Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + AMD Radeon RX 570

This combination of AMD's top-tier 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D processor with an aging AMD Radeon RX 570 graphics card ranks 3538th out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The pairing positions in the bottom 5% of all tested configurations, and the data suggests a profound imbalance: the CPU is a modern flagship while the GPU is a legacy part from a previous era. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings tell a consistent story of GPU-limited performance, with the processor's considerable headroom left largely untapped.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3538 out of 3714 places this configuration in the 4.7th percentile of tested systems in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is a strikingly low position for a platform built around the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, which alone sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. The discrepancy between the CPU's strong standalone ranking and the combined system's poor performance is a clear indicator that the graphics subsystem is the dominant bottleneck.

Benchmark data reveals the CPU's theoretical capabilities. In Cinebench R23, the 9900X3D scores 47737 in multi-core and 6739 in single-core tests. The Geekbench results show 22884 multi-core and 3041 single-core scores. These figures place the processor in the upper echelon of desktop CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (0.6% ahead), Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (1.3% behind), Intel Xeon 6505P (2% behind), and Intel Core i7-14700F (2.1% behind). The CPU's average benchmark score of 54762 reinforces its high-end positioning.

In contrast, the RX 570's average benchmark score of 28766 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals tell a more nuanced story. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M is 0.4% ahead, the AMD Radeon R9 M295X is 0.7% behind, the AMD Radeon RX 470 is 0.8% behind, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 is 1.2% ahead. These are not modern competitors; they represent mid-range and older high-end parts. The GPU's percentile ranking appears inflated by the inclusion of many integrated and low-end discrete solutions in the database.

The measured FPS data in Microsoft Flight Simulator confirms the GPU-bound nature of this pairing. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 48 FPS average, which drops to 39 FPS at 1440p and 29 FPS at 4K. These figures are modest even for a flight simulator, which tends to be less demanding than fast-paced action titles. The gap between this combo's rank and the CPU's individual percentile highlights how severely the RX 570 limits overall system performance in this game.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, while memory operates at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The GPU employs the Polaris 20 chip built on a 14 nm process with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. With 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units, the RX 570 delivers 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s.

The 4 GB VRAM capacity is particularly relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which features extensive terrain streaming and detailed cockpit instrumentation. At 4K Ultra settings, the combo averages only 16 FPS, suggesting that both memory capacity and raw compute are severely taxed. The texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s appears insufficient for the game's high-resolution texture workloads at higher settings.

The GPU's 150 W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are consistent with its 2017-era design. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which covers the API requirements of Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, the data shows that even at Low settings, the GPU cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K, averaging only 29 FPS.

The RX 570's benchmark results include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 880, Geekbench Metal score of 39349, OpenCL score of 32084, and Vulkan score of 42752. These synthetic scores, while not directly comparable to game performance, reinforce the GPU's mid-range positioning from its era. The 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs likely reflects the large number of weaker entries in the database rather than genuine competitiveness with modern parts.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear progression as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 48 FPS at 1080p to 39 FPS at 1440p (an 18.75% reduction) and then to 29 FPS at 4K (a 39.6% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor.

At Medium settings, the frame rates are 38 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 21.1%, while the drop from 1080p to 4K is 42.1%. Interestingly, the Medium preset at 1080p shows measured minimum and maximum values of 32 and 43 FPS respectively, suggesting some frame-time variability even at the lowest resolution tested.

High settings produce 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 17.9% from 1080p to 1440p and 39.3% from 1080p to 4K. Ultra settings yield 27 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K, with drops of 18.5% and 40.7% respectively.

The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests a linear relationship between pixel count and frame rate, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited system. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would show less variation across resolutions. The data indicates that the RX 570 is saturated even at 1080p, and increasing resolution simply adds more work to an already overloaded GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the most playable configuration for this combo is 1080p with Low settings, which achieves an average of 48 FPS. This is the only tested configuration that approaches smooth gameplay for a flight simulator, where consistent frame pacing matters more than peak rates. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 38 FPS average with a range of 32 to 43 FPS, which may be acceptable for less demanding flight scenarios but could struggle during complex airport approaches or dense urban areas.

