Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents an unusually balanced workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination. The data shows a configuration where the GPU's immense computational resources are frequently held in check by the CPU's processing limits, particularly at lower resolutions. This pairing, ranking 102nd out of 2996 tested combos, demonstrates that the RTX 5090 D is capable of delivering playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra, but the Ryzen 5 5600 becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution decreases. The benchmark results paint a clear picture of a system that is GPU-bound at 4K, transitioning to a CPU-bound state at 1080p, with the 1440p and 4K results offering the most balanced experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet pronounced scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 142 FPS at 1920x1080 to 120 FPS at 2560x1440, a decrease of 22 FPS, and then further down to 88 FPS at 3840x2160, a more substantial 32 FPS drop from the 1440p result. This scaling indicates that while the RTX 5090 D has ample headroom at 1080p, the transition to 4K places significant demands on the GPU's rendering pipeline.

The Low preset shows a similar trend, with average FPS falling from 172 at 1080p to 160 at 1440p, and then to 145 at 4K. The relatively small gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (12 FPS) compared to the gap between 1440p and 4K (15 FPS) suggests that the GPU is not yet saturated at the lower resolutions. However, the most telling data comes from the Medium preset, which is the only configuration with min and max FPS values recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 157 FPS with a range of 134 to 181. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 146 FPS with a range of 124 to 168. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 118 FPS with a range of 100 to 135.

The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest scaling curve. From 139 FPS at 1080p, it drops to 114 FPS at 1440p, and then to 84 FPS at 4K. This 55 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K Ultra is the largest of any preset, demonstrating that the highest quality settings amplify the resolution scaling effect. The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-limited, as the FPS differences between presets (172 Low vs 139 Ultra) are relatively modest (33 FPS). At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with a much wider spread between presets (145 Low vs 84 Ultra, a 61 FPS difference). This shift indicates that the RTX 5090 D's performance is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 5 5600's single-thread performance limits the frame rate at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship part with specifications that far exceed the requirements of Microsoft Flight Simulator at most settings. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for the texture-heavy environments and high-resolution terrain data used by the simulator. The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz, are relatively high, but the data indicates that these clocks are not the primary driver of performance in this specific game.

The RTX 5090 D's benchmark scores place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, which has an average score of 78940 and a deltaPct of -1.6, meaning the RTX 5090 D scores 1.6% lower. Other rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (score 76904, deltaPct 1.1) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (score 79396, deltaPct -2.1). These comparisons show the RTX 5090 D is competitive with high-end mobile and data center parts, but the game's measured results suggest its full potential is not being realized in this pairing.

At 4K Ultra, the RTX 5090 D manages an average of 84 FPS, which is a demanding scenario. The GPU's 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs handle the pixel fill rate required at 3840x2160, but the fact that the 4K Low preset (145 FPS) is only 61 FPS faster than 4K Ultra (84 FPS) indicates that the GPU's compute resources are being heavily utilized even at lower quality settings. The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in these tests, as the game's highest settings at 4K would likely still fit within 32 GB, but the data cannot confirm this directly. The GPU's role here is clear: it provides the raw throughput needed to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, but it is often waiting on the CPU to feed it data at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 102 out of 2996 combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the configuration in the top 3.4% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given the CPU's mid-range positioning. The rank reflects the overall average performance across all settings and resolutions, and it shows that while the CPU is not the fastest available, the combination still outperforms the vast majority of systems.

The CPU itself, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600, sits in the 74th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 20468. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which scores 20454 with a deltaPct of 0.1, and the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G, which scores 20425 with a deltaPct of 0.2. These tiny deltas (0.1% and 0.2%) indicate that the Ryzen 5 5600's overall compute performance is nearly identical to these newer parts. The GPU, on the other hand, is in the 92nd percentile, showing a significant gap between the CPU and GPU tiers. This combination ranking of 102 suggests that the system's performance in this game is better than what the CPU's percentile might predict, likely because the game is not purely CPU-bound at all settings.

The ranking data also implies that many combos with faster CPUs score higher in this game, but the RTX 5090 D's raw power compensates for the Ryzen 5 5600's limitations. For context, the CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, has a nearly identical average score, but the actual in-game performance may differ due to architectural differences not captured in the aggregate benchmark. The 102nd rank out of 2996 is a robust data point, indicating consistent performance across the measured scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combination depend on the user's performance target and resolution. The data provides only High, Low, Medium, and Ultra presets, with Medium being the only one that includes min and max FPS values. At 4K, the Medium preset delivers an average of 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS, which is a solid target for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate displays. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 84 FPS average, which is still playable but may be too low for users seeking a locked 90 or 120 FPS experience.

