Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator: AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 — Benchmark Analysis

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptional performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing this pairing at rank 168 out of 3714 tested combinations (top 4.5%). The data shows a system capable of smooth 4K Ultra play at 77 FPS average, with the RTX 4090's massive 24 GB VRAM buffer and the 5600GT's 6-core/12-thread Zen 3 architecture combining to overcome the simulator's notorious CPU-bound tendencies in most scenarios. This is a pairing where the GPU clearly leads, but the CPU holds its own well enough to avoid becoming a severe bottleneck at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The maximum average FPS measured is 177, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates the system's ceiling in undemanding visual conditions.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairings for this game?

A: The combo ranks 168th out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 4.5% of all systems benchmarked for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What is the RTX 4090's memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This is paired with a 1313 MHz memory clock (21 Gbps effective).

Q: What are the clock speeds of the Ryzen 5 5600GT?

A: The CPU has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It features 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename).

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

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 138 FPS average while Ultra produces 77 FPS average — a 61 FPS drop or roughly 44% reduction in performance.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the system exceed 144 FPS?

A: The system exceeds 144 FPS at 2560x1440 Low (165 FPS) and at 1920x1080 Low (177 FPS). Medium settings at 1080p also hit 161 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the measured FPS data reflects its overwhelming capability. With 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, the GPU provides raw geometry and pixel throughput that Microsoft Flight Simulator's dense scenery rendering demands. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 76,300 million transistors, delivers an FP32 compute rating of 82.58 TFLOPS, which the simulator leverages for terrain tessellation and weather effects.

The memory subsystem is where the RTX 4090 asserts its authority. The 24 GB GDDR6X buffer on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that even at 4K Ultra, texture streaming never becomes a limiting factor. Flight Simulator is notorious for loading massive photogrammetry and satellite texture packs; the 24 GB capacity means the entire active scene can reside in VRAM without paging to system memory. The 1313 MHz memory clock (21 Gbps effective) provides the bandwidth to feed the 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate, which is critical when flying over detailed urban environments.

The GPU's clock behavior — base 2235 MHz, boost 2520 MHz — is relatively modest for a flagship, but the sheer scale of the execution units compensates. With 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, the RTX 4090 also handles the simulator's optional ray-traced shadows and reflections without compromising frame rates, though the measured data does not isolate these effects. The 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate explains why the system maintains 77 FPS at 4K Ultra — this is a GPU designed for 8K-class workloads, and 4K Flight Simulator is well within its comfort zone.

The benchmark results place the RTX 4090 at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347. Its nearest rivals in PassMark G3D scoring are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, +0.3% for the 4090), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, +2.9% for the 4090). These are professional workstation cards, not gaming competitors, which underscores the 4090's position as a top-tier consumer part that benchmarks closer to prosumer hardware.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT provides the processing foundation with 6 cores and 12 threads running at 3.60 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost. This Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename) on TSMC's 7 nm process features 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die. The CPU's 16 MB L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core are modest by modern standards, but the 3DMark multi-threaded scores (5,523 at 16 threads, 5,554 at max threads) indicate solid scaling for a 6-core part.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's single-thread performance matters more than raw core count, and the 5600GT delivers a 3DMark single-thread score of 913 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,438. These numbers place it in the 74th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20,733. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: Intel Core i5-12490F (20,802, -0.3% for the 5600GT), Intel Xeon 6325P (20,821, -0.4%), and Intel Core Ultra 5 125U (20,826, -0.4%). This means the 5600GT is effectively tied with these alternatives in synthetic workloads.

The CPU's 51.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth is sufficient for the simulator's data streaming, though it trails newer DDR5 platforms. The integrated Radeon Vega 7 GPU is present but irrelevant in this discrete-GPU configuration. The 65W TDP keeps thermals manageable, allowing the boost clock of 4.60 GHz to sustain under load without aggressive throttling. This is critical for Flight Simulator, which can peg a single core with physics and flight model calculations while other cores handle AI traffic and scenery loading.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities.

1920x1080: The lowest resolution tested shows the system's raw ceiling. At Low settings, the average FPS is 177 — likely approaching the display's refresh rate limit or the CPU's frame-generation capability. Medium settings produce 161 FPS average with a min of 137 and max of 186, indicating some frame variance but no severe dips. High settings average 136 FPS, while Ultra drops to 130 FPS average. The small gap between High and Ultra (6 FPS) suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU can handle the visual load but the processor cannot feed frames fast enough to differentiate the higher settings.

