Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a robust experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with benchmark results indicating a system that scales predictably across resolutions and settings. The data shows this combination ranks 401st out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the top quarter of all configurations. This pairing of a 6-core Zen 2 processor with an Ada Lovelace GPU demonstrates where the bottlenecks lie, revealing a system that is capable of high refresh rates at lower resolutions and remains playable at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and expected performance gradient as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 106.6 FPS at 1080p to 86.4 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 60.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a substantial 43% performance hit when moving from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is a 19% reduction, while the step from 1440p to 4K is a further 30% reduction, showing that the most demanding transition is the jump to 4K.

This scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system is not purely GPU-limited. The 135.6 FPS at Low settings on 1080p versus the 106.6 FPS at High shows a 27% difference, which is less than the 43% drop seen at 4K between those same settings. The data implies that at lower resolutions, the CPU’s capability to feed the GPU becomes a more significant factor, preventing the frame rate from scaling linearly with the reduced pixel workload. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting component, as the frame rate compression between settings is much tighter, with only a 44% difference between Low and Ultra, compared to a 25% difference at 1080p.

The results indicate that for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, the system can exceed 100 FPS on most presets, but the CPU’s Zen 2 architecture appears to cap the absolute maximum. At 1440p, the system finds a balance, delivering 86.4 FPS on High and 80.8 FPS on Ultra, which are both excellent for a flight simulator. The 4K results, while playable, show a system that is firmly GPU-bound, with the RTX 4070 SUPER’s compute capabilities being the primary driver of performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component at higher resolutions, and its specifications underscore its capability. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for the high-resolution textures and complex geometry found in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and the benchmark data confirms that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains a playable 59.5 FPS average.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also noteworthy, with a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. These high clocks, combined with 7168 shading units, allow the card to process the vast amount of visual data required for flight simulation. The data shows that at 4K, the difference between Low and Medium settings is a 22% increase in frame rate (from 83.8 to 106.7 FPS), indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to handle medium workloads efficiently. However, the jump from Medium to High and then to Ultra shows diminishing returns, with the High preset at 60.3 FPS and Ultra at 59.5 FPS, suggesting that the most demanding settings are pushing the GPU to its limits.

The GPU’s performance relative to its rivals, as indicated by its average benchmark score of 42576, places it just 0.2% below the NVIDIA RTX A6000 and 0.3% below the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE. This close grouping in synthetic benchmarks does not directly translate to game performance, but it suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER is a high-tier competitor. In this specific game, the GPU’s role becomes more pronounced at 4K, where the system’s frame rate is primarily determined by the graphics card’s ability to render pixels, rather than the CPU’s ability to calculate game logic.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 4070 SUPER achieves a rank of 401 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 78th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong result, indicating that the system outperforms the vast majority of tested pairings. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is not the newest or most powerful, its 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep the RTX 4070 SUPER well-fed in this simulation title.

The data shows that the CPU’s average benchmark score of 18129 is nearly identical to its closest rivals, with the Intel Core i5-11400 scoring 18150 (a -0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 scoring 18158 (a -0.2% delta). This indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 is a solid mid-range performer, and its pairing with a high-end GPU does not create a significant bottleneck that would drag the combo ranking down. The GPU’s percentile rank of 84 versus the CPU’s percentile rank of 76 suggests that the graphics card is the stronger component, but the system still achieves a high overall rank due to the balanced nature of the pairing.

The 401st rank out of 1795 combos is particularly impressive when considering that many other configurations likely feature more modern CPUs. The fact that this older 3000-series processor can still hold its own in a demanding simulation title indicates that Microsoft Flight Simulator is not entirely CPU-bound, and that the GPU plays a more significant role in overall performance. This ranking implies that users with this combination can expect a smooth experience at high settings without needing to upgrade their processor immediately.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this system depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 101 FPS, which is only 5% lower than the High preset’s 106.6 FPS. Given the small performance gap, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice for 1080p users, as it provides the best visual fidelity without a significant frame rate penalty. The Low preset at 135.6 FPS is only useful for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, but the visual quality loss is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 86.4 FPS offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, but the Ultra preset at 80.8 FPS is still highly playable. The data shows a 7% difference between these two presets, making Ultra a viable option for users who prioritize image quality. The Medium preset at 111.3 FPS is also an excellent choice for those who want a higher frame rate buffer, but the visual downgrade from High is noticeable in a game that relies heavily on scenery detail.

