Microsoft Flight Simulator

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER in Microsoft Flight Simulator produces a fascinating bottleneck study. The data shows a classic CPU-limited scenario at lower resolutions, where the GPU’s immense power is held back by the processor’s Zen 2 architecture, while 4K Ultra settings finally allow the graphics card to stretch its legs. This combination ranks 270th out of 1,795 tested configurations for this specific title, placing it in the top 15% of all pairings, yet the performance deltas between settings reveal a system that is rarely fully balanced.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 10,240 shading units, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory runs across a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU clocks in at a base of 2,295 MHz and boosts to 2,550 MHz, with memory operating at 23 Gbps effective. These specifications place the card at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,610.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution climbs. At 4K Ultra settings, the card averages 65.8 FPS, a figure that reflects the immense pixel-pushing demands of the flight simulator’s terrain rendering. The 16 GB frame buffer proves sufficient for the game’s high-resolution textures, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from Medium to High settings at 4K, where frame rates drop from 96.1 to 69.8 FPS. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores fractionally lower with a delta of 0.2%, and the Radeon Pro W6600M at 0.4% behind. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9%, showing the 4080 SUPER holds a meaningful lead in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU’s raw compute capabilities—52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance—are clearly taxed at 4K, where the difference between Low and Ultra settings represents a 54.2 FPS swing. This demonstrates that the card’s architecture is being fully utilized at the highest resolution, whereas at 1080p, the processor becomes the limiting factor.

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

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this pairing?

A: The data shows 1440p Medium yields 120.2 FPS, while 1440p High drops to 98.2 FPS. For a balance of visual fidelity and performance, 1440p High at 98.2 FPS is the strongest choice, as it stays above 60 FPS while providing significantly better detail than Medium.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest rival in synthetic tests?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 53,610 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT’s 53,489. Against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, the 4080 SUPER leads by 2.9%, with the latter scoring 52,086.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 4600G a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: Yes, particularly at 1080p. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13,593 and single-core score of 1,919 indicate modest performance. At 1080p Low, the system only achieves 141.3 FPS, which is just 21% higher than 4K Low’s 120 FPS, suggesting the CPU limits frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, Low settings average 120 FPS, while Ultra drops to 65.8 FPS. This represents a 54.2 FPS reduction, or a 45% performance loss, demonstrating the GPU’s sensitivity to settings at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark score rank against other processors?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G sits at the 75th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,489. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE, scores 17,482, a negligible 0% delta, while the Intel Core i3-13100F is 1% slower.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB VRAM cause any issues in this game?

A: The measured data shows no VRAM-related stutters or anomalies. At 4K Ultra, the card maintains 65.8 FPS, and the 736.3 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for the game’s streaming requirements, as frame rates scale consistently with settings.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 (Renoir) architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 8 MB of shared L3 cache, with 64 KB of L1 and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. Its memory controller supports DDR4 in dual-channel mode, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p, where the GPU is not fully taxed. The 1080p Low average of 141.3 FPS represents the system’s ceiling, and it is telling that 1440p Low achieves 127.6 FPS—a mere 13.7 FPS drop despite a 1.77x increase in pixel count. This suggests the CPU’s single-thread performance, measured at 1,919 in Cinebench R23, limits frame generation. The processor’s 3DMark single-thread score of 726 and 2-thread score of 1,430 corroborate this, showing modest per-core capabilities.

The CPU’s benchmark percentile of 75 places it above average, but its nearest rivals—the Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE and Core i5-12450H—are within 0.1% in average score. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 116.2 FPS, which is only 25.1 FPS below 1080p Low. This narrow 18% spread across settings at the same resolution indicates that the CPU, not the GPU, is the primary constraint at 1080p. The 12 threads handle the game’s simulation logic adequately, but the 4.20 GHz boost ceiling prevents higher frame rates.

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

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates but with notable settings sensitivity. Low settings average 141.3 FPS, Medium drops to 128.7 FPS, High yields 113.7 FPS, and Ultra delivers 116.2 FPS. The anomaly of Ultra outperforming High by 2.5 FPS suggests a driver-level optimization or scene variance, but the general trend shows a 24.6 FPS gap between Low and Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates compress as the GPU begins to take on more work. Low settings average 127.6 FPS, Medium achieves 120.2 FPS, High holds 98.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 91.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 35.7 FPS, a wider spread than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is now contributing more to the performance equation.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully engaged, and settings have the largest impact. Low averages 120 FPS, Medium drops to 96.1 FPS, High falls to 69.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 65.8 FPS. The 54.2 FPS difference between Low and Ultra is the largest of any resolution, proving that 4K is where the RTX 4080 SUPER’s capabilities are truly tested.

The data reveals an interesting pattern: at 1080p, the frame rate ceiling is around 141 FPS regardless of settings, while at 4K, the ceiling is 120 FPS on Low. This shows that even the RTX 4080 SUPER cannot brute-force 4K Ultra past 66 FPS, but it also highlights that the CPU prevents 1080p from exceeding 142 FPS.

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

Examining the scaling from 1080p to 4K, the data reveals which component dominates at each resolution. On Low settings, the system drops from 141.3 FPS at 1080p to 120 FPS at 4K—a mere 15% reduction despite a 4x increase in pixel count. This shallow decline is the hallmark of a CPU-bound configuration, as the processor simply cannot feed the GPU enough frames at 1080p to make use of its full potential.

On Medium settings, the scaling is steeper: 128.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 96.1 FPS at 4K, a 25% drop. This suggests the GPU is beginning to contribute more, but the CPU still holds some sway. At High settings, the trend continues: 113.7 FPS at 1080p becomes 69.8 FPS at 4K, a 39% reduction. The gap widens because the GPU is now doing significantly more work per frame.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling: 116.2 FPS at 1080p drops to 65.8 FPS at 4K, a 43% decrease. This steep curve indicates that at Ultra quality, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting factor, as the CPU’s 116.2 FPS ceiling at 1080p is high enough to keep up with the GPU’s 65.8 FPS output at 4K.

The crossover point occurs between 1440p and 4K. At 1440p Ultra, the system produces 91.9 FPS, which is 26.1 FPS higher than 4K Ultra. This difference shows that the GPU is being progressively more taxed as resolution climbs, while the CPU’s influence wanes. The data conclusively shows that for this pairing, 1440p is the sweet spot where neither component is severely bottlenecked, while 1080p leaves GPU performance on the table and 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits.