Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 produces a clear and predictable scaling pattern in Microsoft Flight Simulator. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 117.5 FPS. Moving to Medium settings drops this to 90.6 FPS, a 22.9% reduction. High settings further reduce performance to 71.7 FPS, and Ultra brings the average down to 63.5 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 45.9% performance loss, indicating that the settings menu has a substantial impact on frame rates even at this resolution.

At 1440p, the pattern continues but with a steeper curve. Low settings yield 93.7 FPS, which drops to 75.1 FPS on Medium, 56.1 FPS on High, and 52.3 FPS on Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is relatively small at 3.8 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the Ultra preset. When moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings, the performance loss is noticeable but not catastrophic: Low loses 23.8 FPS, Medium loses 15.5 FPS, High loses 15.6 FPS, and Ultra loses 11.2 FPS.

The 4K results reveal where the RTX 4060 begins to struggle. At 3840x2160, Ultra settings produce an average of 41.3 FPS, which is just above the threshold for smooth gameplay but below what most users would consider ideal for a flight simulator. High settings at 4K yield 41.9 FPS, nearly identical to Ultra, while Medium produces 54.5 FPS and Low jumps to 67 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is significant: High drops from 56.1 to 41.9 FPS, a 25.3% reduction. This steep decline at 4K suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the resolution increase places a heavier load on the render pipeline. The data shows that the RTX 4060 can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease, but 4K requires careful settings management to maintain playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 5600G and RTX 4060 ranks 1034 out of 1795 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 57.6th percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms more than half of the tested systems but sits below the top tier. The rank reflects a balanced mid-range setup that delivers solid performance without reaching the heights of high-end configurations.

Looking at the CPU alone, the Ryzen 5 5600G holds a percentile rank of 78 against all CPUs, indicating it outperforms 78% of processors in the database. Its average benchmark score of 19983 places it in close competition with several notable rivals. The Intel Core i7-11600H scores 19949, a delta of 0.2% from the 5600G, making the two effectively identical in raw CPU performance. The Intel Core i7-11800H and AMD EPYC 7713P both score 20024, putting them 0.2% ahead of the 5600G. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX scores 19928, trailing the 5600G by 0.3%. These tight margins indicate that the 5600G's CPU performance is well within the mainstream range, neither a standout nor a bottleneck.

The GPU side shows a similar picture. The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181 and a percentile rank of 66 against all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 23321, placing the RTX 4060 0.6% behind. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338, a 0.7% lead over the 4060. On the other side, the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021, which the RTX 4060 beats by 0.7%, and the AMD Radeon 760M scores 22999, putting the 4060 0.8% ahead. These narrow deltas show that the RTX 4060 sits in a crowded performance band where small benchmark differences separate competitors.

The overall combo rank of 1034 out of 1795 suggests that while each component performs adequately on its own, the pairing does not create any exceptional synergy for this specific game. Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for being demanding on both CPU and GPU, and this combination delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but it does not push into the upper echelons of the rankings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 brings a specific set of specifications that directly influence the measured frame rates. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest that the 8 GB capacity may be a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's clock speeds are set at a base of 1830 MHz with a boost of 2460 MHz, and the memory runs at 2125 MHz effectively reaching 17 Gbps.

The RTX 4060's architecture is Ada Lovelace, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. It has 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. The GPU also includes 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores, which are relevant for modern game features but may not be heavily utilized in Microsoft Flight Simulator's standard rendering paths. The FP32 performance is rated at 15.11 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s.

The measured FPS data shows how these specifications translate into real-world performance. At 1080p Ultra, the GPU produces 63.5 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it drops to 52.3 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 41.3 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings is 22.2 FPS, a 35% reduction. The fact that 4K High (41.9 FPS) and 4K Ultra (41.3 FPS) are nearly identical suggests that the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling where additional settings have minimal impact.

The RTX 4060's direct predecessor is the GeForce 30 series, and its successor is the GeForce 50 series, placing it in the middle of the current generation. Its TDP is rated at 115 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W, making it a power-efficient option. The GPU connects via PCIe 4.0 x8, which provides sufficient bandwidth for this class of card. The 8 GB VRAM is a double-edged sword: it is adequate for the measured resolutions, but the 4K results hint that textures and geometry at Ultra settings may be pushing against the memory limit.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The combo achieves an average of 90.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4060 scores 23181 on average, which is 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Arc B580.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G with RTX 4060 ranks 1034 out of 1795 combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What is the CPU's single-core performance score?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G scores 2365 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 872 in 3DMark single-thread tests.

Q: Does the GPU maintain playable frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K Low settings it reaches 67 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 41.3 FPS, which is below 60 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4060 has a memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s across an 8 GB GDDR6 memory pool on a 128-bit bus.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 117.5 FPS, which is far above the refresh rate of most monitors and leaves headroom for more demanding scenes. Medium at 90.6 FPS is still very smooth, and High at 71.7 FPS is acceptable for most users. Ultra at 63.5 FPS is playable but does not provide a significant visual upgrade over High, given the small 8.2 FPS difference between the two.

For 1440p, the Medium preset at 75.1 FPS offers the best experience. It provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while maintaining decent visual fidelity. High at 56.1 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 52.3 FPS dips below the ideal threshold. Low at 93.7 FPS is very fast but sacrifices too much visual quality for a flight simulator where scenery detail matters. The recommendation for 1440p is to stick with Medium settings to ensure smooth performance during complex flight scenarios.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. Ultra at 41.3 FPS is too slow for a smooth experience, and High at 41.9 FPS offers no improvement. Medium at 54.5 FPS is the best option for 4K, providing a playable frame rate with acceptable detail. Low at 67 FPS is smoother but significantly reduces visual quality. Given that High and Ultra produce nearly identical frame rates, the extra settings cost does not translate into performance gains, indicating that the GPU is saturated. The data suggests that Medium at 4K is the sweet spot for this combination.

The overall pattern shows that the RTX 4060 has enough power for 1080p Ultra and 1440p Medium, but 4K gaming requires accepting Medium settings to stay above 50 FPS. Users with 1080p monitors can safely use High settings for a good balance, while those with 1440p displays should prefer Medium. The 4K option is viable but requires a compromise on visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture with the Cezanne codename. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and it has a TDP of 65 W. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. It is built on a 7 nm process at TSMC with 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die, and it has 16 MB of L3 cache plus 512 KB of L2 cache per core.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle simulation logic, AI traffic, and world generation, which are heavily single-threaded tasks. The 5600G's single-thread performance is measured at 2365 in Cinebench R23 and 872 in 3DMark single-thread tests. These scores are modest, placing the CPU in the 78th percentile against all CPUs. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a strong performer for this type of workload, but it is sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4060 at most settings.

The CPU's multi-thread performance is stronger, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16758 and a 3DMark max-thread score of 5455. This suggests that the CPU can handle tasks that utilize multiple cores, but flight simulators tend to rely more on single-core performance. The 5600G's competition includes the Intel Core i7-11600H, which scores 19949, and the Intel Core i7-11800H at 20024, both within 0.2% of the 5600G's average score of 19983.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this system. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, and the GPU is clearly the limiting factor at 4K. However, at 1080p Low, the 117.5 FPS result suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at high frame rates. The 5600G's integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics are present but not used in this configuration, as the discrete RTX 4060 handles all rendering.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process make it power-efficient, which is beneficial for system thermals. It supports PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes, which is older than the GPU's PCIe 4.0 interface, but this does not appear to limit performance in the measured results. The 5600G has a launch MSRP of $259, positioning it as a mid-range processor. Overall, the CPU provides adequate performance for this pairing, with the GPU being the dominant factor in determining frame rates across resolutions and settings.