Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a notoriously demanding title, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER reveals a system that is firmly balanced between its two main components, with performance scaling that shifts depending on resolution and settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions show a clear pattern: at lower settings, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, while at higher settings and resolutions, the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck. This combination ranks in the 1697th position out of 2996 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all possible pairings, which is a direct reflection of the hardware’s age and mid-range positioning. The RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, proves capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1440p, but the 4K Ultra results show the strain of a GPU that is now several generations old.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 111 FPS at 1920x1080 to 89 FPS at 2560x1440, and then further to 66 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 40.5% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is a significant hit but not as severe as what occurs at higher presets. This relatively smaller drop at Low settings suggests that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU enough frames to keep it busy, but the GPU is increasingly constrained as pixel count rises. At Medium settings, the progression is from 86 FPS at 1080p, to 70 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 51 FPS at 4K, representing a 40.7% drop from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the frame rate goes from 65 FPS at 1080p, to 52 FPS at 1440p, and down to 39 FPS at 4K, a 40% reduction. The pattern becomes more extreme at Ultra settings, where the average FPS drops from 62 at 1080p to 50 at 1440p, and then to 37 at 4K, a 40.3% decline.

These percentages are remarkably consistent across all settings, hovering around 40% from 1080p to 4K, which indicates that the scaling is primarily resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. However, the absolute numbers reveal the real story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 111 FPS, which is a very high frame rate, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to just 37 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 29 FPS (66 vs. 37), while at 1080p, the gap is 49 FPS (111 vs. 62). This compression of frame rates at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor much earlier at 4K, as the increased pixel workload saturates the RTX 2070 SUPER’s capabilities. At 1080p, the CPU has more headroom to push higher frame rates, but the GPU still holds back the highest settings. The data implies that for this combo, 1080p is the resolution where the CPU can stretch its legs, while 4K is strictly a GPU-limited scenario where even the lowest settings cannot overcome the hardware’s pixel throughput limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1697 out of 2996 tested combinations places this pairing in the 56.7th percentile, meaning it performs better than roughly 56% of all tested combos but worse than about 43% of them. This is a mid-pack result, which is expected given the hardware specifications. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 processor with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, and it holds the 85th percentile among all CPUs in the database. This is a strong showing for the CPU, indicating that it is a well-above-average processor for general compute tasks. However, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER only reaches the 65th percentile among all GPUs, which drags the overall combo down. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 20282 puts it in the company of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, -1% delta) and the Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3% delta), showing that it is slightly below those cards in synthetic tests.

The ranking in Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically is more telling than the synthetic benchmarks. The fact that this combo sits at 1697 out of 2996 indicates that the game’s unique demands—heavy CPU usage for flight simulation logic and GPU usage for rendering vast landscapes—do not favor this pairing as much as some other titles. The CPU’s 85th percentile rank suggests that it is not the primary drag on the combo’s performance in this game, but the GPU’s 65th percentile rank is more of a liability. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s nearest rivals include the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, -1.2% delta) and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, -1.5% delta), all of which are within a narrow band of performance, yet none of them are particularly high-end by modern standards. This mid-tier positioning is why the combo lands in the lower half of the rankings, as the GPU’s age and memory configuration (8 GB) are not ideal for a game that scales well with higher-end hardware.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip, featuring 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, boosting to 1770 MHz, and it has 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The memory subsystem is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 9.062 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 113.3 GPixel/s, with a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s. These specs place it firmly in the mid-range of the GeForce 20-series, and the benchmark results reflect that. In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role becomes clear when examining the differences between settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 25 FPS (111 to 86), and from Medium to High costs another 21 FPS (86 to 65), while High to Ultra only drops 3 FPS (65 to 62). This suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the CPU is likely maxing out around 111 FPS.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint. The frame rate at 4K Low is 66 FPS, which drops to 51 FPS at Medium, then to 39 FPS at High, and finally to 37 FPS at Ultra. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 2 FPS, indicating that the GPU is so saturated that additional graphical features have minimal impact on performance. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is also a potential factor at 4K, as Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for loading large textures, and 8 GB may be insufficient for Ultra settings at that resolution. The measured data shows 4K Ultra at 37 FPS, which is below the 40 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the lack of minFPS data for that setting suggests it may be unstable. The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is adequate for 1440p, but at 4K, the combination of pixel fill rate and memory capacity likely causes the steep performance cliff.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides a good balance, with an average of 70 FPS and a minimum of 59 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay. At 1920x1080, the system can hit 86 FPS on Medium, but the higher resolution offers better visual clarity without a major performance penalty.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows that 4K is playable only at Low settings, with an average of 66 FPS. At Medium, it drops to 51 FPS, and at High and Ultra, it falls to 39 and 37 FPS respectively, which are below the ideal 60 FPS target for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has a PassMark multi-thread score of 19236 and a single-thread score of 2872, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game’s simulation logic, and the data suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU is not fully utilized at 111 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 2070 SUPER a bottleneck for this CPU?

