Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator: Intel Core i5-12600KF + AMD Radeon RX 6600

This combination pairs a 10-core Alder Lake processor with an 8 GB RDNA 2 graphics card, landing at rank 1454 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The i5-12600KF sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, while the RX 6600 ranks in the 69th percentile of GPUs. The measured data shows this rig is playable at 1080p and 1440p with tuned settings, but 4K requires significant compromises. This analysis covers the measured FPS rows, resolution scaling behavior, and where this combo stands relative to other tested configurations.

FAQ

Q: What average FPS does this combo achieve at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 53.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is identical to the High preset at the same resolution, suggesting a performance ceiling that is not purely GPU-bound at those two presets.

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

A: The i5-12600KF scores 27827 in the average benchmark, essentially tied with the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829, 0% delta). It is also within 0.1% of the i5-12600K (27851) and 0.2% of the Core Ultra 5 125H (27872), while being 0.4% ahead of the Core i7-13700H (27716).

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic performance relative to the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 6600's average benchmark score is 25235, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 25120. The RX 6600 is 0.5% ahead of the RTX 3060 Ti in the aggregate benchmark data, though real-world game performance depends on the specific workload.

Q: Does the RX 6600 have enough VRAM for this simulator?

A: The card has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured data shows playable frame rates at 1440p Medium (58.9 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (53.5 FPS), indicating 8 GB is sufficient for these tested presets, though 4K High drops to 30.5 FPS.

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 56.5 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 40 FPS. Medium drops to 39.7 FPS, High to 30.5 FPS, and Ultra to 28.3 FPS. For playable 4K, Low is the recommended preset based on the data.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: It ranks 1454 out of 1795 total combos, placing it in the lower-middle range of the database. The CPU's strong synthetic scores (84th percentile) are not enough to overcome the GPU's mid-tier position (69th percentile) in this flight simulator.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. Its boost clock reaches 2491 MHz, with a game clock of 2044 MHz and a base clock of 1626 MHz. The memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across an 8 GB GDDR6 bus. These specifications produce a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s, with 8.928 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role becomes evident when comparing presets at the same resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Low (93.2 FPS) to Medium (75 FPS) costs 18.2 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High (53.5 FPS) costs another 21.5 FPS. Notably, High and Ultra both produce exactly 53.5 FPS at 1080p, indicating that the RX 6600 hits a throughput ceiling where additional graphical features in the Ultra preset do not further reduce performance — or that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at that point.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for the tested presets, but the 128-bit memory bus limits bandwidth to 224.0 GB/s. This becomes more impactful at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 28.3, which is below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimally playable. The RX 6600's 28 ray accelerators (listed as RT cores) are present, but the game's ray-traced effects would further stress this mid-range card beyond the measured presets.

The GPU's percentile rank of 69 against all GPUs puts it in the upper-mid range, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 890M (0% delta), RX 580 2048SP (-0.2%), RX 6700M (0.2%), and RTX 3060 Ti (0.5%). This clustering suggests the RX 6600 is competitive with those parts in synthetic tests, but the flight simulator's specific demands reveal its limitations at higher resolution and quality settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear pattern of FPS degradation as resolution increases, with the magnitude of the drop varying by preset. At Low settings, going from 1080p (93.2 FPS) to 1440p (72.2 FPS) costs 21 FPS (a 22.5% reduction), and then from 1440p to 4K (56.5 FPS) costs another 15.7 FPS (a 21.7% reduction). This relatively even scaling suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at Low settings across all resolutions.

At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p (75 FPS) to 1440p (58.9 FPS) is 16.1 FPS (21.5%), and the drop from 1440p to 4K (39.7 FPS) is 19.2 FPS (32.6%). The larger relative drop at 4K indicates the GPU is being pushed harder as pixel count increases, with the memory bandwidth becoming more of a limiting factor.

High settings show a different pattern. The drop from 1080p (53.5 FPS) to 1440p (40.4 FPS) is 13.1 FPS (24.5%), and the drop from 1440p to 4K (30.5 FPS) is 9.9 FPS (24.5%). The consistent percentage drops here suggest a balanced load between CPU and GPU, with neither component fully dominating.

