Microsoft Flight Simulator

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 covers three resolutions and four settings presets. All measurements are average frame rates; the database does not include minimum or maximum frame values for this title.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 74.7 FPS average. Dropping to High increases the average to 77.4 FPS, a modest gain of 2.7 FPS. Medium offers 100.1 FPS, while Low reaches 112.6 FPS. The spread between Ultra and Low at 4K is 37.9 FPS, which indicates that the graphics card has enough headroom to absorb preset changes without collapsing frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the averages climb across the board. Ultra runs at 99.5 FPS, High at 101.7 FPS, Medium at 117.1 FPS, and Low at 123.1 FPS. The difference between Ultra and Low narrows to 23.6 FPS compared to 4K, suggesting that at lower resolution the CPU begins to exert more influence on the final frame rate.

At 1920x1080, the results continue upward. Ultra averages 109.5 FPS, High 113.1 FPS, Medium 125.8 FPS, and Low 136.7 FPS. The gap between Ultra and Low shrinks further to 27.2 FPS in absolute terms, but the percentage difference also declines. Low at 1080p is 24.8% faster than Ultra, whereas at 4K the Low preset is 50.9% faster than Ultra. This pattern shows that resolution scaling affects how much the preset matters.

The minimum and maximum frame data are absent from the database for this combination, so the analysis relies solely on average FPS. The playable threshold in the database is 60 FPS. Every recorded setting at every resolution exceeds that threshold, including the most demanding combination of 4K Ultra at 74.7 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware would behave similarly in this game.

The Intel Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185. Its closest competitor, the Intel Xeon 6756E, scores 14163, which is 0.2% lower. The Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14232, 0.3% higher. The AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115, 0.5% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277, 0.6% higher. These deltas are all within 1% of the i5-10400F, meaning a system built with any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical CPU-bound frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The Xeon and EPYC parts are server-class chips, but their average scores place them in the same performance band for this workload.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347. The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches it almost exactly at 60326, a delta of 0.0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60140, which is 0.3% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, 2.5% higher, and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58657, 2.9% lower. The Pro W6600M would deliver slightly higher GPU-bound performance, while the PRO V710 would be a step behind. The Arc Pro A60 is the closest match, so swapping the RTX 4090 for that card should produce frame rates within a fraction of a percent in GPU-limited scenes.

Because the CPU and GPU rivals are all within a narrow band of scores, a system with the i5-10400F and any of these near-equivalent GPUs would show similar FPS in this flight simulator. The CPU percentile ranks at 68 among all tested processors, and the GPU percentile ranks at 88 among all tested graphics cards. The combination sits near the top of the database for GPU capability but only in the upper two-thirds for CPU capability.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database specifies the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS for each resolution.

At 3840x2160, the best setting is Ultra with an average of 74.7 FPS. This is the highest visual quality preset available, and it clears the 60 FPS threshold by 14.7 FPS. The High preset runs at 77.4 FPS, Medium at 100.1 FPS, and Low at 112.6 FPS, but Ultra is the recommended choice because it offers the maximum fidelity while still maintaining a comfortable margin above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best setting is also Ultra with 99.5 FPS. The margin over 60 FPS is 39.5 FPS, giving substantial headroom for complex scenes with dense scenery or heavy weather effects. High runs at 101.7 FPS, Medium at 117.1 FPS, and Low at 123.1 FPS, but none of those lower presets are needed to reach playable performance.

At 1920x1080, the best setting remains Ultra with 109.5 FPS. The margin over 60 FPS is 49.5 FPS. High runs at 113.1 FPS, Medium at 125.8 FPS, and Low at 136.7 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result is 46.6% faster than the 4K Ultra result, showing that resolution scaling has a significant impact on this title.

Across all three resolutions, the Ultra preset is the best choice. The RTX 4090 provides enough rendering power to handle the maximum settings at every resolution tested, and the i5-10400F does not bottleneck the GPU enough to drop any preset below the 60 FPS line.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The recorded average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 74.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the 1080p average is 109.5 FPS and the 4K average is 74.7 FPS, a drop of 34.8 FPS. At Low settings, the 1080p average is 136.7 FPS and the 4K average is 112.6 FPS, a drop of 24.1 FPS. The resolution penalty is larger at higher presets.

Q: Which setting preset gives the highest frame rate at 1440p?

