Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents an unusually demanding workload that stresses both the CPU and GPU in distinct ways. The data for the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination reveals a system that is capable of smooth flight at lower settings but quickly becomes constrained as visual fidelity increases. The measured frames per second (FPS) across three resolutions and four quality presets tell a clear story about where this pairing's limits lie, and what kind of experience users can realistically expect.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is telling. At the Low preset, the system delivers 98.9 FPS at 1080p, drops to 82.8 FPS at 1440p, and then falls to 60.7 FPS at 4K. That is a 38.2 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, a substantial reduction of roughly 39%. This scaling pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is being pushed harder as pixel count rises, but the CPU is still able to feed it enough data to maintain a playable frame rate. The fact that 4K Low still holds above 60 FPS suggests the processor is not the primary bottleneck in this low-detail scenario.

Moving to the High preset reveals a different dynamic. The frame rate goes from 57.3 FPS at 1080p to 47.7 FPS at 1440p, and then down to 36.2 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is about 37%, similar to the Low preset, but the absolute numbers are much lower. The 4K High result of 36.2 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider smooth, and it suggests that the GPU is now the limiting factor. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely being saturated by the high-resolution textures and complex shaders.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest curve. At 1080p, the system manages 59.1 FPS, which is respectable. However, at 1440p it drops to 42.7 FPS, and at 4K it plummets to 30.4 FPS. The scaling here is harsh, with the 4K result being roughly half of the 1080p result. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel workload at Ultra settings overwhelms the graphics card. The data implies that this combination is not designed for 4K Ultra gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator; the GPU simply does not have enough raw throughput to handle the extreme geometry and lighting calculations.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded at 1920x1080 is 98.9 FPS, which occurs at the Low preset. This is a strong result, indicating the system can handle light loads with ease.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: No. At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 47.7. To reach a 60 FPS average at 1440p, the user must drop to the Medium preset, which delivers 60.5 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: It is only viable at the Low preset, where the average FPS is 60.7. At Medium, the average drops to 47.9 FPS, and at High it falls to 36.2 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K yields a 30.4 FPS average, which is likely too choppy for a smooth experience.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 scores 1579 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 11186 in multi-core. This shows a strong multi-threaded capability, but the single-core score is modest, which can impact games that rely heavily on one or two threads.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for many games but can be a limiting factor at high resolutions and settings in Flight Simulator.

Q: Where does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 1277 out of 1795 total combos tested for this game. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, indicating that while it is not a top-tier setup, it is far from the weakest.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture card built on a 12 nm process, with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, running at 14 Gbps effective, provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, this memory configuration is critical. The game streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data, and the 256-bit bus must keep up with the demand. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 30.4, which is the lowest measured. This suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being pushed to their absolute limits, and the 8 GB frame buffer may be causing texture swapping or reduced draw distances.

The GPU's raw compute power is rated at 7.181 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This is a modest figure by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect this. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 59.1 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target, but the margin is thin. The card's 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs are responsible for pixel and texture processing, and the data implies that at 1440p and above, these units become the bottleneck. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 further underscores that the GPU is not a high-end performer, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (with a 0.3% higher average score), the RTX 2070 (0.5% higher), the Quadro K5200 (0.8% higher), and the Tesla K40m (1.3% higher). This shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in a tight performance cluster, meaning that users should not expect dramatic gains from similar-tier cards. For Flight Simulator, the practical takeaway is that the GPU is the primary limiter at high settings, and users must compromise on resolution or preset to achieve smooth frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 98.9 FPS, which is the highest score across all tests. The Medium preset yields 78 FPS, High drops to 57.3 FPS, and Ultra manages 59.1 FPS. Interestingly, the Ultra preset at 1080p performs slightly better than High, which is likely due to the specific optimizations in the game engine or the way the GPU allocates resources. The 1080p results show that the system is capable of excellent performance at lower settings, and even Ultra is playable.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 82.8 FPS, Medium delivers 60.5 FPS, High falls to 47.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42.7 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 16 FPS at Low, 17.5 FPS at Medium, 9.6 FPS at High, and 16.4 FPS at Ultra. The High and Ultra presets are now below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain smooth frame rates at this resolution. The Medium preset is the only one that stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 60.7 FPS, which is just above the playable threshold. The Medium preset drops to 47.9 FPS, High to 36.2 FPS, and Ultra to 30.4 FPS. The data shows a clear and consistent decline as settings increase, with the 4K Ultra result being one of the lowest across the entire dataset. This confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is not suited for 4K gaming in this title, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for a better experience.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 1277 out of 1795 total tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 71st percentile of all configurations, meaning that roughly 29% of tested systems perform worse. While this may sound like a decent position, it is important to contextualize the rank. The combo is in the lower half of the top 50% of systems, indicating that there is significant headroom for improvement with a better GPU or CPU. The rank is a measure of the overall gaming experience, and the data suggests that this pairing is adequate for casual play but not for enthusiast-level settings.

