taxed as visual complexity rises. The combination ranks in the 1575th position out of 3714 tested combos for this game, placing it in the upper half of all recorded systems.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K in Microsoft Flight Simulator is dramatic and reveals a clear shift in the limiting component. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 135 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 on the same preset drops the average to 109 FPS, a reduction of roughly 19%. At 3840x2160, Low settings deliver only 80 FPS. This translates to a 41% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at the lowest quality tier. Such a scaling curve suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is doing more of the heavy lifting, allowing the GPU to render frames rapidly. As the pixel count rises, the GPU becomes increasingly responsible for the frame output.

The trend intensifies on higher settings, which is expected. At 1080p High, the system produces 79 FPS. At 1440p High, this drops to 64 FPS. At 4K High, the average is 47 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 4K at High is 32 FPS, or exactly 40%. The Medium preset shows similar behavior: 105 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, sees 75 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. This pattern indicates that the RTX 3070’s compute throughput—20.31 TFLOPS FP32 and a texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s—is being saturated at higher resolutions.

The most significant insight is that the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (135 FPS) and Ultra (75 FPS) is 60 FPS. At 4K, the difference is only 35 FPS (80 FPS vs 45 FPS). This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so constrained that even lower detail settings cannot fully relieve the pressure. The data also shows a notable jump in the 4K Medium average of 63 FPS, which is 16 FPS higher than the 4K High average of 47 FPS. This indicates that the Medium preset at 4K provides a playable experience, whereas High and Ultra fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with the High preset?

A: The system delivers an average of 79 FPS at 1920x1080 on the High preset.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K on the Ultra preset?

A: At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average is 61 FPS. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average drops to 45 FPS. This is a reduction of 16 FPS, or approximately 26% fewer frames.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this configuration in this game?

A: The highest average is 135 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Does the 4K Medium preset maintain a playable frame rate?

A: Yes, the 4K Medium preset averages 63 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. This suggests it can be a viable option for 4K gameplay.

Q: Is there a setting where the frame rate does not reach 60 FPS on average?

A: Yes, the 4K High preset averages 47 FPS and the 4K Ultra preset averages 45 FPS. Both are below the 60 FPS average mark.

Q: How does the 1080p Low preset compare to the 4K Low preset?

A: The 1080p Low preset averages 135 FPS, which is 55 FPS higher than the 4K Low preset’s average of 80 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across the presets. For players targeting a 60 FPS experience, the 4K Medium preset is the only 4K setting that achieves an average above 60 FPS, with a score of 63 FPS. This makes it the optimal 4K choice for smooth gameplay. The 4K High and Ultra presets, averaging 47 FPS and 45 FPS respectively, fail to reach this target and are therefore not recommended for 4K play if frame rate is a priority.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 64 FPS, which is above 60 FPS, making it a solid choice for high detail with a playable frame rate. The 1440p Ultra preset averages 61 FPS, also above 60 FPS, so the Ultra preset is viable at this resolution. The 1440p Medium preset (85 FPS) offers better headroom and is a good middle ground for competitive or smooth flight. The 1440p Low preset (109 FPS) is for maximum refresh rate, but this sacrifices visual quality in a simulation game where detail matters.

At 1920x1080, all presets deliver playable frame rates. The High preset averages 79 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 75 FPS. The Low preset (135 FPS) is highly responsive, but it is not necessary for a simulation title that is not a twitch shooter. The Medium preset (105 FPS) is a good balance, providing a smooth experience with more visual fidelity than Low.

The data suggests that the RTX 3070 has enough power for 1080p Ultra and 1440p High with a comfortable frame rate. For 4K, the Medium preset is the only one that avoids an average below 60 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset is not recommended due to the 45 FPS average, which is likely to show noticeable stutter in a flight simulator that renders complex scenery. The 4K High preset shows a 47 FPS average, also below the target. The 4K Medium, with its 63 FPS average and a minimum of 53 FPS, is the only 4K setting that offers a playable frame rate, though occasional dips below 60 FPS are possible.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data for this configuration is structured across three resolutions and four presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 135 FPS. The Medium preset averages 105 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS. The High preset averages 79 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 75 FPS. All 1080p presets are well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 109 FPS. The Medium preset averages 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS. The High preset averages 64 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. This is a significant step down from 1080p, but still a playable experience for most presets.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 80 FPS. The Medium preset averages 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. The High preset averages 47 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS. The 4K High and Ultra are the only presets in the dataset that fall below the 60 FPS average mark. The Medium 4K appears to be the pivot point for this GPU.

The frame data demonstrates that the RTX 3070’s performance is not linear across resolutions. The drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 55 FPS, while the drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 30 FPS. This indicates that at 1080p, the system is not fully GPU-bound at low settings, but at 4K, the GPU is the clear limit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary component for rendering this flight simulator at higher resolutions. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, can be a limitation at 4K with high detail settings. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is a key factor in how quickly textures and geometry can be streamed. The architecture, with 5888 shading units and 96 ROPs, drives the pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s. The boost clock of 1725 MHz is a standard value for this card, and the data shows that this 3070 is able to produce 135 FPS at 1080p Low, which indicates the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The GPU's 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 317.4 GTexel/s texture rate are also relevant. In this game, which is heavily dependent on terrain rendering and object loading, the texture rate helps maintain detail. The RTX 3070's percentile of 61 against all GPUs places it in a mid-range position. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, has an average score of 17083, a delta of 0.7% from the 3070’s score. This shows the 3070 is competitive with modern mid-range cards. The GTX 690 is also close at 1% delta, though that is an older card.

The 8 GB of VRAM is a potential bottleneck at 4K when the game tries to load high-resolution textures. The 4K High and Ultra presets are likely saturating this memory, leading to the 47 FPS and 45 FPS averages. The drop from High to Ultra at 4K is only 2 FPS, which suggests the GPU is completely memory-bound or compute-bound at this point. The benchmark results for the GPU, such as the PassMark G3D score of 22214, indicate a strong level of performance for a card of this generation.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor built on the Zen 3 architecture. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz and it boosts to 4.90 GHz. In this flight simulator, the CPU is responsible for simulation logic, AI, and physics, which can be demanding. The 5950X's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017 and single-core score of 1614 are strong. The CPU's 3DMark max threads score is 11597, and its 16-thread score is 10810. These scores suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the GPU takes over.

However, at 1080p with the Low preset, the CPU must keep up with the GPU's high frame rate of 135 FPS. The CPU's single-thread performance, as indicated by the 3DMark single thread score of 944, is strong enough to handle this. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-13900F, which has an average score of 51730 and a delta of 0.4%, and the Intel Core i7-14700, with a delta of -0.7%. The 5950X's percentile of 91 vs all CPUs shows it is in the high tier of processors. In this game, the CPU's 32 threads are likely not fully utilized, as the game is not heavily threaded. The single-thread score is more relevant for this simulation, and the 5950X has a score of 944 in the 3DMark single-thread test.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s (dual-channel DDR4) is sufficient for this game's needs. The CPU does not have integrated graphics, so the RTX 3070 handles all rendering. The data shows that the system is balanced enough that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, while the CPU can provide high frame rates at 1080p Low. The CPU's TDP of 105W is a moderate power draw, but the performance is high. The CPU's launch MSRP was $799. The system's overall rank of 1575 out of 3714 combinations indicates that this CPU-GPU pair is well matched but not the absolute top tier for this game, which makes sense given the high CPU and GPU requirements.