Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents one of the most demanding workloads in the entire benchmark database, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with the AMD Radeon RX 570 produces a decidedly constrained experience. The measured data shows a system that is fundamentally limited by the graphics card, with performance that places it near the bottom of our tested combinations. This analysis breaks down the specific FPS measurements, scaling behavior, and component roles to provide a clear picture of what this hardware pairing can and cannot deliver.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a predictable but steep decline in performance as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 48 FPS, which drops to 39 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 29 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 19% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 40% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the frame rate drops nearly proportionally with the increase in pixel count.

Moving to Medium settings, the averages are 38 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops here are steeper: 21% from 1080p to 1440p, and 27% from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that even at Medium settings, the RX 570's 4 GB frame buffer and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are struggling to keep up with the game's texture streaming demands at higher resolutions. The High preset shows a similar trend with 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K.

The most telling data point comes from the Ultra preset, where the system manages only 27 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. The gap between High and Ultra at any given resolution is remarkably small—only 1 FPS at 1080p, 1 FPS at 1440p, and 1 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the game's Ultra preset introduces settings that are beyond what the hardware can meaningfully process, effectively hitting a performance floor where additional graphical fidelity costs performance without providing measurable gains. The data indicates that this pairing is heavily GPU-bound across all resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the decisive factor in this system's performance profile. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card delivers 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth—a figure that is increasingly insufficient for a modern flight simulator that streams vast amounts of terrain and aircraft data. The GPU's base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz, combined with 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs, yield a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s. These specifications place the card in the 74th percentile of all GPUs in our database, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 470 (0.8% higher average score) and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (1.2% higher), showing that it operates in a performance tier that is simply not designed for 4K flight simulation.

The GPU's 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the theoretical ceiling, but real-world performance is far lower due to memory constraints. At 4K Ultra, the card produces only 16 FPS average, which is functionally unplayable. Even at 1080p Low, the 48 FPS average falls short of smooth gameplay for a simulator that requires consistent frame pacing. The fact that the RX 570's predecessor is listed as Arctic Islands and its successor is Vega highlights its age within AMD's lineup, and the 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries means it runs at a TDP of 150 W with a suggested PSU of 450 W.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 42752 and OpenCL score of 32084 show reasonable compute capabilities, but the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of just 880 indicates poor DirectX 12 performance—likely a driver and architecture limitation of GCN 4.0. For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which leverages modern rendering techniques, this DX12 weakness is particularly problematic. The data suggests that the RX 570's role in this pairing is to provide a baseline experience at best, with the 4 GB frame buffer acting as a hard constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal experience with this hardware pairing is found at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 48 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, and even then, it falls short of the 60 FPS target that most flight sim enthusiasts prefer. The Low preset at 1440p yields 39 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth, while the Low preset at 4K drops to 29 FPS, which is marginal for a simulator where precise control inputs are critical.

The Medium preset at 1080p provides 38 FPS average with a minimum of 32 FPS and maximum of 43 FPS. This is a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, as the 32 FPS minimum indicates the system can maintain reasonable frame pacing. However, the jump to High at 1080p drops the average to 28 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS—both of which are below the threshold for comfortable gameplay. The data clearly shows diminishing returns: moving from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 10 FPS (from 48 to 38), while moving from Medium to High costs another 10 FPS (from 38 to 28), but High to Ultra costs only 1 FPS.

For 1440p users, the Medium preset at 30 FPS average (26 min, 35 max) is the best balance, as it provides a 4 FPS improvement over High and 8 FPS over Ultra. At 4K, the Low preset at 29 FPS is the only reasonable option, as Medium drops to 22 FPS and High/Ultra fall below 20 FPS. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p Low for the best playable experience, or accept 1440p Medium and 4K Low for higher resolutions at reduced smoothness. The measured rows show no configuration that achieves a consistent 60 FPS, and users should temper their expectations accordingly.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and AMD Radeon RX 570 in Microsoft Flight Simulator places this system at rank 2870 out of 2996 tested combinations—a percentile that puts it in the bottom 4.2% of all configs. This is a stark result that underscores the severity of the GPU bottleneck. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capabilities, but rather the fundamental mismatch between a modern flight sim and a 2017-era graphics card.

