Microsoft Flight Simulator

The pairing of an Intel Core i3-12100F with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a striking study in asymmetry: a four-core, eight-thread Alder Lake processor—which ranks in the 68th percentile among all CPUs—driving a top-tier Ada Lovelace GPU that sits in the 86th percentile among all graphics cards. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, a title notorious for its appetite for both CPU-bound simulation logic and GPU-heavy rendering, this combination produces surprisingly decisive results, with every tested resolution and preset clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold. The data reveals a system that is not merely playable but consistently capable, though the distribution of workload between the two components shifts meaningfully as resolution scales.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals, based on aggregate benchmark scores, show that the i3-12100F sits in a tightly clustered performance band. Its average benchmark score of 13,494 is essentially identical to the Intel Core 3 N355, which scores 13,492 with a deltaPct of 0. The Intel Core i5-9500 trails by just 0.3 percent with a score of 13,452, while the Intel Core 5 120UL is 0.7 percent ahead at 13,594, and the Intel Core i7-1250U leads this group by 1.1 percent with 13,351. In practical terms, any of these processors would deliver near-identical CPU-bound performance in Flight Simulator, meaning the frame rate differences between them would be negligible in most scenarios. However, the i3-12100F’s architectural advantages—such as its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory—may manifest in simulation overhead that these aggregate scores do not fully capture.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080’s average benchmark score of 54,247 is nearly indistinguishable from the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54,209 with a deltaPct of 0.1. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1 percent ahead at 54,828, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB leads this group by 2.6 percent with 55,698, and the AMD Radeon 8060S tops them all at 55,757 with a 2.7 percent delta. These deltas are small enough that in a flight simulator, where frame pacing and driver-level optimizations matter as much as raw compute, the RTX 4080 would feel virtually identical to its nearest siblings. The data suggests that if a user were considering a slightly different GPU configuration, the performance envelope would remain largely unchanged, with the caveat that the RX 6750 GRE’s 12 GB memory capacity could become a limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 298th out of 3,714 combos, placing it in the top 8 percent of all systems evaluated for this game. This percentile positioning is notable because it reflects the combined effect of a mid-range CPU and a high-end GPU, suggesting that the RTX 4080 is doing the heavy lifting in terms of overall system ranking. The i3-12100F’s 68th percentile CPU standing would normally drag a combo lower, but the GPU’s 86th percentile performance compensates, yielding a final rank that exceeds what either component alone might predict. This is a classic example of GPU-bound scaling dominance: in a simulator that renders vast photorealistic landscapes, the graphics card’s raw throughput—48.74 TFLOPS FP32 and 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth—becomes the primary driver of the combo’s standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates tell a clear story of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the most complete data available at Medium settings. At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 164 FPS with a minimum of 139 and a maximum of 188. Moving to 2560x1440, the average drops to 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 and a maximum of 152. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 and a maximum of 112. These figures represent the only preset where both min and max FPS are recorded, but the averages across all settings reveal the broader pattern.

At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 182 FPS, High reaches 123 FPS, and Ultra tops out at 117 FPS—a surprisingly narrow gap between High and Ultra, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. At 1440p, Low produces 169 FPS, High drops to 99 FPS, and Ultra settles at 95 FPS, with the delta between High and Ultra shrinking further. At 4K, Low yields 125 FPS, High drops to 73 FPS, and Ultra falls to 70 FPS. The progression from 1080p to 4K at Ultra—from 117 to 95 to 70 FPS—shows a 40 percent reduction in frame rate, which aligns with the pixel count increase from 2 million to 8.3 million, indicating that the GPU is scaling as expected under increasing rasterization load.

The Verdict

The verdict data is unambiguous: this system can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at every tested resolution and every preset, clearing the 60 FPS threshold with substantial headroom. At 3840x2160, the playable settings include High, Low, Medium, and Ultra, with the best setting being Ultra at an average of 70 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, and Ultra delivers 95 FPS on average. At 1920x1080, all presets are again playable, with Ultra achieving 117 FPS average. The most demanding scenario—4K Ultra—still produces 70 FPS, which is 10 FPS above the playability threshold. This means a user can max out the game’s visual fidelity at 4K and still maintain smooth, playable performance, with the caveat that the 70 FPS average leaves little room for heavy weather systems or dense city overlays, which are known to cause frame dips in this title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a classic resolution-dependent workload shift. At 1080p, the CPU’s influence is most apparent: the gap between Low and Ultra is only 65 FPS (182 versus 117), which is relatively modest compared to the scaling seen at higher resolutions. This suggests that at 1080p, the i3-12100F is keeping pace with the RTX 4080’s output, and the GPU is not being fully utilized—the frame rates are high enough that the CPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1440p, the Low-to-Ultra gap widens to 74 FPS (169 versus 95), indicating the GPU is starting to take on more of the workload. At 4K, the gap narrows to 55 FPS (125 versus 70), which seems counterintuitive until you consider that the Low preset at 4K still requires substantial pixel throughput, and the GPU is now the clear bottleneck. The Medium preset data provides the clearest evidence of GPU scaling: from 1080p to 1440p, the average drops 32 FPS (164 to 132), and from 1440p to 4K, it drops another 35 FPS (132 to 97). These nearly linear reductions with pixel count confirm that the RTX 4080 is the dominant factor at resolutions above 1080p, while the i3-12100F’s four cores and eight threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p but become secondary at higher resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS or higher is Ultra, making the choice simple: max out the settings everywhere. At 3840x2160, Ultra runs at an average of 70 FPS, which is the best visual quality available while staying above the playability threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra achieves 95 FPS, providing both high fidelity and substantial headroom for demanding scenarios. At 1920x1080, Ultra yields 117 FPS, which is more than enough for a smooth experience, though users with high-refresh-rate monitors might prefer the Medium preset at 164 FPS if they prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The data shows that this system’s performance ceiling is not reached until 4K Ultra, and even then, it does not fall below the 60 FPS threshold, making the Ultra preset the recommended choice across all resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 70, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold, though no minimum FPS was recorded for this preset.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest GPU rival in this system?

A: The RTX 4080’s average benchmark score is 54,247, which is 0.1 percent behind the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 54,209. The delta is negligible for gaming performance.

Q: What is the CPU’s percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F ranks in the 68th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 13,494. Its closest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, scores 13,492 with a 0 percent delta.

Q: Which resolution shows the largest performance drop when moving from Medium to High settings?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium averages 97 FPS, while High averages 73 FPS—a 24 FPS drop. At 2560x1440, the drop is 33 FPS (132 to 99), and at 1920x1080, it is 41 FPS (164 to 123), showing that the gap increases as resolution decreases.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for performance at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 182 FPS and Ultra produces 117 FPS, a 65 FPS range. This relatively small spread suggests the CPU is limiting performance at lower resolutions, as the GPU is capable of higher output.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 1440p for maximum visual quality?

A: The Ultra preset is the best choice, running at an average of 95 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the highest fidelity settings.