Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, a combination that ranks 1253rd out of 1795 tested combos for this title. The data reveals a system where the GPU, a 2019 Turing design with 8 GB of GDDR6, becomes the primary constraint as resolution climbs, while the CPU’s substantial thread count and high boost clock keep the simulation’s complex world simulation running smoothly at lower graphical loads.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern: performance degrades consistently as resolution increases, but the rate of that degradation is heavily dependent on the selected settings preset. At the Low preset, the system delivers 101.3 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 79 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 22% reduction) and further to 59.4 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 41% reduction from 1080p). This scaling suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is beginning to feel the load at 4K, but the CPU’s 5.60 GHz boost clock is more than capable of feeding frames at the lower resolutions.

The story changes dramatically when examining the Ultra preset. At 1920x1080, the combo manages 56 FPS, which falls to 47.5 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 15% drop) and then to 31.6 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 44% drop from 1080p). The relatively modest drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a sharp decline at 4K, indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are being saturated by the Ultra preset’s demands at higher pixel counts. The GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply insufficient for the heavy shading and texture work at 4K Ultra.

Interestingly, the High preset shows a similar pattern to Ultra but with a slightly different inflection. High at 1080p yields 59.9 FPS, dropping to 47.6 FPS at 1440p (a 21% reduction) and then to 35.3 FPS at 4K (a 41% reduction from 1080p). The Medium preset behaves more like Low, with 78.1 FPS at 1080p, 63.5 FPS at 1440p (a 19% drop), and 45.6 FPS at 4K (a 42% drop). The data implies that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, particularly for the higher presets. The 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 64 MB of shared L3 cache, is unlikely to be the bottleneck at any resolution, given its strong multithreaded scores like 46438 in Cinebench R23.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of playable experiences. For users targeting a smooth 60 FPS baseline, the Low preset is the only option that consistently achieves this across all resolutions, with 101.3 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 59.4 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset is also viable, especially at 1080p where it hits 78.1 FPS, but it falls to 45.6 FPS at 4K, which may be too choppy for a flight simulator that requires precise control.

The data suggests that the best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 2560x1440, yielding 63.5 FPS. This combination provides a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining a framerate that is above the 60 FPS threshold, unlike High at 1440p (47.6 FPS) or Ultra at 1080p (56 FPS). At 4K, the High preset (35.3 FPS) and Ultra preset (31.6 FPS) are borderline playable but will likely feel sluggish; the Low preset at 59.4 FPS is the only 4K option that approaches smoothness. Ultimately, the data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p Medium or High, or 1440p Medium, rather than pushing for 4K Ultra, which is clearly beyond the GPU’s capability.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average framerate this combo achieves in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 101.3, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes, but only with the Low preset, which yields 59.4 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 45.6 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets fall to 35.3 FPS and 31.6 FPS, respectively, indicating the GPU struggles at 4K with higher settings.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested configurations for this game?

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1253rd out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all tested systems for this title.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the system achieves 78.1 FPS. Given the CPU’s high single-thread score of 6555 in Cinebench R23 and the GPU’s mid-range percentile rank of 63, the data suggests the GPU is likely the primary limiter, as the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 79 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 47.5 FPS. This represents a 31.5 FPS drop, or roughly a 40% performance penalty for the highest visual fidelity.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for the Ultra preset at 4K?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. At 4K Ultra, the system only manages 31.6 FPS, which is likely due to the combination of VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) being insufficient for the Ultra preset’s demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers a wide spread of framerates across the four settings presets. The Low preset leads with 101.3 FPS, followed by Medium at 78.1 FPS, High at 59.9 FPS, and Ultra at 56 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 45.3 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for maxing out the visual fidelity at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same ordering persists but with lower absolute numbers. Low achieves 79 FPS, Medium drops to 63.5 FPS, High falls to 47.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 47.5 FPS. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is negligible, with only 0.1 FPS separating them, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not taxing the GPU much further at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses for the higher presets. Low remains playable at 59.4 FPS, Medium drops to 45.6 FPS, High falls to 35.3 FPS, and Ultra is the lowest at 31.6 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep for all presets, with the High preset losing 12.3 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 15.9 FPS. This data underscores that 4K gaming is only feasible with the Low preset for this particular hardware combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s overall rank of 1253 out of 1795 combos places it in the 30th percentile of tested systems for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is a low ranking, which is somewhat surprising given the CPU’s strong performance profile. The Ryzen 9 9900X sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54450, and is within 1.8% of rivals like the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF. However, the GPU’s 63rd percentile ranking, with an average score of 19774, drags the overall system down.

The data implies that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the weak link in this pairing. While the CPU is a top-tier part, the GPU is only mid-range, and in a simulation like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is heavily dependent on both CPU and GPU performance, the slower component dictates the experience. The combo’s rank is a direct reflection of this imbalance. For comparison, the GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores a deltaPct of 0.5% higher, would likely perform very similarly in-game, confirming that this GPU class is the ceiling for this system.

CPU Role

The AMD 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 benchmark scores are impressive, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 46438 and a single-core score of 6555, along with a Geekbench single-core score of 3341. These numbers indicate that the CPU has immense headroom for the simulation’s world-update logic, which often benefits from high single-thread performance.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU handles tasks like aircraft physics, weather simulation, and scenery loading. The data suggests that at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the system hits 101.3 FPS, which is likely near the game’s engine limit for that scene. The 64 MB of shared L3 cache and high boost clock are well-suited for the game’s streaming assets. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, the CPU’s role remains stable, as the framerate drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior. The processor’s 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this is a future-proof component, but in this specific combo, its capabilities are underutilized due to the GPU’s limitations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its compute capabilities include 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 34 RT cores. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 19774, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, which is a modest standing.

The GPU’s memory configuration is a critical factor in this game. At 4K, the 8 GB VRAM is likely to be a limiting factor, especially with the Ultra preset, which demands high-resolution textures. The measured FPS of 31.6 at 4K Ultra suggests the GPU is both compute- and memory-bound. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is also a potential constraint when loading the vast scenery in Microsoft Flight Simulator. In contrast, at 1080p Low, the GPU easily handles the load, achieving 101.3 FPS, which indicates that the GPU is not always the bottleneck. However, the data clearly shows that for any resolution above 1080p with Medium or higher settings, the RTX 2060 SUPER’s age and mid-range positioning become the dominant factor, capping the system’s performance well below what the Ryzen 9 9900X could otherwise deliver.