2560x1440: At this resolution, the GPU begins to take more of the workload. Low settings average 165 FPS, which is only 12 FPS lower than 1080p Low — showing the GPU has ample headroom. Medium settings average 146 FPS with a min of 124 and max of 168. High settings average 110 FPS, and Ultra drops to 105 FPS average. The 1440p results show a larger gap between Low and Medium (19 FPS) compared to Medium and High (36 FPS), indicating that the transition to High settings introduces significant visual workload that the GPU must process.

3840x2160: At 4K, the GPU's dominance becomes fully apparent. Low settings average 138 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth for a flight simulator. Medium settings average 108 FPS with a min of 92 and max of 124. High settings average 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 77 FPS. The 4K results show the RTX 4090's capacity to handle 4K gaming at high refresh rates, even in a demanding simulator title. The min FPS of 92 at 4K Medium is particularly notable, indicating that even during complex scenery loading or dense city overflights, the system maintains playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU limitations. At Low settings, the progression is: 177 FPS (1080p) → 165 FPS (1440p) → 138 FPS (4K). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 12 FPS (6.8%), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 27 FPS (16.4%). This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p, and the GPU only becomes more stressed as resolution increases.

At Medium settings, the scaling is: 161 FPS (1080p) → 146 FPS (1440p) → 108 FPS (4K). The 1080p to 1440p drop is 15 FPS (9.3%), but the 1440p to 4K drop is 38 FPS (26%). The larger drop at higher resolutions shows the GPU taking on more work as pixel count increases, but the system still maintains >100 FPS at 4K Medium.

High settings show more dramatic scaling: 136 FPS (1080p) → 110 FPS (1440p) → 81 FPS (4K). The drops are 26 FPS (19.1%) and 29 FPS (26.4%), respectively. Ultra settings follow a similar pattern: 130 FPS → 105 FPS → 77 FPS, with drops of 25 FPS (19.2%) and 28 FPS (26.7%).

The consistent 4K-to-1440p drop of roughly 26-27% across High and Ultra settings indicates that the RTX 4090's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor at 4K, while the 1080p-to-1440p drops suggest a smoother transition where neither component is fully saturated. The fact that 4K Ultra still achieves 77 FPS average demonstrates that this pairing is genuinely capable of 4K gaming at maximum quality, a rare feat for any CPU-GPU combination in Flight Simulator.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience measured in this dataset, the 4K Medium preset (108 FPS average, 92 min FPS) offers the optimal balance. The min FPS of 92 ensures that even during sudden scenery loads or weather transitions, the frame rate stays above 90 FPS — well within the smoothness threshold for flight simulation. Upgrading to High at 4K costs 27 FPS (25%) but the visual gains are marginal for most players. Ultra at 4K delivers 77 FPS average, which is playable but leaves less headroom for stutter-prone moments.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset (146 FPS average, 124 min FPS) is the standout choice. The 124 FPS minimum ensures consistent smoothness on high-refresh displays, and the 168 FPS maximum shows the system can burst well above the average. For players with 144Hz monitors, this is the sweet spot. High at 1440p (110 FPS) is also viable, but the 36 FPS drop from Medium to High suggests a significant visual feature threshold that may not be worth the performance cost.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset (161 FPS average, 137 min FPS) provides the best experience for competitive or high-refresh play. The 137 FPS minimum is excellent, and the 186 FPS maximum means the system rarely drops below 144 FPS. Ultra at 1080p (130 FPS) is the only preset that dips below 144 FPS average, making it less ideal for maximum-refresh gaming. The Low presets (177 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, 138 FPS at 4K) are only recommended for players prioritizing frame rate above all visual quality, as the simulator's cockpit displays and terrain detail suffer noticeably at Low settings.

The data suggests that this pairing is powerful enough to run Microsoft Flight Simulator at Medium settings across all resolutions with excellent frame rates. The RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensure that no resolution or texture pack overwhelms the memory subsystem, while the Ryzen 5 5600GT's 6-core/12-thread configuration with 4.60 GHz boost provides sufficient single-thread performance for the simulator's physics and AI calculations. Users seeking the highest visual fidelity should select 4K Ultra (77 FPS), but those prioritizing smoothness should choose 4K Medium (108 FPS) or 1440p Medium (146 FPS).