Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a combo rank of 60 out of 2,996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the pairing in the top 2% of all tested combos, an exceptional result for a flight simulator known for its demanding rendering of terrain, weather, and cockpit detail.

The rank of 60 out of 2,996 combos indicates that this hardware pairing sits firmly in the upper echelon of systems tested for this title. Only 59 other CPU-GPU combinations deliver higher average frame rates across the tested settings and resolutions. Given that Microsoft Flight Simulator stresses both the CPU's single-thread performance for flight modeling and the GPU's rasterization capabilities for scenery rendering, this high rank suggests a well-balanced pairing where neither component becomes a severe bottleneck.

Looking at the CPU's synthetic benchmark positioning provides context. The Ryzen 9 5950X holds a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 51,947. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (score 52,073, only 0.2% ahead), the AMD EPYC 8124P (score 52,121, 0.3% ahead), the Intel Core i9-13900F (score 51,730, 0.4% behind), and the Intel Core i7-14700 (score 52,301, 0.7% ahead). These deltaPct values are remarkably tight, all within a 1.1% band, indicating that the 5950X's CPU performance is essentially on par with several modern competitors in general compute workloads.

The GPU side tells a similar story. The RTX 5090 D sits at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (score 76,904, 1.1% ahead of the 5090 D), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (score 78,940, 1.6% behind), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (scores 79,396 and 79,605, 2.1% and 2.4% behind respectively). These deltas are also small, though the 5090 D's position is slightly more variable relative to its nearest competitors.

FAQ

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 60th out of 2,996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the top 2% of all systems measured, a very strong showing.

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved in the measured data?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 184 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 84 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. Even this worst-case average remains comfortably playable.

Q: Does the CPU outperform its direct rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 5950X has an average benchmark score of 51,947. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX, scores 52,073, which is 0.2% higher. The Intel Core i9-13900F scores 51,730, which is 0.4% lower. So results are mixed but extremely close.

Q: Is the GPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. From 1080p Low (184 FPS) to 4K Low (151 FPS), the drop is 33 FPS. At Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p (142 FPS) to 4K (84 FPS) is 58 FPS, a more pronounced decline that indicates GPU-bound scaling at higher resolutions.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and does it matter?

A: The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. This is far beyond what Microsoft Flight Simulator requires at any tested setting, so VRAM capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor in these results.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across three resolutions reveals how this combo scales under increasing pixel workloads. At Low settings, the progression is 184 FPS at 1080p, 171 FPS at 1440p, and 151 FPS at 4K. This represents a 17.9% drop from 1080p to 4K, a relatively modest decline that suggests the CPU is carrying much of the load at low graphical complexity.

At Medium settings, the drop is more pronounced: 168 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K transition shows a 38 FPS drop (24.4%), indicating that the GPU's rendering workload becomes substantially heavier as pixel count increases. The 1080p to 1440p drop is only 12 FPS (7.1%), a gentler slope.

High settings show 149 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 29 FPS (19.5%), while 1440p to 4K drops another 32 FPS (26.7%). This fairly consistent scaling pattern suggests a balanced load between CPU and GPU at High settings.

Ultra settings produce the steepest curve: 142 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 58 FPS (40.8%), the largest percentage decline in the dataset. This indicates that at Ultra quality, the GPU becomes the primary limiting component, as the additional shading effects and terrain detail significantly increase per-pixel cost.

The resolution scaling analysis points to a system that is CPU-limited at 1080p Low (where the 5950X's strong single-thread performance is the anchor), but transitions to GPU-limited behavior at 4K Ultra (where the RTX 5090 D's raw throughput determines the ceiling). The fact that even 4K Ultra maintains 84 FPS average demonstrates that neither component becomes a hard bottleneck in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 184 FPS. Medium settings average 168 FPS with a minimum of 143 FPS and maximum of 193 FPS. High settings average 149 FPS. Ultra settings average 142 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 42 FPS, a 22.8% reduction.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. Low settings average 171 FPS. Medium settings average 156 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS and maximum of 179 FPS. High settings average 120 FPS. Ultra settings average 114 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 57 FPS, a 33.3% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes more demanding. Low settings average 151 FPS. Medium settings average 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and maximum of 135 FPS. High settings average 88 FPS. Ultra settings average 84 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 67 FPS, a 44.4% reduction.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones that include minimum and maximum values, providing a window into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range from minimum to maximum is 50 FPS (143 to 193). At 1440p Medium, the range is 46 FPS (133 to 179). At 4K Medium, the range narrows to 35 FPS (100 to 135). This tightening of the frame range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's consistent rendering times become more dominant, while at lower resolutions CPU-side variability introduces larger swings.

The minimum FPS values are worth noting: 100 FPS at 4K Medium means even the worst-case frame rate in that configuration stays well above display refresh rates for most monitors. At 1080p Medium, the 143 FPS minimum would still saturate a 144 Hz display.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, delivering 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

Memory configuration is substantial: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams large terrain and photogrammetry data, this memory bandwidth is a clear asset. The 32 GB capacity is far above what this game requires at any of the tested settings, meaning VRAM allocation pressure is essentially nonexistent.

The GPU's benchmark positioning shows a 92nd percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average score of 77,712. Its nearest rival comparisons are interesting: the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904, which is 1.1% higher than the 5090 D. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940, 1.6% lower. These mobile-oriented rivals being so close in aggregate benchmarks suggests that the 5090 D's general compute scores understate its gaming-focused strengths, or that the benchmark suite weights workloads differently than actual game rendering.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU's role becomes evident in the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the 184 FPS result shows the CPU is the primary driver. But at 4K Ultra, the 84 FPS result demonstrates that the GPU's rendering pipeline is working near its limits. The 151 FPS at 4K Low versus 84 FPS at 4K Ultra is a 67 FPS difference purely attributable to settings changes, highlighting how much headroom the GPU has at lower quality presets.

The RTX 5090 D's 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores are present in the hardware, though Microsoft Flight Simulator's measured results do not indicate whether ray-traced effects were enabled. The data as provided shows only rasterization-based results.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a Zen 3 architecture processor (codenamed Vermeer) built on TSMC's 7 nm process, with a die size of 2x 74 mm². It has 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The 64 MB L3 cache is notable, and each core has 64 KB of L1 and 512 KB of L2 cache.

The CPU's memory support is DDR4 in dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. It uses PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU. The 105 W TDP and AMD Socket AM4 compatibility make it a drop-in upgrade for existing AM4 motherboards.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5950X shows strong multi-threaded performance: 26,017 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,324 in Cinebench R15 multi-core. Single-thread scores are 1,614 in Cinebench R23 and 266.5 in Cinebench R15. The Geekbench scores are 15,233 multi-core and 2,083 single-core. PassMark scores include 45,424 multi-thread and 3,470 single-thread.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average score of 51,947, places it just behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (0.2% behind) and AMD EPYC 8124P (0.3% behind), but ahead of the Intel Core i9-13900F (0.4% ahead). This clustering means that in general compute, the 5950X trades blows with much newer processors.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically, the CPU's role is most visible at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 184 FPS result likely approaches the CPU's frame generation ceiling for this game's simulation loop. The fact that 1080p Ultra only drops to 142 FPS (a 22.8% reduction) while 4K Ultra drops to 84 FPS (a 54.3% reduction from 1080p Low) indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, while at 4K, the GPU takes over.

The 16-core, 32-thread configuration provides ample parallelism for the game's multi-threaded scenery loading systems, while the 4.90 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance for the core flight simulation loop. The 64 MB L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed terrain data close to the cores.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

For 4K (3840x2160) displays, the Ultra preset averages 84 FPS, while High averages 88 FPS. This 4 FPS difference is minimal, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects do not come at an excessive cost. However, Medium at 4K averages 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS, a substantial improvement over Ultra. Given that 4K Ultra maintains an 84 FPS average, which is above 60 FPS, the Ultra preset is viable for users prioritizing visual fidelity. For those preferring higher frame rates for smoother panning across scenery, Medium at 118 FPS is the better choice.

At 1440p (2560x1440), the Ultra preset averages 114 FPS, which is excellent for most high-refresh-rate monitors. High averages 120 FPS, a marginal improvement. Medium averages 156 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS, which would satisfy even 144 Hz displays in most scenes. For this resolution, the Ultra preset is recommended for visual quality, as the 114 FPS average already exceeds typical display refresh rates.

At 1080p (1920x1080), all presets deliver high frame rates. Ultra averages 142 FPS, High averages 149 FPS, Medium averages 168 FPS, and Low averages 184 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 143 FPS and maximum of 193 FPS show strong consistency. For 1080p users, the Ultra preset at 142 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides the best visual experience while still delivering frame rates well above 120 FPS.

Looking at the overall dataset, the High and Ultra presets produce very similar results at each resolution, differing by only 4 FPS at 4K, 6 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 1080p. This suggests that the Ultra preset is efficiently implemented and does not impose a disproportionate penalty. The Medium preset offers the largest FPS gains relative to Ultra: 34 FPS at 4K, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 1080p.

For users with a 144 Hz display, the 4K Medium preset (118 FPS average) is the closest match without dipping below 100 FPS minimum. At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 114 FPS is the best balance of quality and frame rate. At 1080p, any preset above Low will suffice, with Ultra providing the highest visual quality at 142 FPS.

The data indicates that this combo handles Microsoft Flight Simulator with enough headroom that users can prioritize visual quality without sacrificing playability. The only configuration that might cause concern is 4K Ultra at 84 FPS average, which is still above 60 FPS but leaves less margin for complex scenes with heavy cloud coverage or dense urban areas.