Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, clearing the 60 FPS playable threshold at every tested resolution and preset combination. The data set includes measured average, minimum, and maximum frame rates for Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 2160p, providing a full picture of how this combination scales across the most common gaming configurations.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that holds at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which produces an average of 72 FPS. This is notable because it means the RTX 5080 has enough headroom at 4K to run the game at its highest visual quality without dropping below the playable threshold. The High preset averages 76 FPS, and Medium averages 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS, so all settings except the highest are also viable at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the best preset remains Ultra, averaging 98 FPS. The scaling from 4K is substantial: Ultra jumps from 72 FPS to 98 FPS, a gain that reflects the lower pixel count reducing the load on the RTX 5080's 10752 shading units. High averages 103 FPS, Medium 137 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 157 FPS, and Low reaches 176 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Ultra again delivers the highest playable preset, averaging 122 FPS. This resolution shows the full strength of the CPU-GPU pairing: Low hits 212 FPS, Medium averages 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS, and High averages 128 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 1080p at Ultra is from 98 FPS to 122 FPS, demonstrating that even at lower resolutions, the i7-12700K's 20 threads and 25 MB of L3 cache keep the frame rate well above the 60 FPS floor.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-12700K's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all within a narrow band of aggregate scores. The Intel Core i5-13600T sits only -0.1% behind, making it nearly indistinguishable in overall CPU throughput. The Intel Core i7-12700KF is -0.2% behind, which is expected since it is the same chip without integrated graphics. The Intel Core i7-13700T trails by -0.3%, and the Intel Core 5 213PE by -0.4%. For this game, any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates, as the differences are within measurement noise.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080's nearest rivals show more spread. The AMD Radeon 8060S is 0.6% ahead in aggregate score, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 0.7% ahead. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X sits 2.3% ahead, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE trails by -2.2%. In practice, these deltas translate to single-digit FPS differences in Microsoft Flight Simulator, so users with any of these GPUs should expect similar performance at the same settings and resolution. The RTX 5080's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth give it a theoretical edge, but the measured scores suggest the game is not memory-bandwidth-limited at these settings.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combination averages 72 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset averages 76 FPS, and Medium averages 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS.

Q: How much performance is gained by dropping from 4K to 1440p?

A: At Ultra settings, the average frame rate rises from 72 FPS at 3840x2160 to 98 FPS at 2560x1440, an increase of 26 FPS. At Medium settings, the gain is from 101 FPS to 137 FPS. The scaling is consistent across all presets, indicating the GPU becomes progressively less stressed as resolution drops.

Q: What is the highest FPS this combination achieves in the entire test suite?

A: The maximum average frame rate recorded is 212 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 170 FPS with a maximum of 195 FPS, while Ultra at 1080p averages 122 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 the limiting factor at any resolution?

A: The data shows the GPU remains capable at all tested settings. At 3840x2160, even Ultra averages 72 FPS, and at lower resolutions the frame rates climb substantially. No preset at any resolution falls below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting the GPU has ample headroom for this flight simulator.

Q: How does the i7-12700K compare to its closest rival, the i5-13600T?

A: The i5-13600T has an aggregate benchmark score of 35305 versus the i7-12700K's 35287, a difference of only -0.1%. This means the i7-12700K and i5-13600T would produce virtually identical frame rates in this game, with any variance falling within normal run-to-run fluctuation.

Q: Are the minimum FPS values consistent with the averages?

A: Only the Medium preset includes minimum and maximum values. At 3840x2160 Medium, the range is 86-116 FPS around a 101 FPS average. At 2560x1440 Medium, the range is 116-157 FPS around 137 FPS, and at 1920x1080 Medium, the range is 144-195 FPS around 170 FPS. The minimums stay well above the playable threshold in all cases.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Microsoft Flight Simulator. The verdict data confirms that all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at every resolution tested, with average frame rates never dipping below 72 FPS. At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Ultra at 72 FPS, which is the most demanding scenario in the dataset. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 98 FPS, and at 1920x1080, Ultra averages 122 FPS. The minimum recorded frame rate across the entire test set is 86 FPS at 4K Medium, so even transient drops stay comfortably above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is a system that not only runs the game but does so with enough performance headroom to avoid any concern about stutter or frame pacing issues in dense scenery or weather-heavy areas.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3714 tested combinations in this game, this pairing ranks 186th. That places it in the top 5% of all configurations in the database, which is consistent with the measured frame rates. The ranking reflects that the RTX 5080's 87th percentile standing among all GPUs and the i7-12700K's 84th percentile among all CPUs combine to produce a high-end result. The gap between this combo and the top performers is likely due to CPUs with higher multithreaded scores, as Microsoft Flight Simulator can scale with additional cores. The i7-12700K's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784 and Geekbench multicore score of 15790 are strong, but they are not the highest in the database, so some headroom exists above this rank.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals how the balance of load shifts between the i7-12700K and RTX 5080 across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with Low reaching 212 FPS. At this resolution, the GPU is not fully saturated, and the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant. The i7-12700K's 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and Passmark single-thread score of 4013 indicate strong per-core capability, which helps maintain high frame rates when the GPU has spare capacity. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra shows a drop from 122 FPS to 98 FPS, a 24 FPS difference, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is from 98 FPS to 72 FPS, another 26 FPS difference. These nearly equal declines suggest the GPU is becoming the dominant factor as resolution increases, but the CPU still keeps up without creating a bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5080's workload is the primary constraint, evidenced by the fact that even Ultra averages 72 FPS rather than falling below 60. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 36565 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 8637 place it well above the minimum requirements for this game. The CPU's role at 4K is to feed the GPU efficiently, and the i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads provide sufficient parallelism. The benchmark results indicate that neither component becomes a hard bottleneck at any tested configuration — instead, the system scales smoothly from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra, with each resolution step reducing frame rates by a consistent margin.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings was tested. Low averages 212 FPS, Medium averages 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS and maximum of 195 FPS, High averages 128 FPS, and Ultra averages 122 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 90 FPS, showing that the game's visual settings have a substantial impact on performance even at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 176 FPS, Medium averages 137 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 157 FPS, High averages 103 FPS, and Ultra averages 98 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is roughly 15-20%: Low goes from 212 to 176, Medium from 170 to 137, High from 128 to 103, and Ultra from 122 to 98.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 130 FPS, Medium averages 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS, High averages 76 FPS, and Ultra averages 72 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper: Low drops from 176 to 130, Medium from 137 to 101, High from 103 to 76, and Ultra from 98 to 72. This consistent reduction across all presets confirms that resolution scaling is uniform for this game, with no unexpected performance cliffs. The minimum FPS values recorded only for Medium settings show that even the lowest dips remain above the 60 FPS threshold, with the tightest margin being 86 FPS at 4K.