Microsoft Flight Simulator

The data places the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination in the 61st percentile of tested configurations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, a solid mid-pack result. The pairing of a high-end 12-core processor with a last-generation mid-range GPU produces a system that is capable at 1080p and 1440p but begins to strain at 4K, with the graphics card emerging as the primary bottleneck in this flight simulator.

FAQ

Q: What is the best overall frame rate this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system reaches an average of 112 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X has an average benchmark score of 50556, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, showing a negligible -0.1% delta. It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT by -0.4% and the Intel Core i9-13980HX by -0.8%.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic benchmark performance relative to its peers?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER scores 22206 on average, placing it slightly behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 by -0.5% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile by -2.3%. It outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 5700 by 2.5%.

Q: Is there a significant frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, the data shows a drop of 5.7 FPS when moving from High to Ultra at 2560x1440, with average frame rates of 53.5 FPS and 47.8 FPS, respectively.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested system configurations?

A: This CPU and GPU pairing is ranked 1101 out of 1795 tested combos, placing it comfortably in the upper-middle tier of the benchmark database.

Q: Does the CPU support overclocking?

A: Yes, the multiplier is unlocked, allowing for manual overclocking on compatible AMD Socket AM5 motherboards.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific configuration, the measured data suggests that the High preset at either 1920x1080 or 2560x1440 provides the most balanced experience. At 1080p High, the system delivers 63.5 FPS, which is above the standard 60 FPS target. Moving to 1440p High drops the average to 53.5 FPS, a more demanding but still very playable level for a flight simulator where precision is often more important than high refresh rates.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for most users. At 1080p Ultra, the average frame rate is 59.9 FPS, only slightly below the High preset's performance, but the jump to 1440p Ultra sees a more pronounced decrease to 47.8 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the system falls to 36.2 FPS, which is generally considered too low for a smooth experience. The Medium preset offers a substantial performance boost over High, with an average of 86.7 FPS at 1080p and 70.7 FPS at 1440p, making it a strong alternative for those prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity. The Low preset, while delivering high frame rates, should be avoided unless maximum performance is absolutely necessary, as it likely sacrifices too much in the way of scenery detail for this genre.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component. At 1080p High, the system achieves 63.5 FPS. When moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops by 10 FPS to 53.5 FPS, a 15.7% reduction. The jump to 4K High results in a 38.2 FPS average, which is a further 28.6% decrease from the 1440p result. This pattern of significant frame rate loss with each resolution increase indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER's rendering capabilities are being saturated, particularly as pixel count increases.

The data also shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this scenario. The Ryzen 9 7900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, provides substantial headroom. This is evident when comparing the Low preset results. At 1080p Low, the system produces 112 FPS, and at 1440p Low, it still manages 87.2 FPS. The ability to maintain high frame rates at lower settings across resolutions suggests that the processor can adequately feed the GPU. The bottleneck becomes apparent only when the GPU is loaded with higher fidelity settings, where its 8 GB of VRAM and Turing architecture are challenged by the complex rendering demands of the flight simulator.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 7900X and RTX 2070 SUPER holds a rank of 1101 out of 1795 tested system configurations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 61st percentile of all tested combos, indicating that it outperforms a majority of systems but is not near the top tier. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's high compute potential and the GPU's mid-range standing.

The CPU itself is a high performer, with a percentile rank of 93 against all processors. Its average benchmark score of 50556 puts it in the same league as the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT. In contrast, the GPU has a percentile rank of 65 among all GPUs, with an average score of 22206. This disparity in relative performance between the two components is a key factor in the combo's overall ranking. The system's position suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is holding back the Ryzen 9 7900X in this specific title, as the CPU has the capability to drive higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful graphics card.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a critical factor in the game's performance, as Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for loading large textures for terrain and aircraft. At 4K resolution with High settings, the 38.2 FPS average suggests that the memory capacity and bandwidth are being heavily utilized. The architecture is based on the 12 nm TU104 chip, with a boost clock of 1770 MHz and a base clock of 1605 MHz.

The GPU's compute capabilities are defined by its 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units. Its FP32 performance is rated at 9.062 TFLOPS. The benchmark results show that the GPU performs well in DirectX 11 with a Passmark score of 151, but its DirectX 12 score is significantly lower at 67. This is noteworthy given that the game supports DirectX 12, and the lower score in this API could contribute to performance characteristics in certain scenarios. The GPU's overall percentile rank of 65 demonstrates that while it is not a top-tier card, it remains a competent performer for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The data indicates that its 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for the tested presets, but the frame rate drops at 4K point to a scenario where the card's raw processing power and memory bandwidth are being pushed to their limits.