Microsoft Flight Simulator

The pairing of AMD’s Ryzen 5 2600 with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090 creates a stark contrast in capability, and the benchmark data for Microsoft Flight Simulator reflects that imbalance. Measured results place this specific combo at rank 412 out of 1,795 tested combinations, which puts it in the top quarter of all systems but leaves significant performance on the table given the GPU’s potential.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 412 out of 1,795 represents a solid, above-average standing, yet it is not the dominant position one might expect from a flagship GPU. The Ryzen 5 2600, a 2018-era six-core processor, acts as the limiting factor here. Its average benchmark score of 19,616 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable for its age but far from the top tier. In contrast, the RTX 4090 holds a 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473.

The delta between the CPU and GPU performance tiers is telling. The Ryzen 5 2600’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks 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 are all modern or near-modern parts, and the 2600 holds its own within a single percentage point of each. However, none of these rivals are high-end desktop chips, underscoring that the 2600 sits in the mid-range bracket.

For the GPU, the RTX 4090’s nearest rivals are professional or workstation cards: the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (0.4% faster), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (0.5% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (0.9% faster), and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (1.3% faster). These comparisons show the 4090’s consumer-focused design still trades blows with enterprise hardware, but in a flight simulator that leans heavily on single-threaded CPU performance, the 2600’s age becomes the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 brings massive resources to the table, which are only partially utilized in this pairing. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The memory clock is 1,313 MHz, with an effective data rate of 21 Gbps. These specifications allow the GPU to handle high-resolution textures and complex scenery without memory pressure, even at 4K.

The GPU’s core clocks are equally strong: a base clock of 2,235 MHz and a boost clock of 2,520 MHz. With 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units, the 4090 is built for raw throughput. Its FP32 performance is 82.58 TFLOPS, and it includes 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores, which are relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s rendering features.

However, the benchmark data shows that the GPU’s role is constrained by the CPU in this combo. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 118, but at 4K with Ultra settings, it drops to 76.9. The GPU is clearly capable of higher frame rates, but the Ryzen 5 2600’s single-thread performance, measured at 1,579 in Cinebench R23, becomes the ceiling for frame generation in a simulation that updates the flight model and scenery in real time.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the balance shifts across resolutions. At 1080p, the combo delivers strong numbers: 118 FPS on Low, 110.5 on Medium, 98.7 on High, and 94.7 on Ultra. These figures show a relatively modest drop from Low to Ultra, about 19.7%, which suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at this resolution. The GPU has ample headroom, but the processor cannot feed it frames fast enough to push higher.

Moving to 1440p, the FPS decreases across the board: 112 on Low, 100.7 on Medium, 92.3 on High, and 90.2 on Ultra. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is 5.1%, which is modest, indicating that the GPU is still not fully taxed. At 4K, the scaling becomes more pronounced: 99.2 on Low, 87.4 on Medium, 78.3 on High, and 76.9 on Ultra. The reduction from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 15.9%, showing that the GPU starts to take on more of the load at higher resolutions.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p and 1440p, the Ryzen 5 2600 is the bottleneck, as evidenced by the small FPS deltas between Low and Ultra settings. At 4K, the RTX 4090 begins to dominate the workload, but even then, the CPU still holds back the top-end potential. The 4K Ultra result of 76.9 FPS is playable, but it is not the 100+ FPS the GPU could deliver with a stronger processor.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows suggest that the best experience depends heavily on resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 118 FPS, but the jump to Medium only costs 7.5 FPS (110.5), while High drops to 98.7 and Ultra to 94.7. For a flight simulator, where visual detail matters for situational awareness, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a strong balance of smoothness and fidelity.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 100.7 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 1080p High result. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 90.2 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High at 92.3 FPS. The data suggests that High at 1440p is the sweet spot, as it maintains above 90 FPS while providing most of the visual enhancements.

At 4K, the situation changes. The Low preset hits 99.2 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 87.4, High to 78.3, and Ultra to 76.9. Given that the GPU is more involved at this resolution, the High preset at 78.3 FPS is a reasonable choice for visual quality, but the Low preset at 99.2 FPS offers a much smoother experience. For players prioritizing frame rate at 4K, Low is the recommended setting; for those wanting better detail, High is the highest preset that stays above 75 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

A resolution-by-resolution breakdown of the exact numbers shows the full picture. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 118 FPS, Medium averages 110.5 FPS, High averages 98.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 94.7 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 23.3 FPS, which is a 19.7% reduction.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 112 FPS, Medium averages 100.7 FPS, High averages 92.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 90.2 FPS. The spread here is 21.8 FPS, a 19.5% reduction, very similar to the 1080p pattern. This consistency indicates that the CPU is still the dominant constraint at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 99.2 FPS, Medium averages 87.4 FPS, High averages 78.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 76.9 FPS. The spread widens to 22.3 FPS, but the percentage reduction is 22.5%, slightly higher than at lower resolutions. This suggests the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload, though the absolute FPS numbers are still lower than what the RTX 4090 could achieve with a faster CPU.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low settings always produce the highest FPS, and Ultra always the lowest. The largest single drop occurs between Medium and High at 4K, where FPS falls from 87.4 to 78.3, a 10.4% reduction. The smallest drop is between High and Ultra at 4K, from 78.3 to 76.9, a 1.8% reduction, indicating that Ultra adds little over High at this resolution. The data confirms that the Ryzen 5 2600 is the limiting factor, and the RTX 4090’s full capabilities are not realized in this configuration.