Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator places enormous demands on both processor and graphics hardware, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT produces a nuanced performance profile that shifts dramatically with resolution and settings. The data shows a system capable of smooth flight at 1080p but one that begins to struggle as pixel counts rise, with the GPU emerging as the primary bottleneck in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, the system averages 61 FPS on High settings and 105 FPS on Low. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 84 FPS on Low, but only 49 FPS on High. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience, 1080p is the reliable choice across most presets.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS falls from 61 at 1920x1080 to 49 at 2560x1440, and finally to 36 at 3840x2160. This represents a 41% drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings, indicating a heavy GPU load at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X3D a bottleneck for this game at any resolution?

A: The benchmark results suggest the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. For example, at 4K Ultra the average is 35 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 62 FPS. The CPU’s strong multi-threaded scores (47737 in Cinebench R23 multicore) suggest it has ample headroom, leaving the RX 6650 XT as the performance ceiling.

Q: How does the RX 6650 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 19765, which is 0.6% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885) and 0.7% higher than the AMD FirePro D300 (19637). Its performance is nearly identical to these workstation cards, though those are older architectures.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is in the top tier of processors. Its average benchmark score of 54762 places it slightly below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which scores 55093 (a -0.6% delta).

Q: Which settings preset offers the most balanced frame rate at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that stays above the 60 FPS average threshold, making it the most viable option for this resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, featuring 2048 shading units and 32 ray accelerators. Its boost clock reaches 2635 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic tests, this GPU achieves a Passmark G3D score of 17166 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 10111, placing it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU’s role is dominant, particularly as resolution increases. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 35, which is less than a third of the 105 FPS seen at 1080p Low. The GPU’s limited VRAM (8 GB) and memory bandwidth (280.3 GB/s) are likely contributors to this steep decline, as flight simulators stream vast amounts of terrain and scenery data. At lower resolutions like 1080p, the GPU can keep up with the CPU’s output, but at 4K, the pixel throughput demand overwhelms the RX 6650 XT’s capabilities. The FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS provides a baseline, but the data indicates that texture fill rate (337.3 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (168.6 GPixel/s) are insufficient for 4K Ultra settings in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. Starting at 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 61. Moving to 2560x1440 High, the average drops to 49, a 20% reduction. At 3840x2160 High, the average plunges to 36, which is a further 27% reduction from 1440p. This pattern holds across all settings presets. For Low settings, the averages are 105 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The decline from 1080p to 4K is 41% at High settings and 41% at Low settings, showing a consistent scaling factor.

This consistent percentage drop across presets indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU’s workload (draw calls, physics calculations) does not scale linearly with resolution. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s high single-thread score (6739 in Cinebench R23 single-core) and 12 cores/24 threads provide ample processing power, but the RX 6650 XT’s rendering pipeline becomes saturated. At 1080p, the system achieves playable frame rates, but at 4K, even Low settings only reach 62 FPS average, suggesting that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The data implies that for 4K gaming, a more powerful GPU would be necessary to unlock the CPU’s full potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. On Low settings, the average FPS is 105, which is exceptionally smooth. Medium settings produce an average of 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 and a maximum of 94. High settings yield 61 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 58 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each preset tier costs roughly 20-25 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease significantly. Low settings average 84 FPS, Medium averages 66 FPS (with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 75), High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 47 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows at this resolution, suggesting that the GPU is starting to struggle with the additional pixel load.

At 3840x2160, the system is severely constrained. Low settings average 62 FPS, which is borderline playable. Medium settings average 48 FPS, with a minimum of 41 and maximum of 56. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra settings average 35 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is negligible at 4K (1 FPS), indicating that both presets are hitting the same GPU throughput ceiling. The data shows that Medium settings at 4K provide the only reasonable frame rate with a minimum above 40 FPS, but even that is marginal for a flight simulator where smoothness is critical.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. It features a substantial 128 MB of L3 cache, which is beneficial for gaming workloads that rely on large data sets. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 47737 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6739 in single-core, placing it in the 91st percentile overall. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, scores 55093, a -0.6% delta, meaning the AMD chip is essentially tied with it.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s role is to handle the simulation logic, including flight physics, weather systems, and AI traffic. The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 105 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s rendering ceiling for this game. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 35, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s high multi-threaded performance (56154 in Passmark multithread) and excellent single-thread speed (4646 in Passmark single thread) ensure that it can feed the GPU with data without stalling. The 3D V-Cache technology (implied by the "X3D" designation, though not listed in the cache fields) likely helps with the large, streaming datasets characteristic of flight simulators, but the measured FPS data does not show any CPU-related bottlenecks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset (61 FPS average) is the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, as the Ultra preset only offers 58 FPS, a marginal gain for a significant visual difference. If frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 105 FPS is exceptionally smooth, but it sacrifices visual detail.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, with a 66 FPS average and a minimum of 56 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS. The High preset (49 FPS) and Ultra preset (47 FPS) are playable but not ideal for a smooth experience, especially during complex maneuvers or over dense terrain.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset (62 FPS average) is the only option that exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset (48 FPS) is playable but may exhibit stuttering, as the minimum FPS is 41. High (36 FPS) and Ultra (35 FPS) are not recommended, as they fall below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo with high settings, and users should either drop to Low settings or reduce the resolution to 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and RX 6650 XT ranks 1902 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations. This ranking is primarily due to the GPU’s limitations, as the CPU is a top-tier performer. The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 19765 (which is within 1% of several older workstation cards) indicate that it is a mid-range part that struggles with the demanding rendering requirements of this game.

In contrast, the CPU’s 91st percentile ranking and its close performance match to the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (a -0.6% delta) show that the processor is not holding back the system. The data implies that pairing this CPU with a more powerful GPU would significantly improve the combo’s ranking, as the current bottleneck is clearly the RX 6650 XT. The combo’s ranking of 1902 suggests that there are many configurations with better frame rates, but the CPU’s strength makes this a viable upgrade path for the GPU without replacing the processor. For users targeting 1080p, this combo performs admirably, but for higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, dragging down the overall ranking.