Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents a fascinating stress test for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D pairing. The data reveals a system with immense raw power that is heavily influenced by both CPU and GPU capabilities depending on the resolution. This analysis explores how the measured frame rates shift across settings and resolutions, what those shifts indicate about the underlying hardware bottlenecks, and how this specific combo stacks up against the thousands of other tested configurations in our database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a clear pattern: performance scales dramatically with resolution, but the rate of that scaling varies significantly depending on the graphics preset. At 1080p with Low settings, the system delivers an average of 207 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 192 FPS, a modest 7.2% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 151 FPS, which is a 21.4% drop from 1440p and a 27.1% drop from 1080p. This relatively gentle scaling at Low settings suggests that at lower resolutions, the system is not strictly bound by the GPU's pixel-pushing capabilities, but rather by other factors like CPU draw-call limits or memory bandwidth.

However, the story changes dramatically when we look at higher presets. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 142 FPS at 1080p to 114 FPS at 1440p, a 19.7% decrease. The jump to 4K Ultra shows a further drop to 84 FPS, which is 26.3% lower than the 1440p result and 40.8% lower than the 1080p result. This steeper decline at higher presets indicates that the Ultra settings introduce more GPU-intensive effects—such as higher-resolution textures, more complex lighting, and denser geometry—that increasingly tax the RTX 5090 D's rendering pipeline.

The most telling data point for understanding the limiting component comes from comparing the scaling of the Low and Ultra presets across resolutions. From 1080p to 4K, the Low preset loses 56 FPS (207 to 151), while the Ultra preset loses 58 FPS (142 to 84). The absolute FPS loss is nearly identical, but the percentage loss is much higher for Ultra (40.8%) than for Low (27.1%). This suggests that while both presets are affected by the resolution increase, the Ultra preset is more sensitive to the GPU's raw throughput. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to be a more significant constraint at lower resolutions and settings, where it must feed frames to the GPU as fast as possible. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's workload becomes so immense that it likely becomes the primary bottleneck, leaving the CPU with more headroom.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS for this combo is 207, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How much of a performance drop occurs when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 189 at 1920x1080 to 118 at 3840x2160. This represents a 71 FPS decrease, or a 37.6% reduction in performance.

Q: Is there a significant difference in performance between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, there is a measurable difference. At 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 120 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields an average of 114 FPS. The Ultra preset is 6 FPS slower, which is a 5% decrease relative to High.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combo, and at what settings?

A: The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution. The lowest recorded minimum is 100 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. The minimums for other presets are not provided in the data.

Q: How does the combo's performance at 4K High compare to its performance at 4K Low?

A: At 4K, the High preset delivers an average of 88 FPS, while the Low preset delivers 151 FPS. The High preset is 63 FPS slower, indicating that the increased graphical fidelity of the High preset has a substantial impact on the frame rate at this resolution.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at all tested settings and resolutions?

A: Based on the average FPS data, the combo never drops below 84 FPS. The lowest average is 84 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still a high frame rate for a flight simulator. All other settings and resolutions yield averages above 100 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Within our extensive database of tested CPU and GPU combinations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 29 out of 2996 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 1% of all configurations we have evaluated, indicating that it is an exceptionally high-performing combination for this title. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components, and the data shows that this pairing is able to leverage its strengths effectively in this simulation.

The high rank is particularly impressive given the nature of the CPU. The Ryzen 5 7600, while a modern 6-core processor, is not a top-tier enthusiast chip. However, its performance in this game is strong enough to keep pace with the flagship RTX 5090 D, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU workload is more demanding. The rank of 29 suggests that there are only 28 other combinations in our database that produce higher average frame rates, likely featuring even more powerful CPUs or slightly better-tuned configurations. This result underscores that the RTX 5090 D is the dominant performer in this pair, and the Ryzen 5 7600 provides sufficient support to allow it to showcase its full potential without becoming a severe bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Given the data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the user's display resolution and performance priorities. For users with a 1080p display, the Ultra preset is a viable option, as it still delivers a very high average of 142 FPS. This provides the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness. However, if a user prioritizes maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 207 FPS or the Medium preset at 189 FPS offers a significant boost in fluidity, which can be beneficial for panning the camera quickly or flying over dense urban areas.

