Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 lands at rank 291 out of 3,714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places this configuration in the top 8% of all systems tested, a strong showing for a flight simulator that is notoriously demanding on both CPU and GPU resources.

This ranking reflects the balance between a 16-core, 32-thread processor and a high-end Ada Lovelace GPU. The CPU sits at the 91st percentile among all processors tested, while the GPU holds the 86th percentile among all graphics cards. The combination of two top-decile components yields a system that handles the simulator's complex scenery rendering and physics calculations without obvious bottlenecks at most settings.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 9 5950X averages 51,947 in synthetic benchmarks, which is within 0.4% of the Intel Core i9-13900F (51,730) and only 0.7% behind the Intel Core i7-14700 (52,301). The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX sits 0.2% ahead, while the AMD EPYC 8124P is 0.3% ahead. These are all essentially statistical ties, meaning the 5950X remains competitive with much newer silicon in general compute tasks.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54,247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209 (0.1% difference). The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB actually scores higher at 55,698 (2.6% ahead), and the AMD Radeon 8060S is 2.7% ahead at 55,757. This suggests the RTX 4080 is positioned slightly below some newer or differently-optimized cards in raw synthetic tests, but in actual flight simulator measurements, the performance speaks for itself.

In-game, this combo delivers playable frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, from 70 FPS at 4K Ultra to 184 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates this system is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K gaming remains smooth at High settings and above.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows 1440p High delivers 99 FPS average, which is a strong balance of visual quality and smoothness. At 1080p High, the system achieves 123 FPS, while 4K High drops to 73 FPS. For the most fluid experience with high detail, 1440p High is the sweet spot.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5950X compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 5950X averages 51,947 in benchmark scores, placing it 0.2% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (52,073), 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 8124P (52,121), 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13900F (51,730), and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i7-14700 (52,301). All differences are within 1%, indicating near-identical general compute performance.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 a bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 70 FPS, and at 4K High it hits 73 FPS. The gap between 4K High (73 FPS) and 1440p High (99 FPS) is 26%, which suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions, though it still maintains playable frame rates.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with this setup?

A: The measured data shows 184 FPS at Low settings, 164 FPS at Medium, 123 FPS at High, and 117 FPS at Ultra. This indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, with the 5950X's 16 cores and 32 threads providing ample headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 averages 54,247 in benchmark scores, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209. In practical terms, these two cards are effectively identical in performance based on the synthetic data available.

Q: Does the system maintain consistent frame rates at Medium settings?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings: at 1080p the range is 139-188 FPS, at 1440p it is 112-152 FPS, and at 4K it is 83-112 FPS. The variance is reasonable, suggesting stable performance without severe frame-time spikes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern across all three resolutions: the jump from Low to Medium costs less performance than the jump from Medium to High, while Ultra provides only modest visual gains for a significant FPS hit.

At 1080p, Low yields 184 FPS, Medium drops to 164 FPS (11% reduction), High falls to 123 FPS (25% reduction from Medium), and Ultra bottoms out at 117 FPS (5% reduction from High). The Medium preset at 164 FPS with a minimum of 139 FPS is the best experience for high-refresh-rate displays, as it stays well above 144 FPS for most of the flight.

At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low produces 170 FPS, Medium 132 FPS (22% reduction), High 99 FPS (25% reduction), and Ultra 95 FPS (4% reduction). The Medium preset at 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS is ideal for 144Hz monitors, providing smooth motion while maintaining good visual fidelity. High at 99 FPS is still very playable for 100Hz displays.

At 4K, the options narrow: Low gives 125 FPS, Medium 97 FPS (22% reduction), High 73 FPS (25% reduction), and Ultra 70 FPS (4% reduction). The Medium preset at 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS is the recommended choice for 4K, as it stays above 60 FPS consistently while offering significantly better visuals than Low. High at 73 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced flight scenarios but may feel less responsive during quick maneuvers.

