Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a combination that places a high-end Blackwell GPU alongside a mid-range Zen 3 processor. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, benchmark results show this pairing delivers high frame rates across all tested resolutions, with the RTX 5080’s raw performance preventing GPU-bound bottlenecks at 4K, while the CPU’s single-thread capabilities—scoring 882 in 3dmark_single_thread—are sufficient to keep frame rates well above the playable threshold at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest graphics preset that stays above 60 FPS at 4K with this combo?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 maintains an average of 72.8 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This makes Ultra the best settings option at 4K, as all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 20468, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, scores 20454, a delta of only 0.1%. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500G and AMD EPYC 9454P are also close, with deltas of 0.2% each.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 159.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 99.6 FPS. This represents a 60 FPS drop, or roughly a 37.5% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Q: Does the GPU’s benchmark score place it among top-tier graphics cards?

A: The RTX 5080 sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 8060S, scores 55757, which is 0.6% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is slightly ahead at 57367, a -2.2% delta from the RTX 5080’s score.

Q: Is the 1080p Ultra preset playable with this hardware?

A: Yes, the 1920x1080 Ultra preset produces an average of 126.3 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the highest average frame rate among all Ultra presets tested across the three resolutions.

Q: How many total combinations does this setup rank among in the game’s database?

A: This CPU and GPU combination ranks 245th out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 6.6% of all tested configurations, indicating strong overall performance for this specific title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data for Microsoft Flight Simulator reveals a shifting balance between CPU and GPU influence depending on resolution. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is 43 FPS (169.3 vs 126.3), suggesting that the RTX 5080 is not fully saturated at lower resolutions, and the Ryzen 5 5600’s single-thread performance becomes a more significant factor in maintaining high frame rates. The 3dmark_2_threads score of 1737 and passmark_single_thread score of 3256 indicate the CPU can keep up with the game’s simulation-heavy workload at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset drops to 159.5 FPS, while Ultra falls to 99.6 FPS. This 60 FPS spread between presets is identical to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower, showing that GPU load is increasing. The Medium preset at 141.5 FPS and High at 106.6 FPS illustrate that the RTX 5080’s compute resources—56.28 TFLOPS FP32 and 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth—are being utilized more heavily as pixel count rises.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s role becomes dominant. The Low preset still achieves 129.5 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 72.8 FPS, a 56.7 FPS reduction. The gap between Medium (103.4 FPS) and High (75.7 FPS) is particularly telling: this 27.7 FPS difference at 4K is larger than the corresponding gap at 1440p (34.9 FPS between Medium and High) and 1080p (24.1 FPS), indicating that the RTX 5080’s 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 256-bit bus are being pushed harder at higher resolutions. The CPU’s influence diminishes at 4K, as the frame rate scaling between presets is driven almost entirely by GPU workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low settings produce 169.3 FPS, Medium produces 156.3 FPS, High produces 132.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 126.3 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is only 13 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High is 24.1 FPS, and High to Ultra is 5.9 FPS. This suggests that the High preset offers a significant visual improvement over Medium with a relatively modest frame rate cost, while Ultra adds minimal performance overhead over High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 159.5 FPS for Low, 141.5 FPS for Medium, 106.6 FPS for High, and 99.6 FPS for Ultra. The transition from Low to Medium costs 18 FPS, a larger drop than at 1080p. The Medium to High transition is the steepest at 34.9 FPS, indicating that the High preset introduces substantial GPU load. The High to Ultra drop is only 7 FPS, making Ultra a nearly free upgrade over High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 129.5 FPS for Low, 103.4 FPS for Medium, 75.7 FPS for High, and 72.8 FPS for Ultra. The Low to Medium drop is 26.1 FPS, and the Medium to High drop is 27.7 FPS, showing consistent scaling as settings increase. The High to Ultra drop is just 2.9 FPS, the smallest gap across any resolution, meaning that at 4K the Ultra preset provides nearly identical performance to High while offering the highest visual fidelity.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Ryzen 5 5600’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores are the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20454, 0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (20425, 0.2% delta), AMD EPYC 9454P (20422, 0.2% delta), and AMD EPYC 7713 (20363, 0.5% delta). These processors would exhibit nearly identical CPU-bound behavior in Microsoft Flight Simulator, meaning users with any of these chips paired with an RTX 5080 would see similar frame rates in CPU-limited scenarios at 1080p. The extremely small deltas—all under 0.5%—indicate that swapping between these CPUs would produce no perceptible difference in game performance.

For the GPU, the RTX 5080’s closest competitors are the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757, 0.6% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, 0.7% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, 2.3% delta). The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE scores higher at 57367, representing a -2.2% delta, meaning it would deliver slightly better frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios. In practice, pairing the Ryzen 5 5600 with any of these GPUs would yield nearly identical measured FPS at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p, the CPU would become the bottleneck, so the GPU choice would have minimal impact on the final frame rate.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering 126.3 FPS average. This is the most demanding setting available and it still maintains a frame rate more than double the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Low preset at 169.3 FPS and Medium at 156.3 FPS are also playable, but they do not offer the visual quality of Ultra for a mere 43 FPS cost at worst.

At 2560x1440, Ultra remains the optimal setting with 99.6 FPS average. This is comfortably above 60 FPS, providing headroom for demanding flight scenarios with dense scenery or heavy weather effects. The High preset at 106.6 FPS is only 7 FPS faster than Ultra, so choosing Ultra sacrifices minimal performance for maximum visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, Ultra is again the best setting, with 72.8 FPS average. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset dips below 100 FPS, but it still clears the playable threshold by 12.8 FPS. The High preset at 75.7 FPS is only 2.9 FPS faster, making Ultra the obvious choice since the performance penalty is negligible. The Medium preset at 103.4 FPS would be the fallback if a user demands higher frame rates, but the data shows it is unnecessary for maintaining playability.

The Verdict

This PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at all tested resolutions and presets. The verdictByResolution data confirms that every resolution—3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080—has all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) listed as playable. At 4K, the Ultra preset averages 72.8 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, Ultra averages 99.6 FPS, providing substantial headroom. At 1080p, Ultra averages 126.3 FPS, indicating that the CPU may become a limiting factor before the GPU does.

The weakest point in the data is the 4K Ultra result, but even this value is 12.8 FPS above the playable threshold. No resolution or preset combination falls below 60 FPS in the measured results. The minimum FPS values are not provided in the data, so it is not possible to assess frame time consistency, but the average frame rates suggest that this combination is well-suited to the game’s demands. The Ryzen 5 5600’s 74th percentile CPU ranking and the RTX 5080’s 87th percentile GPU ranking work together to ensure a smooth experience across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 245th out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 6.6% of all configurations in the database, which is a strong result considering the Ryzen 5 5600 is a mid-range processor from the 5000 series. The ranking reflects the RTX 5080’s dominant GPU performance, as the CPU’s percentile rank of 74 is notably lower than the GPU’s 87th percentile.

The delta between this combo’s rank and the top of the database is not provided, but the 245th position out of 3714 indicates that there are 244 configurations that outperform it. These would likely feature higher-end CPUs such as the AMD EPYC 7713 or Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which have similar synthetic scores but may offer better memory latency or other architectural advantages in game-specific workloads. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo delivers playable frame rates at every resolution and preset, so the rank difference does not translate into a sub-60 FPS experience anywhere in the testing matrix. The combination’s overall average benchmark score, driven by the GPU’s 56083 points, ensures that it remains a competitive option for this flight simulator.