Microsoft Flight Simulator

Can Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 run Microsoft Flight Simulator? The measured data indicates this combination is overwhelmingly capable, delivering playable frame rates across nearly every tested setting. At 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, every preset from Low to Ultra clears the 60 FPS threshold, while 3840x2160 (4K) requires stepping down from Ultra to Medium settings for a smooth experience. The combo ranks in the 927th position out of 3714 tested configurations, placing it comfortably in the upper quartile of all systems benchmarked for this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best playable setting at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the most demanding setting that stays at or above 60 FPS, delivering an average of 75.4 FPS. The High preset drops to 55.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 52 FPS, both below the playable threshold.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 74.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at this resolution are playable.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, scores 19047, a negligible 0% difference, while the Intel Core 3 201E is 0.1% slower and the Intel Core i5-1335U is 0.3% faster.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest competitor, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628, just 0.1% lower.

Q: What frame rate does the system achieve at 1080p with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with the High preset, the average frame rate is 97.2 FPS. This is nearly 62% higher than the 60 FPS threshold, indicating substantial headroom for this resolution.

Q: How many total benchmark scores were used to determine the combo rank?

A: The combo rank of 927 is derived from a pool of 3714 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing this CPU-GPU pairing in the top 25% of all systems tested.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU responsibilities shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 162.4 FPS on Low to 92.7 FPS on Ultra, a difference of 69.7 FPS. This wide spread indicates that at lower resolutions, the GPU is not the limiting factor — the CPU has enough headroom to push high frame rates, and the graphics card's workload scales significantly with preset quality. The RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth are clearly sufficient at this resolution, allowing the 6-core i5-12400F with its 4.40 GHz boost clock to drive performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates compress somewhat: Low hits 130.5 FPS, Medium 102 FPS, High 78.1 FPS, and Ultra 74.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 56 FPS, suggesting the GPU is beginning to take on more responsibility as pixel count increases. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus width become more relevant here, as the higher resolution demands more memory bandwidth and shading throughput.

At 3840x2160, the pattern shifts decisively. Low settings produce 97 FPS, Medium 75.4 FPS, High 55.8 FPS, and Ultra 52 FPS — a range of only 45 FPS. The compression of frame rates across presets at 4K indicates the GPU is now the dominant constraint. The pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s become the limiting factors, as the RTX 4070 must process four times as many pixels as at 1080p. The CPU's role diminishes at this resolution, with the i5-12400F's 12 threads providing sufficient geometry and physics processing while the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates on demanding presets.

The scaling between resolutions reinforces this interpretation. At Low settings, dropping from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by 31.9 FPS, and further to 4K by 33.5 FPS. At Ultra settings, the same resolution steps cost 18.2 FPS and 22.5 FPS respectively. The smaller absolute drops at Ultra settings suggest diminishing returns on GPU load as resolution increases, but the absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra (52 FPS) confirm the GPU is the bottleneck there.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 92.7 FPS, making it the best playable setting. This represents the highest visual quality available while maintaining a frame rate 32.7 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset offers 97.2 FPS, Medium 127.7 FPS, and Low 162.4 FPS, all comfortably playable.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again provides the best experience at 74.5 FPS average. This is 14.5 FPS above the playable threshold, with High at 78.1 FPS, Medium at 102 FPS, and Low at 130.5 FPS. All settings remain playable, giving users full flexibility to prioritize visual fidelity or frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Medium preset is the most demanding playable setting, averaging 75.4 FPS. High drops to 55.8 FPS and Ultra to 52 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings produce 97 FPS, but Medium offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. Users seeking 4K gameplay should select Medium for the best combination of fidelity and smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 927th out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 25% of all systems benchmarked. This percentile position is consistent with the component-level rankings: the CPU sits in the 73rd percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 81st percentile of all graphics cards. The combo rank being slightly lower than the GPU's percentile suggests that other systems with higher-end CPUs but similar GPUs may edge out this configuration in CPU-bound scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions.

The rank of 927 implies that roughly 2,787 other combinations perform worse, while 926 perform better. Given the playable frame rates at all resolutions except 4K Ultra, this rank reflects a system that is well above average for this game. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 is the stronger component relative to the broader hardware landscape, with the CPU being slightly less exceptional but still well above the median.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals show that comparable processors would yield nearly identical performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS matches the i5-12400F's average score of 19047 versus 19039, a 0% difference — swapping in this CPU would produce essentially indistinguishable results. The Intel Core 3 201E trails by 0.1%, while the Intel Core i5-1335U leads by 0.3%. The AMD EPYC 7773X, despite being a server-class chip, also scores within 0.3%, indicating that for this game, these processors fall within a tight performance band.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 37628 versus the RTX 4070's 37648, just 0.1% lower — a negligible difference in real-world terms. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% behind, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% slower. These alternatives would produce frame rates within a few percentage points of those measured for the RTX 4070, meaning the playable settings and resolutions identified in this analysis would remain valid with any of these GPUs installed.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Microsoft Flight Simulator. At 1920x1080, all four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra achieving 92.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, every preset is also playable, with Ultra at 74.5 FPS. The system handles these resolutions with substantial headroom, allowing users to max out settings without concern.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is more nuanced. The Low and Medium presets are playable, with Medium delivering 75.4 FPS, but High (55.8 FPS) and Ultra (52 FPS) fall short of 60 FPS. For 4K gaming, users must compromise on visual quality by selecting Medium settings. The data does not include min/max FPS values, so stutter or frame-time consistency cannot be assessed, but the average frame rates indicate a generally smooth experience at the playable settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 162.4 FPS average
• Medium: 127.7 FPS average
• High: 97.2 FPS average
• Ultra: 92.7 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 130.5 FPS average
• Medium: 102 FPS average
• High: 78.1 FPS average
• Ultra: 74.5 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 97 FPS average
• Medium: 75.4 FPS average
• High: 55.8 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the frame rate gap between Low and Ultra narrows. At 1080p, the difference is 69.7 FPS; at 1440p, it is 56 FPS; at 4K, it drops to 45 FPS. This compression is a clear indicator of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. The RTX 4070's compute resources are sufficient to differentiate presets at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, even the lowest preset demands enough GPU work that the performance ceiling is reached. The i5-12400F's 12 threads and 18 MB of L3 cache are evidently never the primary bottleneck, as frame rates scale predictably with GPU load across all tested configurations.