Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a severely GPU-limited experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with measured frame rates that never reach 60 FPS at any resolution or settings combination. The combo ranks 2733rd out of 2996 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 9% of all tested systems for this title. While the CPU is a top-tier processor with strong synthetic benchmarks, the GPU’s age and performance ceiling dictate the outcome, resulting in playable-but-modest frame rates only at 1080p with Low settings.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It operates on a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 120 W TDP and support for DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The CPU features 128 MB of L3 cache, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 80 KB of L1 cache per core, along with 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. This processor sits in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54762. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF with an average score of 55093 (0.6% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K at 54053 (1.3% lower), the Intel Xeon 6505P at 53701 (2% lower), and the Intel Core i7-14700F at 53620 (2.1% lower). The 9900X3D trails only the 245KF by a negligible 0.6%, showing it is essentially tied with the top competitor in this performance class.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 9900X3D demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739. Its Geekbench multi-core score is 22884 and single-core is 3041. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1269 in single-thread to 13795 in max-threads, with 16-thread performance at 12490. PassMark multi-thread score is 56154, while single-thread is 4646. These numbers indicate a processor that is more than capable of feeding any modern GPU, yet in this specific game combo, the CPU’s potential is largely untapped because the RX 580 becomes the limiting factor well before the CPU can demonstrate its strength.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for heavy single-thread and physics simulation workloads, the 9900X3D’s high boost clock and large L3 cache should theoretically provide ample headroom. The 24 threads ensure that even complex scenes with extensive scenery and AI traffic won’t bottleneck the CPU. However, the measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, which places the least load on the GPU, the average frame rate is only 54 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is not the constraint—the GPU is. The processor’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1269 and Cinebench R15 single-core of 679 confirm that its per-core performance is robust, yet this strength is wasted in this pairing because the RX 580 cannot translate that CPU power into higher frame rates.

The 9900X3D’s 128 MB of L3 cache is particularly notable for simulation games, as it can hold large amounts of frequently accessed data, reducing memory latency. With DDR5 memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, the CPU has ample data throughput. But again, the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and its compute capabilities are the bottleneck. In the context of this game, the CPU role is to maintain minimum frame times and avoid stutters, but the data shows average FPS figures only, with minimum FPS recorded only for Medium settings at each resolution. The CPU is essentially waiting on the GPU at every frame, meaning its performance characteristics, while excellent, are not reflected in the final output.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a much older graphics card, based on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units, with a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 6.175 TFLOPS. The card has a TDP of 185 W and uses a dual-slot design with one 8-pin power connector, requiring a 450 W PSU. It supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, and connects via PCIe 3.0 x16.

The RX 580’s synthetic benchmarks place it in the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12928. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile with a score of 12940 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER at 12986 (0.4% higher), the AMD Radeon 740M at 12870 (0.5% lower), and the AMD FirePro W5100 at 12847 (0.6% lower). This places the RX 580 in a performance tier that is roughly equivalent to entry-level GPUs from several generations later, which explains its struggles in a demanding 2020 flight simulator. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1005, while its Geekbench OpenCL score is 37453 and Vulkan score is 45173. PassMark G3D score is 8813, with DirectX 11 at 60 and DirectX 12 at 43.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU is responsible for rendering detailed terrain, aircraft models, and weather effects. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra settings, the memory and compute demands exceed what the RX 580 can deliver. The boost clock of 1340 MHz is modest by modern standards, and the GCN 4.0 architecture lacks the efficiency of newer designs. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 18 FPS, which is essentially unplayable. Even at 1080p Low, the card only manages 54 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The GPU’s performance is the primary determinant of the overall combo ranking, as the CPU is far more capable than the GPU in this pairing.

The RX 580’s memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is a bottleneck at higher resolutions, where the card must stream more texture data. The 8 GB VRAM can become saturated at 4K with High or Ultra settings, leading to reduced frame rates. The 32 ROPs also limit fill rate, which is evident in the pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which renders vast landscapes with high detail, these hardware limitations are exposed. The GPU’s performance percentile of 53% indicates it is an average card overall, but for this specific game, it falls short of delivering a smooth experience at most settings.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component in this combo. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 54. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 43 FPS, a reduction of 11 FPS or about 20.4%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 32 FPS, which is 22 FPS lower than 1080p Low, representing a 40.7% drop. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where rendering more pixels directly impacts frame rate.

For High settings, the progression is from 31 FPS at 1080p, to 25 FPS at 1440p, to 19 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 6 FPS (19.4%), and from 1080p to 4K is 12 FPS (38.7%). Medium settings show 42 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K, with a 17 FPS difference between the lowest and highest resolution. Ultra settings yield 30 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K, a 12 FPS drop across the range. The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly 20% from 1080p to 1440p and another 20-25% from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count, which is typical of a card that is already at its compute limit.

If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions, since the CPU’s workload does not change significantly with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops by approximately 40% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which strongly suggests that the RX 580’s fill rate, memory bandwidth, and shader throughput are the constraints. The 9900X3D’s performance is consistent regardless of resolution, but the GPU cannot keep up with the increased pixel count. This is further evidenced by the fact that at 1080p Low, the maximum FPS is not recorded, but at 1080p Medium, the max is 48 FPS, which is still below the 60 FPS threshold. The GPU is simply not powerful enough to drive higher frame rates even when the CPU has headroom.

