Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a measured performance envelope in Microsoft Flight Simulator, released in 2020, that ranges from 33.2 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra to 99.8 FPS at 1920x1080 Low. The combination ranks 1319th out of 1795 tested combos in this title, a position in the lower portion of the field. The CPU is a 4-core, 8-thread Alder Lake-S desktop part with a 3.30 GHz base clock and a 4.30 GHz boost clock, while the GPU is a RDNA 1.0 Navi 10 part with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The processor carries a launch MSRP of $97; the graphics card carries a launch MSRP of 399 USD.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 1319th out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the lower portion of the field.

Q: What average frame rate does this combo produce at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: 57.8 FPS. At Low settings it reaches 99.8 FPS, at Medium 77.6 FPS, and at High 61 FPS.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 5700 XT have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What are the CPU's core, thread, and clock specifications?

A: The i3-12100F has 4 cores and 8 threads, with a 3.30 GHz base clock and a 4.30 GHz boost clock.

Q: How does the CPU's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The i3-12100F averages 13516, which is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RX 5700 XT sits at the 68th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 24731.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1319 out of 1795 places it in the lower portion of the tested field. This is notable because the individual components sit above the midpoint in their respective benchmark pools: the CPU is at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 68th percentile among all GPUs. The gap between component percentiles and the combo's low rank suggests that Microsoft Flight Simulator's demands are not fully met by this pairing. The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, a 0.1% difference), and the GPU's average score of 24731 is within 0.1% of the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763). Yet the in-game rank indicates that the combination does not translate those synthetic scores into a high position in this specific title. The data shows a configuration that is competitive in general-purpose benchmarks but lands in the lower portion of the Flight Simulator leaderboard. The rank also implies that a large majority of the 1795 tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this title, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing sub-60 FPS at 4K and at 1440p High and Ultra. The CPU's percentile of 72 and the GPU's percentile of 68 are both above the 50th percentile, yet the combo's rank places it below the midpoint of the tested field. This discrepancy highlights how synthetic benchmark averages do not always predict in-game performance for a specific title. The measured FPS data confirms that the combo is capable of high frame rates at 1080p Low (99.8 FPS) but falls to 33.2 FPS at 4K Ultra, a range that spans a wide performance envelope.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 10 chip on a 7 nm process. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz, its game clock is 1755 MHz, and its boost clock is 1905 MHz. The shading units number 2560, with 160 texture mapping units and 64 render output units. The pixel rate is 121.9 GPixel/s, the texture rate is 304.8 GTexel/s, and FP32 throughput is 9.754 TFLOPS. The GPU has a TDP of 225 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the measured frame rates show a clear ceiling at higher settings. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 59.3 on Low, 46.4 on Medium, and 33.2 on both High and Ultra. The identical High and Ultra results at 4K suggest that the GPU is saturated before the settings difference can manifest. At 2560x1440, High produces 43.6 FPS and Ultra produces 43.8 FPS — again nearly identical, reinforcing the idea that the GPU's rendering capacity is the limiting factor at these quality levels. The 8 GB VRAM buffer, while adequate for many titles, is likely a constraint in a flight simulator that streams large scenery and terrain data. The GPU's average benchmark score of 24731 places it at the 68th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile at 24763 (0.1% behind) and the Intel Arc A350M at 24647 (0.3% ahead). The data indicates that the RX 5700 XT is a mid-pack GPU that can deliver playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K even on Low settings, where it achieves 59.3 FPS. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 9.754 TFLOPS and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are the raw resources that the game's rendering engine draws upon. At 1440p, Low settings reach 77.9 FPS, which is above 60 FPS, but High and Ultra fall to 43.6 and 43.8 FPS respectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 99.8 FPS on Low, 77.6 FPS on Medium, 61 FPS on High, and 57.8 FPS on Ultra. This is the only resolution where the average frame rate exceeds 60 FPS on High settings. At 2560x1440, the results are 77.9 FPS on Low, 63.8 FPS on Medium, 43.6 FPS on High, and 43.8 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p High and Ultra figures are nearly identical, indicating a performance plateau. At 3840x2160, the results drop to 59.3 FPS on Low, 46.4 FPS on Medium, and 33.2 FPS on both High and Ultra. The 4K High and Ultra results are identical at 33.2 FPS, which strongly suggests that the GPU is the binding constraint at this resolution. The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows diminishing returns, with the spread between Low and Ultra narrowing as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo is most comfortable, with Ultra at 57.8 FPS. At 1440p, High and Ultra are nearly identical at 43.6 and 43.8 FPS. At 4K, High and Ultra are exactly identical at 33.2 FPS. The 1080p results are the only set where all four settings levels remain above 57 FPS, with Low at 99.8, Medium at 77.6, High at 61, and Ultra at 57.8. The 1440p results show a wider gap between Low and Medium (77.9 vs 63.8) and a much smaller gap between High and Ultra (43.6 vs 43.8). The 4K results show a similar pattern, with Low at 59.3, Medium at 46.4, and High and Ultra both at 33.2. The data shows that the combo is most comfortable at 1080p, where even Ultra settings stay above 57.8 FPS, and becomes increasingly constrained as resolution rises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a TDP of 58 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes. Its launch MSRP is $97.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i3-12100F scores 11912 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1681 in single-core. Geekbench results are 7413 multi-core and 2224 single-core. Passmark multi-thread is 14015, and single-thread is 3444. The CPU's average benchmark score is 13516, placing it at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX at 13534, a 0.1% difference, followed by the Intel Core i7-1250U at 13462 (0.4% ahead), the Intel Core i3-10105 at 13430 (0.6% ahead), and the Intel Core i7-7700K at 13280 (1.8% ahead). The data shows that the i3-12100F's average score is essentially tied with a high-end Threadripper part, which is notable for a 4-core chip.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is significant because the title simulates complex flight dynamics and streams scenery. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (99.8) suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower settings, but the frame rate ceiling at higher settings and resolutions points to the GPU as the primary limiter. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (1681 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 2224 in Geekbench single-core) is relevant for a simulator that often relies on a few heavily loaded threads. The 4-core, 8-thread configuration with 12 MB of shared L3 cache provides enough parallelism for the game's background tasks, but the data indicates that the combo's overall rank of 1319 out of 1795 is driven more by the GPU's limitations than by CPU throughput. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are a modest count by modern standards, but the high boost clock of 4.30 GHz and the 12 MB of shared L3 cache help it keep up with the game's single-threaded demands. The Passmark single-thread score of 3444 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 both indicate strong per-core performance. The multi-threaded scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 11912, show that the CPU can handle background tasks, but the game's frame rate is ultimately limited by the GPU in this configuration.