Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a consistently smooth experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator across all tested resolutions and presets. According to recorded measurements, this combination clears the 60 FPS playable threshold at every resolution, even when pushed to Ultra settings. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate holds at 67.2 FPS, while 1440p and 1080p Ultra produce 95 FPS and 107 FPS respectively. These results indicate that the pairing is more than sufficient for the game’s demands, with headroom to spare at lower presets.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves 70.9 FPS on High settings, 97.2 FPS on Medium, 115 FPS on Low, and 67.2 FPS on Ultra. All presets remain above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra settings produce an average of 95 FPS, which is the highest preset tested while staying above 60 FPS. Lower presets deliver even higher frame rates: High averages 97.1 FPS, Medium 116.1 FPS, and Low 122.8 FPS.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows a clear resolution scaling pattern. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 107 at 1920x1080 to 95 at 2560x1440, then to 67.2 at 3840x2160. This represents a 36% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the highest preset.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER the limiting factor in this setup?

A: Benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the dominant component for this game. The RTX 4080 SUPER ranks in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 68th percentile. At higher resolutions, the GPU workload increases disproportionately, as shown by the frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K.

Q: What rival GPUs perform similarly to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The nearest rivals by average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 with a delta of -0.1%, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at -1.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at -2.7%, and the AMD Radeon 8060S at -2.8%. These GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in this game.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The recorded data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at the tested settings. The i5-10400F’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz provides sufficient processing power. The frame rate differences between presets and resolutions align more closely with GPU workload scaling than with CPU limitations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For users considering alternative hardware, the nearest rivals to the CPU and GPU in this combination provide useful reference points. The Intel Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14,185, placing it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest competitors include the Intel Xeon 6756E with a score of 14,163 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core 7 160UL at 14,232 (0.3% faster), the AMD EPYC 7552 at 14,115 (0.5% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14,277 (0.6% faster). These processors would deliver essentially identical CPU-bound performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, as the delta percentages are all within one percent.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209 on average, ranking in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 with a score of 54,247 (0.1% faster), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54,828 (1.1% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55,698 (2.7% faster), and the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55,757 (2.8% faster). These delta values are small enough that in practical gameplay, the frame rate differences would be marginal, often within the run-to-run variance of the game itself.

The combination of this CPU with any of these rival GPUs would produce nearly identical results to the measured data. Similarly, swapping the RTX 4080 SUPER for an RTX 4080 would yield FPS figures within one frame of the recorded numbers across all resolutions and presets. The AMD alternatives would be slightly faster on average, but the difference would not be perceptible in most flight scenarios.

Best Settings per Resolution

The most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS at each resolution is Ultra across the board. This is an unusual outcome for a demanding flight simulator, as many systems require lowering settings at higher resolutions to stay playable. The data shows that this hardware combination has enough margin to run the game at its highest visual quality even at 4K.

At 3840x2160, Ultra settings deliver 67.2 FPS average. This is the only resolution where Ultra dips below 70 FPS, but it still clears the playable threshold by a comfortable margin. The next step down, High, produces 70.9 FPS, which is only 3.7 FPS higher than Ultra. Medium reaches 97.2 FPS, and Low hits 115 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings produce 95 FPS average, which is a substantial 27.8 FPS improvement over the 4K result. High settings are nearly identical at 97.1 FPS, suggesting that at this resolution, the visual difference between High and Ultra comes at almost no performance cost. Medium reaches 116.1 FPS, and Low peaks at 122.8 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings average 107 FPS, providing a very smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings reach 112.5 FPS, Medium 125.6 FPS, and Low 132.7 FPS. Even at the highest preset, the frame rate is well above the 60 FPS target, leaving significant headroom for additional background tasks or streaming software.

The Verdict

This PC configuration can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at all tested resolutions with every preset exceeding the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable, with Ultra averaging 67.2 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same holds true, and Ultra averages 95 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 107 FPS.

The most demanding scenario, 4K Ultra, produces an average of 67.2 FPS, which is 7.2 FPS above the playable threshold. This means players have a small buffer for weather effects, dense urban areas, or complex aircraft systems that might cause temporary frame dips. The lower resolutions provide much larger margins: 1440p Ultra has a 35 FPS buffer, and 1080p Ultra has a 47 FPS buffer.

For users with a 60 Hz display, this setup allows maxing out the game’s visual quality at any resolution without compromise. For users with 144 Hz monitors, the 1080p and 1440p results make it possible to run Ultra settings with frame rates approaching or exceeding refresh rate limits in less demanding scenarios. The data indicates that this is a high-confidence purchase for anyone whose primary use case is this simulator.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded frame rates reveal that the GPU plays a dominant role in Microsoft Flight Simulator’s performance, particularly as resolution increases. The RTX 4080 SUPER has a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s and 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, which becomes increasingly important at higher pixel counts. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 37.2% drop in frame rate (from 107 to 67.2 FPS), which is consistent with a GPU-bound workload where rendering resolution multiplies the pixel output demand.

At 1080p, the CPU’s contribution becomes relatively more visible. The i5-10400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz are sufficient to feed the GPU at this resolution. The frame rate difference between Low (132.7 FPS) and Ultra (107 FPS) at 1080p is 25.7 FPS, which reflects the increased GPU load from higher quality settings rather than CPU limitation. The CPU’s single-thread score of 688 in 3dmark and 1451 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can handle the game’s main simulation thread without becoming the bottleneck.

The resolution scaling pattern is more pronounced at higher settings. Between 1440p and 4K at Ultra, the frame rate drops from 95 to 67.2 FPS, a 29.3% reduction. At Low settings, the same resolution change results in a drop from 122.8 to 115 FPS, only a 6.4% reduction. This indicates that at lower presets, the CPU begins to limit performance more substantially, while at higher presets, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are taxed heavily by Ultra settings at 4K.

For users who prioritize high frame rates over visual fidelity, the data shows that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 4K yields a 71.2% FPS increase (from 67.2 to 115 FPS). At 1080p, the same settings change produces a 24% increase (from 107 to 132.7 FPS). This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is more sensitive to settings changes, while at lower resolutions, the CPU and other system components create a more consistent floor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 650th out of 3,714 total combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the top 17.5% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given that the CPU is not a top-tier processor.

The ranking reflects the GPU’s high performance relative to other components. The RTX 4080 SUPER sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, and its 54,209 average benchmark score places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. The CPU’s 68th percentile ranking is respectable but not exceptional, yet the combination still achieves a high overall position because the game’s performance scales more with GPU capability than CPU power.

Within the context of all tested combos, this pairing demonstrates that a mid-range CPU from 2020 can be paired with a high-end GPU from 2024 without creating a significant mismatch in this particular title. The 3,714 total combinations include many systems with newer or more expensive CPUs, but the recorded frame rates show that this combination holds its own. The rank of 650 means that roughly 3,064 other combinations performed worse, while 649 performed better, indicating that for users with this CPU, upgrading the GPU to the RTX 4080 SUPER class yields substantial benefits for this simulator. The data supports the conclusion that the GPU is the primary driver of performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and this combo capitalizes on that by pairing a capable, affordable CPU with one of the fastest consumer GPUs available.