Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT pairing in Microsoft Flight Simulator presents a study in contrast: a modern, high-core-count processor paired with an older, end-of-life graphics card. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is the primary constraint at most settings, yet the CPU's capabilities still shape the overall experience, particularly at lower resolutions and graphical presets.

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

The Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its 64 MB of shared L3 cache and support for dual-channel DDR5 memory position it as a high-end desktop part, reflected in its 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs. The processor's multi-threaded prowess is substantial, scoring 46,438 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 19,503 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, while its single-thread performance is equally strong at 6,555 in Cinebench R23 single-core.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle the complex flight model, world simulation, and AI traffic. The data suggests that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU load is minimized, the system achieves 96.5 FPS. This indicates that the 9900X is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, the measured FPS scaling from Low to Ultra presets at each resolution is primarily governed by the GPU's ability to render the scene.

The processor's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, has an average score of 54,681, which is a -0.4% delta, making the two nearly identical in average performance. The Intel Core i7-14700F trails by 0.7%, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K and 245KF are 1.5% and 1.8% ahead of the 9900X, respectively. These margins are minuscule, suggesting that the 9900X's computational headroom is more than sufficient for the game's CPU-bound tasks. The real limitation lies elsewhere, as the frame rates at 4K Ultra (30.2 FPS) and 4K High (32.9 FPS) show the GPU struggling to maintain playable numbers.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a 7 nm process, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. The GPU's compute capability is rated at 9.754 TFLOPS FP32. It carries a 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 24,731 places it near the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (-0.1% delta) and Intel Arc A350M (+0.3% delta).

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor in Microsoft Flight Simulator, a game known for loading vast textures for terrain and aircraft. At 4K resolution with Ultra settings, the combination of high pixel count and heavy texture detail results in an average of 30.2 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth play. The data shows a clear pattern: the GPU's performance degrades significantly as resolution and settings increase. At 1080p Low, it manages 96.5 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 30.2 FPS, a 68.7% reduction in frame rate. This steep decline indicates that the RX 5700 XT is the limiting component at higher resolutions, unable to keep up with the rendering demands.

The GPU's nearest rivals are all mobile or professional parts, underscoring its position as a mid-range desktop card from 2019. The lack of dedicated ray tracing cores further limits its ability to handle modern visual effects, though Microsoft Flight Simulator's primary load is rasterization and texture streaming. The 8 GB frame buffer is likely to be a bottleneck at 4K, where texture sets can exceed this capacity, causing potential stuttering or asset swapping.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and playability depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 61 FPS, which is smooth for a flight simulator, while the Medium preset offers 74.4 FPS, and Low hits 96.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 57.7 FPS, which is playable but with a noticeable drop from High. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 1080p, the High preset is the clear choice, as it provides good visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 1440p, the situation changes. The High preset produces 46.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium achieves 59.3 FPS, very close to playable. The Low preset at 79.6 FPS is the only option that provides comfortable headroom. For 1440p users, the Medium preset is recommended as it offers a near-60 FPS experience with improved visuals over Low. The Ultra preset at 43.1 FPS is too demanding for this GPU at this resolution.

At 4K, none of the presets achieve 60 FPS. The Low preset reaches 59.4 FPS, which is just shy of the target, while Medium drops to 44 FPS, High to 32.9 FPS, and Ultra to 30.2 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for near-smooth gameplay, though users may need to accept stutters. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where the High preset offers the best experience per the measured rows.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 9 9900X and RX 5700 XT ranks 1381 out of 1795 combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems, indicating that while the CPU is powerful, the GPU drags the overall performance down. The rank is a composite measure that likely accounts for average FPS across all settings and resolutions.

The ranking suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings outperform this one, largely due to the RX 5700 XT's age and limitations. The CPU's percentile rank of 94 is excellent, but the GPU's 68th percentile means that the combo is heavily reliant on the GPU's capabilities. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for being more CPU-intensive than typical titles, the 9900X's strengths are partially offset by the GPU's inability to render high-resolution scenes quickly. The result is a combo that is competitive at 1080p but falls behind at 1440p and 4K, explaining its mid-pack rank.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 61 at 1080p to 46.7 at 1440p, a 23.4% decrease, and then to 32.9 at 4K, an additional 29.6% decrease from 1440p. The Low preset shows a similar trend: 96.5 FPS at 1080p, 79.6 at 1440p (a 17.5% drop), and 59.4 at 4K (a 25.4% drop). The Medium preset goes from 74.4 at 1080p to 59.3 at 1440p (20.3% drop) and 44 at 4K (25.8% drop). The Ultra preset drops from 57.7 at 1080p to 43.1 at 1440p (25.3% drop) and 30.2 at 4K (29.9% drop).

These percentage drops are substantial and consistent, indicating that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU's workload doesn't scale with pixel count. Instead, the significant FPS drops at higher resolutions point to the RX 5700 XT's rendering capacity being overwhelmed. The 8 GB VRAM is also a factor, as 4K textures likely exceed its capacity, leading to performance penalties. The data confirms that this combo is GPU-bound, with the 9900X providing ample CPU headroom that is untapped at higher resolutions.

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

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 96.5 FPS on Low, 74.4 FPS on Medium, 61 FPS on High, and 57.7 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 38.8 FPS, a 40.2% reduction, showing that the GPU's performance is heavily impacted by graphical settings even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 79.6 on Low, 59.3 on Medium, 46.7 on High, and 43.1 on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 36.5 FPS, but the percentage drop is 45.8%, indicating that the GPU struggles more as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the FPS drops to 59.4 on Low, 44 on Medium, 32.9 on High, and 30.2 on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra is 29.2 FPS, but the percentage drop from Low to Ultra is 49.2%, the largest of any resolution. This highlights the GPU's severe limitation at 4K, where even the Low preset barely reaches 60 FPS. The data across all resolutions shows that the RX 5700 XT is the primary bottleneck, with the CPU's performance being more than adequate for the game's demands.