Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator — AMD Ryzen 5 5600G + AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT lands in the lower-middle tier of tested configurations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, ranking 778th out of 1795 combos. That places it in the 43rd percentile of all tested pairings, meaning roughly 57% of tested systems deliver higher average frame rates. The data suggests this is a competent but not exceptional pairing for a flight simulator that heavily stresses both CPU simulation logic and GPU rendering.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 778 out of 1795 places this system slightly below the median tested configuration. The CPU alone sits in the 78th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is in the 73rd percentile among all graphics cards. The gap between component percentiles and the combo's overall position indicates that Microsoft Flight Simulator's unique demands — particularly its heavy single-threaded simulation workload — penalize this pairing more than typical games would.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5600G's average benchmark score of 19983 is within 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 7713P and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX, and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-11600H and i7-11800H. These are remarkably tight margins, suggesting the Ryzen 5 5600G delivers compute performance nearly identical to much more expensive workstation and server chips in synthetic tests. For the GPU, the RX 7700 XT's average score of 30097 is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (0% delta), and within 0.6% of the RTX 5070 Mobile. The real outlier is the AMD Radeon RX 570, which shows a -0.2% delta despite being an older budget card — an anomaly worth investigating.

The measured frame rates reveal that this combo's ranking is dragged down primarily by high-resolution performance. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 43.9 FPS, which is below the smooth-playability threshold for a flight simulator where precise control inputs matter.

GPU Role

The RX 7700 XT brings substantial rendering resources to this pairing: 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz and base clock of 1435 MHz. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute at 35.17 TFLOPS.

In this game, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 137.7 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 43.9 FPS — a 68% reduction. The memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p workloads, but at 4K with Ultra settings, the 12 GB VRAM capacity and bandwidth become limiting factors. The GPU's 96 ROPs and 216 TMUs handle texture-heavy scenes well, yet the data shows that even at 4K Medium (61.4 FPS), the system struggles to maintain 60 FPS consistently.

Interestingly, the GPU's PassMark G3D score of 22547 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3316 indicate strong raw performance, yet the in-game results at 4K suggest that Microsoft Flight Simulator's draw calls and terrain streaming demand more than the 432.0 GB/s bandwidth can sustain at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At Low settings, the system delivers 137.7 FPS at 1080p, 107.5 FPS at 1440p, and 82.3 FPS at 4K — a 40% drop from 1080p to 4K. This relatively shallow decline indicates that at Low settings, the CPU and GPU are more balanced, with the simulation workload still significant.

At Medium settings, the scaling steepens: 105.9 FPS at 1080p drops to 84.1 FPS at 1440p and 61.4 FPS at 4K. The 42% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings shows the GPU beginning to dominate. High settings show a similar pattern: 82.1 FPS at 1080p, 64.5 FPS at 1440p, and 47.5 FPS at 4K — a 42% drop. Ultra settings exhibit the steepest decline: 78.1 FPS at 1080p falls to 61.6 FPS at 1440p and 43.9 FPS at 4K.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2365) is still a meaningful contributor, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering capabilities become the sole bottleneck. The 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra delta of 44% is nearly identical to the Low setting delta, suggesting that the GPU's memory subsystem is the consistent limiting factor at 4K regardless of settings.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1440p in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes, but only up to High settings. The measured data shows 64.5 FPS at 1440p High, 84.1 FPS at 1440p Medium, and 107.5 FPS at 1440p Low. However, at 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 61.6 FPS, which barely exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G's average benchmark score of 19983 is within 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 7713P and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX, and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-11600H and i7-11800H. This means the 5600G delivers essentially identical compute performance to these much higher-end processors in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where all settings presets exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra achieving 78.1 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 61.6 FPS, and at 4K, even Medium falls to 61.4 FPS. For consistent smoothness, 1080p is the recommended resolution.

