Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a notoriously demanding title, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a specific performance profile across resolutions and settings. The data indicates a system capable of smooth flight in lower presets, but one that requires careful adjustment for high-fidelity visuals. The measured results place this combination at rank 1467 out of 1795 tested combinations, a position that reflects the GPU's role as the primary constraint in this simulation.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gameplay?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 90.7 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 69.4 FPS offers a substantial improvement over Low, while still maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves an average of 55.6 FPS. Moving to the High preset drops the average to 30.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT has an average benchmark score of 29774. This places it in a statistical tie with the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS, which scores 29856, representing a delta of -0.3%. It is also 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, which has a score of 29740.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 holds an average benchmark score of 16074, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, which scores 16351, making the RTX 2060 1.7% slower in this metric.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 72.5 FPS. Switching to the Ultra preset reduces the average frame rate to 38.6 FPS, a substantial drop of 33.9 FPS for maximum visual fidelity.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, with the average FPS at High settings dropping from 56.6 to 30.6. This indicates that the rendering load, which is handled by the GPU, is the main constraint.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset is the most balanced choice across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, it provides a smooth 69.4 FPS average, which is a 22.6% improvement over the High preset's 56.6 FPS. The visual leap from Low to Medium is generally more significant than from Medium to High, making it the most efficient upgrade path.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again proves to be the sweet spot, delivering an average of 57.6 FPS. This is comfortably playable, whereas the High preset's 46 FPS average is less fluid. The Ultra preset at this resolution, at 38.6 FPS, is best reserved for static scenic views or less demanding aircraft.

For users with a 4K display, the recommended setting is Low, which produces a 55.6 FPS average. This is the only preset that achieves near-playable frame rates at 3840x2160. The Medium preset at 40.9 FPS is a compromise, but the performance hit may not justify the visual improvements for all users. The data indicates that High and Ultra presets at 4K, with averages of 30.6 and 32.3 FPS respectively, are not suitable for a responsive flight experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 56.6 at 1920x1080 to 46 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 18.7%. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160, the average FPS falls further to 30.6, a 33.5% reduction from the 1440p result. This steep decline as resolution increases confirms that the RTX 2060's rendering capabilities are the limiting factor.

The same trend is visible at the Low preset. The average FPS at 1080p is 90.7, which drops to 72.5 at 1440p and finally to 55.6 at 4K. While the scaling is less severe at lower settings, the pattern is consistent: higher resolutions place a proportionally heavier load on the GPU. The Ryzen 7 5800XT, with its high single-thread score of 3359 in Cinebench R23, is not the bottleneck here; the data points to the graphics card as the primary constraint on performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 shows a clear performance hierarchy. The Low preset produces an average of 90.7 FPS, providing a highly fluid experience. The Medium preset averages 69.4 FPS, a significant step down but still smooth. The High preset averages 56.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset brings up the rear with 50.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 40.1 FPS, illustrating the heavy cost of maxed-out settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down accordingly. The Low preset averages 72.5 FPS, which is still excellent. The Medium preset averages 57.6 FPS, keeping the experience playable. The High preset averages 46 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 38.6 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 33.9 FPS, showing that the performance cost of higher settings remains substantial.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened by the higher presets. The Low preset is the only viable option, averaging 55.6 FPS. The Medium preset averages 40.9 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets are nearly identical at 30.6 and 32.3 FPS respectively. This data suggests that at 4K, the difference between High and Ultra is negligible, as the GPU is already at its limit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is the defining component in this system's gaming performance. The benchmark results show a GPU that is in the 58th percentile, with an average score of 16074. This places it in a tight grouping with rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, which is only 0.5% faster, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, which is 1.8% slower.

The GPU's 6 GB of VRAM is a key factor in the 4K results. A flight simulator like this one can easily exceed this capacity at higher resolutions and settings, leading to performance degradation. This is a likely explanation for the narrow gap between High (30.6 FPS) and Ultra (32.3 FPS) presets at 3840x2160; the system may be hitting a memory wall where additional graphical detail cannot be processed efficiently.

The RTX 2060's core clocks are listed at 1365 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost. These figures, combined with its 1920 shading units and 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, define its raw compute ability. The data shows that this compute power is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming at Medium to High settings, but it falls short of the demands of 4K with high visual fidelity. The card's 58th percentile ranking confirms it as a mid-range performer, and the measured FPS data in Microsoft Flight Simulator aligns with that assessment, requiring users to make significant compromises to achieve playable frame rates at higher resolutions.