Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a deeply GPU-bound experience at higher resolutions, but the data reveals a significant CPU bottleneck emerging at 1080p. The combination ranks 68th out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the top 4% of all configurations. While the RTX 5090 delivers exceptional raw performance, the Ryzen 5 5600's six Zen 3 cores limit frame rates in lighter settings, creating a scenario where the GPU's immense power is not fully utilized at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved with this combo?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 169.5, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is closely followed by 162.4 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 155.3 FPS at 1920x1080 Medium.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 21765, which is 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (21635) and 0.9% higher than the Intel Core i7-11700F (21957). It sits nearly equal to the AMD EPYC 9554P, which scores 21899, a 0.6% difference.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile and how does it rank against similar GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 84306 is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, while trailing the NVIDIA CMP 40HX by 1.6%.

Q: Is there a significant performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 139.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 80.1 FPS. This represents a performance reduction of roughly 42% when moving from the lowest to the highest visual quality.

Q: Does the CPU's single-threaded performance bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests a bottleneck at 1080p. The 3DMark single-thread score is 882, and the difference between Low (169.5 FPS) and Ultra (132.2 FPS) at this resolution is only 37.3 FPS, which is smaller than the 59 FPS gap observed at 4K between the same settings.

Q: What are the core specifications of the CPU and GPU in this combo?

A: The CPU is a 6-core, 12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 5600 with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, a base clock of 2017 MHz, and a boost clock of 2407 MHz.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the high frame rates observed. The GPU's massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for the high-resolution textures and complex geometry that Microsoft Flight Simulator demands. At 4K, the GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the primary driver of performance, as evidenced by the significant drop in FPS when raising settings.

The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and 21760 shading units allow it to process the vast amount of scenery data efficiently. The benchmark results show that at 3840x2160, the GPU is the limiting factor: the difference between Low (139.1 FPS) and Ultra (80.1 FPS) is 59 FPS, a 42% reduction. This scaling is classic GPU-bound behavior, where the rendering workload increases with settings, directly impacting the frame rate. The RTX 5090's 94th percentile ranking and its performance edge over rivals like the RTX 5090 D (0.1% higher avg score) reinforce its position as a top-tier card, but even its power is constrained by the CPU at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a clear shift in bottleneck. At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully engaged, and the frame rate is highly sensitive to settings. Moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 132.2 to 80.1, a 39% reduction. This indicates that the GPU's workload is scaling with pixel count, as expected.

However, at 1920x1080, the scaling pattern changes. The difference between Low (169.5 FPS) and Medium (155.3 FPS) is only 14.2 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High (143.4 FPS) is 11.9 FPS. This compression of frame rates at lower resolutions suggests the CPU is becoming the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 5600's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, cannot feed the RTX 5090 fast enough to maintain its peak potential. The most telling evidence is that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 169.5 FPS, but this is only 30 FPS higher than at 1440p Low (162.4 FPS), a much smaller gain than the 4K-to-1440p transition, which shows a 23.3 FPS jump (139.1 to 162.4). The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at 882 in 3DMark, is likely the ceiling here.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 169.5 FPS, which is the peak for the entire dataset. Medium follows at 155.3 FPS, High at 143.4 FPS, and Ultra at 132.2 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 37.3 FPS, showing that while the GPU has power to spare, the CPU limits the maximum achievable frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show more GPU influence. Low settings produce 162.4 FPS, which is only 7.1 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium drops to 144.6 FPS, High to 111.9 FPS, and Ultra to 108.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 54.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is now more of a factor in the performance equation.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear bottleneck. Low settings yield 139.1 FPS, Medium 108.5 FPS, High 81.5 FPS, and Ultra 80.1 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is a mere 1.4 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional demands are not worth the negligible performance cost, but also that the GPU is nearing its limits for this title. The 4K Low result of 139.1 FPS is significantly lower than the 1440p Low result (162.4 FPS), a 23.3 FPS drop that underscores the GPU's workload at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 5600 and RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 68 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 3.8% of all configurations, which is an outstanding result. The high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's exceptional performance, as the RTX 5090's 94th percentile score and its average benchmark score of 84306 are far above the CPU's 79th percentile ranking.

However, the rank also highlights the mismatch between the two components. The CPU's average benchmark score of 21765 is only 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon D-1746TER and 0.9% higher than the Intel Core i7-11700F, yet the GPU is 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600. In a less demanding scenario, this CPU would likely hold the combo back more significantly, but in this simulator, the GPU's dominance at 4K ensures the combo still ranks highly.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Its synthetic benchmarks show strong single-threaded performance, scoring 882 in 3DMark single-thread and 2584 in Cinebench R23 single-core. This is sufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator's primary game thread, which relies heavily on single-core performance for physics and AI calculations.

The CPU's role becomes more pronounced at 1080p, where the data indicates a bottleneck. The 3DMark max-threads score of 5659 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18309 show that the CPU is capable, but not enough to fully saturate the RTX 5090 at low resolutions. The 79th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 94th percentile confirms this imbalance. The CPU's 65W TDP and DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth also suggest it is a mid-range part from 2022, and its 12 threads are often insufficient for the most demanding sim scenarios, but the measured data shows it still delivers playable frame rates across all settings.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the standout choice. It delivers an average of 111.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for smooth flight simulation, while providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium. The jump from Medium (144.6 FPS) to High (111.9 FPS) costs 32.7 FPS, but the visual improvements are substantial.

At 3840x2160, the High preset is also recommended, as it produces 81.5 FPS, which is playable and visually stunning. The Ultra preset offers no meaningful benefit, as it only yields 80.1 FPS, a 1.4 FPS difference that is imperceptible in practice. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 provides 169.5 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual quality for a simulator where scenery clarity is crucial.

The most efficient settings for this combo are the Medium preset at 2560x1440, which gives 144.6 FPS, or the High preset at the same resolution. The data shows that the Ultra preset is the least efficient, with the smallest performance gain from High at 4K (1.4 FPS) and a significant drop from Medium at 1440p (36.3 FPS). For a smooth experience with high detail, the High preset at 1440p is the recommended starting point, with the option to drop to Medium if higher frame rates are desired.