Microsoft Flight Simulator

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Measured FPS breakdown:

**The Core i5 detailed data first plain paragraph style::

The measurements:

The `measurements`: This paragraph: The measured data numeric: The exact numbers:

The prose: The output. The heading: The exact headings as specified. The result: The table? The text. The output.

Theorem: The exact output.

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Result: The measured FPS runs are organized by resolution and preset. At 3840x2160 (4K), the Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination produces a 73 FPS average on High, a 125 FPS average on Low, a 97 FPS average on Medium, and a 70 FPS average on Ultra. Only the Medium preset reports min/max values: 83 FPS minimum and 112 FPS maximum. At 2560x1440, averages climb to 99 FPS on High, 170 FPS on Low, 132 FPS on Medium, and 95 FPS on Ultra; Medium again is the sole preset with min/max data, showing 112 FPS minimum and 152 FPS maximum. At 1920x1080, the averages are 123 FPS on High, 211 FPS on Low, 164 FPS on Medium, and 117 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p Medium run reports 139 FPS minimum and 188 FPS maximum.

The data shows a consistent pattern: lowering resolution from 4K to 1440p yields substantial average FPS gains across every preset. For example, High jumps from 73 FPS to 99 FPS, a 26 FPS improvement. Moving from 1440p to 1080p adds another 24 FPS at High (123 FPS), 41 FPS at Low (211 FPS), 32 FPS at Medium (164 FPS), and 22 FPS at Ultra (117 FPS). The Ultra preset is the most demanding, trailing High by only 3 FPS at 4K (70 vs 73) but by 4 FPS at 1440p (95 vs 99) and 6 FPS at 1080p (117 vs 123). Medium sits between High and Ultra in every resolution, while Low always leads the pack.

At 4K, the spread from Low (125 FPS) to Ultra (70 FPS) is 55 FPS. At 1440p, that spread widens to 75 FPS (170 Low vs 95 Ultra). At 1080p, the spread is 94 FPS (211 Low vs 117 Ultra). This widening gap indicates that higher resolutions compress the difference between presets, likely due to GPU saturation. The min/max data for Medium presets shows tight 1% low behavior: 83 FPS at 4K, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 139 FPS at 1080p, all comfortably above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

The verdict by resolution identifies the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS average. At 3840x2160, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS line. The best setting is Ultra, which delivers a 70 FPS average. This is a slim margin above the 60 FPS threshold, so Ultra at 4K is playable but leaves only 10 FPS of headroom.

At 2560x1440, every preset again exceeds 60 FPS. The best setting is Ultra, with a 95 FPS average. This provides a more comfortable buffer over the threshold, and the data shows no preset struggles at this resolution. At 1920x1080, the best setting is also Ultra, achieving a 117 FPS average. The 1080p Ultra result is 47 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result, underscoring how resolution scaling favors this combo.

Across all three resolutions, the combination never drops below the playable threshold in any tested preset. The most demanding scenario—4K Ultra—still averages 70 FPS. For users prioritizing visual fidelity, Ultra is the recommended preset at every resolution. For those seeking maximum frame rates, Low at 1080p hits 211 FPS, which is the highest average recorded in the dataset.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals which component limits performance. The CPU, an Intel Core i5-14600K with 14 cores and 20 threads, shows strong synthetic scores: 24,491 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,064 in single-core. The GPU, a GeForce RTX 4080 with 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32, delivers 34,457 in Passmark G3D and 54,247 in average benchmark score.

At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 117 (Ultra) to 211 (Low). This wide spread indicates that the GPU is not fully saturated at lower resolutions; the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at high preset levels. The Low preset at 211 FPS suggests CPU-side headroom, as the GPU has less work per frame. The 1080p Medium min/max (139/188) shows the combination can maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is moderately loaded.

At 1440p, the spread narrows (95 to 170 FPS), and at 4K it narrows further (70 to 125 FPS). This progressive narrowing is a classic sign of increasing GPU bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU’s rendering load dominates, and the CPU’s role diminishes. The fact that Ultra at 4K still hits 70 FPS indicates the RTX 4080 has enough compute to handle the highest preset at 4K, but the margin is thinner than at lower resolutions.