The data suggests that Medium is the optimal preset for this combo at any resolution, offering the best balance of frame rate stability and visual quality. The minimum FPS values for Medium (139 at 1080p, 112 at 1440p, 83 at 4K) are all comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p Resolution:

• Low: 184 FPS average
• Medium: 164 FPS average, with a range of 139-188 FPS
• High: 123 FPS average
• Ultra: 117 FPS average

1440p Resolution:

• Low: 170 FPS average
• Medium: 132 FPS average, with a range of 112-152 FPS
• High: 99 FPS average
• Ultra: 95 FPS average

4K Resolution (3840x2160):

• Low: 125 FPS average
• Medium: 97 FPS average, with a range of 83-112 FPS
• High: 73 FPS average
• Ultra: 70 FPS average

The data shows a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions: Low is fastest, then Medium, then High, with Ultra being only marginally slower than High. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, providing the most complete picture of frame rate behavior.

The 1080p results show this combo is capable of exceeding 180 FPS at Low settings, which is exceptional for a flight simulator. Even at Ultra, 117 FPS is achieved, demonstrating that the Ryzen 9 5950X's single-thread performance (3,470 in Passmark single-thread, 1,614 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is sufficient to drive high frame rates.

At 1440p, the system maintains over 90 FPS at all settings, with Low hitting 170 FPS. The 4K results are more modest but still playable: 70 FPS at Ultra and 73 FPS at High, with Medium providing a comfortable 97 FPS.

The difference between High and Ultra is consistently small across resolutions (5% at 1080p, 4% at 1440p, 4% at 4K), suggesting that Ultra settings primarily add effects that have diminishing returns on this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about which component is limiting performance at each resolution. Using the Medium preset as the reference (since it has the most complete data), the system achieves 164 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 97 FPS at 4K.

Moving from 1080p to 1440p represents a 20% reduction in frame rate, while 1440p to 4K represents a 27% reduction. From 1080p to 4K, the total drop is 41%. This is a smaller reduction than would be expected if the GPU were the sole bottleneck, since 4K has 4 times the pixels of 1080p. The relatively modest drop suggests the CPU is limiting performance at lower resolutions, preventing the system from fully utilizing the GPU's capacity until 4K.

This interpretation is supported by the High settings data: 123 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p (20% drop), and 73 FPS at 4K (26% drop from 1440p). The similar percentage drops across settings indicate that the scaling behavior is consistent regardless of visual load.

The 5950X's 16 cores and 32 threads provide substantial multi-threaded capability (26,017 in Cinebench R23 multi-core), but Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for its reliance on single-thread performance. The CPU's single-thread score of 1,614 in Cinebench R23 and 3,470 in Passmark single-thread is strong but not class-leading, which likely explains why the system cannot push beyond 184 FPS even at 1080p Low.

At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary limiter. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth handle the increased texture loads, but the raw compute demands of 4K rendering (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) cap the frame rate at 125 FPS on Low and 70 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (55 FPS) is larger than at 1080p (67 FPS), indicating the GPU is more stressed at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates on the AMD Socket AM4 platform with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The 7 nm process node from TSMC houses 8,300 million transistors across a dual-chiplet design with a 64 MB L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5950X demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance: 26,017 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 4,324 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, and 15,233 in Geekbench multi-core. Single-thread scores are also respectable at 1,614 in Cinebench R23 and 2,083 in Geekbench. The Passmark multi-thread score of 45,424 and single-thread score of 3,470 reinforce this dual strength.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is critical because the game must simulate flight physics, weather systems, and terrain loading in real-time. The 5950X's 32 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and streaming assets, while the high boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures responsive single-thread performance for the main game loop.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 184 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game. The fact that 1080p Ultra (117 FPS) is only 36% slower than 1080p Low (184 FPS) suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated at lower resolutions, and the CPU is the limiting factor.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 5950X holds its own. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX scores 52,073 (0.2% higher), the AMD EPYC 8124P scores 52,121 (0.3% higher), the Intel Core i9-13900F scores 51,730 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i7-14700 scores 52,301 (0.7% higher). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, where the 5950X's combination of high core count and strong single-thread performance makes it well-suited for flight simulation.

The CPU's 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for this workload. The 64 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency during complex scene loading, which is beneficial for a game that streams large geographic areas. The data indicates this processor provides a solid foundation for the RTX 4080, with neither component severely bottlenecking the other at typical gaming resolutions.