Microsoft Flight Simulator

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but requires Low settings at 4K to stay above 60 FPS. The combo ranks 1104th out of 1795 tested configurations, placing it in the lower half of the database, despite the CPU and GPU each sitting above the 60th percentile individually. The measured data shows a consistent reduction in FPS as resolution increases, indicating a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS values provide clear guidance for preset selection. At 1080p, the High preset produces 66.7 FPS, while Ultra yields 62.9 FPS—both comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium reaches 86.7 FPS, offering a smoother experience but with reduced visual detail. For players prioritizing frame rate, Medium is the safest choice, but High provides a better balance of image quality and performance. The difference between High and Ultra is small, so Ultra is not worth the performance cost. At 1440p, the situation changes: Medium (67.4 FPS) and Low (88.6 FPS) are the only presets that exceed 60 FPS; High (52.0) and Ultra (49.1) fall short. Thus, Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it maintains smoothness while retaining more detail than Low. At 4K, only Low (63.2 FPS) reaches playable levels; Medium (48.9), High (36.2), and Ultra (35.0) are all below 50 FPS, making them unsuitable for a fluid experience. The data clearly indicates that the best experience per resolution is Low at 4K, Medium at 1440p, and High at 1080p. For users with high refresh rate displays, the 1440p Low preset at 88.6 FPS offers the highest frame rate above 60, though it sacrifices visual fidelity.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 1770 MHz, and it has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's memory capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the high frame rates at those resolutions. However, at 4K, the frame rates drop sharply across all settings, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth become limiting factors. The GPU's average benchmark score is 22206, which places it within 0.5% of the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307) and 0.9% above the GTX TITAN Z (22006). Its percentile of 65 means it outperforms most GPUs, yet the 4K Ultra result of 35.0 FPS shows that even a strong GPU cannot maintain high frame rates at maximum settings. The GPU's FP32 compute is 9.062 TFLOPS, which is adequate for this game's demands at lower resolutions. The launch MSRP for this GPU is $499.

Resolution Scaling

Comparing 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops consistently across all settings. For Low, 1080p yields 112.6 FPS while 4K yields 63.2; Medium drops from 86.7 to 48.9; High from 66.7 to 36.2; and Ultra from 62.9 to 35.0. The pattern shows a similar reduction in each case, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681, helps maintain high FPS at 1080p, but the GPU's limits become apparent as pixel count increases. The fact that the drop is nearly uniform across settings suggests that the GPU is being saturated at 4K, regardless of the visual complexity. This is typical of a system where the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU's workload does not scale with resolution. The 1080p Low result of 112.6 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep up when pixel count quadruples. The 4K Low result of 63.2 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving little headroom for demanding scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1104th out of 1795 tested configurations, placing it in the lower half of the database. The CPU alone sits at the 72nd percentile and the GPU at the 65th, yet the combined rank is lower, suggesting that MSFS is sensitive to the pairing. The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 is within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462), but those are different classes of processors. The GPU's score of 22206 is 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670) and 2.3% lower than the RTX 4060 Mobile (22729). Despite these respectable individual scores, the combo's rank indicates that this pairing is not optimal for MSFS. The likely reason is the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration, which may limit performance in a game that can utilize more threads, even though the CPU's single-thread performance is strong. The rank of 1104 out of 1795 means that a majority of tested combos deliver better performance in this game, so users should consider this when evaluating the pairing. The discrepancy between the component percentiles and the combo rank highlights the importance of CPU-GPU balance in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F has 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost of 4.30 GHz. Its L3 cache is 12 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The CPU's L1 cache is 80 KB per core, and L2 is 1.25 MB per core. It is built on a 10 nm process and uses the Alder Lake architecture. In MSFS, the measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 112.6, which is high, but the CPU's multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi 11912) is modest compared to its single-thread score (1681). The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 places it at the 72nd percentile, and it is within 0.1% of the Threadripper PRO 3975WX in average score, though that chip has many more cores. The data suggests that the i3-12100F's strong single-thread performance is sufficient for 1080p, but at 1440p and 4K the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops. The CPU's TDP is 58 W, and its launch MSRP is $97.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra?

A: 62.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best setting for 1440p to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: Medium, which yields 67.4 FPS. High and Ultra fall below 60 at 52.0 and 49.1 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1104th out of 1795, placing it in the lower half of the database.

Q: What is the GPU's memory size and bandwidth?

A: 8 GB GDDR6 with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock?

A: 4.30 GHz.

Q: At 4K, which preset is the only one above 60 FPS?

A: Low, with 63.2 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | Low | 63.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 48.9 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 36.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 35.0 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 88.6 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 67.4 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 52.0 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 49.1 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 112.6 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 86.7 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 66.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 62.9 |