Microsoft Flight Simulator

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a consistently high-performance experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with benchmark data showing that every tested settings preset at all three resolutions clears the 60 FPS playability threshold. The measured results indicate a system that offers substantial headroom for demanding flight simulation scenarios, placing it in the 290th position out of 3714 tested combos.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4080 SUPER demonstrates exceptional throughput across all presets. The Low preset produces an average of 193.9 FPS, which is the highest measurement recorded for this combination. Moving to Medium yields 162.8 FPS, while High drops to 124.5 FPS. The Ultra preset, which applies the most demanding visual effects, still maintains a robust 117.1 FPS average. These figures show a performance curve where each step up in visual fidelity costs roughly 30-40 FPS, but even the most demanding setting remains far above the 60 FPS threshold.

Stepping up to 2560x1440 introduces a noticeable but not drastic reduction in frame rates. The Low preset averages 170.1 FPS, which represents a 12.3% decrease from the 1080p result. Medium settings produce 131.7 FPS, a 19.1% drop from the corresponding 1080p value. High averages 97.1 FPS, and Ultra comes in at 94.2 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows significantly at this resolution, with only a 2.9 FPS difference, suggesting that the resolution increase places more strain on the GPU than the transition between these two presets does.

At 3840x2160, the demands of 4K rendering become evident. The Low preset still achieves a very playable 122.1 FPS, but this represents a 28.2% reduction from the 1080p Low figure. Medium averages 98 FPS, High averages 69 FPS, and Ultra produces 68.9 FPS. The performance delta between High and Ultra at 4K is minimal, indicating that both presets are constrained by similar bottlenecks at this resolution. All 4K results remain above 60 FPS, though the margin narrows considerably compared to lower resolutions.

The data shows no minimum or maximum FPS figures, so the analysis relies solely on average frame rates. The scaling pattern across resolutions follows an expected trend: higher resolutions consistently reduce average FPS, with the most severe absolute drop occurring between 1440p and 4K at the Low preset, where the average falls by 48 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling between resolutions reveals which component carries the workload at each setting level. At 1920x1080, the CPU plays a more significant role because the GPU can render frames quickly enough to expose processor limitations. The relatively small FPS gap between Medium (162.8 FPS) and Low (193.9 FPS) at 1080p, compared to the larger gap at higher resolutions, indicates that the i5-14400F’s ten cores and sixteen threads are being utilized heavily at lower resolutions.

As resolution increases to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to assume a more dominant position. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p across all presets shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER’s rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient capacity for the increased pixel workload, but the sheer number of pixels at 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 15-20% compared to 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the primary constraint. The performance gap between the Low preset (122.1 FPS) and the Ultra preset (68.9 FPS) widens substantially compared to lower resolutions, demonstrating that the GPU’s fixed computational resources are being spread across four times the pixel count of 1080p. The CPU’s role diminishes at 4K because the GPU cannot produce frames quickly enough to create a processor bottleneck.

The transition from High to Ultra settings shows interesting behavior. At 1080p, the drop from High (124.5 FPS) to Ultra (117.1 FPS) costs 5.9% performance. At 1440p, the same transition costs only 3.0% (from 97.1 to 94.2 FPS). At 4K, the cost is just 0.1% (from 69.0 to 68.9 FPS). This pattern suggests that Ultra settings add visual complexity that the GPU can partially absorb at lower resolutions, but at 4K the GPU is already saturated and cannot compensate for the additional workload.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the optimal choice, delivering 117.1 FPS average. This provides a 95% margin above the 60 FPS playability threshold, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate displays while maintaining maximum visual quality.

At 2560x1440, Ultra remains the best option with 94.2 FPS average. This exceeds the threshold by 57%, offering smooth gameplay with all visual features enabled. The 94.2 FPS figure leaves enough headroom to handle complex scenes with dense terrain or heavy weather effects without dropping below playable levels.

For 3840x2160, the Ultra preset achieves 68.9 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by 14.8%. This is the most demanding configuration tested, and while it stays above the playable mark, the margin is tighter. For users who prefer a larger safety buffer at 4K, the High preset at 69 FPS offers virtually identical performance with slightly reduced visual fidelity, but the data confirms that Ultra is playable at this resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals show that the i5-14400F sits in a tightly contested performance band. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U has an average score of 32233, which is 0.1% lower than the i5-14400F’s average. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32226, a 0.2% deficit. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores 32354, putting it 0.2% ahead. The Intel Core i7-12800H scores 32121, a 0.5% gap. These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning any of these processors would produce nearly identical frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator when paired with the RTX 4080 SUPER.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 SUPER’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, which scores 54247, a 0.1% difference. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, putting it 1.1% ahead. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, a 2.7% advantage. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, a 2.8% lead. These differences are small enough that users would not notice a meaningful FPS variance between these cards in this game. The RTX 4080, in particular, would behave essentially identically to the SUPER variant.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 290th out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the top 7.8% of all systems evaluated. This positioning reflects the strength of both components: the i5-14400F sits in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, and the RTX 4080 SUPER ranks in the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The high ranking indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations for this game, which is consistent with the measured FPS results showing all presets clearing the 60 FPS threshold.

The rank of 290 means that 289 other combinations produce higher average frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator. These would typically include systems with higher-end CPUs like the Core i7 or i9 variants, or GPUs from the RTX 4090 class. However, the practical impact of the ranking is limited because the game is already highly playable at maximum settings across all resolutions.

The Verdict

The data confirms that this system can run Microsoft Flight Simulator with strong performance at every resolution and preset combination tested. At 1920x1080, all four presets deliver well above 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging 117.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 94.2 FPS, providing a comfortable margin. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 68.9 FPS, which clears the threshold by nearly 9 FPS.

The only scenario where the system approaches the playability limit is 4K Ultra, where the 68.9 FPS average leaves less headroom for particularly demanding scenes, such as flying over highly detailed cityscapes or during heavy weather. Even in that worst-case scenario, the frame rate remains above the 60 FPS threshold, meaning the game is fully playable. The verdict by resolution lists all settings as playable at all three resolutions, with Ultra being the recommended best setting in each case. This system provides a smooth, high-fidelity experience throughout, with no configuration falling below the playability line.