For 1440p, the High preset offers an average of 120 FPS, which is an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 114 FPS average, a relatively small penalty of 6 FPS compared to High, suggesting that Ultra is viable at this resolution. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 160 FPS, which is only useful for competitive or maximal frame rate scenarios, but the visual quality reduction is significant.

At 1080p, the High preset (142 FPS) and Ultra preset (139 FPS) are nearly identical in performance, with only a 3 FPS difference. This indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor, and users should select Ultra to maximize visual quality without sacrificing frame rate. The Medium preset at 1080p provides 157 FPS, which is 15 FPS higher than Ultra, but the visual fidelity loss may not be worth the gain. The data suggests that the best experience is achieved by running Ultra at 1080p or 1440p, and Medium at 4K, as these configurations offer the highest quality settings while maintaining average FPS above 100.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a detailed view of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 172 FPS, the highest of any configuration. Medium averages 157 FPS with a minimum of 134 and a maximum of 181. High averages 142 FPS, and Ultra averages 139 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 33 FPS, which is the narrowest of any resolution, reinforcing the CPU-bound nature at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 160 FPS, Medium averages 146 FPS (min 124, max 168), High averages 120 FPS, and Ultra averages 114 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra widens to 46 FPS, showing a greater GPU influence. The transition from High to Ultra at 1440p is only 6 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the highest preset.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 145 FPS, Medium averages 118 FPS (min 100, max 135), High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 84 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 61 FPS, the widest of any resolution. The drop from Medium to High at 4K is substantial (30 FPS), while High to Ultra is only 4 FPS. This suggests that the High preset at 4K is a particularly inefficient step, and users should either stick with Medium or jump to Ultra for the best quality-per-frame.

The data also reveals that the 4K Low preset (145 FPS) is nearly as fast as the 1080p High preset (142 FPS), showing the GPU's capability at lower settings. The 1080p Ultra (139 FPS) is faster than the 1440p High (120 FPS) by 19 FPS, but the 4K Medium (118 FPS) is almost identical to the 1440p High (120 FPS), suggesting that resolution scaling at these settings is primarily GPU-bound.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support provide adequate bandwidth for most gaming workloads, but Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for its heavy single-thread dependency. The CPU's benchmark scores show a single-thread 3dmark score of 882 and a multi-thread score of 5659, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584 and multi-core score of 18309.

The data indicates that the CPU's single-thread performance is a limiting factor at 1080p. The fact that the 1080p Low preset (172 FPS) is only 33 FPS faster than the 1080p Ultra (139 FPS) suggests that the CPU cannot feed the GPU fast enough to differentiate between presets. In contrast, at 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the 61 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. The CPU's 65W TDP and 7nm process node are typical for this class of processor, but its 4.40 GHz boost clock is modest compared to higher-end parts.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of aggregate score include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (deltaPct 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (deltaPct 0.2), which are both newer parts. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600's overall compute performance is still competitive, but its architecture lacks the newer features that might help in specific workloads. The 74th percentile ranking for all CPUs reflects its position as a solid mid-range part, but the game's measured results show that it is the primary constraint on this system's performance at lower resolutions. The CPU's 12 threads are sufficient for the game's multi-threaded aspects, but the single-thread performance is what holds back the RTX 5090 D at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 172, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration that exceeds 170 FPS in the measured data.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: Yes, the data shows a 61 FPS difference between 4K Low (145 FPS) and 4K Ultra (84 FPS), indicating the GPU is the primary limiting factor at this resolution and settings combination.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 20468, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20454) and 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (20425). The AMD EPYC 9454P (20422) and EPYC 7713 (20363) are 0.2% and 0.5% lower, respectively.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 4K display?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 provides an average of 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for maintaining a smooth experience above 100 FPS.

Q: Are the 1080p Ultra and 1440p High presets similar in performance?

A: Yes, the 1080p Ultra averages 139 FPS, while the 1440p High averages 120 FPS. However, the 1080p Ultra offers a higher frame rate, while 1440p High provides more resolution, with a 19 FPS difference between them.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D's VRAM capacity impact performance in this game?

A: The data does not show VRAM capacity as a limiting factor. The GPU has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, and the measured FPS values do not indicate any memory-related stuttering or performance degradation across the tested settings.