Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most demanding titles in the benchmark database, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 produces a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie. The measured data shows a system that is capable of smooth 1080p play, but one that requires significant settings compromises as resolution climbs. The Ryzen 5 5600G, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a solid foundation, while the RX 6600's 8 GB of VRAM becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, CPU and GPU roles, and how this pairing ranks against other tested combos.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 91.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 71.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 22%. Moving to 4K at Low settings, the average drops further to 52.6 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the RX 6600 is the primary limiting component as pixel count increases, with the CPU having enough headroom to keep feeding the GPU at lower resolutions.

At High settings, the trend becomes more pronounced. The average FPS at 1080p is 53.2, which falls to 44.7 at 1440p and then plummets to 29.9 at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K at High settings is a stark 33% performance loss. This steep decline suggests that the 8 GB VRAM buffer and the GPU's memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s are being saturated, causing the frame rate to collapse as texture and shading demands increase. The data strongly implies that 4K High is not a viable target for this combo.

The scaling between Medium and Ultra settings at each resolution is also telling. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (69.8 FPS) and Ultra (51.8 FPS) is 18 FPS, while at 4K the difference between Medium (42.8 FPS) and Ultra (32 FPS) is only 10.8 FPS. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is already struggling to maintain frame rates, so the additional workload from Ultra settings has a smaller absolute impact. The system is clearly more sensitive to resolution changes than to settings changes, confirming the GPU as the dominant constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 5600G and RX 6600 ranks 1473 out of 1795 combos. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is expected given that the RX 6600 sits at the 69th percentile of all GPUs and the 5600G is at the 78th percentile of all CPUs. The ranking indicates that while this is a functional setup, it is not a high-performance one compared to the full spectrum of tested hardware.

The GPU's nearest rivals help contextualize its performance. The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 25235, which is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon 890M (25246, a 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180, a 0.2% positive delta). It is also within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120). The data shows that the RX 6600 is essentially a performance peer to these other cards, meaning the ranking in this game is more about how the CPU and GPU work together than the GPU's raw power.

The CPU's position among rivals reinforces this. The Ryzen 5 5600G has an average benchmark score of 19983, with the Intel Core i7-11600H (19949, 0.2% delta) and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928, 0.3% delta) being close competitors. The fact that a budget desktop APU scores nearly the same as a Threadripper PRO in average benchmarks highlights that the 5600G is not the weak link in this pairing for this specific title. The combo's rank of 1473 suggests that while the parts are individually mid-pack, the overall experience in Flight Simulator is held back by the GPU's limitations at higher settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 16 MB of L3 cache. Its benchmark results show a strong single-thread performance, scoring 993 in Cinebench R20 single-core and 2365 in Cinebench R23 single-core. In a flight simulator, which often relies on a single main simulation thread, this single-core strength is crucial for maintaining frame pacing.

The multi-threaded results are also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16758 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 7693. The CPU's 3DMark scores show scaling from 1705 in the 2-thread test to 5455 in the max-thread test, indicating that it can utilize its 12 threads effectively. However, the data suggests that at lower resolutions like 1080p, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. The FPS difference between Low (91.7) and High (53.2) at 1080p is 38.5 FPS, which is a massive gap that points entirely to the GPU struggling with increased graphical load.

The CPU's 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with its nearest rivals being laptop and server chips, indicates it has ample processing power for this game. The fact that the FPS scales so dramatically with resolution changes—from 91.7 at 1080p Low to 52.6 at 4K Low—proves that the CPU is feeding frames well above what the GPU can render at higher resolutions. The 5600G is doing its job; the RX 6600 is what holds the system back as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. Low settings deliver an average of 91.7 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds. Medium settings average 69.8 FPS, High settings average 53.2 FPS, and Ultra settings average 51.8 FPS. The data shows that even at Ultra, the game remains playable at 1080p, though the 51.8 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenery or weather effects.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop noticeably. Low settings produce 71.4 FPS, Medium produces 57.9 FPS, High produces 44.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 41.5 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the High setting at 44.7 FPS may cause noticeable stutters in a title that requires smooth visuals for orientation and control.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low settings average 52.6 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 42.8 FPS, High falls to 29.9 FPS, and Ultra manages only 32 FPS. The 4K High and Ultra results are effectively unplayable for a smooth experience, with averages below 30 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K is only viable with Low settings, and even then, the 52.6 FPS average is not ideal for a flight simulator where precision matters. For a consistent experience, 1080p with Medium to High settings is the sweet spot, while 1440p requires Low to Medium settings to maintain acceptable frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2491 MHz and a game clock of 2044 MHz. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its pixel rate is 159.4 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 279.0 GTexel/s, which are modest figures for modern gaming.

The GPU's benchmark results show it performs at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 15096 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 890M, has an identical average score (25246 vs 25235), indicating that the RX 6600 is a solid mid-range performer. However, in Microsoft Flight Simulator, the measured data reveals that the GPU is the limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p.

The 8 GB VRAM is likely the key constraint. At 4K High, the average FPS drops to 29.9, and the close results between High (29.9) and Ultra (32) suggest that the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth rather than raw compute power. The FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS is adequate for 1080p, but the memory bandwidth of 224 GB/s is insufficient for the massive texture loads of 4K flight simulation. The data indicates that the GPU's role is to provide a good 1080p experience, but it cannot sustain high frame rates at higher resolutions without significant settings reductions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Medium settings (69.8 FPS) or High settings (53.2 FPS) provides the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. At 1440p, Low settings (71.4 FPS) or Medium (57.9 FPS) are viable, while 4K should be limited to Low settings (52.6 FPS) for playable frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The measured FPS scaling indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The average FPS drops by 42.6% from 1080p Low (91.7) to 4K Low (52.6), while the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 score of 2365) remains constant. The GPU's 8 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1473 out of 1795 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The GPU's average benchmark score of 25235 is within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, and the CPU's average score of 19983 is within 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX, showing it is a mid-pack performer.

Q: Can this system run the game at 4K?

A: Yes, but only with Low settings, which average 52.6 FPS. At Medium settings the average drops to 42.8 FPS, and at High settings it falls to 29.9 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS is similarly unplayable.

Q: What is the impact of the CPU's integrated graphics on this setup?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G includes Radeon Vega 7 integrated graphics, but this is not used for the measured results, which rely on the discrete RX 6600. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, provide sufficient processing power for the game's simulation aspects.

Q: How does the GPU's performance in this game compare to its overall benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600's overall average benchmark score is 25235, placing it at the 69th percentile of all GPUs. In Flight Simulator, its performance is consistent with this standing, but the game's high VRAM demands at 4K cause a disproportionate performance drop compared to less demanding titles.