Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a decisive performance victory in Microsoft Flight Simulator, clearing the 60 FPS threshold at every preset and resolution tested. The data indicates that this combination is not merely playable but exceptionally capable, with the most demanding Ultra preset maintaining high frame rates even at 4K. The benchmark results show a system that scales efficiently across resolutions, making it a top-tier choice for flight simulation enthusiasts.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which achieves an average of 67.5 FPS. This is a significant finding, as it means users can experience the game’s highest visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The margin over the 60 FPS playable threshold is 7.5 FPS, indicating headroom for complex scenes or add-ons that may tax the system further. The High preset at this resolution yields 69.9 FPS, while Medium produces 92.9 FPS, and Low reaches 122 FPS.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again provides the best visual experience while staying well above 60 FPS, with an average of 95.6 FPS. This represents a 35.6 FPS buffer over the playable threshold, offering substantial room for demanding weather conditions or dense urban environments. The High preset scores 100.2 FPS, Medium runs at 127.8 FPS, and Low hits 170.1 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation, delivering an average of 115.9 FPS. This is nearly double the 60 FPS minimum, ensuring that even the most complex flight scenarios remain fluid. The High preset achieves 121.4 FPS, Medium runs at 161.3 FPS, and Low reaches 208.3 FPS. Across all resolutions, the data shows that the Ultra preset is always the optimal choice for visual quality, as it never drops below the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions and presets reveals a balanced system where both components contribute meaningfully, but the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 92.4 FPS (208.3 vs 115.9), highlighting the GPU’s role in rendering higher visual fidelity. However, the CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads ensure that the simulation logic, which is substantial in Microsoft Flight Simulator, does not bottleneck the frame rate even at lower settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows slightly to 74.5 FPS (170.1 vs 95.6), indicating that the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth provide ample resources for the higher resolution textures and geometry. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low and Ultra is 54.5 FPS (122 vs 67.5), demonstrating that the GPU is the primary factor at 4K, as the pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s becomes the limiting constraint.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a drop from 115.9 FPS to 67.5 FPS, a 48.4 FPS reduction. This 41.7% decrease in performance aligns with the 4x increase in pixel count, confirming that the GPU is the dominant component at higher resolutions. Conversely, at Low settings, the 1080p to 4K drop is from 208.3 FPS to 122 FPS, a 86.3 FPS reduction, which still shows GPU scaling but with less pronounced impact. The data suggests that for this game, the CPU’s 3.40 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost clocks are sufficient to feed the GPU at all settings, making the RTX 4080 SUPER the key determinant of frame rates beyond 1080p.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearestRivals data for the CPU and GPU provides insight into what other hardware would deliver comparable results. For the Intel Core i7-14700KF, the closest competitor is the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which has an average score of 69996, a mere 0.2% delta from the i7-14700KF’s 70163. This indicates that systems built with the Ryzen 7 9700F would exhibit nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX follows at 69875 (0.4% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 69515 (0.9% delta), all within 1% of the i7-14700KF’s average benchmark score. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is the only rival that outperforms the i7-14700KF, with a score of 70879, representing a -1% delta (meaning the i7-14700KF is 1% slower).

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER’s nearest rival is the standard NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, with an average score of 54247 versus 54209, a delta of -0.1%. This means the RTX 4080 would perform virtually identically, making it a direct alternative for users seeking similar frame rates. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X shows a 54828 score (-1.1% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.7% delta) and AMD Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.8% delta) are slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks, though the real-world gaming delta in this specific title is likely minimal given the close scores. Users with any of these GPUs paired with a comparable CPU could expect broadly similar performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with the caveat that the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB memory capacity is advantageous for high-resolution textures.

The Verdict

The benchmark data unequivocally confirms that this PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator with exceptional performance. The verdictByResolution field lists all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) as playable at every resolution tested, meaning the system never falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 67.5 FPS, which is 7.5 FPS above the threshold, while the High preset achieves 69.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset runs at 95.6 FPS, and at 1920x1080, it reaches 115.9 FPS. This demonstrates that the combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is more than sufficient for the most demanding flight simulation experience.

The system’s ability to maintain 60+ FPS at Ultra settings across all resolutions confirms the hardware’s balance. The CPU’s high single-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2578, ensures that the simulation’s physics and AI calculations are handled efficiently. The GPU’s 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 80 RT cores provide the graphical horsepower needed for the game’s detailed cockpits and terrain. Users can confidently set the game to Ultra at any resolution knowing that the frame rate will remain smooth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 67.5 FPS, with High at 69.9 FPS, Medium at 92.9 FPS, and Low at 122 FPS. The step from Medium to High is only 23 FPS, while the step from Low to Medium is 29.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU handles lower settings with significant headroom. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 95.6 FPS, High at 100.2 FPS, Medium at 127.8 FPS, and Low at 170.1 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low shows a 74.5 FPS improvement, demonstrating that users seeking maximum frame rates for competitive play or VR can achieve very high performance.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 115.9 FPS, High at 121.4 FPS, Medium at 161.3 FPS, and Low at 208.3 FPS. The Low setting at 1080p is the only configuration that breaks the 200 FPS barrier, which is exceptional for a flight simulator. The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 4080 SUPER provides diminishing returns at lower resolutions, as the CPU becomes more involved, but the i7-14700KF’s strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and Passmark multithread score of 52425) prevents any bottleneck. The absence of min/max FPS data in the measured results means the analysis relies on average FPS, but the consistent averages across settings suggest stable frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of tested hardware combinations, this system ranks 282nd out of 3714 combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 7.6% of all configurations tested. This percentile ranking reflects the hardware’s high average benchmark scores: the CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 94, and the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 86. The combo’s rank of 282 is particularly impressive given the large number of possible combinations, indicating that this specific pairing of an Intel Core i7-14700KF with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is among the most effective for this title.

The rank becomes more meaningful when considering the nearestRivals data. Since the CPU rivals are within 1% of the i7-14700KF’s performance, systems using those CPUs would likely occupy similar ranks. Likewise, the GPU’s nearest rival, the RTX 4080, is only 0.1% apart in average score, meaning a combo with that GPU would rank nearly identically. The data suggests that users seeking to replicate this performance could choose the RTX 4080 instead of the SUPER variant, or swap the CPU for a Ryzen 7 9700F, and expect comparable results. However, the specific combination tested here achieves a balance that places it firmly in the upper echelon of configurations, making it a reliable choice for high-fidelity flight simulation.