Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: What is the combined rank of this CPU/GPU pairing in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X plus NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 1021 out of 1795 tested combos for this title, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X scores an average of 54450, which is 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54681) and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F (54097). It also trails the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K by 1.5% and the 245KF by 1.8%.

Q: What is the RTX 4060's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4060 sits at the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 23321, which is 0.6% higher.

Q: What framerate does this combo achieve at 1080p on Low settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the measured average is 119.4 FPS, the highest of any configuration tested for this pairing.

Q: Does this system handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average framerate drops to 37.6 FPS, which is below the 44.1 FPS seen at 4K High settings.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU and GPU?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X has a launch MSRP of $499, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 has a launch MSRP of 299 USD.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread desktop processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, drawing 120 W TDP. The CPU has an 80 KB L1 cache per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 64 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In synthetic multi-threaded tests, the 9900X posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46438 and a single-core score of 6555. The Geekbench results show 19827 multi-core and 3341 single-core. These numbers place the CPU at the 94th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of desktop processors.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is significant because flight simulation workloads often depend on heavy single-threaded physics and scenery processing. The 9900X's strong single-core performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4672) helps maintain minimum framerates, especially when the GPU is not fully saturated. The 24 threads also handle background simulation tasks, AI traffic, and weather systems without bottlenecking.

The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 119.4 FPS average, indicating that the CPU can feed frames quickly when the GPU load is light. However, the CPU's percentile rank (94) versus the GPU's (66) suggests the processor has substantial headroom relative to the graphics card in this pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 uses the AD107 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 24 RT cores, and 96 tensor cores. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with memory clocked at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory sits on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The RTX 4060 scores 19545 in PassMark G3D and 9213 in PassMark GPU compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2302. The GPU's 66th percentile ranking indicates it is a mid-range performer. In the nearestRivals list, the Intel Arc B580 is 0.7% behind, and the AMD Radeon 760M is 0.8% behind. The RTX 4060 trails the AMD Radeon RX 6600M by 0.6%.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU handles rendering terrain, aircraft models, and lighting. The 8 GB VRAM is a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is only 37.6, while at 1080p Ultra it reaches 64.9. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K the combination of VRAM capacity and bandwidth constrains performance.

The RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is adequate for medium settings at 1440p, but the measured results show that High settings at 1440p yield 55.3 FPS, which is marginal for smooth flight simulation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 119.4 FPS. Medium settings drop to 96.1 FPS. High settings yield 67.4 FPS, and Ultra settings give 64.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is small (2.5 FPS), suggesting diminishing returns at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 95.4 FPS, Medium 74 FPS, High 55.3 FPS, and Ultra 55.1 FPS. The High and Ultra results are nearly identical, differing by only 0.2 FPS. This indicates that at 1440p, the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling where additional settings changes have little impact.

At 3840x2160, the numbers drop significantly: Low 67.8 FPS, Medium 53.2 FPS, High 44.1 FPS, and Ultra 37.6 FPS. The decline from Low to Ultra at 4K is 30.2 FPS, a 44.5% reduction. This is the largest relative drop across all resolutions.

The overall trend shows that the RTX 4060 can handle 1080p at high framerates, but 4K Ultra is only playable at 37.6 FPS, which is below the typical 40 FPS threshold for a smooth flight sim experience. The 1440p results are the most balanced, with Medium settings offering a solid 74 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows how framerates scale from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 119.4 at 1080p to 95.4 at 1440p (a 20.1% reduction) and then to 67.8 at 4K (a 43.2% reduction from 1080p). At High settings, the progression is 67.4 at 1080p, 55.3 at 1440p (18.0% lower), and 44.1 at 4K (34.6% lower). At Ultra, the numbers are 64.9, 55.1, and 37.6, respectively.

The scaling pattern reveals that the GPU becomes the primary limiting component as resolution increases. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is moderate (roughly 15-20% depending on settings), but the jump to 4K causes a much steeper decline, especially at Ultra settings where the FPS falls by 31.8% from the 1440p figure.

At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance likely keeps the system from being CPU-bound in most scenarios. At 4K, however, the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become critical constraints. The fact that 4K Low (67.8 FPS) outperforms 4K High (44.1 FPS) by 23.7 FPS shows that reducing graphical load has a substantial impact when the GPU is the bottleneck.

The data suggests that the optimal resolution for this pairing is 1440p, where the framerates remain playable across all settings, and the CPU can still contribute to overall performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution and desired smoothness. At 1080p, Low settings provide 119.4 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, Medium settings at 96.1 FPS offer a better visual quality with only a 19.5% framerate penalty. Ultra at 64.9 FPS is playable but the jump from High (67.4) to Ultra is only 2.5 FPS, so High is the more efficient choice.

At 1440p, Medium settings deliver 74 FPS, which is the sweet spot. High (55.3 FPS) and Ultra (55.1 FPS) are nearly identical, so there is no reason to select Ultra over High. The 18.7 FPS difference between Medium and High represents a significant visual upgrade for a moderate performance cost, but the data shows that High and Ultra are equivalent in practice.

At 4K, the recommendation is Low settings at 67.8 FPS, as Medium (53.2) and High (44.1) both fall below 60 FPS. Ultra at 37.6 FPS is only suitable for screenshots or non-interactive viewing. The 30.2 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 4K demonstrates that this GPU cannot handle high presets at this resolution.

For the best overall experience, 1440p Medium settings (74 FPS) provides the strongest balance of visual fidelity and smoothness. If the user prefers maximum detail, 1440p High at 55.3 FPS remains playable, but the identical Ultra score (55.1) means there is no benefit to selecting the highest preset. At 1080p, Medium or High are both viable, with High offering 67.4 FPS. The data indicates that this pairing is best utilized at 1440p, where the CPU's strength and GPU's mid-range capability align most effectively.