Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER lands at rank 340 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the top 11.3% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The combo outperforms roughly 88.7% of all tested pairings, indicating that this CPU-GPU match does not create a severe bottleneck in this flight simulator. The rank reflects the balance achieved: the RTX 4080 SUPER is clearly the dominant component, but the Ryzen 5 5600F provides enough throughput to keep the GPU fed at most settings. Given that there are 2996 total combos tested, being in the 340th position means this setup sits comfortably in the upper echelon, though it is not at the very top where the most expensive CPUs (like flagship 16-core or 24-core parts) would typically reside.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and the data confirms this. It comes with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. That bandwidth is crucial for a game that streams vast terrain and photogrammetry data, especially at high resolutions. The GPU's boost clock is 2550 MHz, with a base clock of 2295 MHz, and it packs 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines. These specs translate into raw fill rates of 285.6 GPixel/s and 816.0 GTexel/s, which are directly relevant to how quickly the simulator can draw the dense scenery and weather effects.

In terms of benchmark standing, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores an average of 54209 across all GPU tests, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the standard RTX 4080, which scores 54247, a delta of just -0.1%. That means the SUPER variant is essentially performance-equivalent to the non-SUPER version in synthetic tests, despite the naming difference. The gap to the next rivals is larger: the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (-1.1%) and the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (-2.7%). So within the tested GPU landscape, the 4080 SUPER sits in a tight cluster near the top, with only a few specialized or workstation cards slightly ahead.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically, the 16 GB VRAM is a notable asset. The game's high-resolution textures and add-on scenery can consume large amounts of memory, and the data shows that at 4K Ultra settings, the combo still manages 69 FPS average, which suggests the VRAM buffer is not being exhausted. The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, but the measured FPS data indicates that this game does not heavily rely on ray tracing (the scores for DirectX 10, 11, and 12 in the GPU benchmarks are all low relative to the G3D score, reflecting that the workload is more rasterization-heavy).

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the combo achieves its highest frame rates: 148 FPS on Low, 135 FPS on Medium, 122 FPS on High, and 117 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, the numbers drop but remain strong: 138 FPS on Low, 126 FPS on Medium, 99 FPS on High, and 94 FPS on Ultra. At 4K (3840x2160), the performance takes a more significant hit: 125 FPS on Low, 97 FPS on Medium, 73 FPS on High, and 69 FPS on Ultra.

The percentage drops from 1080p to 4K are telling. On Low settings, the drop is from 148 FPS to 125 FPS, a reduction of about 15.5%. On Medium, it's from 135 FPS to 97 FPS, a 28.1% drop. On High, it's from 122 FPS to 73 FPS, a 40.2% drop. On Ultra, it's from 117 FPS to 69 FPS, a 41.0% drop. This widening gap as settings increase indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and quality levels. At Low settings, the CPU (Ryzen 5 5600F) is more of a constraint, as the frame rates are high enough that the GPU has spare capacity, and the CPU's six cores and twelve threads are the bottleneck. But as resolution and settings rise, the GPU's workload increases disproportionately, and the RTX 4080 SUPER's capabilities (or lack thereof at 4K Ultra) dictate the final FPS.

Specifically, the 4K High to Ultra transition shows only a 4 FPS difference (73 to 69), suggesting that the game is hitting a hard limit—likely GPU-bound—where additional graphical fidelity costs more performance than the hardware can provide. Meanwhile, the 1080p Low to Ultra gap is 31 FPS (148 to 117), showing that the CPU can still push high frame rates even when settings are maxed out at that resolution. The data strongly suggests that for this combo, 1440p is the sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors, while 4K is viable only for 60-70 FPS gaming on High or Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. On Low, it averages 148 FPS. Medium settings yield 135 FPS, with a minimum of 115 and a maximum of 155 FPS. High settings produce 122 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 117 FPS. The tight spread between Low and Ultra (148 to 117, a 21% difference) indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is often the limiting factor; the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased graphical load without a proportional FPS penalty.