At 1440p, Low settings produce 39 FPS average, which is borderline playable but represents a significant step down from 1080p. The High preset at 1440p drops to 23 FPS, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for comfortable simulation gameplay. At 4K, even Low settings only manage 29 FPS, making this resolution impractical for this GPU.

The data suggests that 1080p Low is the only configuration that consistently delivers frame rates above 45 FPS. Users prioritizing visual quality over smoothness might consider 1080p Medium, which offers improved detail at the cost of 10 FPS. However, the measured minimum of 32 FPS at Medium suggests that frame drops could be noticeable during complex scenes. The 4 GB VRAM capacity likely contributes to stutter when higher-detail textures exceed available memory.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D being fully utilized in this combo?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 91st percentile of all processors with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737, yet the combo ranks 3538th out of 3714. The frame rates across all settings are uniformly low, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What frame rate can this system achieve at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average is 48 FPS. This is the highest average frame rate recorded for any configuration in the test data, and it is the only setting that exceeds 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 570's average benchmark score of 28766 places it within 1.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, AMD Radeon R9 M295X, AMD Radeon RX 470, and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000. The closest competitor is the RX 6800M at 0.4% ahead.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: According to the data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any settings preset achieves an average above 40 FPS. At 2560x1440, the maximum average is 39 FPS (Low), and at 3840x2160, the maximum is 29 FPS (Low).

Q: Does the 4 GB VRAM capacity affect performance?

A: The data shows significant frame rate drops at higher settings and resolutions, consistent with VRAM limitations. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 16 FPS, and even at 1080p Ultra it is only 27 FPS, suggesting the GPU's memory and compute resources are insufficient for high-detail workloads.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The 9900X3D scores 6739 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 47737 in multi-core, representing roughly a 7.1x scaling factor across its 12 cores and 24 threads. The Geekbench scores show 3041 single-core and 22884 multi-core, a 7.5x scaling factor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename) built on a 4 nm TSMC process. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU features 128 MB of L3 cache, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role involves physics calculations, flight model computations, and AI traffic management. The 9900X3D's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6739) should theoretically handle the game's simulation thread well. However, the measured frame rates do not reflect this capability because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize the CPU's processing power.

The CPU's benchmark scores show robust multi-threaded performance: 3DMark scores range from 2512 (2-thread) to 13795 (max threads), while PassMark multi-thread reaches 56154. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 20049 and R15 multi-core of 4811 further demonstrate the processor's capabilities. These scores place the 9900X3D just 2.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F and 2% ahead of the Intel Xeon 6505P in average benchmark scores.

Despite this processing power, the combo's measured performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator remains GPU-limited. The data suggests that even at 1080p Low settings (the fastest configuration tested), the CPU is likely idle waiting for the GPU to complete frame rendering. The 12-core, 24-thread configuration provides ample headroom for background tasks and streaming, but this does not translate to higher frame rates in this particular pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the system achieves its best results. Low settings produce an average of 48 FPS. Medium settings average 38 FPS with a range of 32 to 43 FPS. High settings average 28 FPS, and Ultra settings average 27 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 43.75% reduction in frame rate, indicating that each settings tier adds meaningful GPU workload.

At 2560x1440 resolution, performance drops across all presets. Low settings average 39 FPS, Medium averages 30 FPS with a range of 26 to 35 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 17.9% (High) to 21.1% (Medium), showing consistent scaling with pixel count.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 29 FPS, Medium averages 22 FPS with a range of 19 to 26 FPS, High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 4K ranges from 39.3% (High) to 42.1% (Medium), indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly saturated as resolution rises.

The complete dataset shows 12 measured configurations. The highest average is 48 FPS (1080p Low), and the lowest is 16 FPS (4K Ultra). The Medium settings at each resolution include minimum and maximum frame rate measurements, providing additional context. At 1080p Medium, the 32 to 43 FPS range shows an 11 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 26 to 35 FPS (9 FPS spread). At 4K Medium, the range is 19 to 26 FPS (7 FPS spread). This tightening of frame rate variance at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated as pixel count increases, reducing frame-time spikes but also lowering overall performance.