Microsoft Flight Simulator

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 shows a clear progression of performance as resolution and settings change. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 51.9 FPS on Low, 39.9 FPS on Medium, 31.4 FPS on High, and 29.1 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 22.8 FPS, which represents a substantial drop of roughly 44% from the lowest preset to the highest. No minimum or maximum frame rate data was recorded at this resolution, so the analysis relies entirely on average values.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages improve noticeably. Low settings produce 74.1 FPS, Medium delivers 56.8 FPS, High reaches 41 FPS, and Ultra settles at 43.6 FPS. Interestingly, the High preset scores slightly lower than Ultra at this resolution, a reversal that suggests variance in scene complexity or measurement conditions rather than a monotonic scaling pattern. The spread from Low to High is 33.1 FPS, and Ultra sits 30.5 FPS below Low. The data indicates that this combination crosses the 60 FPS threshold only at the Low preset here.

At 1920x1080, the picture becomes more favorable. Low settings average 90.8 FPS, Medium averages 71.9 FPS, High averages 54.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 52.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 38 FPS. The Medium preset is the highest setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS at this resolution. High and Ultra both fall below the playable threshold, with High trailing Medium by 17.8 FPS and Ultra trailing Medium by 19.1 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings shows a drop from 71.9 FPS to 56.8 FPS, a reduction of 15.1 FPS. From 1440p to 2160p at Medium, the average falls further to 39.9 FPS, another 16.9 FPS reduction.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results reveal how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 90.8 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest recorded average in the entire dataset. This suggests that at lower resolutions and lighter presets, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficiently, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The fact that 1080p Ultra drops to 52.8 FPS while 1080p Low reaches 90.8 FPS indicates that the graphics workload, not the processor, dominates the performance ceiling at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the scaling from Low to Medium is 17.3 FPS, from Medium to High is 15.8 FPS, and from High to Ultra is an increase of 2.6 FPS. The non-monotonic behavior between High and Ultra is worth noting. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, likely has enough headroom to handle the simulation logic and physics at this resolution, while the GPU's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus become more relevant. The RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth may be a factor in the frame rate compression seen at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint. Low settings yield 51.9 FPS, but Ultra drops to 29.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra grows to 22.8 FPS, the largest absolute difference across all resolutions. The pixel throughput demand at 4K, combined with the RTX 2060's 6.451 TFLOPS FP32 performance, explains why the card cannot sustain playable rates at any preset in this resolution. The CPU's role diminishes as the GPU becomes saturated; the Ryzen 7 5700's single-thread score of 901 in 3dmark and multi-thread score of 6628 in 3dmark 16 threads suggest it is not the bottleneck in these heavier scenarios.

The resolution scaling from 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium shows a 21% reduction, and from 1440p Medium to 2160p Medium a 29.8% reduction. This progressive decline indicates that the GPU's rendering load grows faster than the CPU's simulation workload, reinforcing the interpretation that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The data does not include minimum or maximum frame times, so stutter behavior cannot be assessed, but average frame rates alone point to a GPU-bound system in most tested configurations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 sits close to several other processors in average benchmark score. The Intel Xeon D-2752TER scores 25530, which is 0.1% higher than the Ryzen 7 5700's average. The AMD Ryzen 5 7640U scores 25485, 0.1% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600H scores 25550, 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 7 5825U scores 25446, 0.3% lower. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning any of these CPUs would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator when paired with the same GPU. The Ryzen 7 5700's percentile rank of 78 among all CPUs places it above the majority of processors in the database, but its direct rivals are all within 0.3% of its average score.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060's nearest rivals are equally tight. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 has an average score of 15283, essentially identical with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270, 0.1% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199, 0.6% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 scores 15171, 0.8% higher. These comparisons suggest that in this game, swapping the RTX 2060 for any of these alternatives would yield very similar average frame rates, within a margin that is unlikely to change the playability verdict at any resolution. The RTX 2060's percentile rank of 58 among all GPUs indicates it sits near the middle of the distribution, and its rivals reflect that positioning.

