Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination shows a clear pattern across all three resolutions: the Low preset consistently delivers the highest average frame rates, while Ultra settings produce the lowest. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 41.1 FPS, which is more than double the 20.4 FPS seen at Ultra settings. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 31.8 FPS, while High settings yield 25.1 FPS. This spread indicates that the scaling from Low to Ultra costs roughly half the frame rate at every resolution tested.

For 2560x1440, the Low preset still manages a playable 31.9 FPS average, but Medium drops to 23.0 FPS, High falls to 17.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 15.6 FPS. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only produce 21.1 FPS, with Medium at 17.6 FPS, High at 14.3 FPS, and Ultra at 13.4 FPS. The data suggests that the Low preset is the only setting tier that approaches acceptable smoothness, and only at 1080p does it cross the 40 FPS threshold.

Given the measured results, the Low preset at 1920x1080 provides the best experience for this hardware combo, as it is the only configuration where average FPS exceeds 40. Users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate might consider Medium at 1080p, which stays above 30 FPS, but the step to High or Ultra introduces diminishing returns that push averages well below 30 FPS. The benchmark data does not include minimum FPS values, so stutter behavior cannot be assessed, but the average figures alone argue strongly for Low settings as the primary recommendation.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1783 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places this configuration in the bottom 1% of all tested combinations, with only 12 other setups performing worse. The percentile data for the individual components reinforces this picture: the GTX 1050 Ti sits at the 30th percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-10400F ranks at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs. The GPU is clearly the weaker link in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show it performing essentially neck-and-neck with several other processors. The AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115 against the i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14168, a delta of just 0.4% in favor of the Intel part. The AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277, which is 0.8% higher, while the Intel Core i5-8500 scores 14332, 1.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 trails by 1.2% with a score of 14336. These margins are negligible in real-world terms, confirming that the CPU is not the primary constraint in this game.

The GPU's nearest rivals tell a similar story of near-parity. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A scores 5317 versus the GTX 1050 Ti's 5316, a 0% delta. The GeForce 940M scores 5297, which is 0.4% lower, and the AMD Radeon R7 240 scores 5280, 0.7% lower. The AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5361, which is 0.8% higher. None of these competitors offer a meaningful performance advantage, and all sit in the same low-end tier. This combo's rank reflects the GPU's position near the bottom of the performance spectrum rather than any unusual pairing penalty.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture with the GP107 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process at Samsung. It packs 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1291 MHz with a boost clock of 1392 MHz, and its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 1752 MHz, translating to 7 Gbps effective and delivering 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth across a 128-bit bus. These specifications place it firmly in the entry-level segment, which is consistent with its 30th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth appear to be significant limiting factors. The game's measured FPS values show a steep decline as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU that is constrained by fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than compute throughput. The GTX 1050 Ti's pixel rate of 44.54 GPixel/s and texture rate of 66.82 GTexel/s are modest figures, and the FP32 performance of 2.138 TFLOPS is low by modern standards. The 4 GB VRAM capacity may also be insufficient for higher settings at larger resolutions, though the benchmark data does not explicitly track VRAM usage.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores reinforce its position. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 305, and its Passmark G3D score is 6340. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 20638 and Vulkan score of 19851 show similar levels of performance. The GPU's launch MSRP was 139 USD, and it is now listed as end-of-life, which explains why it occupies such a low position in the current performance hierarchy. For this game, the GPU is the dominant bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that CPU performance is competitive with much newer processors while FPS remains low across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values follow a consistent downward trend as settings increase. The Low preset delivers 41.1 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded for this combo across any resolution or setting. Medium settings produce 31.8 FPS, a drop of 9.3 FPS or roughly 23% from Low. High settings yield 25.1 FPS, which is 6.7 FPS below Medium and 16 FPS below Low. Ultra settings bottom out at 20.4 FPS, which is less than half of the Low preset's performance. This progression shows that each step up in quality costs approximately 5-9 FPS at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges but with lower absolute values. Low settings achieve 31.9 FPS, which is nearly identical to Medium at 1080p. Medium settings at 1440p drop to 23.0 FPS, High falls to 17.6 FPS, and Ultra reaches just 15.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 16.3 FPS, which is similar in magnitude to the 20.7 FPS gap seen at 1080p, but the lower starting point makes the relative impact more severe. At 1440p, only the Low preset stays above 30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, all settings produce sub-30 FPS results. Low leads with 21.1 FPS, followed by Medium at 17.6 FPS, High at 14.3 FPS, and Ultra at 13.4 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is just 7.7 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is so heavily saturated at this resolution that settings changes have a reduced impact. The data shows that 1080p Low is the only configuration that approaches a smooth experience, while 1440p Low is borderline playable, and 4K is not viable at any setting.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reveals important information about which component limits performance. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS from 41.1 to 31.9, a decline of 9.2 FPS or approximately 22%. The further step to 4K brings the average down to 21.1 FPS, another 10.8 FPS drop or about 34%. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as resolution increases place exponentially greater demands on pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

At Ultra settings, the resolution scaling is less dramatic in absolute terms but still significant. The 1080p average of 20.4 FPS falls to 15.6 FPS at 1440p, a drop of 4.8 FPS, and then to 13.4 FPS at 4K, another 2.2 FPS decline. The smaller absolute drops at higher settings suggest that the GPU is already saturated at 1080p Ultra, so additional pixel count has diminishing marginal impact. This is consistent with a GPU that is compute-bound even at lower resolutions when settings are maxed out.

The ratio between 1080p and 4K performance varies by settings tier. At Low, the 4K average is 51% of the 1080p average (21.1 vs 41.1 FPS). At Medium, the ratio is 55% (17.6 vs 31.8 FPS). At High, it is 57% (14.3 vs 25.1 FPS). At Ultra, it is 66% (13.4 vs 20.4 FPS). This pattern indicates that at lower settings, resolution scaling is closer to the theoretical pixel-count difference, while at higher settings, the GPU's fixed overheads become a larger fraction of the total workload, making resolution increases relatively less punishing. The data overall points to a GPU-bound configuration, with the i5-10400F's 6-core, 12-thread design providing ample headroom for this game's demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers the highest average FPS at 41.1, which is the only configuration exceeding 40 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 31.9 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 21.1 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 5316, which is essentially identical to the NVIDIA GeForce 930A at 5317 (0% delta). The GeForce 940M scores 5297 (0.4% lower), the AMD Radeon R7 240 scores 5280 (0.7% lower), and the AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5361 (0.8% higher).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting component. The i5-10400F ranks at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 14168, while the GTX 1050 Ti ranks at the 30th percentile among GPUs. The measured FPS scaling with resolution confirms a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 31.8. This is 9.3 FPS lower than Low settings but 6.7 FPS higher than High settings at the same resolution.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 41.1 at 1080p to 21.1 at 4K, a reduction of 20 FPS or roughly 49%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 20.4 to 13.4 FPS, a 7 FPS reduction or about 34%.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: This combo ranks 1783 out of 1795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 1% of all tested setups. Only 12 other combos performed worse.