At 1440p, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot. It achieves an average of 159 FPS, which is only 12 FPS less than the Low preset but with substantially better graphical fidelity. The High preset at 120 FPS is also excellent and offers a more noticeable visual upgrade over Medium, while the Ultra preset at 114 FPS is still very playable for those who want maximum visual quality. For 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The High preset at 88 FPS is a great balance of quality and performance, offering a smooth experience with high detail. The Medium preset at 118 FPS is preferable for users who want a higher frame rate buffer, while the Ultra preset at 84 FPS is the choice for maximum visual immersion, as it remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p or the High preset at 4K are the most balanced recommendations. They offer a strong combination of visual quality and high frame rates, ensuring that the powerful RTX 5090 D is utilized effectively without pushing the system to its limits unnecessarily. The data suggests that users should avoid the Low preset at higher resolutions unless they are chasing extremely high refresh rates, as the graphical compromise is significant relative to the FPS gain.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across a matrix of settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings. The Low preset yields the highest average at 207 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 189 FPS, with a minimum of 160 and a maximum of 217. The High preset drops to 149 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 142 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, showing the impact of increasing graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down. The Low preset delivers 192 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. The Medium preset averages 159 FPS, with a minimum of 136 and a maximum of 183. The High preset averages 120 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 114 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows slightly to 78 FPS, but the absolute numbers remain high.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload becomes the dominant factor. The Low preset averages 151 FPS, which reflects the RTX 5090 D's raw power. The Medium preset averages 118 FPS, with a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 135. The High preset averages 88 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 84 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 67 FPS, and the Ultra preset shows the largest performance deficit, as expected.

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the only one with recorded min/max FPS values, showing a consistent frame time behavior. At 1080p, the minimum of 160 FPS indicates very stable performance. At 1440p, the minimum is 136 FPS, and at 4K, it is 100 FPS. These minimums are all well above playable thresholds, confirming that the combo provides a smooth experience even in demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running on the AM5 socket. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, and it boosts up to 5.10 GHz. This level of single-thread performance is critical for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for its heavy reliance on a few primary threads for simulation logic and draw-call submission. The CPU's strong single-threaded score of 1852 in Cinebench R23 and 2521 in Geekbench single-core tests suggests it can handle the game's primary game thread efficiently.

The benchmarks show that the CPU's performance does not scale perfectly with thread count. Its 3DMark max-threads score is 6503, only slightly higher than its 8-thread score of 5508. This indicates that while the CPU has 12 threads, the additional threads beyond 8 provide diminishing returns in many workloads. In the context of Flight Simulator, the game may not utilize all 12 threads effectively, but the high clock speeds ensure that the active threads are processed quickly. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is also beneficial, as it provides a large, fast data pool for the CPU to access, reducing latency when fetching game data.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when observing the FPS scaling. The fact that the combo achieves 207 FPS at 1080p Low but only 151 FPS at 4K Low indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is the primary limiting factor. The GPU is not being fully utilized, as the CPU cannot feed it frames fast enough. This is a classic CPU bottleneck scenario. As the resolution increases, the GPU's workload increases, and the CPU has more time to prepare frames, allowing the GPU to become the limiting component. The data shows that the Ryzen 5 7600 is a capable partner for the RTX 5090 D, but it does place an upper ceiling on frame rates at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a colossal GPU, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with 21,760 shading units. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a staggering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its base clock is 2017 MHz, boosting to 2407 MHz. This immense memory capacity and bandwidth are crucial for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain, photogrammetry, and texture data, especially at high resolutions and settings.

The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS, which gives it the raw compute power to handle the complex shaders and lighting calculations required by the Ultra preset. The 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores also contribute to advanced rendering features, although the game's implementation of these features is not detailed in the data. The GPU's average benchmark score of 77712 places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, confirming its top-tier status.

The GPU's influence on the FPS data is most evident at 4K. The significant drop in performance when moving from Low to High and Ultra presets at this resolution highlights the GPU's workload. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is likely rendering at near-full capacity, which explains why the average FPS drops to 84. The high memory bandwidth is essential for feeding the GPU with the massive textures and geometry data required at 4K, and the 32 GB of VRAM ensures that there is no memory capacity bottleneck, even with the most demanding asset packs. The RTX 5090 D is clearly the star of this pairing, providing the sheer rendering power needed to achieve high frame rates in this demanding simulator, particularly at higher resolutions where its strengths are fully utilized.