Q: Does the GPU's 12 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The measured results suggest it may. At 4K Ultra, the system delivers only 43.9 FPS, and at 4K High it achieves 47.5 FPS. The 432.0 GB/s bandwidth and 12 GB capacity appear insufficient for the highest settings at 4K, as frame rates drop below 50 FPS even at High.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to the individual component percentiles?

A: The CPU ranks in the 78th percentile and the GPU in the 73rd percentile among their respective categories, but the combo ranks 778th out of 1795 (43rd percentile). This discrepancy suggests Microsoft Flight Simulator's specific workload penalizes this pairing more than average games would.

Q: Is the 1080p Low setting playable with this hardware?

A: Yes, 137.7 FPS at 1080p Low is well above any playability threshold. Even 4K Low achieves 82.3 FPS, indicating that lowering settings is an effective way to enjoy the game at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows strong performance across all presets. Low settings deliver 137.7 FPS, Medium achieves 105.9 FPS, High reaches 82.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 78.1 FPS. The 43% difference between Low and Ultra indicates that the GPU can handle the full range of settings at this resolution without dropping below 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decline predictably. Low settings produce 107.5 FPS, Medium drops to 84.1 FPS, High falls to 64.5 FPS, and Ultra reaches 61.6 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 4.5%, suggesting that Ultra settings at 1440p are nearly as demanding as High but with diminishing returns.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings deliver 82.3 FPS, Medium achieves 61.4 FPS, High drops to 47.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43.9 FPS. The 52% reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K is the steepest of any resolution, confirming that the RX 7700 XT's memory bandwidth and compute resources are strained at this resolution.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each setting shows consistent GPU-bound behavior: Low settings lose 40%, Medium loses 42%, High loses 42%, and Ultra loses 44%. This uniformity suggests that the GPU's performance ceiling at 4K is the primary constraint, regardless of quality preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename) built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 16 MB of L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 64 KB of L1 per core, with dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for its demanding simulation logic, which relies heavily on single-threaded performance. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2365 and 3DMark single-thread score of 872 indicate solid per-core performance, but the 3DMark 16-thread score of 5451 versus 2-thread score of 1705 shows a scaling efficiency of roughly 3.2x from 2 to 16 threads — suboptimal for a game that doesn't fully utilize all 12 threads.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-11600H and i7-11800H, both mobile processors that match the 5600G's average score within 0.2%. This parity suggests that the 5600G's desktop advantage is offset by its lower L3 cache (16 MB) compared to the Intel parts' larger caches. The PassMark multithread score of 19717 and single-thread score of 3177 reinforce that the CPU is a balanced performer, but not a standout for heavily threaded workloads.

The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the primary bottleneck, as the GPU has ample headroom (137.7 FPS). At 4K Ultra, the CPU's contribution is minimal, and the GPU's 43.9 FPS result is purely rendering-limited.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to 1080p as the optimal resolution for this combo, as all settings presets exceed 60 FPS. For maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness, 1080p Ultra at 78.1 FPS provides the best balance of image quality and performance. The 1080p High setting at 82.1 FPS offers a small performance boost with minimal visual difference.

At 1440p, the recommendation is High settings at 64.5 FPS, which maintains 60+ FPS while delivering significantly more detail than Medium (84.1 FPS) or Low (107.5 FPS). The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 61.6 FPS, which is technically above 60 FPS but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes like dense city flyovers or stormy weather.

For 4K, the data suggests Medium settings at 61.4 FPS as the only viable option above 60 FPS. High (47.5 FPS) and Ultra (43.9 FPS) are playable but may feel sluggish for a flight simulator where smooth camera panning is essential. Low settings at 4K achieve 82.3 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize 1080p Ultra for the best experience, as it delivers 78.1 FPS with full visual features enabled. For users who prefer 1440p, High settings at 64.5 FPS is the sweet spot. The data does not support 4K Ultra as a practical option, given the sub-45 FPS result and the game's need for responsive controls.