The resolution scaling also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 24 FPS (54 vs 30). At 1440p, the difference is 19 FPS (43 vs 24), and at 4K, it narrows to 14 FPS (32 vs 18). This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that changing settings has less impact, because the pixel fill rate becomes the dominant factor rather than shader complexity. This is a classic sign of a GPU that is overwhelmed by the resolution, regardless of the graphics quality presets.

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

At 1080p, the RX 580 and 9900X3D combo delivers its best performance, but still falls short of a smooth experience. With Low settings, the average FPS is 54, which is the highest recorded for this combo. Medium settings reduce the average to 42 FPS, with a minimum of 36 and a maximum of 48. High settings yield 31 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 30 FPS average. None of these settings achieve a 60 FPS average, indicating that even at the lowest resolution and quality, the GPU is the limiting factor. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High ≈ Ultra, with only a 1 FPS difference between High and Ultra, suggesting that the card’s capabilities are exhausted beyond Medium settings.

At 1440p, performance decreases further. Low settings produce an average of 43 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal. Medium settings average 34 FPS, with a minimum of 29 and a maximum of 39. High settings average 25 FPS, and Ultra settings average 24 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 19 FPS, and even the Low settings result is below the 60 FPS target. The 1440p results indicate that the RX 580 can handle Low settings at a reasonable frame rate, but any quality increase pushes it into the 20-30 FPS range, which is generally considered too low for a flight simulator where smooth panning is essential.

At 4K, the combo’s weaknesses are fully exposed. Low settings average 32 FPS, Medium settings average 25 FPS (with a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 29), High settings average 19 FPS, and Ultra settings average 18 FPS. The 4K results are all below 33 FPS, which is the minimum for a playable experience in many titles, and Ultra settings at 18 FPS are essentially a slideshow. The minimum FPS for 4K Medium is 21, which indicates significant frame drops even in less demanding scenes. This resolution is simply not viable for this GPU, regardless of settings.

The data shows that the combo’s playable range is limited to 1080p Low (54 FPS) and perhaps 1440p Low (43 FPS) or 1080p Medium (42 FPS). Everything else falls below 35 FPS, which is likely to cause noticeable stutter in a simulator that requires smooth camera movements. The minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings at all resolutions (36 at 1080p, 29 at 1440p, 21 at 4K) suggest that even these moderate settings can experience significant frame drops, making the experience inconsistent.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 2733rd out of 2996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the bottom 9% of all tested systems, which is a poor result given the CPU’s high-end status. The rank reflects the overall average FPS across all settings and resolutions, and the GPU’s limitations drag down what would otherwise be a top-tier CPU performance. The 9900X3D alone sits in the 91st percentile among CPUs, meaning it is better than 91% of all processors, but the RX 580’s 53rd percentile ranking among GPUs pulls the combined score down significantly.

To contextualize, the CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which scores 0.6% higher—would likely perform much better in this game when paired with a stronger GPU. The delta between the CPU and its rivals is small (ranging from -0.6% to 2.1%), but the GPU’s performance is the deciding factor in this game. The RX 580’s nearest rivals, including the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.1% higher) and GTX 1660 SUPER (0.4% higher), show that the GPU is at the bottom of its performance class, which explains the low combo rank.

The 2733rd rank out of 2996 means that only 263 combos perform worse than this pairing. This is a stark contrast to what one might expect from a 12-core, 24-thread processor with a 5.50 GHz boost clock. The data clearly shows that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU’s synthetic scores are among the best available, yet the game’s FPS is consistently low across all settings. If the RX 580 were replaced with a more powerful GPU, the combo rank would likely improve dramatically, but with this specific GPU, the system is relegated to the bottom tier for this game.

The percentile rankings also highlight the mismatch: the CPU is in the 91st percentile, while the GPU is in the 53rd percentile. This 38-percentage-point gap between CPU and GPU capabilities is a clear indicator of an unbalanced system for gaming. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is particularly demanding on both components, the GPU’s shortcomings are magnified. The combo rank confirms that this pairing is not recommended for this game, as the CPU’s potential is wasted, and the GPU cannot deliver acceptable performance at most settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings and resolution combination for this CPU-GPU pairing in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1080p with Low settings provides the highest average frame rate at 54 FPS. 1440p Low yields 43 FPS, and 1080p Medium yields 42 FPS. No combination achieves 60 FPS, so users should prioritize 1080p Low for the smoothest experience.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928, which is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940), 0.4% lower than the GTX 1660 SUPER (12986), 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon 740M (12870), and 0.6% higher than the AMD FirePro W5100 (12847). This places it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance percentile and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D is in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54762. It trails the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF by 0.6% (55093), but beats the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K by 1.3% (54053), the Intel Xeon 6505P by 2% (53701), and the Intel Core i7-14700F by 2.1% (53620).

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 54 at 1080p to 43 at 1440p (a 20.4% reduction) and then to 32 at 4K (a 40.7% reduction from 1080p). This consistent scaling indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2733rd out of 2996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 9% of all tested systems. This reflects the GPU’s inability to deliver high frame rates despite the CPU’s strong performance.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings at each resolution?

A: For Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 36 at 1080p, 29 at 1440p, and 21 at 4K. These minimum values show that even moderate settings can experience significant frame drops, especially at higher resolutions.