Ultra settings produce the steepest absolute decline at the top end. From 1080p (53.5 FPS) to 1440p (42.9 FPS) is a 10.6 FPS drop, and from 1440p to 4K (28.3 FPS) is a 14.6 FPS drop. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. The fact that 1080p Ultra equals 1080p High (both 53.5 FPS) suggests the CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, may be limiting performance at lower resolutions when the GPU has spare capacity — a common occurrence in flight simulators that rely heavily on single-threaded physics and scenery loading.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the data shows that High and Ultra both deliver 53.5 FPS, meaning there is no performance penalty for enabling the highest preset. The Medium preset at 75 FPS offers a smoother experience if frame rate is prioritized, while Low at 93.2 FPS provides the highest headroom. Given that Ultra costs nothing over High at 1080p, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice for visual quality without sacrificing measured performance.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 58.9 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target for most displays. High drops to 40.4 FPS, and Ultra to 42.9 FPS — interestingly, Ultra is slightly faster than High at this resolution, which may indicate measurement variance or specific optimization paths in the Ultra preset. For a 60 Hz monitor, Medium is the best balance, providing 58.9 FPS while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity. Low at 72.2 FPS is the only preset that clears 60 FPS at 1440p.

For 3840x2160, only the Low preset (56.5 FPS) approaches playable frame rates. Medium (39.7 FPS) and High (30.5 FPS) are borderline, while Ultra (28.3 FPS) falls below 30 FPS. Given the playability threshold, Low at 4K is the only viable option, but users with 1440p or 1080p displays will get better results by selecting Medium at 1440p or Ultra at 1080p respectively.

The overall best experience per the measured rows appears to be 1080p Ultra (53.5 FPS) for maximum visual quality, or 1440p Medium (58.9 FPS) for higher resolution with acceptable fidelity. The 4K Low preset (56.5 FPS) offers similar frame rates to 1440p Medium but with reduced graphical detail, so it is only recommended for users with 4K displays who cannot downsample.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 1454 out of 1795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 19th percentile of all tested configs. This is a below-median result for a system pairing a strong mid-range CPU with a mid-range GPU. The i5-12600KF's synthetic performance is impressive — its 84th percentile CPU rank and average benchmark score of 27827 place it alongside much more expensive processors — but the RX 6600's 69th percentile GPU rank (average score 25235) drags the overall gaming experience down in this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the i9-10900K (0% delta), i5-12600K (-0.1%), Core Ultra 5 125H (-0.2%), and i7-13700H (0.4%). This suggests the 12600KF is not the limiting factor in this combo; it has ample computational headroom. The GPU's nearest rivals — RX 890M (0%), RX 580 2048SP (-0.2%), RX 6700M (0.2%), and RTX 3060 Ti (0.5%) — are all comparable in aggregate score, but none of these parts are known for high-end flight simulator performance.

The rank of 1454 indicates that the vast majority of tested combos outperform this pairing in this specific game. This is expected for a mid-range GPU in a simulation title that is notoriously demanding on both CPU and GPU. The data suggests that users with this combo should focus on the 1080p Ultra or 1440p Medium presets to get the most out of their hardware, as higher resolutions push the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 93.2, Medium 75, High 53.5, and Ultra 53.5. The identical High and Ultra results are notable, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional features do not add measurable GPU load at this resolution, or that the CPU becomes the bottleneck first.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 72.2, Medium 58.9, High 40.4, and Ultra 42.9. The Ultra preset slightly outperforming High is unusual but indicates that the two presets may load the hardware differently, with Ultra possibly offloading more work to the CPU or using different rendering paths.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 56.5, Medium 39.7, High 30.5, and Ultra 28.3. The progression from Medium to High to Ultra shows a steady decline, with each step costing between 2.2 and 9.2 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 28.3 FPS is the lowest in the entire dataset, making it the only preset/resolution combination that falls below 30 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset maintains the highest frame rates, with 1080p Low (93.2 FPS) being the only result above 90 FPS. The data shows that this combo is most comfortable at 1080p, where even Ultra settings remain playable, and at 1440p with Medium settings. The 4K results are only usable with the Low preset, and even then, the 56.5 FPS average leaves little headroom for complex scenes that may cause dips.