At 2560x1440, the performance is still strong but shows more separation. Low settings average 138 FPS. Medium settings average 126 FPS, with a minimum of 107 and a maximum of 145 FPS. High settings drop to 99 FPS, and Ultra settings settle at 94 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 44 FPS (138 to 94), which is a 31.9% reduction. This suggests that at 1440p, the GPU is starting to become more influential, but the CPU still provides enough support to avoid a significant bottleneck. The Medium settings data (min 107, max 145) shows a 38 FPS variance, indicating that the game's frame times are not perfectly steady, likely due to the CPU's six cores being tasked with simulation logic while the GPU renders.

At 3840x2160, the GPU takes full control. Low settings average 125 FPS, which is still very playable. Medium settings average 97 FPS, with a minimum of 82 and a maximum of 111 FPS. High settings drop to 73 FPS, and Ultra settings average 69 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the highest settings. The Medium to High drop is significant—from 97 to 73 FPS, a 24.7% reduction—indicating that the GPU's pixel and texture throughput (285.6 GPixel/s and 816.0 GTexel/s) is being taxed heavily. The 4K results show that the RTX 4080 SUPER can handle this game at 4K, but only if you're willing to accept 60-70 FPS on High or Ultra, or prioritize frame rate with Low settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), built on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU's TDP is 65 W, making it a power-efficient part, but its performance in this game is what matters.

In PassMark benchmarks, the 5600F scores 19236 in multithreaded tests and 2872 in single-thread tests. Its average benchmark score is 36945, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within a very tight margin: the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (-0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (-0.4%), and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112 (-0.5%). This means the 5600F is performance-equivalent to these four CPUs within a 0.5% margin, which is essentially noise. For Microsoft Flight Simulator, single-thread performance is critical because the game's simulation engine (flight dynamics, AI traffic, weather) relies heavily on a few threads. The 2872 single-thread score is decent but not exceptional, and the data shows that at 1080p Low settings (148 FPS), the CPU is indeed the limiting factor, as the GPU could likely push higher frame rates if fed more data.

The CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache is shared across all six cores, which helps with the game's draw calls and terrain streaming. However, the lack of a v-cache (unlike the 5500X3D) means it doesn't benefit from the extra cache that some Ryzen parts offer. In practice, the 5600F provides enough compute to keep the RTX 4080 SUPER mostly occupied at 1440p and below, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU is so heavily loaded that the CPU's performance becomes secondary. The benchmark data shows that the combo ranks 340th out of 2996, and given the CPU's percentile (85th) and GPU's percentile (86th), the ranking is consistent with both parts being above-average but not top-tier. The CPU's 12 threads are sufficient for the game's multi-threaded aspects, but the single-thread score is what keeps this combo from reaching the very top of the rankings.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p, 1440p, or 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows the best balance at 1440p, where High settings average 99 FPS and Ultra averages 94 FPS. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance (Ultra is 117 FPS, not much higher than 1440p), while at 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor (Ultra is 69 FPS). So 1440p offers the best combination of visual quality and frame rate.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the standard RTX 4080 in this context?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores an average of 54209, while the standard RTX 4080 scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%. This means the SUPER variant is statistically identical in performance, so you shouldn't expect a meaningful difference in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What is the CPU's main strength and weakness for this game?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600F's strength is its single-thread performance (2872 in PassMark), which is adequate for the game's simulation logic. Its weakness is the six-core count, which limits multi-threaded scaling; the multithread score of 19236 is lower than higher-core-count rivals, but the game doesn't seem to heavily benefit from more than 12 threads.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra?

A: The drop is from 148 FPS to 69 FPS, a 53.4% reduction. This is because the GPU's workload scales with resolution and settings; at 1080p Low, the CPU is the bottleneck, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU's pixel fill rate (285.6 GPixel/s) and texture rate (816.0 GTexel/s) are saturated, leaving less headroom.

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

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for Medium settings: 115 FPS at 1080p, 107 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. No minimums are listed for Low, High, or Ultra settings, so the data only confirms these specific figures.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 340th out of 2996 tested combos, placing it in the top 11.3%. This means it outperforms about 88.7% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is a strong result given the CPU's mid-range positioning.