A: The Low preset delivers 123.1 FPS at 2560x1440. Medium runs at 117.1 FPS, High at 101.7 FPS, and Ultra at 99.5 FPS. Low is the fastest, but Ultra still clears 60 FPS comfortably.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F scores 14185 on average. The nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6756E at 14163 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL at 14232 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 7552 at 14115 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14277 (0.6% higher). All are within 1% of the i5-10400F.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 scores 60347 on average. The Intel Arc Pro A60 is essentially tied at 60326 (0.0% delta). The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is 0.3% lower at 60140, the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% higher at 61896, and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% lower at 58657.

Q: Is every preset above 60 FPS at every resolution?

A: Yes. The database lists all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) as playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The lowest recorded average is 74.7 FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals how the CPU and GPU divide the workload in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

At 4K, the GPU is the dominant factor. The difference between Low (112.6 FPS) and Ultra (74.7 FPS) is 37.9 FPS, a 50.9% penalty for maximum quality. This large preset spread indicates that the RTX 4090 is heavily taxed at 3840x2160, and the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU without becoming the limiting factor.

At 1080p, the preset spread narrows. Low runs at 136.7 FPS and Ultra at 109.5 FPS, a difference of 27.2 FPS or 24.8%. The smaller percentage gap suggests that the CPU is starting to constrain the system. The i5-10400F has a single-thread benchmark score of 688 in 3dmark and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451. These are mid-range values, and at lower resolutions the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls and update the flight simulation logic.

The resolution scaling confirms this interpretation. At Ultra settings, 1080p runs at 109.5 FPS, 1440p at 99.5 FPS, and 4K at 74.7 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 9.1%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 24.9%. The larger drop at the higher resolution step is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where pixel count directly affects rendering time. The smaller drop at the lower resolution step indicates that the CPU is already limiting the system before the GPU becomes fully saturated.

At Low settings, the pattern shifts. 1080p runs at 136.7 FPS, 1440p at 123.1 FPS, and 4K at 112.6 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 9.9%, and from 1440p to 4K is 8.5%. The nearly uniform scaling across resolutions at Low settings is a sign that the CPU is the primary bottleneck, since reducing the graphics load does not produce proportionally larger frame rate gains at lower resolutions.

The multi-thread performance of the i5-10400F is moderate. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 10283, and its Passmark multithread score is 12115. Microsoft Flight Simulator uses multiple threads for terrain streaming, weather, and aircraft systems, so the 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient but not exceptional. The GPU percentile of 88 versus the CPU percentile of 68 indicates that the graphics card is the stronger component in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 583 out of 3714 tested combinations in the database for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the system in the top 15.7% of all tested hardware pairs.

The ranking reflects the unusual pairing of a mid-range CPU with a flagship GPU. The RTX 4090 alone ranks in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, which would normally push a combo much higher. However, the i5-10400F ranks in the 68th percentile among all CPUs, and the flight simulator's dependence on single-thread performance (the 3dmark single-thread score is 688, the Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1451) means the CPU holds the combo back from the very top positions.

Comparable systems with stronger CPUs would rank higher because they could maintain higher frame rates at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU is the limiting factor. The 583rd position out of 3714 is still a strong result, and the measured FPS data confirms that the system delivers playable performance at every setting and resolution tested.

The Verdict

The database verdict is clear: this system can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS or above at all tested resolutions and presets.

At 3840x2160, all four presets are playable. The best setting is Ultra with an average of 74.7 FPS. This is 14.7 FPS above the playable threshold, leaving a small but real margin for demanding scenes such as dense urban areas or heavy cloud cover.

At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable. The best setting is Ultra with an average of 99.5 FPS. This is 39.5 FPS above the threshold, providing generous headroom for any in-game scenario.

At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable. The best setting is Ultra with an average of 109.5 FPS. This is 49.5 FPS above the threshold, making 1080p the most comfortable resolution for this hardware.

The RTX 4090 is the dominant contributor to these results. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth handle the large texture streaming loads that flight simulation generates, and its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute provides ample rasterization power. The i5-10400F, while not a top-tier CPU, does not prevent the system from exceeding 60 FPS at any setting. The weakest recorded result, 4K Ultra at 74.7 FPS, is still well above the playable line. Users who prioritize maximum visual quality can run Ultra at 4K without concern, and those who prefer higher frame rates can drop to Medium or Low for 100 FPS or more at the same resolution.