The practical implication is that a system built with the Ryzen 7 5700 and any of these rival GPUs would behave almost identically in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Similarly, pairing the RTX 2060 with any of the rival CPUs would produce comparable results. The data does not show any of these alternatives breaking past the 60 FPS barrier at resolutions where the tested combo fails, so users with these near-identical components should expect the same general performance envelope.

The Verdict

The verdict by resolution is clear from the measured data. At 3840x2160, no settings preset achieves an average of 60 FPS. The highest average is 51.9 FPS on Low, and Ultra drops to 29.1 FPS. The verdict field lists no playable settings at this resolution, so this combination cannot run the game at 4K with smooth performance. Users targeting 4K would need to accept frame rates well below the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 74.1 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. Medium averages 56.8 FPS, just below the threshold, and High and Ultra fall further to 41 FPS and 43.6 FPS respectively. The verdict lists only Low as playable at this resolution. This means 1440p gaming is possible, but only with the lowest visual preset.

At 1920x1080, both Low and Medium clear 60 FPS, with averages of 90.8 FPS and 71.9 FPS. High and Ultra fall short at 54.1 FPS and 52.8 FPS. The verdict lists Low and Medium as playable, with Medium being the best playable setting at 71.9 FPS. This is the only resolution where the system offers a choice of playable presets. For a flight simulator where smoothness matters for control precision, the 1080p Medium setting provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate in this dataset.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 2958 out of 3714 tested combos in the database for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower portion of the distribution, specifically around the 20th percentile of tested systems. The rank reflects that while the CPU is above average at the 78th percentile among all CPUs, the GPU sits at the 58th percentile, and the combination as a whole does not compete with higher-end pairings in this simulation-heavy title. The game's reputation for demanding both strong single-threaded CPU performance and substantial GPU resources is consistent with this mid-pack ranking. The CPU's single-thread score of 901 in 3dmark and 3296 in passmark single-thread help, but the GPU's mid-tier position limits overall standing. The rank suggests that many other combinations in the database deliver higher average FPS at the tested presets, particularly at 1440p and 2160p where the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

FAQ

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

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average frame rate recorded is 51.9 FPS on Low settings. Ultra averages 29.1 FPS, and no preset reaches 60 FPS. The verdict by resolution lists no playable settings for this resolution.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 2560x1440 for this combo?

A: The Low preset is the only playable option at 2560x1440, with an average of 74.1 FPS. Medium averages 56.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold, and High and Ultra average 41 FPS and 43.6 FPS respectively.

Q: Which resolution and preset combination gives the highest average frame rate?

A: The highest recorded average is 90.8 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 71.9 FPS, and Low at 1440p averages 74.1 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in this context?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 15290 is within 0.8% of its nearest rivals. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 has a 0% delta, the AMD Radeon 680M is 0.1% higher, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM is 0.6% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 is 0.8% higher. These differences are negligible for in-game frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The data shows the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p Medium, the average is 71.9 FPS, and at 1440p Medium it drops to 56.8 FPS, a 15.1 FPS reduction. The CPU's multi-thread score of 20655 in cinebench r23 indicates sufficient headroom, so the GPU is the primary constraint in this configuration.

Q: What frame rate does the Ultra preset achieve at 1920x1080?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 52.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. High averages 54.1 FPS, also below the threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves an average of 60 FPS, so there is no best playable setting. The highest recorded average is 51.9 FPS on Low, but that still falls short of the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only configuration that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 74.1 FPS. This is the recommended setting for this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset averages 71.9 FPS and is the most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS or higher. Low averages 90.8 FPS and is also playable, but Medium offers better visual quality while still clearing the threshold. High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS at 54.1 FPS and 52.8 FPS respectively, so they are not recommended for smooth play.