The CPU itself has a percentile of 77 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19616. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-1345U (0.4% faster), the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (0.6% slower), the Intel Core i5-11600KF (0.6% faster), and the Intel Core i7-10700F (0.7% slower). These deltas are minuscule, showing that the Ryzen 5 2600 is positioned in a very competitive mid-range segment. However, for a game like Flight Simulator, which is known to be CPU-intensive, the 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 3.40 GHz base clock and 3.90 GHz boost clock may be a limiting factor in certain scenarios, particularly when flying over dense urban areas.

The GPU's percentile of 63 versus all GPUs is lower than the CPU's percentile, reinforcing the idea that the graphics card is the weaker link in this pairing. The RTX 2060 SUPER's nearest rivals are all within 1.3% of its average score, which shows that it is a well-established mid-range card. In the context of the combo rank, the data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield a larger performance boost in Flight Simulator than upgrading the CPU, as the GPU is more likely to be the bottleneck at higher settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen+ architecture, codenamed Pinnacle Ridge. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing 46.9 GB/s of bandwidth. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle the simulation logic, including flight physics, weather systems, and AI traffic. The game is known to be heavily single-threaded in certain aspects, and the Ryzen 5 2600's single-core score of 1579 in Cinebench R23 is modest. This suggests that the CPU may struggle to keep up with the game's simulation thread, particularly when the GPU is not the limiting factor.

The multi-core score of 11186 shows that the CPU is capable of handling parallel workloads, but the game does not always utilize all 12 threads effectively. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 98.9 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound at this point. The fact that the frame rate does not increase significantly when lowering resolution from 1080p to lower settings implies that the CPU is the limiting factor at low GPU loads. The CPU's 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB per-core L2 cache are sufficient for general workloads, but the game's large world streaming may require more cache to avoid stutter.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 19616 places it in the 77th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.7% of its performance. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 2600 is a solid mid-range processor, but it does not have the single-threaded horsepower of newer or higher-end CPUs. For Flight Simulator, the data suggests that while the CPU can handle the game at lower settings, it may become a limiting factor when paired with a more powerful GPU. The combination's rank of 1277 out of 1795 reflects this balanced but not exceptional performance.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends heavily on the user's resolution and their tolerance for frame rate drops. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 59.1 FPS, which is just shy of 60 FPS. This is the highest visual quality achievable with a smooth frame rate, making it the recommended setting for 1080p users who prioritize visual fidelity. The High preset at 57.3 FPS is also viable, but the slight drop in quality is not worth the 1.8 FPS gain. The Medium preset at 78 FPS offers a significant performance headroom, which can be useful for users who want to ensure stability over dense areas. The Low preset at 98.9 FPS is overkill for most users, but it is there for those who want maximum frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the clear winner, delivering 60.5 FPS. This is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS at this resolution. The High preset at 47.7 FPS is playable but may feel less smooth, and the Ultra preset at 42.7 FPS is borderline. For 1440p users, the Medium preset strikes the best balance between visual quality and performance. The Low preset at 82.8 FPS is also an option for those who want to maximize frame rates, but the visual compromise may be too significant.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one that achieves a playable frame rate, at 60.7 FPS. The Medium preset at 47.9 FPS is below 60 FPS and may be acceptable for some, but the High and Ultra presets are not recommended as they drop to 36.2 FPS and 30.4 FPS, respectively. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only realistic option, and even then, the experience may not be stable in all scenarios. The data overwhelmingly suggests that this hardware combination is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p Medium as a secondary option.