Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 delivers a demanding experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with the data clearly indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint across all tested configurations. The measured frames per second (FPS) reveal a system that is workable at lower presets but quickly becomes overwhelmed as resolution and graphical fidelity increase, placing this combination in the lower percentile of tested hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a steep and consistent decline in average frame rates, highlighting the Radeon RX 580's limited bandwidth and compute throughput at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 53.3 FPS; dropping to Medium yields 44.1 FPS, High produces 29.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 32.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the same preset ladder sees Low at 43.5 FPS, Medium at 33.9 FPS, High at 22.6 FPS, and Ultra at 25.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, the results collapse: Low manages 29.7 FPS, Medium 25.4 FPS, High 16.8 FPS, and Ultra 16.5 FPS.

The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. From 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the performance drop is 18.4% (53.3 to 43.5 FPS), but from 1440p Low to 4K Low, the drop is 31.7% (43.5 to 29.7 FPS). This accelerating decline suggests that the RX 580's 256-bit memory bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated as resolution increases, while the Ryzen 5 5600GT's six cores and 12 threads are not the bottleneck. Notably, the 1080p High result (29.6 FPS) is nearly identical to the 4K Low result (29.7 FPS), which is a strong indicator that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot deliver higher frame rates even when the workload is reduced.

The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 20.4 FPS (53.3 to 32.9), while at 4K the delta shrinks to 13.2 FPS (29.7 to 16.5). This compression at higher resolutions is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the graphics card's raw shader throughput (6.175 TFLOPS FP32) and pixel rate (42.88 GPixel/s) are insufficient to maintain fluid motion. The data suggests that users targeting 1080p should expect playable frame rates only at Low or Medium presets, while 1440p and 4K are only viable for static scenery viewing rather than active flight.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average frame rate exceeds 30 FPS, achieving 53.3 FPS at Low and 44.1 FPS at Medium. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (43.5 FPS) remains above 30 FPS, while 3840x2160 never reaches 30 FPS, with the highest being 29.7 FPS at Low.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600GT has an average benchmark score of 20740, placing it essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-10700 (20746, 0% delta). It is 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (20680) and 0.5% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20845), indicating that its processing power is competitive with mid-range desktop parts.

Q: Does the GPU's age affect its standing relative to other graphics cards?

A: The Radeon RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, which is 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13549) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (13416). Its percentile rank of 53 among all GPUs means it sits near the median, but the game-specific results show it struggles with modern flight simulation workloads.

Q: Is there a measurable difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, but it is not linear. High produces 29.6 FPS while Ultra produces 32.9 FPS, which is a 3.3 FPS improvement. This anomaly suggests that Ultra may be adjusting certain CPU-bound settings or that the GPU is not the sole limiter at these settings, though the overall frame rates remain below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 1666 out of 1795 indicate?

A: This rank places the combination in the bottom 7.2% of all tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Given the game's high system requirements, this result is consistent with the RX 580's end-of-life production status and its performance relative to modern graphics hardware.

Q: Can the CPU be considered a bottleneck in any scenario?

A: The data does not support a CPU bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 5600GT's single-thread score of 2438 in Cinebench R23 and its 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate strong per-core performance, and the FPS results scale predictably with resolution, which is a GPU-bound characteristic.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the most balanced experience is achieved at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which delivers 44.1 FPS. This preset provides a playable frame rate while maintaining visual fidelity above Low, and the 11.2 FPS advantage over High (29.6 FPS) makes it the clear choice for sustained performance. For users who prioritize smoothness over visuals, dropping to Low at 1080p yields 53.3 FPS, which is the highest average frame rate recorded in the entire dataset.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset (43.5 FPS) is the only viable option for active gameplay, as Medium (33.9 FPS) is borderline and High (22.6 FPS) becomes stutter-prone. The Ultra preset at 1440p (25.8 FPS) offers no advantage over High and should be avoided. At 3840x2160, no preset delivers a playable experience; Low (29.7 FPS) is marginally better than Medium (25.4 FPS), but both fall below the 30 FPS threshold, and High (16.8 FPS) and Ultra (16.5 FPS) are effectively slideshows.

The data suggests that the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, as it balances the 44.1 FPS average with the visual improvements over Low. Users with variable refresh rate monitors might tolerate 1440p Low, but the 43.5 FPS result is close to the 1080p Medium outcome, making resolution choice secondary to preset selection. The RX 580's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory is sufficient for these presets, but the GPU's compute performance prevents any meaningful use of High or Ultra beyond static screenshots.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1666 out of 1795 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom percentile of the database. This rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance ceiling, as the data shows that the RX 580's average benchmark score of 13559 is only 0.1% different from the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, a card from a significantly older generation. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 78th percentile among all processors, with an average score of 20740 that matches the Intel Core i7-10700.

This disparity between CPU and GPU performance is reflected in the frame rate data. The Ryzen 5 5600GT's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17272 and single-core score of 2438 indicate that it can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the RX 580's 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for the game's complex rendering pipeline. The rank of 1666 means that only 129 combos perform worse, and these are likely to feature even older GPUs or less capable CPUs.

In practical terms, this rank suggests that the combo is suitable for entry-level flight simulation at reduced settings, but it is far from the mid-range of tested hardware. The GPU's percentile rank of 53 among all GPUs is misleading in this context, as Microsoft Flight Simulator is more demanding than the average game benchmark, and the RX 580's end-of-life status means it lacks optimizations for newer rendering techniques.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT provides six cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename), with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node from TSMC make it a power-efficient part, but the CPU's role in Microsoft Flight Simulator is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns. The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at 2438 in Cinebench R23 and 913 in 3DMark single-thread, is strong enough to avoid becoming the limiting factor.

The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps with the game's asset streaming and terrain generation. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s on a dual-channel DDR4 bus is adequate for feeding the RX 580, but the GPU's 256.0 GB/s bandwidth is the more critical path for frame delivery. The data shows that the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, such as a Cinebench R20 multicore score of 7254 and a 3DMark max-threads score of 5554, do not translate into higher FPS in this game, as the GPU saturates well before the CPU's processing limits are reached.

The nearest CPU rivals, including the Intel Core i7-10700 (0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (0.3% delta), show that the 5600GT is competitive in synthetic workloads, but this does not alleviate the GPU bottleneck. The CPU's 78th percentile rank among all processors confirms that it is not the weak link in this combination. Instead, the RX 580's 14 nm Polaris architecture, with 2304 shading units and 144 TMUs, represents the performance boundary, and any CPU upgrade would yield negligible FPS gains without a corresponding GPU upgrade.