For 3840x2160, the recommendations change. The High preset at 60.3 FPS and Ultra at 59.5 FPS are both essentially at the threshold of smooth gameplay, with the difference being negligible. The Medium preset at 83.8 FPS provides a much more comfortable margin and is the recommended setting for 4K users who want to avoid any potential frame rate dips. The Low preset at 106.7 FPS is available for those who prefer a smoother experience, but the visual compromise is significant for a simulation game. The data clearly indicates that 4K Ultra is only for users who accept a 60 FPS cap, while Medium is the sweet spot for playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a detailed view of performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 135.6 FPS on Low, 125.8 FPS on Medium, 106.6 FPS on High, and 101 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 26% reduction in frame rate, with the largest single drop occurring between Medium and High at 15%. This indicates that the High preset introduces significant visual effects that impact performance more than the jump from Low to Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scores are 126.6 FPS on Low, 111.3 FPS on Medium, 86.4 FPS on High, and 80.8 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Medium and High widens to 22%, suggesting that the GPU is starting to feel the pressure of higher pixel counts when more complex shading is enabled. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to 7%, showing that the Ultra preset’s additional features are relatively lightweight on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the results are 106.7 FPS on Low, 83.8 FPS on Medium, 60.3 FPS on High, and 59.5 FPS on Ultra. The scaling here is more linear, with a 21% drop from Low to Medium and a 28% drop from Medium to High. The negligible difference between High and Ultra (1.3%) indicates that the system is fully GPU-bound at this resolution, and that the Ultra preset’s effects are not adding significant rendering cost. This data confirms that 4K is where the RTX 4070 SUPER’s limits are reached, and that users must make a trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 2 architecture, plays a crucial role in this system’s performance. With a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, the processor provides adequate single-thread performance for a game that relies heavily on simulation logic. The CPU’s benchmark scores show a single-thread performance of 696 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 4603 in the max-threads test, indicating that it has enough headroom for the game’s physics and AI calculations.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the frame rate scaling from 1440p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior. However, at 1080p, the CPU’s limitations become more apparent. The maximum frame rate of 135.6 FPS on Low settings suggests that the CPU may be capping the system’s absolute performance, as the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates in other titles. The 12 threads are likely sufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s multi-threaded rendering pipeline, but the Zen 2 architecture’s lower IPC compared to newer designs may limit the minimum frame rates in complex scenarios.

The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is nearly identical, with a -0.1% delta compared to the Intel Core i5-11400 and a 0.2% delta compared to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 is not a weak link in this pairing. The fact that the system ranks in the 78th percentile of all combos, despite the CPU being several generations old, suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER is doing most of the heavy lifting, and that the CPU is sufficient to avoid major performance penalties. For users with this combination, the data implies that upgrading the CPU would yield minimal gains at 4K, but could provide a noticeable boost at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this system to achieve 60+ FPS on High settings?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440 with High settings, the system achieves 86.4 FPS, while at 3840x2160 with High settings it achieves 60.3 FPS. Both resolutions meet the 60 FPS threshold on High settings.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset?

A: The measured scores are 101 FPS at 1920x1080 and 59.5 FPS at 3840x2160 on Ultra settings. This represents a 41% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes, the data indicates this. At 4K, the difference between High and Ultra settings is only 1.3% (60.3 vs 59.5 FPS), which suggests the GPU is fully saturated and cannot render additional effects without significant frame rate loss.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i5-11400?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18129, while the Intel Core i5-11400 scores 18150. This is a delta of -0.1%, meaning the two processors are virtually identical in overall performance.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded for this system?

A: The highest average frame rate in the dataset is 135.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K on all presets?

A: Yes, all 4K presets achieve an average of 59.5 FPS or higher. The lowest score is 59.5 FPS on Ultra, while the Medium preset achieves 83.8 FPS, providing a comfortable buffer above 60 FPS.