Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU/GPU combo rank for Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The combo ranks 1128th out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this title.

Q: What is the best average FPS this system achieves?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 106, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the system averages 38 FPS on High settings and 32.5 FPS on Ultra, both below the 60 FPS threshold commonly desired for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The system delivers 106 FPS on Low and 56.1 FPS on Ultra at 1920x1080, representing a 47.1% drop in average FPS when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: How does the RX 6650 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RX 6650 XT has an average benchmark score of 29024. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, scores 29011, a delta of 0%. The Intel Arc A370M scores 29175, a delta of -0.5%, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH scores 29197, a delta of -0.6%.

Q: Is this system more CPU-limited or GPU-limited at higher resolutions?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial at every setting level, while the CPU's performance characteristics remain constant across resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 2190 MHz, with an effective speed of 17.5 Gbps. The GPU's base clock is 2055 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz and a boost clock of 2635 MHz.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth directly influence how much scenery data can be processed at once. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K the demands increase significantly. The benchmark data reflects this: at 3840x2160, even the Low preset yields only 62.7 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 32.5 FPS. The GPU's pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s determine how quickly it can fill the screen with rendered terrain and aircraft details.

The GPU's shading units (2048), TMUs (128), and ROPs (64) work together to handle the complex lighting and texture work required by the flight simulator. With 32 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, the card is technically capable of advanced effects, though the measured FPS at higher settings suggests these features come at a performance cost. The FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS provides the raw compute headroom needed for the simulator's physics and rendering calculations.

The GPU sits at the 72nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 29024. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (29011, 0% delta) and the Intel Arc A370M (29175, -0.5% delta), indicating the RX 6650 XT is positioned in a competitive performance tier.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 106 FPS on Low, 81 FPS on Medium, 63.2 FPS on High, and 56.1 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, those numbers drop to 81.5, 64.3, 51.9, and 48.9 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, the system manages 62.7, 49.7, 38, and 32.5 FPS across the same settings.

The scaling pattern is consistent: each resolution step reduces FPS by roughly 20-25% across most settings. For instance, the High preset drops from 63.2 FPS at 1080p to 51.9 FPS at 1440p (a 17.9% decrease), then to 38 FPS at 4K (a 26.8% decrease from 1440p). The Low preset shows a similar trend, going from 106 to 81.5 to 62.7 FPS.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's workload in Microsoft Flight Simulator involves physics calculations and AI traffic processing, which remain constant regardless of resolution. As pixel count increases, the GPU must render more fragments and texture lookups, which directly impacts its fill rate and memory bandwidth utilization. The 8 GB VRAM and 280.3 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1080p but become strained at 4K, where the Ultra preset falls below 33 FPS.

The data indicates that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination if targeting 60 FPS, and even then only with Low or Medium settings. At 1080p, the system can achieve 60+ FPS on Medium and High presets, but Ultra falls short of that mark.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering 81 FPS while maintaining visual quality. The High preset at 63.2 FPS is also viable for smooth gameplay, but Ultra at 56.1 FPS may introduce noticeable stutter.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset provides 81.5 FPS, which is the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. Medium drops to 64.3 FPS, which is playable but close to the threshold. High (51.9 FPS) and Ultra (48.9 FPS) fall below 60 FPS and may not provide a consistently smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, all presets fall below 63 FPS. Low is the only setting that reaches 62.7 FPS, making it the sole viable option for near-60 FPS gameplay. Medium (49.7 FPS), High (38 FPS), and Ultra (32.5 FPS) all require compromises in either visual fidelity or smoothness.

For users prioritizing a stable 60 FPS experience, the data supports using Low settings at 1440p or Medium at 1080p. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate and can tolerate sub-60 FPS performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves its highest performance. Low settings produce 106 FPS average, making it the only preset that exceeds 100 FPS. Medium settings deliver 81 FPS, High settings yield 63.2 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 56.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 49.9 FPS, representing a 47.1% reduction in performance.

At 2560x1440, the performance envelope shifts downward. Low settings average 81.5 FPS, Medium settings average 64.3 FPS, High settings average 51.9 FPS, and Ultra settings average 48.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 32.6 FPS, a 40% drop.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance is significantly constrained. Low settings average 62.7 FPS, Medium settings average 49.7 FPS, High settings average 38 FPS, and Ultra settings average 32.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 30.2 FPS, a 48.2% reduction.

The data reveals that the relative performance penalty for Ultra settings remains consistent across resolutions, hovering around 40-48% compared to Low. However, the absolute FPS values at 4K mean that even Low settings barely reach 60 FPS, and any quality increase pushes the system into sub-50 FPS territory. The resolution scaling is uniform, but the starting points at 4K are too low for comfortable gameplay on any preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture (codenamed Renoir), manufactured on a 7 nm process. It features base and boost clocks of 3.70 GHz and 4.20 GHz respectively, with a 65W TDP. The CPU has 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 8 MB of shared L3 cache.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU handles world simulation, physics, AI traffic, and weather calculations. The 12 threads provide solid parallel processing capability, as reflected in benchmark scores: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 13593, while single-core reaches 1919. The PassMark multithread score of 15992 and single-thread score of 2653 further quantify its capabilities.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4 can be a factor in how quickly scenery data streams from system memory to the GPU. With 9,800 million transistors on a 156 mm² die, the Renoir APU integrates a Radeon Vega 7 iGPU alongside the CPU cores, though the discrete RX 6650 XT handles all gaming graphics.

The 4600G sits at the 75th percentile of all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17489. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12450H (17475, 0.1% delta). The Intel Core i3-14100T scores 17636 (-0.8% delta) and the Core i3-13100F scores 17665 (-1% delta).

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p Low settings, where 106 FPS suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck at that resolution. However, the 3DMark scores show a significant gap between single-thread (726) and multi-thread (4863) performance, indicating that the CPU scales well with thread utilization. The flight simulator's single-threaded components may limit performance in complex scenes, but the 12 threads provide headroom for the game's multi-threaded systems.