Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a robust experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with benchmark data showing that every tested resolution offers at least one preset that clears the 60 FPS playability threshold. The RTX 4070 SUPER, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, provides 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the 12-core Alder Lake CPU with 20 threads offers strong single-thread performance, a critical factor for flight simulation. Measured results are based on actual data collected for this specific combination.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that holds an average of at or above 60 FPS is High, with a measured average of 63.6 FPS. The Ultra preset dips below the playability threshold at 58.3 FPS, making High the optimal choice for 4K gaming. The data shows that Medium settings at this resolution achieve 84.2 FPS, offering headroom for users who prefer smoother motion over maximum fidelity.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the entire settings range is playable. The most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 79.9 FPS. This is a significant margin above the threshold, indicating that 1440p Ultra is a comfortable target for this hardware. Lower presets at this resolution produce even higher frame rates, with High at 84.7 FPS and Medium at 111.9 FPS.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), all four settings presets clear the 60 FPS bar. The most demanding preset is Ultra, achieving an average of 99.9 FPS. This nearly doubles the playability threshold, suggesting that the combination is far from fully stressed at this resolution. The scaling from 1440p Ultra to 1080p Ultra shows a 20 FPS improvement, from 79.9 to 99.9 FPS, which aligns with the reduced pixel count.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals distinct scaling patterns that clarify the roles of the CPU and GPU across resolutions. At 3840x2160, the frame rate drops sharply as settings increase: Low runs at 104.5 FPS, Medium at 84.2 FPS, High at 63.6 FPS, and Ultra at 58.3 FPS. This 44% reduction from Low to Ultra indicates a strong GPU-bound workload at 4K, where the RTX 4070 SUPER’s rendering capabilities dictate performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings progression yields 147.8 FPS (Low), 111.9 FPS (Medium), 84.7 FPS (High), and 79.9 FPS (Ultra). The delta between Low and Ultra is 67.9 FPS, a larger absolute gap than at 4K, but the relative scaling is similar. The CPU begins to exert more influence at 1440p, as evidenced by the smaller drop from High to Ultra (4.8 FPS) compared to the drop from Medium to High (27.2 FPS), suggesting that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at these lower settings.

At 1920x1080, the pattern shifts further toward CPU limitation at lower presets. Low settings hit 183.1 FPS, Medium 140.7 FPS, High 109.2 FPS, and Ultra 99.9 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 9.3 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 31.5 FPS. This compression at the top end indicates that the i7-12700KF’s single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071, becomes a limiting factor when the GPU has less work to do per frame. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs supports this interpretation, as it is clearly capable but not the absolute fastest available.

Across all resolutions, the GPU’s role dominates at 4K, while the CPU’s role becomes more prominent at 1080p. The data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER, with a 83rd percentile ranking among GPUs, handles the graphical load efficiently, but the i7-12700KF’s 12 cores and 20 threads provide sufficient parallel processing for the simulation’s background tasks without becoming a bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 3840x2160, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 104.5 FPS, Medium settings reach 84.2 FPS, High settings achieve 63.6 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 58.3 FPS. No minimum or maximum FPS values were recorded for these runs, so the analysis relies solely on averages.

At 2560x1440, the averages improve substantially: Low settings deliver 147.8 FPS, Medium settings reach 111.9 FPS, High settings hit 84.7 FPS, and Ultra settings maintain 79.9 FPS. The progression shows a 67.9 FPS difference between the lowest and highest settings, demonstrating consistent scaling with each tier.

At 1920x1080, the averages are the highest of any resolution: Low settings produce 183.1 FPS, Medium settings reach 140.7 FPS, High settings achieve 109.2 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 99.9 FPS. The 1080p results show a 83.2 FPS spread from Low to Ultra, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Low and Medium at 42.4 FPS.

Comparing across resolutions, the data shows that dropping from 4K to 1440p at Ultra settings improves the average from 58.3 to 79.9 FPS, a 21.6 FPS gain. Dropping further to 1080p Ultra yields 99.9 FPS, another 20 FPS improvement. This consistent scaling suggests that the hardware responds predictably to pixel count reductions, with no anomalous behavior that would indicate driver or architecture issues.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i7-12700KF show that this CPU sits in a tightly contested performance band. The Intel Core i7-13700T has an average score of 35403, which is 0.1% lower than the i7-12700KF’s average of 35365. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, placing it 0.2% behind, while the Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, a 0.2% advantage. The Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287, also 0.2% behind. These delta percentages indicate that all four alternatives would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with differences well within measurement noise.

For the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER’s nearest rivals are less conventional. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB has an average score of 43262, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 43223. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43268, also 0.1% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 scores 43301, a 0.2% advantage, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667, which is 1% higher. These deltas suggest that the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER performs comparably to these alternatives, though the Quadro cards are professional-grade and the RTX 5050 Mobile is a laptop part, so direct comparisons in gaming scenarios should be treated with caution.

In practical terms, swapping the i7-12700KF for any of its nearest rivals would change frame rates by less than a few percent, given the sub-1% score differences. Similarly, the GPU alternatives fall within a 1% window, meaning that users with any of these components could expect nearly identical benchmark results in this game.

FAQ

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

A: No, at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 58.3, which falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold. The highest playable setting at 4K is High, which averages 63.6 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset is playable with an average of 79.9 FPS. This is the most demanding setting that stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for maximum visual quality at this resolution.

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

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 109.2 at 1920x1080 to 63.6 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 45.6 FPS. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 99.9 to 58.3 FPS, a 41.6 FPS reduction.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1080p?

A: The data indicates that at 1920x1080, the CPU becomes a more significant factor, as evidenced by the small 9.3 FPS difference between High and Ultra settings (109.2 vs 99.9 FPS). The i7-12700KF’s strong single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071, helps maintain high frame rates, but the GPU has less work per frame at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 637th out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the top 17% of all configurations in the database.

Q: What minimum FPS can be expected at 1440p Ultra settings?

A: The measured data only provides average FPS values, with no minimum or maximum figures recorded for any resolution or settings preset. The average at 1440p Ultra is 79.9 FPS, but specific minimum frame times are not available from this data.

The Verdict

The benchmark data clearly shows that this system can run Microsoft Flight Simulator with playable frame rates across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, the verdict lists High, Low, and Medium as playable settings, with High being the best option at 63.6 FPS average. Ultra at 4K is not playable, falling to 58.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four settings—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with Ultra achieving 79.9 FPS. At 1920x1080, the same full range is playable, with Ultra reaching 99.9 FPS.

The practical takeaway is that users with a 4K display should stick to High settings for a stable experience, while 1440p and 1080p users can enable Ultra without concern. The 60 FPS threshold is comfortably cleared at these resolutions, and the margin at 1080p Ultra (39.9 FPS above the threshold) provides ample headroom for demanding scenes or add-on content that may reduce frame rates below the averages shown.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER holds the 637th rank out of 3714 total combos. This places it in the upper quintile of all tested systems, reflecting the strong individual performance of both components. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs contribute to this solid overall position.

The rank indicates that while this is not a top-tier enthusiast configuration, it outperforms the vast majority of systems in the database. For a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which demands both strong single-thread CPU performance and substantial GPU throughput, this combination demonstrates balanced capabilities. The 4K High result of 63.6 FPS and the 1440p Ultra result of 79.9 FPS are particularly strong showings, suggesting that the rank could be even higher for this specific title compared to more general-purpose benchmarks.