Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combination ranks 489th out of 2,996 tested combos in the database, placing it firmly in the upper tier of systems benchmarked for this title.

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 177 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: Does the RX 7900 XT have enough VRAM for 4K Ultra in this game?

A: With 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 320-bit bus, the GPU provides ample capacity. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo still averages 59 FPS, indicating the VRAM is not a bottleneck at this setting.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 scores 3,655 in Cinebench R23 single-core. Its nearest rivals in the overall CPU benchmark list (AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen 5 5500X3D, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, and Core i9-12900T) all have average scores within 0.5% of this chip, showing a tight cluster at this performance level.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 143 FPS, while Ultra drops that to 80 FPS. This represents a substantial 44% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Is the data for this combo measured or estimated?

A: The data is marked as measured, meaning the FPS values come from actual benchmark runs rather than predictive modeling or extrapolation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz are directly relevant to Microsoft Flight Simulator's performance profile, as this title is known to be sensitive to single-thread throughput for flight model physics and scenery loading.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,655 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs tested in the database, which is a strong indicator for a simulation game that relies heavily on per-core performance. The multi-core score of 25,891 in the same test shows the processor can also handle the background thread workloads that Flight Simulator generates, such as terrain streaming and AI traffic. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency in scenarios where the sim rapidly loads new scenery tiles.

In the context of the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most visible at lower resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 177 FPS average, a figure that is unlikely to be fully GPU-bound given the RX 7900 XT's capabilities. This suggests the CPU's boost clock of 4.90 GHz is being effectively utilized to feed the GPU with draw calls and simulation state updates. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4,412 reinforces this picture, indicating strong per-core performance that aligns with the needs of a flight sim.

The Core Ultra 5 225 sits near the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F in the overall CPU benchmark hierarchy, with the latter scoring 36,945 average versus 36,938 for this Intel part, a delta of 0%. This parity in synthetic tests suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios within Flight Simulator, the two processors would behave similarly, though the Intel chip's newer Arrow Lake architecture may handle the sim's specific instruction mix differently. The nearest rivals all fall within 0.5% of the Core Ultra 5 225's average score, indicating that users upgrading from any of these parts would see negligible CPU-side changes in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 489 out of 2,996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 16.3% of all systems in the database for this game, which is a solid result for a desktop setup that pairs a mid-range CPU with a high-end GPU.

The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's substantial rasterization power. At 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 59 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold often cited for smooth gameplay. The fact that the rank is not higher (e.g., top 10%) can be attributed to the CPU's 10-thread limitation, as Flight Simulator can sometimes benefit from additional cores for parallel tasks like weather simulation and airport vehicle traffic.

Comparing the combo's position to the CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, there is a slight drop-off in the game-specific ranking. This indicates that while the Core Ultra 5 225 is a strong processor in general, the combination with the RX 7900 XT is not extracting the absolute maximum performance possible in this title. The GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs (based on its average benchmark score of 13,745) means there are faster graphics cards available that could push this combo higher in the rankings, but the overall result remains competitive.

