Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p Ultra settings in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers an average of 83.1 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-7700K?

A: The Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, which is 1.8% higher than the Core i7-7700K's score of 13280, making it the faster option in synthetic multi-core tests.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how much VRAM does it have?

A: The Radeon RX 7800 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s.

Q: At which resolution does this combo achieve its highest average frame rate?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 149.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking compared to all other GPUs in the database?

A: The Radeon RX 7800 XT sits in the 76th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it outperforms roughly three-quarters of the tested graphics cards.

Q: Does the CPU have integrated graphics?

A: No, the Intel Core i3-12100F does not include integrated graphics, so a discrete GPU like the RX 7800 XT is required for display output.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a TDP of 58 W. The chip features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. Its memory controller supports both DDR4 and DDR5 in dual-channel mode, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is significant because the simulator's complex flight models, weather systems, and scenery generation place heavy demands on single-threaded performance. The i3-12100F's 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 show solid single-core capability for a quad-core part. Its multi-threaded scores, such as 11912 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7413 in Geekbench multi-core, reflect the limited thread count; however, the game's primary thread often benefits more from high clock speeds than from many cores.

The data shows that this CPU holds its own in the game's frame delivery. At 1080p Low settings, where the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor, the combo still achieves 149.1 FPS, indicating that the i3-12100F can feed frames quickly enough for high-refresh-rate displays in less demanding scenes. The processor's percentile ranking of 72 against all CPUs places it above average, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, has an average score just 0.1% higher, showing that the i3-12100F competes with much more expensive parts in synthetic tests.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It packs 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die and features 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. The GPU has 60 ray tracing cores and operates at a base clock of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2124 MHz, and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. Its memory subsystem includes 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit interface, yielding a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU handles the heavy lifting for rendering terrain, aircraft models, and lighting effects. The RX 7800 XT's 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 583.2 GTexel/s texture rate provide substantial raw throughput. The data shows that at 4K resolution, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck: at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 45.8 FPS, while at 1080p Low it reaches 149.1 FPS. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is ample for the game's high-resolution texture packs, and the 624.1 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming remains fluid. The card's percentile ranking of 76 among all GPUs places it above the median, and its closest rival, the NVIDIA P104-100, trails by just 0.4%, while the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 is 0.2% behind. The RX 7800 XT's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility align well with the simulator's rendering requirements.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. With Low settings, the average frame rate is 149.1 FPS, which drops to 112.6 FPS at Medium, 85.9 FPS at High, and 83.1 FPS at Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra is relatively small, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual fidelity without a proportional performance cost at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain playable across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 121 FPS, Medium yields 90.4 FPS, High delivers 68.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 65.3 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p incurs a roughly 15-20% performance hit at each setting, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stressed. Low settings average 83.3 FPS, Medium drops to 65.7 FPS, High settles at 53 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold, but the Low and Medium settings remain playable. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a more pronounced drop, indicating that VRAM bandwidth and pixel throughput are limiting factors at this resolution.

The overall pattern across all resolutions and settings shows that the combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring lower settings for smooth performance. The measured data confirms that the RX 7800 XT's 16 GB VRAM is sufficient even at 4K Ultra, as the frame rate drop is more attributable to compute and memory bandwidth constraints than to capacity limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination ranks 663rd out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all system configurations. This rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely bottlenecks the other, though the quad-core CPU may limit performance in CPU-intensive scenarios at lower resolutions.

Within the database, this combo's position suggests that it outperforms the majority of tested systems while trailing top-tier configurations that pair high-core-count CPUs with flagship GPUs. The CPU's 72nd percentile and the GPU's 76th percentile individually are both above average, and their combination produces a result that is consistent with the geometric mean of their respective standings.

The rank of 663 out of 1795 means that roughly 1132 other combos are slower, while 662 are faster. This places the system in the upper third of all tested configurations, which is notable given the i3-12100F's modest quad-core design. The data indicates that the RX 7800 XT's strong compute and memory performance compensates for the CPU's lower multi-threaded capabilities, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the dominant factor.

The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (83.1 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (65.3 FPS) both exceed the 60 FPS target, showing that this combo is well-suited for high-fidelity flight simulation at mainstream resolutions. At 4K, the system requires Medium or Low settings to maintain playable frame rates, which is a typical trade-off for this class of hardware.