Microsoft Flight Simulator

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 shows a consistent pattern across all three resolutions. Every preset tested clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, though the margins differ significantly depending on resolution and settings.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 128 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 117 FPS on average, with a recorded minimum of 99 FPS and a maximum of 134 FPS. High settings produce 105 FPS on average, while the Ultra preset maintains 104 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 1 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset adds visual detail without a meaningful performance penalty at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 119 FPS, which is 9 FPS lower than at 1080p. Medium averages 109 FPS, with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 125 FPS. The High preset produces 98 FPS on average, and Ultra stays at 96 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra remains small, at just 2 FPS. Resolution scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs between 9 and 11 FPS depending on the preset.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 108 FPS, a further 11 FPS reduction from 1440p. Medium averages 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS. High settings produce 76 FPS on average, while Ultra drops to 72 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra widens to 4 FPS at 4K, suggesting the Ultra preset places additional strain on the render pipeline at higher pixel counts. Even at the most demanding combination of 4K and Ultra, the average stays 12 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

The minimum FPS figures recorded for Medium settings show a clear trend: 99 FPS at 1080p, 92 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that even in demanding scenes, the combination never falls below the playable threshold. The maximum FPS values for Medium follow the same pattern: 134 at 1080p, 125 at 1440p, and 113 at 4K.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data reveals how the CPU and GPU divide responsibilities across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra is 24 FPS (128 down to 104). At 2560x1440, the same comparison shows a 23 FPS spread (119 down to 96). At 3840x2160, the spread grows to 36 FPS (108 down to 72). This widening gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as pixel count increases.

The CPU, Intel Core i5-9400, sits in the 47th percentile among all tested CPUs. Its benchmark scores include 668 in Cinebench R15 multicore, 2784 in Cinebench R20 multicore, and 6629 in Cinebench R23 multicore. The single-core scores are 94 in R15, 392 in R20, and 935 in R23. This processor ranks near the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% slower) and the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% faster). The data suggests the i5-9400 provides sufficient single-thread performance for flight simulation workloads, which tend to rely heavily on a few cores.

The GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs. Its Passmark G3D score is 36565, and it achieves 8637 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The GPU sits close to the AMD Radeon 8060S (0.6% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (2.2% faster). This is a high-end graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 10752 shading units.

The resolution scaling tells a clear story. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all presets drops by roughly 8-10%. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more pronounced, ranging from 9% at Low to 25% at High. The fact that Low settings at 4K (108 FPS) outperform Ultra at 1080p (104 FPS) suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions. Instead, the CPU likely caps performance in less demanding visual scenarios. At 4K with High or Ultra settings, the GPU workload increases substantially, and the frame rate drops accordingly.

The minimum FPS data for Medium settings reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p, the minimum is 99 FPS; at 1440p, it is 92 FPS; at 4K, it is 83 FPS. The proportional drop in minimums mirrors the average FPS scaling, indicating that neither component introduces severe frame time spikes. The system maintains a stable performance envelope across all tested configurations.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS?

A: Yes. Every resolution and preset combination in the database clears the 60 FPS threshold. The lowest recorded average is 72 FPS at 4K Ultra, and the lowest minimum is 83 FPS at 4K Medium.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 1920x1080?

A: The Ultra preset averages 104 FPS, which is only 1 FPS lower than High (105 FPS). The database identifies Ultra as the best settings at this resolution, with an average FPS of 104.

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

A: The loss depends on the preset. Low settings drop from 128 FPS to 108 FPS (a 20 FPS reduction). Medium drops from 117 FPS to 98 FPS (19 FPS). High drops from 105 FPS to 76 FPS (29 FPS). Ultra drops from 104 FPS to 72 FPS (32 FPS).

Q: Is the RTX 5080 or the i5-9400 more important for this game?

A: The data shows the GPU becomes more influential at higher resolutions. The FPS spread between Low and Ultra grows from 24 FPS at 1080p to 36 FPS at 4K. At 1080p, the CPU likely limits performance, as Low settings only reach 128 FPS.

