Microsoft Flight Simulator

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65W TDP. This CPU features a 32 MB shared L3 cache, along with 512 KB L2 cache per core and 64 KB L1 cache per core. The 7nm process node from TSMC packs 4,150 million transistors into a 74 mm² die.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 5600 shows strong single-thread performance, scoring 882 in 3DMark single-thread and 2,584 in Cinebench R23 single-core. Multi-threaded results are also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18,309 and a 3DMark max-threads score of 5,659. The CPU sits at the 74th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20,468.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant. The game's flight dynamics, weather simulation, and autopilot logic rely heavily on single-core throughput. The Ryzen 5 5600's boost clock of 4.40 GHz helps keep these simulation threads fed. The 12 threads provide enough parallelism for background tasks like terrain streaming and AI traffic, but the game's core simulation loop benefits most from the high IPC of the Zen 3 architecture.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20,454, 0.1% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (20,425, 0.2% ahead), and the AMD EPYC 9454P (20,422, 0.2% ahead). The Ryzen 5 5600 trails the AMD EPYC 7713 by 0.5% (20,363). These are extremely tight margins, indicating that the CPU is well within the performance envelope of its direct competitors despite being an older design.

In this game specifically, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame pacing floor. When the GPU is not the bottleneck, the Ryzen 5 5600's ability to sustain high clocks on one or two threads matters most. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 111 FPS on average, which suggests the CPU can push well beyond 100 FPS when the GPU workload is light. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 37 FPS, indicating the CPU is not the primary limiter at higher resolutions — the GPU takes over as the constraint.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, fabricated on a 4nm process from TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. Memory runs at 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective.

With 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, the RX 9060 delivers 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. It also has 28 ray tracing cores. The GPU's pixel rate is 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate is 334.9 GTexel/s. The card runs at a 132W TDP and requires a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested 300W power supply. It uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 9060 scores 33,22 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 88,183 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 39,476 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark G3D score is 17,631. The GPU sits at the 59th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16,014.

The nearest rivals for the RX 9060 include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129, 0.7% higher), the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862, 1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15,852, 1% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, 2.1% lower). The RX 9060 effectively trades blows with the RTX 3060 Ti, which is a meaningful data point for this game.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor. The game streams high-resolution textures for terrain, aircraft, and scenery. At 1080p and 1440p, 8 GB is generally sufficient for High and Ultra settings, as the FPS data shows. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 37, which could be influenced by VRAM pressure alongside raw compute limits. The 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is also relevant here — the game's constant asset streaming demands high bandwidth to avoid stutter.

The boost clock of 2990 MHz helps maintain performance in GPU-bound scenarios. The data shows the GPU can push 66 FPS at 4K Low, indicating solid raw throughput when texture and shading loads are reasonable. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution demonstrates how the game scales with GPU workload.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend across resolutions. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo averages 111 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, FPS drops to 89, a 19.8% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, FPS falls to 66, a 40.5% reduction from 1080p. These drops are substantial but not linear — they suggest the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU maintains its ability to feed frames.

For Medium settings, the pattern is similar: 86 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p (19.8% drop), and 51 FPS at 4K (40.7% drop from 1080p). The consistent percentage drops across Low and Medium indicate that the scaling behavior is predictable — resolution is the dominant variable, and the CPU is not introducing a bottleneck at these settings.

High settings show a slightly different picture: 65 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p (20% drop), and 39 FPS at 4K (40% drop). Ultra settings follow with 62 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p (19.4% drop), and 37 FPS at 4K (40.3% drop). The uniformity of these percentage drops — all hovering around 20% for 1080p to 1440p and 40% for 1080p to 4K — suggests a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

This scaling behavior indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600 is not the primary limiting component at 1440p or 4K. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would plateau or drop less significantly as resolution increases. Instead, the proportional drops point to the GPU as the constraint. At 1080p Low, the 111 FPS result shows the CPU can deliver high frame rates when the GPU load is minimal. The game is inherently GPU-intensive at higher resolutions, and the RX 9060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become increasingly stressed as pixel count grows.

The min FPS data available for Medium settings reinforces this: at 1080p Medium, min FPS is 73; at 1440p Medium, it drops to 59; at 4K Medium, it falls to 44. The min FPS degradation mirrors the average FPS trend, confirming that frame pacing remains stable and the bottleneck shifts consistently toward the GPU.

# FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 strong enough for Microsoft Flight Simulator at 1080p?

A: Yes. The data shows 111 FPS at 1080p Low and 65 FPS at 1080p High, indicating the CPU can maintain high frame rates when the GPU is not heavily loaded. The 4.40 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance (882 in 3DMark single-thread) support the game's simulation-heavy workload.

Q: Can the Radeon RX 9060 handle 4K in this game?

A: It depends on settings. At 4K Low, the combo averages 66 FPS, which is playable. At 4K High, it drops to 39 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 37 FPS. For smooth 4K gameplay, users would need to stick to Low or Medium settings, as the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus limit higher preset performance.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score is 16,014, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16,129 — a 0.7% difference. This puts them in the same performance class, though the RX 9060 has newer architecture (RDNA 4.0) and a higher boost clock (2990 MHz vs. the RTX 3060 Ti's unspecified boost in this data).

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: 1440p Medium appears to be a sweet spot, with an average of 69 FPS and a minimum of 59 FPS. This provides a solid balance between visual quality and smoothness. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 62 FPS, which is also playable but offers less visual fidelity improvement over Medium.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data does not show a CPU bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as FPS drops proportionally with resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the 111 FPS average suggests the CPU can push beyond the GPU's limits, but this is not a problematic scenario — it simply means the GPU is the limiting factor in most gaming situations.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1,712 out of 2,996 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the pack. This is consistent with the CPU's 74th percentile ranking and the GPU's 59th percentile ranking among their respective component categories.

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 1,712th out of 2,996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos — slightly above the median but not in the upper echelon.

This ranking makes sense when considering the individual components. The CPU sits at the 74th percentile among all CPUs, showing it is a solid mid-range performer. The GPU, however, sits at the 59th percentile among GPUs, pulling the combo down somewhat. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity and 128-bit memory bus are modest by modern standards, which limits performance in a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator that benefits from large texture pools and high bandwidth.

The combo's rank of 1,712 suggests that many faster combinations exist, particularly those with higher-end GPUs. However, the data also indicates that this combo is not a poor performer — it delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across most settings. The 1,712th rank out of 2,996 represents a mid-pack position that is typical for a mid-range CPU paired with a mid-range GPU.

In the context of the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 9060's performance is comparable to the RTX 3060 Ti (0.7% difference) and slightly ahead of the Radeon RX 7700 (1% difference). This suggests that combos using the RX 9060 would rank similarly to those using these GPUs, assuming the same CPU and other components.

The CPU's nearest rivals also perform within 0.5% of each other, meaning the Ryzen 5 5600 is not a differentiating factor in most cases. The combo's rank is therefore largely determined by the GPU's performance class rather than the CPU's capabilities.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 covers three resolutions and four settings levels each, providing a comprehensive picture of performance.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average 111 FPS
• Medium: Average 86 FPS, minimum 73 FPS, maximum 99 FPS
• High: Average 65 FPS
• Ultra: Average 62 FPS

At 1080p, the combo delivers strong performance. Low settings achieve over 110 FPS, which is excellent for a flight simulator. Medium settings maintain a solid 86 FPS average with a minimum of 73 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay. High and Ultra settings both remain above 60 FPS, with averages of 65 FPS and 62 FPS respectively, making 1080p Ultra a viable option for most players.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average 89 FPS
• Medium: Average 69 FPS, minimum 59 FPS, maximum 80 FPS
• High: Average 52 FPS
• Ultra: Average 50 FPS

At 1440p, performance remains playable but requires more careful settings selection. Low settings still achieve 89 FPS, which is smooth. Medium settings provide a 69 FPS average with a minimum of 59 FPS, which is acceptable for most players. High and Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS and 50 FPS respectively, which may be playable but could experience occasional stutters during dense scenery or complex weather.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average 66 FPS
• Medium: Average 51 FPS, minimum 44 FPS, maximum 59 FPS
• High: Average 39 FPS
• Ultra: Average 37 FPS

At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings achieve 66 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings drop to a 51 FPS average with a minimum of 44 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. High and Ultra settings fall to 39 FPS and 37 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS target and may feel sluggish, particularly during takeoff or landing sequences with heavy scenery load.

The FPS data reveals that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K only viable at Low or Medium settings. The 8 GB VRAM on the RX 9060 is likely a contributing factor to the steep performance drop at 4K Ultra, as the game attempts to load high-resolution textures that exceed available memory. For the best experience, players should target 1080p Ultra or 1440p Medium, both of which provide smooth frame rates with good visual quality.