Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a clear performance hierarchy depending on your resolution and settings. The data shows a system that is capable of smooth flight at 1080p and 1440p, but which requires careful settings management to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The benchmark results indicate that this combo sits in the 2571st position out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all possible pairings for this specific simulator. This suggests that while the CPU has substantial headroom, the GPU is often the limiting factor, especially as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of which settings presets offer the best balance between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay. For a flight simulator where precision and reaction time are important, maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS is generally the target. The results show that the Low preset is the only setting that consistently achieves this target across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 101 FPS, while at 2560x1440 it drops to 81 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it still manages a playable 60 FPS average.

However, the Medium preset provides a more visually appealing experience while remaining mostly playable, but with caveats. At 1920x1080, Medium yields a solid 78 FPS average with minimums of 67 FPS, which is a comfortable margin. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 63 FPS with minimums of 54 FPS, which is still acceptable but shows signs of strain. The situation becomes more difficult at 3840x2160, where Medium produces an average of 47 FPS with minimums dipping to 40 FPS, which may feel stuttery during complex scenes.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 or 2560x1440 is recommended, as it offers a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining frame rates that are generally smooth. If you prefer higher visual quality and can tolerate occasional dips, the High preset at 1920x1080 averages 59 FPS and is borderline playable. The Ultra preset is only recommended if you have a variable refresh rate monitor and can tolerate averages below 60 FPS, as it produces 56 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. For 4K displays, the Low preset is the only viable option based on the data, as even Medium fails to consistently hold 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2571 out of 3714 tested combinations places this system in the 31st percentile of all CPU and GPU pairings tested in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This ranking reflects the fact that the RTX 2060 SUPER, while a capable card, is not designed to push the highest settings at high resolutions in a simulator this demanding. The data suggests that this combination is better suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it performs respectably, rather than 4K, where it struggles.

Benchmark results indicate that this pairing is heavily GPU-bound, as the CPU is far more powerful than what the GPU can feed. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 18093 places it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, and it is closely matched with rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (which scores 18159, a delta of -0.4%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, delta of -0.5%). This tells us that the GPU is a mid-range part, and its performance in this game will be the primary bottleneck.

When looking at the CPU, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54762. It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093, delta of -0.6%) and just behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053, delta of 1.3%). This means that the processor has ample power for the simulator’s physics and AI calculations, but that power is largely wasted in this configuration because the GPU cannot keep up, especially at higher resolutions where the rendering load increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck in this configuration for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The benchmark data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop significantly, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is sufficient for 1080p and medium textures at 1440p, but it may struggle with the massive texture loads required by the simulator at 4K.

The GPU’s clock speeds are listed with a base of 1470 MHz and a boost of 1650 MHz. These clocks, combined with its 2176 shading units, allow it to produce a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s. These specifications are adequate for the Medium settings at 1440p, where the card achieves an average of 63 FPS. However, at 4K, the GPU’s limits become evident, as the average FPS drops by roughly 25% moving from Medium at 1440p to Medium at 4K (from 63 to 47 FPS).

The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of VRAM appears to be a limiting factor at 4K with High settings, as the average FPS drops to 35. While the memory size is not directly measured in the FPS tests, the steep performance cliff between Medium and High at 3840x2160 indicates that the card is running out of memory bandwidth or capacity, causing the frame rate to plummet. The data suggests that the GPU is well-matched for 1080p Ultra (56 FPS) and 1440p High (47 FPS), but it is not suited for 4K with anything beyond Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. Here is the full breakdown:

1920x1080:

• Low: 101 FPS average
• Medium: 78 FPS average, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS
• High: 59 FPS average
• Ultra: 56 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 81 FPS average
• Medium: 63 FPS average, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS
• High: 47 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 60 FPS average
• Medium: 47 FPS average, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS
• High: 35 FPS average
• Ultra: 33 FPS average

The pattern is consistent: each step up in settings costs roughly 15-20 FPS at 1080p, but the penalty becomes larger at higher resolutions. For instance, moving from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 23 FPS (from 101 to 78), while the same transition at 4K costs 13 FPS (from 60 to 47). This indicates that the GPU is more sensitive to settings changes at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the resolution itself is the primary limiter.

The minimum FPS data for Medium settings shows that at 1080p, the frame rate never drops below 67 FPS, which is excellent for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, the minimum is 54 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold but likely still playable. At 4K, the minimum of 40 FPS indicates noticeable stuttering during busy scenes, making it less suitable for immersive flight.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K?

A: Yes, but only with the Low preset, which achieves an average of 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 47 FPS with minimums of 40 FPS, which is borderline playable. High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended as they produce averages of 35 and 33 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, allowing for the Medium preset to run at 78 FPS average and the High preset to hold at 59 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is still viable at 63 FPS average, but the High preset drops to 47 FPS, which may be too low for some users.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D ranks in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER ranks in the 62nd percentile. The FPS data shows significant drops with resolution increases, which is characteristic of GPU limitation, not CPU limitation.

Q: How does this system compare to similar combinations?

A: This combo ranks 2571st out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The GPU’s performance is nearly identical to the RTX 3060 Mobile (a delta of -0.4% in average benchmark score), indicating that this system performs as expected for its GPU class.

Q: What settings should I use for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: For a guaranteed 60 FPS average, use the Low preset at any resolution (101 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, 60 FPS at 4K). If you want better visuals, the Medium preset at 1080p (78 FPS) or 1440p (63 FPS) is the best balance, but it does not reach 60 FPS at 4K.

Q: Is the 8 GB of VRAM on the GPU sufficient for this game?

A: Based on the FPS data, the 8 GB VRAM appears to be adequate for 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings. However, the sharp performance drop at 4K High (35 FPS vs 47 FPS at Medium) suggests that VRAM capacity or bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known to be sensitive to CPU performance for physics calculations and AI traffic, this processor provides ample headroom. The CPU’s benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739, indicating that it can handle both the multi-threaded background tasks and the single-threaded game engine logic.

However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU’s power is not fully utilized in this pairing. The performance scaling with resolution is nearly linear, with average FPS dropping by roughly 20-25% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 25-30% from 1440p to 4K. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU is waiting on the GPU to finish rendering frames.

The CPU’s 128 MB of L3 cache (as listed in the cache specifications) is a notable feature that can benefit games with large datasets, but in this case, it does not compensate for the GPU’s limitations. The data suggests that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is overkill for the RTX 2060 SUPER in this title, as the same frame rates could likely be achieved with a much weaker processor. For users who plan to upgrade the GPU in the future, this CPU will provide a solid foundation, but in its current configuration, the GPU is the limiting factor in all tested scenarios.