Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX shows a clear pattern of scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 148 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 138 FPS, a modest 6.8% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 114 FPS, which represents a 23% decrease from the 1080p figure. This relatively gentle slope at Low settings suggests the CPU is playing a significant role in limiting frame rates at lower resolutions.

The picture changes dramatically when examining higher settings. At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p (135 FPS) to 1440p (120 FPS) is 11.1%, and then to 4K (89 FPS) is a further 25.8%. The High preset tells an even more telling story: 112 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. That is a 40.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The Ultra preset follows a similar path, with 107 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K.

The scaling pattern reveals that at lower resolutions and settings, the frame rate is not scaling proportionally with the pixel count. For instance, going from 1080p to 4K represents a 4x increase in pixel count, yet the Low preset only loses 23% of its performance. This indicates that the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p Low, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more dominant in the rendering pipeline, and the frame rate drops more steeply.

At 4K, the gap between Low (114 FPS) and Ultra (64 FPS) is 50 FPS, or a 43.9% performance penalty for maxing out settings. This demonstrates that at 4K, the GPU is heavily tasked, and the settings choice has a profound impact. The data suggests that at 4K, the RX 7900 XTX is the primary bottleneck, as the frame rates across settings remain relatively close when compared to the 1080p spread. The 1080p spread from Low (148 FPS) to Ultra (107 FPS) is 41 FPS, which is narrower in absolute terms but represents a 27.7% penalty.

The 1440p results sit between these extremes, with the Medium preset showing a min FPS of 102 and max of 138, while the 1080p Medium shows 115 min and 155 max. The variance at 1440p is tighter, indicating a more balanced load between CPU and GPU. For users targeting high refresh rates, the 1080p Low setting at 148 FPS is the only configuration that approaches 144 Hz territory, while 1440p Low at 138 FPS is close behind.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for maximum frame rate with this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers the highest average FPS at 148. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 138 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 114 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 107 FPS versus High's 112 FPS, a 4.5% difference. At 1440p, Ultra scores 86 FPS against High's 91 FPS, a 5.5% gap. At 4K, Ultra delivers 64 FPS while High reaches 67 FPS, a 4.5% difference.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the CPU limits performance at lower resolutions, as shown by the small FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (148 to 138 FPS). At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, evidenced by the steeper scaling from 1440p to 4K across all settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only measured minimum FPS values are at Medium settings: 115 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. Other presets do not have min FPS data in the measurements.

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

A: The combo ranks 463rd out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 15.5% of all configurations tested.

Q: Can this setup maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maxed settings?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 64 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K averages 67 FPS, providing a small margin above 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX achieves a rank of 463 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the configuration in the 84.6th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 84.6% of all tested combinations. The rank reflects the overall performance across all measured settings and resolutions, weighted toward the game's typical usage patterns.

The CPU itself sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs based on average benchmark scores, with an average score of 36,945. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, scores 36,938, a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37,018, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37,093, 0.4% higher, and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37,112, 0.5% higher. These are extremely tight margins, indicating the 5600F is well-positioned among its peers.

The GPU's percentile ranking is lower, at 64th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,410. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, scores 19,334, which is 0.4% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro K5200 scores 19,602, 1% higher, and the AMD FirePro D300 scores 19,637, 1.2% higher. The NVIDIA TITAN Xp scores 19,177, 1.2% lower. These deltas are small, but the RX 7900 XTX's 64th percentile ranking suggests that in raw benchmark terms, it faces stiff competition from older and newer cards alike.

The combo rank of 463 suggests that despite the GPU's relatively modest percentile ranking, the combination with the 5600F produces strong results in this specific game. The game's flight simulation nature likely benefits from the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, as well as the GPU's large memory pool and high compute throughput. The rank indicates that this configuration is better suited to Microsoft Flight Simulator than the GPU's standalone percentile would suggest, highlighting the importance of CPU-GPU pairing in this title.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing frame rate, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest average at 148 FPS. This is the only setting that approaches high refresh rate territory. At 1440p, Low averages 138 FPS, making it a strong choice for users with 144 Hz monitors who prefer higher resolution. The 4K Low preset at 114 FPS is still well above 60 FPS and provides a playable experience for those who want the sharpest image.

The Medium preset offers a balanced experience. At 1080p, it averages 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium averages 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS, which is a solid choice for competitive play. At 4K, Medium drops to 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS, which remains comfortably above 60 FPS. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for users who want a mix of visual quality and performance.

High settings provide a marginal visual uplift over Medium. At 1080p, High averages 112 FPS, which is 23 FPS lower than Medium. At 1440p, High delivers 91 FPS, a 29 FPS reduction. At 4K, High averages 67 FPS, which is 22 FPS lower than Medium. The visual difference between Medium and High may not justify the performance cost for most users, especially at higher resolutions.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding. At 1080p, it averages 107 FPS, providing a playable experience. At 1440p, Ultra averages 86 FPS, which is still respectable. At 4K, Ultra averages 64 FPS, which barely clears the 60 FPS mark. Given that High delivers 67 FPS at 4K and Ultra only adds 3 FPS more in the average, the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns. For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 1440p or 4K is recommended, while High at 4K is viable for users who want extra detail without dropping below 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 148 FPS on Low, 135 FPS on Medium, 112 FPS on High, and 107 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 115 and a maximum of 155. The spread from Low to Ultra is 41 FPS, indicating that settings changes have a moderate impact at this resolution. The CPU appears to be the limiting factor, as the frame rates are high but do not scale dramatically with settings.

At 2560x1440, the results are 138 FPS on Low, 120 FPS on Medium, 91 FPS on High, and 86 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset records a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 52 FPS, showing a wider spread than at 1080p. The 1440p results suggest a more balanced workload between the CPU and GPU, with the GPU starting to exert more influence on performance.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to 114 FPS on Low, 89 FPS on Medium, 67 FPS on High, and 64 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 50 FPS, similar to 1440p. The 4K results clearly show the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck, as the frame rates are significantly lower than at lower resolutions.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset loses 34 FPS from 1080p to 4K (148 to 114). The Medium preset loses 46 FPS (135 to 89). The High preset loses 45 FPS (112 to 67). The Ultra preset loses 43 FPS (107 to 64). The consistent loss of roughly 40-46 FPS across settings indicates that the resolution scaling is driven by the GPU's rendering load, while the CPU maintains a stable baseline of performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates on a base clock of 3.00 GHz and boosts up to 4.00 GHz. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The processor is built on TSMC's 7 nm process node, with 4,150 million transistors on a 74 mm² die.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is critical for simulating flight physics, handling AI traffic, and managing the game's complex world streaming. The 6 cores and 12 threads provide adequate parallelism for these tasks. The PassMark multithread score of 19,236 and single-thread score of 2,872 indicate that the CPU has solid performance in both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads. The single-thread performance is particularly important for flight simulators, which often rely on a single main thread for game logic.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs reflects its strong overall performance. Its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with a delta of 0%, show that the 5600F is competitive with newer processors. The 0.2% delta to the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and 0.4% to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios. The Intel Core i9-12900T, despite having more cores, is only 0.5% faster on average, suggesting that the 5600F's architecture delivers efficient per-core performance.

The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rate of 148 FPS does not improve significantly when settings are lowered further. The CPU's ability to feed the GPU at high frame rates is evidenced by the small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (148 to 138 FPS). However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as the CPU can still maintain a high frame rate potential, but the GPU's rendering workload caps the output. The 6-core configuration appears sufficient for this game, as the frame rates do not show signs of CPU starvation at higher resolutions.