Comparing presets within a resolution isolates CPU vs GPU scaling. At 4K, moving from Low to Ultra costs 55 FPS (125 to 70). At 1080p, the same preset jump costs 94 FPS (211 to 117). The larger absolute drop at 1080p shows the GPU becomes the limiter as preset quality rises; the CPU is not the binding constraint. Conversely, the relatively small drop at 4K (55 FPS) suggests the GPU is already near its limit even on Low, so preset changes have less impact.

The data supports this interpretation: resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K at the same preset reduces FPS by roughly 40-50% (e.g., High: 123 to 73, a 41% drop). This is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where pixel count quadruples but FPS does not halve, indicating some CPU headroom. The CPU’s high single-thread score (2,064 in Cinebench R23) likely helps maintain playable frame rates in CPU-intensive flight simulation scenes, but the measured data does not separate scene types.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-14600K, based on average benchmark scores, are four processors with deltas under 1%. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48,698 (0.2% lower), the AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48,470 (0.3% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48,287 (0.7% higher), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995 (0.8% lower). These CPUs would deliver near-identical CPU-bound performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, meaning frame rates in CPU-limited scenes would differ by less than 1%.

For the GPU, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, with an average score of 54,209, just 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080’s 54,247. This means the 4080 SUPER would perform essentially the same in this game, with FPS differences likely too small to measure reliably. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (2.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55,757 (2.7% higher). These GPUs are slightly faster on average, which could translate to 1-3 FPS differences at 4K, but the measured data for this combo does not include those GPUs.

Combining a rival CPU with the RTX 4080 would maintain the same GPU-bound FPS at 4K, since the CPU is not the bottleneck there. At 1080p Low, where the CPU matters more, the 0.8% delta of the Core Ultra 5 245 could shift the 211 FPS average to approximately 209-213 FPS, a negligible change. Similarly, pairing the RTX 4080 SUPER with the i5-14600K would yield nearly identical results to the measured 4K Ultra 70 FPS, given the 0.1% GPU score difference.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured 4K Ultra average is 70 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best settings per resolution list Ultra as the top preset at 3840x2160.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves?

A: The highest average in the dataset is 211 FPS, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 170 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080. This would produce nearly identical FPS in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with differences likely under 1 FPS.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K. The FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 55 FPS, narrower than the 94 FPS spread at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is heavily loaded even at Low.

Q: Are there any settings where FPS falls below 60?

A: No. Every tested preset at every resolution—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K—averages above 60 FPS. The lowest average is 70 FPS at 4K Ultra.

Q: What is the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 215th out of 3,714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing holds rank 215 out of 3,714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 94th percentile of all tested systems, meaning only 214 combinations achieve higher performance. The rank reflects the combination’s ability to clear 60 FPS at every resolution and preset, including the demanding 4K Ultra setting.

The high rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. At 1080p, the combo delivers triple-digit averages across all presets (117 to 211 FPS). At 1440p, averages range from 95 to 170 FPS. Even at 4K, the lowest average (70 FPS) exceeds the playable threshold by 10 FPS. This consistency across resolutions and presets is what pushes the combo to the 215th position.

Given the CPU’s 90th percentile rank among all CPUs and the GPU’s 86th percentile rank among all GPUs, the combined rank of 215/3,714 is higher than either component’s individual percentile would suggest. This indicates efficient pairing: the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at most settings, and the GPU has enough headroom to handle the game’s demands. The rank also benefits from the game’s flight simulation genre, which often stresses CPU single-thread performance; the i5-14600K’s 2,064 Cinebench R23 single-core score is strong.

The Verdict

The data shows that this PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator with excellent performance across all tested configurations. The verdict by resolution confirms that every resolution—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—supports all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the best preset is Ultra, running at a 70 FPS average. This is the most demanding scenario and still clears the playable threshold with a 10 FPS margin. At 2560x1440, Ultra achieves 95 FPS, providing a comfortable 35 FPS buffer. At 1920x1080, Ultra reaches 117 FPS, which is 57 FPS above the threshold. For users who prefer maximum frame rates over visual quality, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 211 FPS, and at 4K Low still hits 125 FPS.

The conclusion is straightforward: this combination is not merely playable—it is capable of running the game at its highest preset at every resolution tested. The weakest result, 4K Ultra at 70 FPS, is still 10 FPS above the playability line. There is no resolution or preset in the dataset where the system falls below 60 FPS. This makes the Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 a strong choice for flight simulation enthusiasts who want to maximize visual settings without compromising frame rates.