Microsoft Flight Simulator

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in Microsoft Flight Simulator is an extreme mismatch on paper, but the measured data reveals a clear and playable outcome. The RTX 4090 is an end-of-life flagship with a 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the 5600G is a 78th percentile CPU with integrated graphics that are irrelevant here since a discrete card is present. The benchmark results show that this combination delivers high frame rates across all resolutions, though the CPU’s Zen 3 architecture with 6 cores and 12 threads becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to explain what this combo can actually do, where the bottlenecks sit, and which settings provide the best experience.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 169.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest average is 78.1 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G has an average benchmark score of 19983. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-11600H, 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX, and 0.2% behind both the Intel Core i7-11800H and AMD EPYC 7713P.

Q: Is the RTX 4090’s performance significantly different from its closest GPU rivals?

A: No, the differences are minimal. The RTX 4090 scores 66473 on average, which is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4, 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40, 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro P6000.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Ultra and Low settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 78.1 FPS, while Low averages 132.7 FPS. This is a difference of 54.6 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact on performance.

Q: Does the combo rank highly among all tested configurations for this game?

A: Yes, it ranks 84th out of 1795 tested combos. This places it in the top 5% of all configurations tested for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 had a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications dictate the high levels of performance seen in the measured data. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This massive memory pool and bandwidth are crucial for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data. The GPU’s boost clock is listed at 2520 MHz, with a base clock of 2235 MHz, and it contains 16384 shading units alongside 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores. These specs allow the card to process the complex lighting and geometry of the flight simulator efficiently.

The data shows that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 130.9 on Ultra to 169.2 on Low. The spread between these settings is 38.3 FPS, which is significant but smaller than the spread at 4K. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 78.1 on Ultra to 132.7 on Low, a spread of 54.6 FPS. This larger spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is being tasked more heavily, but it still delivers playable frame rates even at the most demanding settings. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is what allows it to handle these workloads, though the CPU’s limitations become apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is waiting for data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend: performance scales predictably with resolution, but the degree of scaling varies by settings preset. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 169.2 at 1920x1080 to 157 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 12.2 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 132.7, which is 24.3 FPS below the 1440p result. This shows a steady decline as pixel count increases.

The pattern is more dramatic at Ultra settings. At 1080p, the average is 130.9 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 103.4 FPS, a loss of 27.5 FPS. At 4K, the average falls to 78.1 FPS, another 25.3 FPS loss. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 52.8 FPS. This steeper decline at Ultra settings indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as both resolution and graphical complexity increase.

However, the data also shows that the CPU is a limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 169.2 FPS, but the RTX 4090 is capable of far more in other titles. The Ryzen 5 5600G’s single-thread benchmark score of 872 in 3dmark suggests it cannot feed the GPU fast enough at these low-resolution, low-settings scenarios. The fact that the FPS at 1080p Low is only 36.5 FPS higher than at 4K Low, while the pixel count is four times higher, demonstrates that the CPU is holding back performance at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate for most users. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 142.5 FPS, which is 32.3 FPS higher than High and 39.1 FPS higher than Ultra. This is a significant performance gain that comes with a moderate reduction in visual fidelity compared to Ultra. At 4K, Medium averages 103.9 FPS, which is 23 FPS higher than High and 25.8 FPS higher than Ultra, while still providing a smooth experience.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, the High preset is a solid choice. It averages 135.5 FPS, which is 4.6 FPS higher than Ultra and 19.7 FPS lower than Medium. The jump from Medium to High costs only 19.7 FPS at 1080p, making High the sweet spot for visual quality without sacrificing the high frame rates that the RTX 4090 can deliver.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 4K displays where the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity over frame rate. The data shows 78.1 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still playable, but the 25.8 FPS gain from dropping to Medium suggests that Medium is the better choice for maintaining a higher frame rate cushion. Low settings are not recommended, as the performance gain from Medium to Low is only 28.8 FPS at 4K, but the visual downgrade is substantial.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 84th out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 4.7% of all configurations tested, which is an impressive result given the CPU’s mid-range positioning. The ranking is likely buoyed by the GPU’s exceptional performance, as the RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

The CPU’s ranking is less impressive but still respectable. The Ryzen 5 5600G sits in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.3% of its average benchmark score. This indicates that the CPU is not a standout performer, but it is not a weak link either. In this game, the 84th rank out of 1795 combos suggests that the combination is better than the CPU alone would imply, but worse than the GPU alone would suggest. The data implies that the CPU is the limiting factor in this pairing, preventing the combo from reaching the top ranks that the RTX 4090 could achieve with a stronger processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 169.2 FPS, Medium averages 155.2 FPS, High averages 135.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 130.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 38.3 FPS, showing that even at 1080p, settings have a noticeable impact.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 157 FPS for Low, 142.5 FPS for Medium, 110.2 FPS for High, and 103.4 FPS for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at High settings, where the average falls by 25.3 FPS. The Low preset sees a smaller drop of 12.2 FPS, indicating that the CPU is still the primary limiter at this resolution with lower graphical loads.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 132.7 FPS for Low, 103.9 FPS for Medium, 80.9 FPS for High, and 78.1 FPS for Ultra. The jump from 1440p to 4K causes the largest absolute drops at High and Ultra settings, with losses of 29.3 FPS and 25.3 FPS respectively. The Low preset only loses 24.3 FPS, again highlighting the CPU’s role at lower settings.

Overall, the data shows that this combo can achieve over 100 FPS at 4K with Medium settings, and over 130 FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of VRAM ensures that memory capacity is never an issue, even at 4K with high-resolution textures. The limiting factor is the Ryzen 5 5600G, which prevents the system from reaching the 200+ FPS figures that the GPU could theoretically produce at 1080p Low. For a flight simulator where frame times matter for smooth panning, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best combination of high FPS and visual fidelity.