Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 106th out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations measured. The CPU sits in the 96th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 88th percentile among all graphics cards, indicating a well-balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outclasses the other. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings presets confirm that this system delivers playable performance even at the most demanding configurations, with the data showing a clear progression of performance as resolution decreases and settings become less demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 106 out of 1,795 tested combinations places this system comfortably within the upper echelon of configurations evaluated for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This ranking reflects the combined capabilities of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, both of which demonstrate strong individual benchmark presence relative to their nearest competitors.

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D achieves an average benchmark score of 71,660, placing it 0.9% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. It trails the Intel Xeon 6517P by 1.9% and leads the Intel Core i7-14700KF by 2.2%. These narrow margins indicate that the 9950X3D sits in a tightly contested performance band among high-end desktop processors, with its 16 cores and 32 threads providing substantial multi-threaded headroom. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 59,712 and single-core score of 8,430 demonstrate exceptional all-around compute capability, which contributes to maintaining consistent frame pacing in a simulation title that is known for heavy CPU workloads.

The RTX 4080 SUPER posts an average benchmark score of 53,610, which places it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M. It leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 2.1% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 2.9%. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 34,245 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 confirm its position as a high-end rendering solution. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit memory bus delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for the large textures and complex geometry typical of flight simulation environments.

The combination's rank suggests that while it is not at the absolute top of the leaderboard, it outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. This is particularly notable given that Microsoft Flight Simulator stresses both CPU and GPU heavily, and the data indicates this pairing handles that stress admirably across all measured scenarios.

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D compare to its nearest rival in raw compute performance?

A: The 9950X3D's average benchmark score of 71,660 is 0.9% higher than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270's 71,056, and 1.8% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X's 70,420. It sits 1.9% below the Intel Xeon 6517P's 73,050 and 2.2% above the Intel Core i7-14700KF's 70,104.

Q: What is the performance gap between the RTX 4080 SUPER and its closest competitors?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER's average score of 53,610 is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at 53,489, and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 53,414. It leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 2.1% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 2.9%.

Q: What is the best-performing settings preset at 1080p based on measured data?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 116.8 FPS average, while High achieves 122.5 FPS, Medium reaches 165.9 FPS, and Low produces 209.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that drops below 120 FPS at this resolution.

Q: How does performance scale from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 122.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 97.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 69.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 43.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the system capable of maintaining 60+ FPS at 4K across all settings presets?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 122.7 FPS, Medium averages 93.6 FPS, High averages 69.3 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 66.8 FPS. All presets exceed the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The highest average frame rate in the measured data is 209.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how this system's performance scales across three resolutions: 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 209.4 FPS at 1080p to 167.7 FPS at 1440p, then to 122.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a 19.9% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 26.8% reduction from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 41.4% decrease from the lowest to highest resolution.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 165.9 FPS at 1080p, 131.9 FPS at 1440p, and 93.6 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 20.5% from 1080p to 1440p, and 29.0% from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the progression is 122.5 FPS at 1080p, 97.6 FPS at 1440p, and 69.3 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 20.3% and 29.0% respectively. The Ultra preset delivers 116.8 FPS at 1080p, 92.8 FPS at 1440p, and 66.8 FPS at 4K, showing drops of 20.5% and 28.0%.

The consistency of these scaling patterns across all four settings presets indicates that the performance bottleneck shifts smoothly between CPU and GPU as resolution changes. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU's capabilities, particularly its strong single-thread performance with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 8,430, become the limiting factor. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU's rendering workload grows, and the RTX 4080 SUPER's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate become more critical.

The relatively modest frame rate drops between 1440p and 4K, typically around 28-29%, suggest that the GPU has sufficient memory bandwidth and processing power to handle the increased pixel count without severe degradation. The 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 16 GB GDDR6X frame buffer provide ample headroom for high-resolution textures and effects common in flight simulation scenery.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 209.4 FPS, followed by Medium at 165.9 FPS, High at 122.5 FPS, and Ultra at 116.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 43.5 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 5.7 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual features have diminishing performance costs at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 167.7 FPS at Low, 131.9 FPS at Medium, 97.6 FPS at High, and 92.8 FPS at Ultra. The relative ordering remains consistent, with Low outperforming Medium by 35.8 FPS and High outperforming Ultra by 4.8 FPS. The 1440p results show that this resolution is still well within the system's comfortable operating range, as even the Ultra preset maintains nearly 93 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance remains strong but shows more variation between presets. The Low preset averages 122.7 FPS, Medium averages 93.6 FPS, High averages 69.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 66.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 29.1 FPS, while High and Ultra are separated by just 2.5 FPS. This narrowing gap at higher settings suggests that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor at 4K, although all presets remain above the 60 FPS threshold typically considered necessary for smooth gameplay.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently shows the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra in descending order. The performance deltas between presets are largest at 1080p and smallest at 4K, reflecting the changing balance between CPU and GPU load as resolution scales.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the user's resolution and performance priorities. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 116.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the highest visual fidelity. The High preset at 122.5 FPS offers virtually identical performance with slightly reduced visual effects, making it a viable alternative for users who prefer higher frame rate margins.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 97.6 FPS provides an excellent balance of visual quality and performance, while the Ultra preset at 92.8 FPS remains highly playable. Users with high-refresh-rate 1440p displays may prefer the Medium preset at 131.9 FPS, which offers a substantial frame rate advantage while still providing reasonable visual quality.

For 3840x2160, the High preset at 69.3 FPS and Ultra preset at 66.8 FPS both deliver smooth experiences above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 93.6 FPS offers significantly higher frame rates and may be preferable for users who prioritize responsiveness over maximum visual detail. The Low preset at 122.7 FPS is available for users seeking the highest possible frame rates at 4K, though it sacrifices considerable visual quality.

The data shows that the Ultra preset's performance cost relative to High is minimal at 4K, with only a 2.5 FPS difference, making it the recommended choice for 4K users who want the best visuals without meaningful performance penalties. At 1440p and 1080p, the choice between High and Ultra depends on whether users prioritize the small frame rate advantage or the additional visual features. The Medium preset provides the best performance-to-quality ratio for users who want high frame rates without dropping to the lowest visual settings.