Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a uniquely demanding title, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 produces a dataset that clearly separates the workload between the CPU and GPU. The measured frames per second (FPS) across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is consistently playable but shows distinct scaling patterns depending on where the bottleneck shifts. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, the individual roles of the CPU and GPU, the exact measured frame rates, how this combo ranks against all tested configurations, and provides answers to common questions based strictly on the provided data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating that the graphics card becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 148 at 1920x1080 to 133 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 15 FPS, and then further to 98 at 3840x2160, which is a 50 FPS drop from the 1080p figure. This pattern shows that even at the lowest graphical load, the RTX 4070’s rendering capacity is increasingly strained at higher resolutions, though the CPU still manages to keep up at 1440p.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling is similar but with slightly tighter margins. The average FPS goes from 128 at 1080p to 103 at 1440p (a 25 FPS decrease) and then down to 76 at 4K (a 52 FPS total drop from 1080p). The High preset shows a more pronounced decline: 96 FPS at 1080p, 78 at 1440p, and 57 at 4K. This represents a 39 FPS difference between the lowest and highest resolution, which is the largest absolute gap among the presets. The Ultra preset follows a comparable trend, with 92 FPS at 1080p, 74 at 1440p, and 55 at 4K.

The data indicates that the scaling is nearly linear in percentage terms across presets. For instance, at 4K, the Low preset achieves 98 FPS, which is exactly 66% of the 1080p Low score of 148 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K (76 FPS) is about 59% of its 1080p counterpart (128 FPS). High at 4K (57 FPS) is 59% of the 1080p High (96 FPS), and Ultra at 4K (55 FPS) is 60% of 1080p Ultra (92 FPS). This consistency suggests that the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth and compute throughput are the dominant factors at 4K, with the CPU’s influence fading as resolution increases.

The presence of min and max FPS data only for the Medium preset provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the range is 109 to 147 FPS, which is a 38 FPS spread, indicating some frame-time variance. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 88 to 119 FPS, a 31 FPS spread, and at 4K Medium, the range is 65 to 88 FPS, a 23 FPS spread. This tightening of the range at higher resolutions further supports the idea that the GPU is the bottleneck, as it smooths out the frame delivery when the workload is more uniform.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its clock speeds are listed as a base of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz and 21 Gbps effective. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is critical for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator that streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data.

The GPU’s raw compute capabilities include 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It also has 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether ray tracing is enabled. The pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS. These specifications place the RTX 4070 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648.

In the context of this game, the GPU’s role becomes evident when comparing the Low and Ultra presets at the same resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 148 FPS, while Ultra yields 92 FPS, a difference of 56 FPS. This gap is driven by the increased shading, texture, and memory demands of higher quality settings. The RTX 4070’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 with a deltaPct of 0.1, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 0.4, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at -1.3, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 1.3. These scores are very close, indicating that the RTX 4070 sits in a competitive mid-range tier.

At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth. The High preset at 4K achieves 57 FPS, barely above that threshold. This suggests that the RTX 4070’s 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for High settings at 4K, but the compute load of Ultra pushes it to the edge. The measured data shows no min or max FPS for Ultra, but the average of 55 FPS indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 5000-series processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. The 65 W TDP and 32 MB of shared L3 cache are notable for a desktop part, and it supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel mode with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU’s benchmark scores include a Passmark single-thread score of 2872 and a multithread score of 19236, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 36945.

The nearest rivals for the Ryzen 5 5600F include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at -0.2, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at -0.4, and the Intel Core i9-12900T at -0.5. These scores are tightly clustered, showing that the 5600F performs comparably to a range of modern processors. Its 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient for flight simulation, which is known to be more dependent on single-thread performance for flight modeling but can utilize multiple threads for scenery generation.

The CPU’s role in the measured FPS is most apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the FPS reaches 148, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame rate capability for this game. The fact that 1080p Ultra (92 FPS) is significantly lower than 1080p Low (148 FPS) shows that the GPU is still the primary bottleneck at this resolution, but the CPU is not idle. When comparing 1080p to 1440p at the same settings, the FPS drops by 15 to 18 FPS for each preset, which indicates that the CPU can maintain its frame output while the GPU becomes more loaded.