A: The GPU has a PassMark G3D score of 18169 and ranks in the 65th percentile, which is lower than the CPU’s 85th percentile. At higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the large FPS drops from 1080p to 4K at all settings.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Ultra and Low settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 89 FPS, while Ultra settings average 50 FPS, a difference of 39 FPS. This shows that the graphical settings have a significant impact on performance, with the GPU workload increasing substantially at Ultra.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance?

A: The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on the RTX 2070 SUPER is likely a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 37. The game’s high-resolution textures can exceed 8 GB, causing performance degradation, although the measured data does not explicitly isolate VRAM usage.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS varies dramatically by settings. Low settings deliver an average of 111 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. Medium settings reduce the average to 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. High settings drop further to 65 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 62 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 49 FPS, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher presets, but the CPU is still capable of pushing high frame rates at Low.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are lower but still playable. Low settings average 89 FPS, while Medium averages 70 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS. High settings average 52 FPS, and Ultra settings average 50 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 39 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor. The minimum FPS of 59 at Medium suggests that the system can maintain a smooth experience, but the High and Ultra presets may experience occasional dips below 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 66 FPS, which is the only setting that remains above 60 FPS. Medium settings average 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 59 FPS, showing that the system struggles to maintain a consistent frame rate. High settings average 39 FPS, and Ultra settings average 37 FPS, both of which are below the 40 FPS threshold for playable performance in a flight simulator. The data shows that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is only slightly above 60 FPS, leaving little headroom for complex scenery.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. It has a 32 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU’s PassMark multi-thread score is 19236, and its single-thread score is 2872, which places it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (36938, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2% delta), showing that it is competitive with newer mid-range processors.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 111 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data, but the GPU is still able to keep up. However, at 1080p Medium, the FPS drops to 86, and at High to 65, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck as the graphical load increases. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game’s simulation logic, which includes flight physics and terrain loading, but the game is known to be heavily CPU-dependent at lower resolutions. The fact that the FPS at 1080p Low (111) is nearly double the FPS at 4K Low (66) suggests that the CPU is not the primary limitation at higher resolutions, but it is still a factor at 1080p.

The CPU’s PassMark physics score of 1043 and integer math score of 59339 indicate strong computational capabilities, which are relevant for the game’s complex calculations. The single-thread score of 2872 is particularly important for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-threaded performance for its main simulation loop. The data shows that the CPU is not a weak link in this combo, as it ranks higher than the GPU in its respective percentile. However, the CPU’s 85th percentile rank does not translate to a top-tier combo rank, because the GPU’s performance is the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo is at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This configuration delivers an average FPS of 70, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS, providing a smooth and consistent frame rate that is suitable for a flight simulator, where sudden dips can be jarring. The Medium preset strikes a balance between visual fidelity and performance, as it allows the game to render detailed scenery without overwhelming the RTX 2070 SUPER. At 1080p, Medium settings also perform well, with an average of 86 FPS, but the lower resolution reduces the visual immersion that is crucial for a flight sim.

For users who prioritize higher visual quality, 1440p High settings are a viable option, with an average of 52 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target, but the game remains playable, especially when flying over less complex terrain. However, the risk of frame drops below 50 FPS is present, as the minimum FPS for High settings is not recorded but likely approaches the 40s. Ultra settings at 1440p average 50 FPS, which is nearly identical to High, suggesting that the GPU is already near its limits, and the extra visual features of Ultra do not justify the performance cost. At 4K, only Low settings are recommended, with an average of 66 FPS, but the low graphical fidelity defeats the purpose of playing at that resolution. Medium at 4K, at 51 FPS, is a compromise, but the minimum FPS of 44 indicates potential stuttering during heavy scenes.

The data suggests that the optimal experience is 1440p Medium, as it offers a high frame rate with a safety margin for complex scenarios. For users with a 1080p monitor, High settings at 65 FPS are a good choice, as they provide excellent visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. Ultra settings should be avoided at all resolutions, as the performance gains from High to Ultra are minimal (3 FPS at 1080p, 2 FPS at 1440p, and 2 FPS at 4K), while the visual improvements are often subtle in a flight simulator. The measured FPS breakdown clearly indicates that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where it can deliver a balance of immersion and performance, rather than pushing for 4K or maxing out Ultra presets.