Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with the 8 GB AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, a combination that lands near the bottom quartile of tested configurations. The data shows a system that is consistently GPU-limited at every resolution and settings preset, with the processor’s substantial headroom unable to compensate for the graphics card’s age. Benchmark results indicate that users should expect playable frame rates only at lower resolutions and settings, while 4K Ultra remains a slideshow.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution increases, a clear signature of a GPU-bound configuration. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 58 FPS at 1920x1080 to 46 FPS at 2560x1440, a 20.7% reduction, and then further to 34 FPS at 3840x2160, a 41.4% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern is not linear, with the 1440p to 4K transition costing another 12 FPS, indicating that the RX 5700 XT’s pixel throughput is the primary constraint.

The scaling behavior across Low settings is even more telling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 98 FPS, which drops to 79 FPS at 1440p (a 19.4% reduction) and then to 59 FPS at 4K (a 39.8% reduction from 1080p). The fact that even at the lowest settings the frame rate cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K strongly suggests the GPU is saturated, as the CPU is more than capable of feeding frames at this level. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 39 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 24 FPS gap seen at High settings, showing that resolution scaling penalties are independent of the graphics workload.

The Medium preset provides the only complete frame time data, with averages of 77 FPS, 62 FPS, and 46 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The minimum FPS at 1080p is 65, while at 4K it falls to 39, indicating that the variance increases significantly at higher resolutions. The ratio of average FPS between 1080p and 4K at Medium is 1.67x, which is slightly better than the 1.71x ratio at High, suggesting that the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes relatively less of a bottleneck as settings increase. This is consistent with a card whose 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for medium textures but strained by higher detail levels.

The overall trend confirms that this is not a configuration for high-resolution gaming. The 34 FPS average at 4K High and 33 FPS at 4K Ultra are below the threshold for smooth gameplay, while even the 1440p High result of 46 FPS is marginal. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s performance metrics show no sign of being a constraint at these frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture on TSMC’s 4 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and its 128 MB of L3 cache is a significant asset for simulation workloads. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 47737 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6739 points in single-core, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54762 is only 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which scores 55093, showing that it is at parity with its closest rivals.

In the context of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s role is to handle the complex flight model, weather simulation, and world geometry calculations. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 98 FPS, which is a relatively high frame rate that would still allow the CPU to maintain a solid frame pacing. The fact that the frame rate drops by 39 FPS going from 1080p Low to 4K Low, while the CPU’s workload remains constant, proves that the RX 5700 XT is the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, the frame rate would remain flat across resolutions.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are substantial, with a 3DMark max-threads score of 13795 and a passmark multithread score of 56154. These scores indicate that the processor can handle the game’s background tasks, such as photogrammetry streaming and AI traffic, without dropping frames. However, the game’s single-thread performance is also strong, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1269 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3041, ensuring that the main simulation thread is not starved. The 2.1% deltaPct compared to the Intel Core i7-14700F, which scores 53620, shows that the 9900X3D is slightly ahead of a previous-generation high-end chip.

Given that the highest average FPS recorded is 98 at 1080p Low, the CPU is clearly capable of much more than the GPU can deliver. The data suggests that this processor would be better paired with a more powerful graphics card to unlock its full potential in this title. The 12 cores and 24 threads are overkill for a game that is GPU-bound at these settings, but they ensure that the system will not experience CPU-related stutters or hitches, even with the frame rate dipping to 33 FPS at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is a 7 nm RDNA 1.0 graphics card with 2560 shading units and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. It has a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. Its compute power is rated at 9.754 TFLOPS FP32, and it sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 16361. This is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, but 0.9% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2, showing that the card is at the bottom of its performance class in the database.

The GPU’s role in this game is decisive. The measured FPS data shows that the RX 5700 XT is the primary determinant of performance across all settings. At 1080p, the average frame rate ranges from 55 FPS at Ultra to 98 FPS at Low, a 43.9% difference that is entirely attributable to the GPU’s rendering load. The card’s 8 GB of VRAM is a likely concern at higher settings, as Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for large texture sets. The fact that the 4K Ultra average is 33 FPS, which is only 1 FPS lower than 4K High, suggests that the card may be hitting a memory capacity wall, causing texture swapping that negates the performance difference between these two presets.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a significant penalty at 4K. At 1440p Medium, the average is 62 FPS, which is playable, but the minimum FPS of 52 is close to the edge of acceptability. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 46 FPS with a minimum of 39, which is below smooth gameplay standards. The GPU’s pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with this game’s demanding draw calls.

Comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals, the RX 5700 XT is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (0.1% delta) and is slightly behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (-0.3% delta) and AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (-0.3% delta). This indicates that the card is at the entry-level of modern GPUs, and its performance in this game reflects that positioning. The 59th percentile ranking shows that it is better than the median GPU, but nowhere near the high-end required for 4K simulation. The data strongly suggests that users with this GPU should target 1080p or 1440p with Medium or High settings for a playable experience, and avoid 4K unless they are willing to accept frame rates in the 30s.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest average frame rate is 98 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this configuration capable of 4K gaming in this title?

A: The data shows 4K performance is poor. At 4K High, the average is 34 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it is 33 FPS. The best 4K result is 59 FPS at Low settings, which is barely playable but far from a smooth experience.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU is not the limiting factor, as evidenced by the frame rate dropping significantly with resolution increases at the same settings (e.g., from 98 FPS at 1080p Low to 59 FPS at 4K Low), which would not happen if the CPU were the constraint.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 16361, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16351), but 0.3% lower than the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16408) and AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (16415).

Q: What is the difference in performance between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 77, while at 1440p Medium, it drops to 62 FPS. This represents a 24.7% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p.

Q: Does the CPU’s single-thread performance matter for this game?

A: Yes, but it is not a limitation here. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score is 1269, which is high, and the game runs at up to 98 FPS without the CPU becoming a bottleneck. The data indicates that the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 2210 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 26th percentile of all configurations. This is a low ranking that reflects the significant mismatch between the high-end CPU and the older, mid-range GPU. The rank is largely driven by the GPU’s performance, which is in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 91st percentile.

The implication of this rank is that the system is outperformed by the vast majority of other tested combinations. This is not due to the CPU, which is capable of much higher frame rates if paired with a stronger GPU, but rather the RX 5700 XT’s inability to keep up with modern simulation demands. The rank of 2210 suggests that this combo is in the bottom quarter of systems, and users would likely see a significant improvement by upgrading the graphics card while keeping the CPU.

The deltaPct values for the CPU’s nearest rivals show that the processor is at parity with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (0.6% faster) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F (2.1% faster). However, these comparisons do not change the overall ranking because the GPU is the limiting factor. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, the combo rank is a direct reflection of the weakest link, and here that is the GPU. The 2996 total combos include many with more balanced pairings, which explains why this particular combo falls so low despite having a top-tier CPU.

The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at Medium to High settings, where it can achieve 77 to 58 FPS, respectively. Pushing to 1440p High drops the frame rate to 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and 4K is not a viable option for this pairing. The ranking confirms that this is a legacy GPU being paired with a future-proof CPU, resulting in a system that is not competitive in this benchmark.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. The following is a detailed breakdown of the average frame rates, with minimum and maximum values included where available.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 98, which is the highest score recorded for this configuration. Medium settings reduce the average to 77 FPS, with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS. High settings produce an average of 58 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 55 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 43 FPS, showing a wide range of performance based on visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably. Low settings average 79 FPS, which is a 19.4% decrease from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 62 FPS, with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. High settings average 46 FPS, and Ultra settings average 44 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 35 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become the dominant constraint.

At 3840x2160, the performance is heavily compromised. Low settings achieve an average of 59 FPS, which is the only 4K result above 50 FPS. Medium settings drop to 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. High settings average 34 FPS, and Ultra settings average 33 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 1 FPS, suggesting that the GPU’s resources are exhausted by the High preset, and Ultra offers no meaningful visual gain without a further performance hit.

The full table of measurements shows a consistent pattern: Low settings are playable at all resolutions (98, 79, and 59 FPS), Medium settings are playable at 1080p and 1440p (77 and 62 FPS) but marginal at 4K (46 FPS), and High/Ultra settings are only suitable for 1080p (58 and 55 FPS). The data confirms that the RX 5700 XT is the limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance is constant across these tests. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings (65, 52, and 39 at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively) show that frame pacing degrades with resolution, which will be noticeable as stuttering in flight.