Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an exceptionally demanding title, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X with the AMD Radeon RX 570 produces a specific performance profile that is heavily constrained by the graphics card. The measured data shows a system that is capable of providing a playable experience only at the lowest settings and resolution, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck across all tested configurations. This analysis walks through the benchmark results to explain how the system scales with resolution, the distinct roles of the CPU and GPU, and what settings offer the best experience for this hardware pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, clearly indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 570 is the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 48 FPS. Moving to 1440p with the same Low settings, the average FPS drops to 39, a reduction of 9 FPS. At 4K with Low settings, the average falls further to 29 FPS, which is a 19 FPS drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern shows that the GPU is being pushed progressively harder as pixel count increases, with each resolution step costing a significant portion of performance.

The trend is even more pronounced at higher settings. With Medium settings, the system averages 38 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The 4K result here is particularly telling, as it not only shows a low average but also a minimum FPS of 19 and a maximum of 26, indicating that even the frame delivery is inconsistent at this resolution. At High settings, the averages are 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding 27 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and just 16 FPS at 4K.

What these numbers reveal is that the RX 570's 4 GB of VRAM and 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are insufficient for the higher resolutions and settings that Microsoft Flight Simulator demands. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is substantial, but the gap between 1440p and 4K is even more punishing, with the system essentially becoming unplayable at 4K on all presets. The data suggests that resolution scaling is not linear; instead, the performance penalty accelerates as the resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU that is completely saturated and unable to keep up with the rendering load.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a modern 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 5 architecture with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17528.5 and a single-core score of 2183.5. In the context of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for heavy single-threaded simulation logic, this CPU should theoretically be more than capable of feeding frames to the GPU.

However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The fact that FPS drops so dramatically when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings proves that the GPU is the limiting factor. For example, at Low settings, the system goes from 48 FPS at 1080p to 29 FPS at 4K, a 40% reduction in performance. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively constant regardless of resolution, as the CPU workload does not change significantly with resolution. Instead, the RX 570 is unable to render the additional pixels.

The CPU's headroom is further evidenced by its 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 29713. The nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE with a deltaPct of 0.2 and the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H with a deltaPct of -0.5, are all within less than 1% of its score, indicating that the 9600X is competitively positioned. In this specific game, the CPU is likely waiting idly for the GPU to complete its work, meaning that any performance gains would have to come from a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU change. The 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for the simulation aspects of the title, leaving the GPU as the clear bottleneck.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is an older graphics card built on the GCN 4.0 architecture with a 14 nm process node. It features 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz. Its memory configuration consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The GPU's compute capability is rated at 5.095 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. These specifications, while respectable for its time, are severely challenged by Microsoft Flight Simulator's demanding rendering requirements.

The measured FPS data clearly shows the RX 570 is the primary constraint. At 1080p with Low settings, the card manages an average of 48 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. However, this is only achieved by significantly reducing the visual fidelity. At the Medium preset, the performance drops to 38 FPS, and at High it drops to 28 FPS. The Ultra preset yields only 27 FPS at 1080p, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The card's 4 GB of VRAM is likely a major issue, as Microsoft Flight Simulator at higher settings can easily exceed this capacity, leading to texture swapping and reduced performance.

The GPU's 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28766, places it in the mid-range of the performance spectrum, but its nearest rivals show that it is not a high-end part. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M has a deltaPct of -0.4, and the AMD Radeon RX 470 has a deltaPct of -0.8, indicating that the RX 570 is only slightly better than the RX 470 and slightly worse than the RX 6800M in aggregate benchmarks. In this game, the card is simply overwhelmed at higher resolutions, with the 4K results (17 FPS at High, 16 FPS at Ultra) being far below playable levels. The data suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity are the key limiting factors, preventing the system from achieving higher frame rates even when the CPU has plenty of headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable preset for this hardware combination is Low settings at 1080p, which yields an average of 48 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches a smooth experience, as all other settings and resolutions fall below the 30 FPS threshold that is generally considered the minimum for playable performance. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 39 FPS, which is still technically playable but not ideal, while 4K Low at 29 FPS is borderline unplayable.