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

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% slower). The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 (0.4% faster).

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 56083. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757 (0.6% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (0.7% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (2.3% slower). The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE scores 57367 (2.2% faster).

The Verdict

The database verdict is clear: this combination can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at all tested resolutions and presets while maintaining an average above 60 FPS. The playable settings include High, Low, Medium, and Ultra for every resolution.

At 3840x2160, the best settings are Ultra, delivering an average of 72 FPS. This is 12 FPS above the playable threshold, providing a comfortable margin for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 83 FPS, indicating that even the lowest recorded frame rates stay well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 96 FPS. This leaves a 36 FPS buffer over the playable threshold. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 92 FPS, which means even in heavy load scenarios, the frame rate does not approach the 60 FPS line.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, averaging 104 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 99 FPS, the highest minimum recorded in the entire dataset. This resolution offers the largest safety margin, with the Ultra average sitting 44 FPS above the playable threshold.

The verdict is unambiguous: this PC runs the game at 60 FPS or higher across every combination of resolution and preset in the database. Users can choose the Ultra preset at any resolution without concern for playability.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are all within 0.4% of the i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (score 2259) is 0.2% faster, the Intel Core i7-10710U (score 2248) is 0.3% slower, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (score 2246) is 0.4% slower, and the Intel Core i3-10305 (score 2264) is 0.4% faster. Any of these processors would produce nearly identical frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator when paired with the RTX 5080, as the performance deltas are negligible.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show slightly larger but still modest differences. The AMD Radeon 8060S (score 55757) is 0.6% slower, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (score 55698) is 0.7% slower, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828) is 2.3% slower. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (score 57367) is 2.2% faster. These GPUs would yield FPS values within a few frames of the RTX 5080 across all tested settings. The RX 9070 GRE might produce marginally higher averages, while the Pro W5700X would sit slightly lower, but all would remain comfortably above 60 FPS at every resolution.

The practical takeaway is that system builders who cannot source an RTX 5080 can expect essentially equivalent behavior from the RX 8060S or RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. Similarly, CPU choices among the i7-1068NG7, i7-10710U, Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, or i3-10305 would not meaningfully alter the measured FPS results.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular CPU and GPU combination ranks 763rd out of 3714 tested combos in the database for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the system in the top 20.5% of all configurations tested. The rank reflects the strength of the RTX 5080, which sits in the 87th percentile among GPUs, paired with a mid-range CPU in the 47th percentile.

The high rank is driven primarily by the GPU. The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 56083 places it well above the median GPU. The i5-9400, while not a top-tier processor, does not bottleneck the GPU severely enough to push the combo down the rankings. The measured FPS data confirms this: even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 72 FPS, which is a strong result for a demanding flight simulator.

The rank of 763 out of 3714 means there are 762 tested combos that perform better, and 2951 that perform worse. This is a solid position, indicating that the system is well suited for this game. The combination of a capable mid-range CPU and a high-end GPU produces a balanced result: the CPU handles the simulation logic and single-threaded tasks, while the GPU renders the complex scenery and weather effects at high resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 72 FPS. This is the highest visual quality available in the database, and it clears the playable threshold by 12 FPS. Users at 4K can enable every visual feature without compromising playability.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, averaging 96 FPS. The margin over 60 FPS is 36 FPS, providing substantial headroom. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum of 92 FPS, so even the lowest frame rates are far from the playable boundary.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, with an average of 104 FPS. The margin over 60 FPS is 44 FPS, the largest of any resolution. The Medium preset minimum of 99 FPS confirms that frame rates remain high even in demanding scenes.

For users who prefer to maximize visual fidelity, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice at every resolution. The database shows that the performance cost of moving from High to Ultra is minimal: 1 FPS at 1080p, 2 FPS at 1440p, and 4 FPS at 4K. The visual quality improvement from High to Ultra is generally worth the small FPS trade-off. For users who want the highest frame rates, the Low preset offers 128 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. However, the Ultra preset remains above 72 FPS even at 4K, so there is no practical need to compromise on settings for this game.