Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 193.5 FPS, which drops to 157.8 FPS at 1440p and 113.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 41.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint as resolution increases.

The pattern shifts with Ultra settings, where the FPS drop is more moderate. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 105.9 FPS, falling to 88.6 FPS at 1440p and 65.1 FPS at 4K — a 38.5% total reduction. The smaller percentage drop at Ultra suggests that the CPU begins to play a more significant role in limiting performance when the GPU is already heavily loaded with higher-quality rendering.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 193.5 FPS, which is nearly three times the 65.1 FPS seen at 4K Ultra. This wide spread indicates that Microsoft Flight Simulator's rendering load scales dramatically with resolution, and the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 16 GB VRAM and 672.3 GB/s memory bandwidth are being taxed heavily at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings (151 FPS vs 122.8 FPS, a 18.7% drop) is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K at the same settings (122.8 FPS vs 85.3 FPS, a 30.5% drop), confirming that 4K presents a disproportionate challenge.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, with its 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 256-bit bus, provides the graphics horsepower for this simulator. The GPU's 2610 MHz boost clock and 44.10 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are directly reflected in the measured results. At 4K Ultra, the combo hits 65.1 FPS, while 4K High produces 65.6 FPS — a negligible difference that suggests the Ultra preset's additional graphical features are not the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48704, places it in the upper echelon. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, scores 49071 (0.7% higher), while the RTX A2000 trails by 1.6% at 47915. This competitive positioning explains why the system can push 113.5 FPS at 4K Low — the GPU has enough raw compute to handle lower-detail rendering at high resolutions.

The memory subsystem is a key factor. With 16 GB VRAM and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER avoids capacity-related stutters even at 4K Ultra, where detailed terrain and aircraft models demand substantial texture storage. The 256-bit bus width allows the GPU to feed its 8448 shading units efficiently, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from Medium to High at each resolution (e.g., 85.3 to 65.6 FPS at 4K, a 23.1% drop).

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 provides strong single-thread and multi-thread performance that prevents CPU bottlenecking in most scenarios. Its 8 cores and 16 threads, based on Zen 4 architecture, achieve a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29302 and a single-core score of 4136. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40468, shows it is well-matched to the GPU.

The nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (40431, 0.1% higher) and Intel Core i9-13905H (40712, 0.6% higher), indicating the 7700 sits in a tight performance cluster. This balance is visible in the FPS data: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 193.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions. However, at 1080p Ultra, the FPS drops to 105.9, showing that the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock is sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output.

The 7700's 32 MB L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for the simulator's demands, which benefit from fast data access for terrain streaming. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC contribute to consistent performance without thermal throttling, as evidenced by the stable FPS numbers across repeated measurements. At 1440p High, the system delivers 89.4 FPS, which is 22.7% lower than 1080p High (115.7 FPS), showing that the CPU is not the limiting factor until the GPU is fully saturated at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Does this combo maintain playable FPS at 4K Ultra in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 65.1, which is above the typically accepted 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K High preset produces a nearly identical 65.6 FPS, indicating the Ultra settings add graphical fidelity without a significant performance penalty at this resolution.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low?

A: At 1080p, the gain from Ultra (105.9 FPS) to Low (193.5 FPS) is 82.6%, while at 4K the gain is 74.3% (65.1 to 113.5 FPS). This shows that lowering settings provides a substantial FPS boost, but the relative gain shrinks slightly at higher resolutions due to the GPU's increasing workload.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER or Ryzen 7 7700 the primary bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 1440p. The FPS difference between Low (157.8) and Ultra (88.6) presets at 1440p is 43.9%, while the CPU's strong single-thread score of 4136 in Cinebench R23 indicates it can handle the simulator's physics and AI workloads without becoming a limiting factor.

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

A: The combo ranks 173rd out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the top 10% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the balanced performance of the 91st percentile CPU and 86th percentile GPU working together.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the system produces 151 FPS at 1080p, 122.8 FPS at 1440p, and 85.3 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 43.5%, showing that resolution scaling is the dominant factor in performance variation.

Q: Can the system achieve 144 Hz at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 193.5 FPS, exceeding 144 Hz. At 1440p Low, it achieves 157.8 FPS, also above 144 Hz. However, at 1440p Medium (122.8 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (105.9 FPS), the FPS falls below the 144 Hz threshold, indicating that high refresh rates are only achievable at lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination holds the 173rd position out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the system in the 90.4th percentile of all configurations tested, a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits at 91st percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at 86th percentile among all GPUs.

The combo's ranking suggests that Microsoft Flight Simulator rewards balanced systems. The CPU's 29302 Cinebench R23 multi-core score and the GPU's 31811 Passmark G3D score are well-matched, avoiding the severe bottlenecking that can occur with mismatched components. The 1795 tested combos include both higher-end and lower-end pairings, and this system's top-10% placement indicates it handles the simulator's demanding workload effectively across all resolution and settings combinations tested.

The ranking also reflects the system's consistency. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 65.1 FPS, and at 1080p Low it reaches 193.5 FPS — a range that covers both high-fidelity and high-refresh-rate use cases. This versatility is uncommon among the tested combos, many of which sacrifice one extreme for the other.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following measured FPS values were recorded across three resolutions and four settings presets:

1920x1080:

• Low: 193.5 FPS
• Medium: 151 FPS
• High: 115.7 FPS
• Ultra: 105.9 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 157.8 FPS
• Medium: 122.8 FPS
• High: 89.4 FPS
• Ultra: 88.6 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 113.5 FPS
• Medium: 85.3 FPS
• High: 65.6 FPS
• Ultra: 65.1 FPS

The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier reduces FPS by roughly 20-30% from the previous tier, with the largest single drop occurring from Medium to High at 1440p (122.8 to 89.4 FPS, a 27.2% reduction). At 4K, the High and Ultra presets produce nearly identical results (65.6 vs 65.1 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is fully saturated and the additional Ultra features do not add meaningful rendering load. Conversely, at 1080p, the gap between High and Ultra (115.7 vs 105.9 FPS, a 8.5% reduction) is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (151 vs 115.7 FPS, a 23.4% reduction), indicating diminishing returns at the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice despite the 65.1 FPS average. The High preset produces a nearly identical 65.6 FPS, so the Ultra preset's additional visual features come at no measurable cost in performance. Users prioritizing smoothness over fidelity could drop to Medium (85.3 FPS), which offers a 31% FPS improvement over Ultra while maintaining reasonable visual quality.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (122.8 FPS) provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it remains above 120 FPS while offering better detail than Low (157.8 FPS). The Ultra preset (88.6 FPS) is viable for users who prioritize maximum fidelity, but the small 1 FPS difference between High (89.4 FPS) and Ultra suggests that the High preset is effectively free performance with minimal visual trade-offs.

For 1080p, the Medium preset (151 FPS) is the optimal choice for high-refresh-rate monitors, as it exceeds 144 Hz while maintaining acceptable detail levels. The Low preset (193.5 FPS) is only recommended for competitive or maximum-refresh-rate scenarios (e.g., 240 Hz displays), as the visual downgrade from Medium to Low is substantial. The Ultra preset (105.9 FPS) is best suited for users with 100 Hz or 120 Hz displays who want the highest fidelity, though the 9.3% FPS gain from dropping to High (115.7 FPS) makes High a pragmatic alternative.

Across all resolutions, the data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most consistent experience, with FPS values of 151 (1080p), 122.8 (1440p), and 85.3 (4K) that remain playable at every tier.