The 489th rank out of 2,996 combos suggests that the pairing is well-matched for 1440p and 4K gameplay, where the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 177 FPS, which is well above what most displays can show, indicating that the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates when the GPU workload is light. This rank also implies that users with lower-end CPUs paired with the RX 7900 XT would see worse results, as the CPU would struggle to keep up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide spread of average frame rates depending on the preset. Low settings produce 177 FPS average, which is the highest recorded figure across the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 138 FPS with a minimum of 117 and a maximum of 159, showing a consistent frame time distribution. High settings average 104 FPS, while Ultra settings average 99 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is just 5 FPS, suggesting that the visual uplift from Ultra comes at a relatively small performance cost at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling is predictable. Low settings average 143 FPS, which is a 19.2% reduction compared to 1080p Low. Medium settings average 111 FPS with a min/max range of 95 to 128, representing a tighter spread than at 1080p. High settings average 84 FPS, and Ultra settings average 80 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 4 FPS, similar to the 1080p pattern, indicating that Ultra is not dramatically more demanding than High at these resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary limiter. Low settings average 106 FPS, which is still quite playable for a flight sim. Medium settings average 82 FPS with a min of 70 and max of 94, showing a modest frame time variance. High settings drop to 62 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 59 FPS. The step from Medium to High at 4K is a 24.4% reduction in average FPS, while the step from High to Ultra is only 4.8%, suggesting that Ultra's additional graphical features have diminishing returns at this resolution.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: at every resolution, the largest FPS jump occurs when moving from Low to Medium, while the gap between High and Ultra remains small. At 1080p, the Low-to-Medium jump is 39 FPS (22%), at 1440p it is 32 FPS (22.4%), and at 4K it is 24 FPS (22.6%). This uniformity indicates that the Medium preset likely enables a core set of visual features that have a fixed performance cost, while Ultra adds incremental effects that are less demanding.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, featuring 5,376 shading units and 192 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2,394 MHz and game clock of 2,025 MHz are relevant to Flight Simulator's rendering load, which includes complex terrain meshes, dynamic lighting, and volumetric clouds. The 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the high-resolution textures and streaming scenery that the game demands.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS indicates substantial compute throughput, which helps with the game's physics and weather simulation that run on the GPU. The 84 ray tracing cores suggest that hardware-accelerated ray tracing features in the sim (if enabled) would benefit from this architecture, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether RT is active in the presets.

In terms of benchmark scores, the RX 7900 XT's PassMark G3D score of 29,009 places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,745. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark list include the AMD Radeon 660M (delta -0.5%), NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (delta -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 570X (delta -0.9%), all of which are lower-tier parts. However, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT has a delta of +1.5% over this card, showing that newer RDNA 4 parts can outperform it.

The GPU's impact on the measured FPS is most pronounced at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 59 FPS. At 1080p Low, the GPU is likely underutilized, as the 177 FPS average suggests the CPU is providing enough frames. The card's 20 GB VRAM is a key asset for Flight Simulator, which can consume large amounts of memory for high-resolution textures and add-on scenery. None of the measured rows show a min FPS below 70, indicating that the GPU maintains a stable frame rate even under load.

The RX 7900 XT's power requirements (300 W TDP, 2x 8-pin connectors, suggested 700 W PSU) are not directly reflected in the FPS data, but they indicate the card is designed for high-performance desktop use. Its dual-slot form factor and 276 mm length make it compatible with most mid-tower cases, though the 51 mm width requires careful case selection.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three tested resolutions. At 1080p, Medium averages 138 FPS with a minimum of 117, which is well above any refresh rate threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Medium averages 111 FPS with a minimum of 95, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS for even the most demanding flight scenarios. At 4K, Medium averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 70, which is still fluid for a flight simulator.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rate. At 1080p, High averages 104 FPS, which is playable but 24.6% slower than Medium. At 1440p, High averages 84 FPS, still above 60 FPS but with less headroom for busy airports or dense urban areas. At 4K, High drops to 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS line but might dip below during heavy scenery loads; the data does not provide a min FPS for High settings, so this remains uncertain.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p or 1440p use, where the average FPS (99 and 80, respectively) remains acceptable. At 4K Ultra, the average of 59 FPS is technically playable but leaves no headroom for frame drops, and the lack of min FPS data for this setting makes it risky. Users with 4K displays should stick to Medium for a consistent experience, as the jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 20 FPS (24.4% reduction) for what is likely a marginal visual improvement.

Low settings are best reserved for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios. At 1080p Low, the 177 FPS average can drive a 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitor, and at 1440p Low, the 143 FPS average is sufficient for 144 Hz displays. However, the visual downgrade in a game like Flight Simulator, where scenery fidelity is a core appeal, makes Low a poor choice for most users. The Medium preset at 1440p (111 FPS average) is the sweet spot for a 100-120 Hz display, while Medium at 4K (82 FPS) is ideal for a 60-75 Hz monitor.

Given the small FPS gap between High and Ultra (4-5 FPS across all resolutions), choosing High over Ultra is a rational trade-off for users who want most of the visual features without the extra performance cost. The data supports Medium as the default recommendation, with High as an option for users with 1080p or 1440p displays who prioritize image quality and can tolerate slightly lower frame rates.