To contextualize this ranking, the RX 570's nearest rivals in our GPU database include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (0.4% higher average score) and the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (0.7% higher), which are similarly positioned. However, these comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks; in Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically, the 4 GB memory limit is likely a more significant factor than raw compute. The combo rank of 2870 means that 126 other tested configurations perform worse, but the vast majority of systems in the database deliver a superior experience in this game.

The data indicates that this pairing is at the extreme low end for Flight Simulator, and users should not expect to run the game at high settings. The 74th percentile GPU ranking and 85th percentile CPU ranking belie the poor in-game performance, because the game's requirements are heavily skewed toward memory bandwidth and capacity. The rank serves as a warning: this hardware is suitable for older or less demanding titles, but Microsoft Flight Simulator will push it to its absolute limits.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a Zen 3 (Vermeer) processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. It has a 32 MB shared L3 cache, 512 KB per-core L2 cache, and 64 KB per-core L1 cache, with a TDP of 65 W on the AM4 socket. The CPU's PassMark scores are respectable, including a single-thread score of 2872, a multithread score of 19236, and a physics score of 1043. Its average benchmark score of 36945 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (0.2% lower).

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics calculations, and draw call submissions. The 5600F's strong single-thread performance (2872 in PassMark) is beneficial, as the game is known to be sensitive to single-core performance. However, the measured data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this system. Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling: if the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect similar FPS across different resolutions, but instead we see a clear decline from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the CPU must be capable of feeding the GPU enough frames to reach 48 FPS, but the GPU cannot push beyond that.

The CPU's 12 threads and 32 MB L3 cache provide ample headroom for the simulator's complex scenarios, and its memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is more than sufficient. The fact that the combo ranks so low despite the CPU's strong showing highlights that the GPU is the sole limiting factor. If the RX 570 were replaced with a more capable card, the 5600F would likely deliver significantly higher frame rates, as its performance percentile suggests it sits well above average. The data indicates that this CPU is a capable partner, but it is hamstrung by the GPU's inability to render at higher resolutions or settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system can approach playable frame rates. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 48, while at 1440p Low it drops to 39 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 29 FPS. Lower resolutions mitigate the GPU bottleneck.

Q: Can this system run the game at Ultra settings?

A: Technically yes, but the results are not usable. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 27 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it is 22 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it is 16 FPS. These frame rates are below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much of a performance drop occurs from 1080p to 4K on Low settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 48 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p, and then to 29 at 4K. This represents a 19% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 26% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating a strong GPU dependency.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F a limiting factor in this setup?

A: No, the data does not support this. The CPU has a PassMark single-thread score of 2872 and a multithread score of 19236, placing it in the 85th percentile. The resolution scaling shows that performance degrades with higher resolutions, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset?

A: The measured minimums are 32 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that frame pacing can become erratic, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2870 out of 2996 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 4.2% of all configs. This is a direct result of the GPU's 4 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, which are insufficient for the game's demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and AMD Radeon RX 570 in Microsoft Flight Simulator is as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 48 FPS average
• Medium: 38 FPS average (32 min, 43 max)
• High: 28 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 39 FPS average
• Medium: 30 FPS average (26 min, 35 max)
• High: 23 FPS average
• Ultra: 22 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 29 FPS average
• Medium: 22 FPS average (19 min, 26 max)
• High: 17 FPS average
• Ultra: 16 FPS average

These numbers tell a consistent story. The 1080p Low result of 48 FPS is the only configuration that exceeds 40 FPS, and even that is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset's minimum FPS values (32 at 1080p, 26 at 1440p, 19 at 4K) show that the system can maintain playable frame rates at 1080p but struggles at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset is effectively a non-option, with all resolutions delivering averages below 28 FPS. The data confirms that this is a GPU-bound system where the RX 570's 4 GB memory capacity is the ultimate ceiling, and users seeking a better experience would need to upgrade the graphics card to any model with more VRAM and higher bandwidth.