At 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes further. The difference between 4K Low (98 FPS) and 4K Medium (76 FPS) is 22 FPS, while the difference between 4K Medium and 4K High (57 FPS) is 19 FPS. This shows that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at 4K, but the GPU’s rendering time dominates the frame rate. The Ryzen 5 5600F’s boost clock of 4.00 GHz and 32 MB of L3 cache help maintain consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the Medium preset’s min FPS values of 109 at 1080p, 88 at 1440p, and 65 at 4K, which are not prohibitively low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across all combinations of resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 148 FPS, Medium averages 128 FPS with a min of 109 and max of 147, High averages 96 FPS, and Ultra averages 92 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 56 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 32 FPS, showing that the largest performance hit occurs when moving from Medium to High.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 133 FPS, Medium averages 103 FPS with a min of 88 and max of 119, High averages 78 FPS, and Ultra averages 74 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 59 FPS, and the difference between Medium and High is 25 FPS. Compared to 1080p, each preset loses approximately 15-18 FPS, which is a consistent scaling penalty.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 98 FPS, Medium averages 76 FPS with a min of 65 and max of 88, High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 43 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is reaching its limits. The Medium preset at 4K is the only one with min/max data, showing a 23 FPS spread, which is the tightest range across all resolutions, suggesting more stable frame delivery when the GPU is heavily loaded.

The data shows that the 1080p Low preset is the only configuration that exceeds 144 FPS, while 1440p Low exceeds 130 FPS and 4K Low stays above 90 FPS. For those targeting 60 FPS, the 4K High preset (57 FPS) falls short, but 4K Medium (76 FPS) comfortably exceeds it. At 1440p, all presets except Ultra (74 FPS) are above 75 FPS, making it a viable resolution for high-quality play. At 1080p, even Ultra achieves 92 FPS, well above the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 975th out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 26% of all configurations. This rank reflects a balanced system that can handle the game at high settings but is not at the top tier. The rank of 975 is based on the measured FPS data, which shows that the combo performs best at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K being a challenge at higher presets.

The combo’s ranking is influenced by both the CPU and GPU. The CPU’s 85th percentile rating and the GPU’s 81st percentile rating are both above average, but neither is exceptional. In the context of this game, the GPU’s 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for most settings, but the 4K Ultra preset (55 FPS) is below what top-tier combos might achieve. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate, but a processor with higher single-thread performance might push frame rates higher at 1080p Low, where the CPU is more likely to be a limiting factor.

Compared to other combos in the database, this rank of 975 out of 3714 suggests that it is a strong mid-range performer. It is not in the top 100, which are typically reserved for flagship CPUs and GPUs, but it is well above the median. The data indicates that this combo is well-suited for 1440p gaming at High settings, and it can handle 4K at Medium settings with playable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest average FPS is 148, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, where it averages 76 FPS. At High settings it averages 57 FPS, and at Ultra it averages 55 FPS, both below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628), 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507), 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135), and 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157).

Q: What is the CPU’s single-thread benchmark score, and how does it affect 1080p performance?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has a Passmark single-thread score of 2872. This contributes to the high 1080p Low average FPS of 148, indicating strong per-core performance.

Q: Does the combo’s rank improve at lower resolutions?

A: The rank of 975 out of 3714 is based on all measured data, but the FPS figures show that the combo is relatively stronger at 1080p and 1440p, where it exceeds 90 FPS on all presets, compared to 4K where only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 88 FPS, with a maximum of 119 FPS and an average of 103 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 92 FPS, which is smooth for most users, and the High preset at 96 FPS offers a small performance gain with minimal visual difference. The Medium preset at 128 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, and the Low preset at 148 FPS is only necessary for competitive play or extremely high refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 78 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a good balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 74 FPS is also playable, but the 4 FPS difference between High and Ultra is negligible, so High is the better choice for smoother frame pacing. The Medium preset at 103 FPS is recommended for those who prefer higher frame rates, while Low at 133 FPS is for maximum responsiveness.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, as it averages 76 FPS with a minimum of 65 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate stays above 60 FPS in most scenarios. The High preset at 57 FPS and Ultra at 55 FPS are marginally below 60 FPS, which could result in noticeable stutters, so they are not recommended unless the user is willing to accept slightly lower frame rates for higher visual fidelity. The Low preset at 98 FPS is an option for those who prioritize frame rate over graphics, but the visual compromise is significant.

For the best overall experience, the data suggests using the High preset at 1440p, as it provides a 78 FPS average with good visual quality and no major frame rate dips. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only configuration that delivers a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 76 FPS and a minimum of 65 FPS. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is viable, but the High preset offers a nearly identical frame rate with potentially better stability.