Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 lands at rank 43 out of 1,795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places this configuration in the top 2.4% of all tested systems, which is an exceptionally strong showing for a CPU that was released in 2024 with a 65 W TDP. The ranking suggests that while the RTX 5090 is doing the heavy lifting in this flight simulator, the Ryzen 5 5600GT is not holding the system back to any significant degree.

This is particularly interesting because the CPU's average benchmark score of 20,740 places it at the 78th percentile among all CPUs, yet the combo ranks far higher within this specific game. The discrepancy implies that Microsoft Flight Simulator's performance profile favors the GPU more heavily than general-purpose benchmarks might suggest. The RTX 5090's 94th percentile standing among all GPUs, combined with its massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, appears to be the dominant factor in this ranking.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows a tightly clustered group. The Intel Core i7-10700 scores 20,746 (0% delta), the Intel Core i5-12490F scores 20,794 (-0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X scores 20,680 (+0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 7J13 scores 20,845 (-0.5%). The Ryzen 5 5600GT sits almost exactly in the middle of this pack, within a 0.8% spread. This means any of these CPUs would likely produce nearly identical results in this game when paired with the same RTX 5090.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT brings 6 cores and 12 threads to this configuration, built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Cezanne codename. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz can boost up to 4.60 GHz, which gives the processor solid single-threaded performance for a flight simulator that relies heavily on simulation logic. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core provide adequate data locality for the game's terrain and aircraft systems.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows a clear scaling pattern from 2 threads (1,794 in 3DMark) to 4 threads (3,446) to 8 threads (4,968) and finally to max threads (5,554). This indicates that the processor benefits from additional threads up to its full 12-thread count, but the gains diminish beyond 8 threads. For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which typically uses a handful of threads for simulation and rendering tasks, the 6-core/12-thread configuration should be sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck at most settings.

The Cinebench R23 scores of 17,272 multi-core and 2,438 single-core reinforce this picture. The single-core score is particularly relevant for flight simulation, where the main simulation thread often cannot be fully parallelized. A Geekbench single-core score of 2,035 further confirms that the Ryzen 5 5600GT has competent per-thread performance for this workload.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combo ranks 43rd out of 1,795 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2.4% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the CPU's average benchmark score and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600GT has an average benchmark score of 20,740. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-10700, scores 20,746 (0% delta), while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X scores 20,680 (+0.3% relative to the 5600GT).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 sits at the 94th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306.

Q: What is the best measured FPS at 1080p for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 175.2 FPS on Low settings, followed by 163.7 FPS on Medium, 140.9 FPS on High, and 134.2 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 have and what type is it?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock and how many cores does it have?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600GT has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz and a base clock of 3.60 GHz.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS ranges from 134.2 on Ultra to 175.2 on Low. Medium settings produce 163.7 FPS, while High settings yield 140.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 41 FPS, representing a 23.4% performance reduction from the lowest to highest quality preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers shift downward but remain robust. Low settings deliver 165.7 FPS, Medium drops to 151.6 FPS, High falls to 114 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 110.1 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra here is 55.6 FPS, a 33.5% decrease. Notably, the drop from High to Ultra at this resolution is only 3.9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5090's capabilities become more apparent. Low settings still achieve 143.1 FPS, Medium reaches 109.7 FPS, High manages 83.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 80 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 63.1 FPS, a 44.1% reduction. The 4K Low result of 143.1 FPS is particularly impressive, showing that even at maximum resolution, this combo can push well beyond 60 FPS on lower presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about system bottlenecks. At Low settings, performance drops from 175.2 FPS at 1080p to 165.7 FPS at 1440p (a 5.4% decrease) and then to 143.1 FPS at 4K (an additional 13.6% decrease from 1440p). This relatively gentle scaling curve suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is partially limiting performance, as the GPU has ample headroom.

At Ultra settings, the picture changes dramatically. FPS goes from 134.2 at 1080p to 110.1 at 1440p (an 18% drop) and then to 80 at 4K (a 27.3% drop from 1440p). The steeper scaling at higher settings indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as visual complexity grows. The 54.2 FPS difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is a 40.4% reduction, which aligns with the pixel count increase from 2.07 million to 8.29 million pixels.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5600GT may be constraining the RTX 5090's potential, particularly at lower settings where the GPU is not fully utilized. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows and the CPU bottleneck diminishes, allowing the RTX 5090 to demonstrate its full capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gamers seeking maximum smoothness, Low settings at 175.2 FPS provides the highest frame rate, but Medium at 163.7 FPS offers a substantial visual upgrade for only an 11.5 FPS cost. High at 140.9 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 134.2 FPS sacrifices only 6.7 FPS compared to High, making Ultra the best choice for 1080p if visual fidelity is prioritized.

At 1440p, the situation is more nuanced. Ultra at 110.1 FPS is only 3.9 FPS slower than High at 114 FPS, making Ultra the clear recommendation for users with 1440p displays. The jump from Medium at 151.6 FPS to High at 114 FPS represents a 37.6 FPS loss, which is significant, but the quality improvement in a flight simulator's detailed scenery may justify it for many users.

For 4K, the choice depends on refresh rate priorities. Low at 143.1 FPS is the only preset that exceeds 120 FPS, while Medium at 109.7 FPS and High at 83.3 FPS both remain comfortably above 60 FPS. Ultra at 80 FPS still clears the 60 FPS bar, making it viable for 4K users with 60 Hz displays. Given that Ultra is only 3.3 FPS slower than High at 4K, Ultra provides the best experience for 4K users with standard refresh rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications explain why. Built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip on a 5 nm process, this GPU houses 92,200 million transistors across a 750 mm² die. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for a flight simulator that streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data.

The GPU's 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units deliver substantial raw compute. Its boost clock of 2,407 MHz and base clock of 2,017 MHz, combined with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, make it exceptionally well-suited for the complex lighting and rendering demands of modern flight simulation. The 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are among the highest ever measured in a consumer GPU.

In the context of this game, the RTX 5090's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs is the primary reason this combo achieves its 43rd place overall ranking. The GPU's nearest rivals — the RTX 5090 D at 84,241 (0.1% delta), RTX 5050 Mobile at 84,171 (0.2%), and AMD Radeon PRO W6600 at 83,209 (1.3%) — all score within a narrow band, but none match the full RTX 5090's combination of memory capacity and bandwidth for this specific workload. The GPU's 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU underscore its performance class, while its PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensures no bandwidth limitations from the system bus.