Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with benchmark data showing every tested resolution and preset combination comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS playability threshold. This combination of a mid-range 5000-series CPU and a flagship Blackwell GPU produces results that rank in the 91st percentile of all tested system combos for this title, indicating near-top-tier performance despite the processor's comparatively modest specifications.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU and GPU combo at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 79 FPS. This is the highest quality setting tested and still clears the 60 FPS threshold, so there is no need to drop to lower presets for playability.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: The data shows a drop from 148 FPS average at Low settings to 120 FPS average at Ultra settings at 1920x1080. This represents a 28 FPS reduction for the maximum visual quality increase.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions?

A: Benchmark results suggest the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The performance gap between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra settings is only 13 FPS (120 vs 107), while the gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is 28 FPS (107 vs 79), indicating the GPU scales more significantly at higher resolutions.

Q: Which component contributes more to performance at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor. The RTX 5090's massive 32 GB GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are critical for handling the high-resolution textures, while the CPU's workload remains relatively consistent across resolutions.

Q: Is this combo overkill for 1080p gaming?

A: Yes, for Microsoft Flight Simulator at 1920x1080, the combo produces 148 FPS average at Low settings and 122 FPS at High settings, far exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. The data indicates the system is heavily GPU-bound at this resolution with significant headroom.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates recorded for this combo?

A: The only settings with reported min and max FPS values are Medium presets: 115-155 FPS at 1080p, 107-145 FPS at 1440p, and 94-127 FPS at 4K. All other presets only have average FPS data available.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shifts noticeably across resolutions and presets in Microsoft Flight Simulator. At 1920x1080, the CPU's influence is most apparent because the GPU has relatively less work per frame. The 5600F's 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a 4.00 GHz boost clock, keep the simulation's physics and flight model calculations fed with data, but the RTX 5090 is rarely stressed to its limits. This is evident in the frame rate scaling: from Low to Ultra at 1080p, the average drops only from 148 to 120 FPS, a relatively modest 19% reduction that suggests the CPU maintains a high baseline regardless of graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts slightly toward the GPU, but the CPU still holds its ground. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows 138 to 107 FPS average, with the Medium preset recording a 107 FPS minimum. The RTX 5090's 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs begin to matter more here, yet the Ryzen 5 5600F's single-thread performance, evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 2872, remains sufficient to avoid major bottlenecking. The delta between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra is just 13 FPS, indicating that the CPU is still contributing meaningfully to overall throughput.

The dynamic changes most dramatically at 3840x2160. Here, the RTX 5090 becomes the undisputed primary driver of performance. The GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is essential for streaming the high-resolution terrain and aircraft textures that Microsoft Flight Simulator demands. Evidence of this GPU dominance is clear in the scaling: dropping from Low to Ultra at 4K costs 46 FPS (125 to 79), a much steeper penalty than at lower resolutions. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, while the CPU's role becomes more about maintaining consistent frame pacing rather than pushing raw frame rates higher.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the benchmark data shows this combo producing excellent frame rates across all presets. Low settings yield an average of 148 FPS, High settings average 122 FPS, and Ultra settings average 120 FPS. The Medium preset provides the only complete frame time data at this resolution, with an average of 135 FPS, a minimum of 115 FPS, and a maximum of 155 FPS. These figures indicate that even the most demanding moments in flight, such as dense city flyovers or complex weather systems, rarely cause the frame rate to dip below the playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains exceptionally strong. Low settings average 138 FPS, High settings average 112 FPS, and Ultra settings average 107 FPS. The Medium preset again offers the most detailed data: 126 FPS average, 107 FPS minimum, and 145 FPS maximum. The consistency between the minimum and average at Medium settings suggests that the system maintains stable frame delivery even during complex scenes, with the 107 FPS floor still nearly double the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates remain playable but show a more pronounced drop-off with increasing quality settings. Low settings average 125 FPS, High settings average 83 FPS, and Ultra settings average 79 FPS. The Medium preset records an average of 110 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS. This represents the largest spread between presets of any resolution, with a 46 FPS difference between Low and Ultra averages. However, even the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K maintains a healthy margin above the 60 FPS playability threshold, confirming that this hardware combination has substantial headroom for this title.

The Verdict

This PC configuration can absolutely run Microsoft Flight Simulator with outstanding performance at every tested resolution and preset. The verdict data is unambiguous: at 3840x2160, all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are marked as playable, with the best settings being Ultra at 79 FPS average. This means users can enjoy maximum visual fidelity at 4K while still maintaining a frame rate nearly 32% above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, the verdict is equally favorable. All presets are playable, and the best settings are Ultra with a 107 FPS average. This represents a substantial improvement over 4K, providing a 28 FPS advantage at the same quality settings. For users prioritizing higher refresh rates over resolution, this combo can deliver well over 100 FPS at 1440p with maximum quality.

The 1920x1080 results are the strongest of all, with Ultra settings achieving a 120 FPS average. All presets are marked as playable, and the best settings are Ultra, confirming that even at lower resolutions, the system has more than enough performance headroom. Across all resolutions, the data consistently shows that this combo clears the 60 FPS threshold with significant margin, making it a capable choice for both immersive 4K flight simulation and high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p play.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F are clustered remarkably close in average benchmark scores, suggesting that CPU choice within this performance tier has minimal impact on overall system capability. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 matches the 5600F's average score of 36,945 almost exactly, with a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is just 0.2% slower, while the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 trails by 0.4%, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% behind. Given these tiny deltas, any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator when paired with the RTX 5090, as the GPU will dominate frame rates in most scenarios.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090's nearest rivals show slightly larger but still modest performance differences. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB is 0.3% ahead, while the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is 0.6% ahead, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% ahead. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% behind. These deltas are all within a narrow band, meaning that swapping the RTX 5090 for any of these alternatives would yield very similar frame rates in this game. However, it is notably the Tesla P100 and Radeon Pro cards are professional workstation parts, so their driver optimizations and feature sets may differ from consumer gaming hardware, even if their raw benchmark scores are comparable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 system ranks 336th out of 3,714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 91st percentile of all configurations. This is an exceptionally strong showing, especially considering the CPU is a mid-range 5000-series part rather than a flagship. The ranking underscores how heavily this game leans on GPU performance; the RTX 5090's immense compute power, evidenced by its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 39,650 Passmark G3D score, more than compensates for the 5600F's more modest 19,236 Passmark multithread score.

The gap between this combo's rank and the top of the leaderboard is attributable almost entirely to CPU performance. While the RTX 5090 sits in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, the Ryzen 5 5600F achieves an 85th percentile ranking among CPUs. This 7-percentage-point difference in relative standing suggests that pairing the 5090 with a higher-ranked CPU would push the combo higher in the rankings, though the measured FPS data shows that the current configuration already delivers frame rates far exceeding what is needed for a smooth experience. The 336th rank out of 3,714 represents a strong overall position, placing this system well within the top 10% of all tested configurations for this flight simulator.