Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces 57.7 FPS average, while dropping to Low settings yields 103.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the Ultra preset delivers 48 FPS, a 16.8% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result, and Low settings drop to 85.3 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset falls to 32.3 FPS, which is 44% below the 1080p Ultra figure, while Low settings still manage 60.7 FPS.

The scaling pattern indicates that the RX 7600 XT becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is 24.3% (from 62.1 to 47 FPS), and the further drop from 1440p to 4K at High is 26% (from 47 to 34.8 FPS). These are substantial reductions that align with the GPU's 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for the game's asset streaming, but the raw throughput constraints become evident at higher resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the 103.7 FPS result suggests the CPU is keeping pace, but the 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 9600X with a 3.90 GHz base and 5.40 GHz boost clock still shows its limits. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 46 FPS (103.7 vs 57.7), while at 4K the same gap narrows to 28.4 FPS (60.7 vs 32.3). This narrowing gap is typical of a system where GPU load dominates at higher resolutions, leaving less headroom for settings-based differences.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that Medium settings provide the most balanced experience across resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 79.1 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and only 24.6 FPS below the Low preset's 103.7 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the 62.3 FPS result remains playable, while High drops to 47 FPS and Ultra to 48 FPS — the Ultra and High results being nearly identical at 1440p (48 vs 47 FPS), which indicates diminishing returns beyond Medium.

For 4K, Medium delivers 49.7 FPS, which is 17.4 FPS higher than Ultra's 32.3 FPS and 11 FPS lower than Low's 60.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K dips below 35 FPS, making it the least viable option. Based on the measured rows, Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p and 4K use, as it maintains frame rates above 49 FPS at all tested resolutions. At 1080p, High at 62.1 FPS is acceptable, but Medium's 79.1 FPS provides more headroom for the complex flight simulation scenarios typical of this genre.

The Low preset's 103.7 FPS at 1080p and 85.3 FPS at 1440p show that the combo can drive high refresh rates when visual fidelity is sacrificed, but the visual compromises in a detailed flight simulator may not be worthwhile given that Medium offers a substantial improvement in quality with only a 24.6 FPS penalty at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate does this combo achieve at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 57.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with the Ultra preset, which is the lowest 1080p result among the four tested settings.

Q: Is the RX 7600 XT sufficient for 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: At 4K with Medium settings, the combo produces 49.7 FPS, while High yields 34.8 FPS and Ultra drops to 32.3 FPS. The Low preset achieves 60.7 FPS, indicating that 4K is playable only at reduced settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 9600X compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 28246, placing it 0.3% above the Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 5 230, and 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RX 7600 XT falls in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20146.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p Low settings?

A: The 103.7 FPS result at 1080p Low is the highest measured frame rate, and the CPU's single-thread performance (3dmark single thread score of 1253) suggests it handles the game's simulation load adequately, but the 46 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p indicates the GPU still has significant influence.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to the standard RX 7600?

A: The RX 7600 XT scores 0.6% lower than the RX 7600 in average benchmark performance, with scores of 20146 vs 20258 respectively.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 1179 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the lower-middle portion of the database, reflecting the GPU's 63rd percentile standing among all graphics cards and the CPU's 85th percentile among all processors. The rank is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strong relative position, but it underscores how demanding this particular flight simulator is on the graphics subsystem.

The gap between CPU and GPU percentile rankings (85th vs 63rd) suggests that the RX 7600 XT is the limiting factor for this pairing. The CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 5 230 — are within 0.3% of its average score, and the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS is 0.4% ahead. This tight clustering indicates that CPU-side improvements would yield minimal gains. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER at 1.9% behind and the RTX 3070 Mobile at 1.9% ahead, showing that the RX 7600 XT sits in a competitive but crowded performance band.

In terms of actual gameplay, the combo's rank of 1179 out of 1795 means that approximately two-thirds of tested configurations outperform it in this title. However, the measured frame rates at 1080p Medium (79.1 FPS) and 1440p Medium (62.3 FPS) demonstrate that the combo remains viable for the majority of display configurations, even if it does not lead the rankings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It features a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance, with a 3dmark single thread score of 1253 and a Geekbench single core score of 3363. These figures are relevant for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-thread performance for its simulation logic.

The multi-threaded results are also respectable: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 25525, and Geekbench multicore reaches 15182. However, the game's scaling with the 6-core configuration appears adequate but not exceptional. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 103.7 FPS, which is the highest result in the dataset. This suggests the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at lower graphical loads, but the 46 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p indicates that the GPU becomes the primary constraint as settings increase.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 28246, places it ahead of the Intel Core i5-13490F by 0.3% and behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS by 0.4%. This positioning indicates that the Ryzen 5 9600X is a capable mid-range processor, but its 6-core/12-thread configuration may not provide the same headroom as higher-core-count rivals in a simulation title that can utilize additional threads for AI, weather, and physics calculations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 103.7 FPS on Low, 79.1 FPS on Medium, 62.1 FPS on High, and 57.7 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 46 FPS total reduction, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High (17 FPS). At 2560x1440, the results are 85.3 FPS on Low, 62.3 FPS on Medium, 47 FPS on High, and 48 FPS on Ultra. Notably, High and Ultra produce nearly identical results at 1440p — a 1 FPS difference — which suggests the Ultra preset's additional effects are not fully rendering due to GPU limitations.

At 3840x2160, the measurements show 60.7 FPS on Low, 49.7 FPS on Medium, 34.8 FPS on High, and 32.3 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results reveal a severe drop in High and Ultra settings, with both falling below 35 FPS. The Low preset at 4K (60.7 FPS) is nearly identical to the High preset at 1080p (62.1 FPS), which highlights the massive impact of resolution on this GPU.

Across all resolutions, Medium settings provide the most consistent frame times relative to the maximum available: at 1080p Medium is 76.3% of Low's performance, at 1440p it is 73% of Low, and at 4K it is 81.9% of Low. The High and Ultra presets show steeper degradation as resolution increases, with 4K Ultra achieving only 31.1% of the 1080p Low frame rate. These numbers indicate that the RX 7600 XT's 16 GB memory capacity does not compensate for its 128-bit bus width and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth when handling the high-resolution textures and draw distances in this flight simulator.