For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p offers an average of 38 FPS with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 43 FPS. This provides a more detailed rendering of the world while maintaining a relatively stable frame rate. However, the data shows that the High and Ultra presets are not recommended at any resolution, as they consistently produce averages below 30 FPS. At 1080p High, the system averages 28 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it averages 27 FPS, both of which will result in noticeable stuttering and a less responsive experience.

The 1440p and 4K resolutions are generally not recommended for this GPU, as even the Low preset at 1440p only manages 39 FPS, and the 4K results are uniformly below 30 FPS. The data indicates that the best experience, balancing playability and visual quality, is achieved with the Low preset at 1080p. If the user can tolerate slightly lower frame rates, the Medium preset at 1080p is the highest quality setting that remains within a playable range. For any other configuration, the frame rates are too low to provide an enjoyable experience in a flight simulator that requires smooth camera movements and responsive controls.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination can achieve?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 48 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X or the AMD Radeon RX 570 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the bottleneck. The FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, such as from 48 FPS at 1080p Low to 29 FPS at 4K Low, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K resolution?

A: Technically yes, but not at playable frame rates. At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 29, and at Ultra settings, it drops to 16 FPS, which is well below playable thresholds.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 30 FPS, while the High preset averages 23 FPS, a difference of 7 FPS in favor of Medium.

Q: How does the RX 570's performance in this game compare to its nearest rival, the RX 470?

A: The RX 570 has an aggregate benchmark score of 28766, while the RX 470 has a deltaPct of -0.8, meaning the RX 570 is slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks, but in-game results show it is still heavily constrained.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 27 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for this configuration is as follows. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 48 FPS on Low settings, 38 FPS on Medium settings (with a minimum of 32 and maximum of 43), 28 FPS on High settings, and 27 FPS on Ultra settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 39 FPS on Low, 30 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 26 and maximum of 35), 23 FPS on High, and 22 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the averages are 29 FPS on Low, 22 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 26), 17 FPS on High, and 16 FPS on Ultra.

The data shows a clear and consistent pattern: performance degrades with both increasing resolution and increasing settings. The only configuration that exceeds 40 FPS is 1080p Low, and the only configurations that exceed 30 FPS are 1080p Medium and 1440p Low. All other settings and resolutions fall below the 30 FPS mark, which is often considered the minimum for acceptable gameplay. The minimum FPS values, which are only provided for the Medium settings, show that even at 1080p Medium, the frame rate can dip to 32 FPS, indicating some instability, while at 4K Medium, it can drop to 19 FPS. The lack of min/max data for the other settings suggests that the benchmark focused on average performance, but the available numbers paint a clear picture of a system that is struggling to keep up with the game's demands.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of all tested hardware combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3538 out of 3714 total combinations. This places it in the bottom 5% of all tested systems, which is consistent with the low frame rates observed in the measured data. The rank of 3538 indicates that the vast majority of other hardware combinations deliver better performance in this game, and it underscores the significant bottleneck presented by the RX 570.

The CPU is not the reason for this low ranking, as the Ryzen 5 9600X is a capable processor with a strong 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs. The issue is entirely with the GPU, which is an end-of-life product from 2017 that is simply not equipped to handle the demands of a 2020 flight simulator at higher resolutions. The GPU's 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while not terrible, is misleading in this context, as the game's specific rendering requirements are far more intensive than the average synthetic benchmark. The data shows that this combination is only suitable for low-resolution, low-settings play, and it ranks near the bottom of the database because of the GPU's inability to deliver acceptable frame rates in more demanding configurations. This ranking serves as a clear warning to users that this GPU is the primary limitation and that upgrading it would yield significant performance improvements, while a CPU upgrade would provide little to no benefit in this specific game.