Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a distinct performance profile across resolutions. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but reveals a CPU limitation at 1080p. The measured FPS indicates that this pairing is capable of excellent frame rates, though the experience varies significantly depending on your display and quality targets. The RTX 5080 sits in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, while the i5-11400F is in the 75th percentile of CPUs, which helps contextualize the bottlenecks observed in the benchmarks.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, highlighting the GPU as the primary scaling factor. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 160.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 132.2 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 17%. This is a relatively modest decline, suggesting that even at 4K, the RTX 5080 is not fully saturated at the lowest preset. However, the story changes dramatically at higher quality presets. Moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings sees the average FPS drop from 123.2 to 73.9, a 40% reduction. This indicates that at Ultra settings, the game is demanding significantly more from the GPU, and the 4K resolution is pushing the card to its limits.

The scaling pattern reveals a clear shift in the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 160.1 FPS, which is close to what the CPU can feed the GPU. When the resolution increases to 1440p, the frame rate only drops slightly to 145.6 FPS, suggesting the CPU is still a significant factor. However, at 4K, the GPU workload increases enough to become the primary bottleneck. This is classic behavior for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range processor: at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU limits the maximum frame rate, but at higher resolutions, the GPU takes over as the limiting factor. The gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings is 55.9 FPS, which is substantial and demonstrates that the RTX 5080 has significant headroom that is only fully utilized at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo to maintain high frame rates?

A: At 1440p, the system delivers a strong balance of visual quality and performance. With High settings, the average FPS is 105.3, and even at Ultra, it maintains 100.8 FPS. This is a much more comfortable experience than 4K, where Ultra settings drop to 73.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5080's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5080's average benchmark score is 59,188, which is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M and 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A580. It trails the Intel Arc Pro A60 by 1.9%, but the overall performance class is very similar to these other cards.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F a bottleneck for the RTX 5080 in this game?

A: Yes, particularly at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the frame rate is 160.1 FPS, but increasing the resolution to 1440p only drops the frame rate to 145.6 FPS. This smaller-than-expected drop indicates that the CPU is limiting performance at 1080p, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: The difference is substantial. At 4K, Low settings produce an average of 132.2 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 73.9 FPS. This is a 58.3 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset places a massive load on the GPU.

Q: How does the i5-11400F's multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17,181. This is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores 17,189, and the Intel Core i7-1260P, which scores 17,212. It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1240U, which scores 17,141.

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

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 144.3 at 1080p to 98.6 at 4K. This represents a 45.7 FPS reduction, which is a significant loss in smoothness, though the 4K result remains playable.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific pairing, the data suggests that High settings provide the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, particularly at 1440p. At 1440p High, the system achieves 105.3 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. Moving to Ultra at the same resolution only yields a 4.5 FPS gain, which is negligible, making the extra visual cost of Ultra not worth the performance hit. At 1080p, High settings are also excellent, delivering 133.1 FPS, which is a great experience for a flight simulator with complex scenery.

At 4K, the choice becomes more difficult. High settings produce 77.2 FPS, which is playable, while Ultra drops to 73.9 FPS. If you own a 4K display, High settings are the recommended choice, as they offer a playable frame rate without the significant performance penalty of Ultra. Medium settings at 4K offer 98.6 FPS, which is a very smooth experience, but you will lose some visual detail. Given that the GPU has 16 GB of VRAM, memory capacity is not the limiting factor; it is the raw compute power required for the Ultra preset. The data indicates that High settings at 1440p is the "sweet spot" for this combo, as it offers a high frame rate without pushing the GPU into a territory where performance degrades significantly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a full matrix of average FPS for three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are 160.1 (Low), 144.3 (Medium), 133.1 (High), and 123.2 (Ultra). The spread from Low to Ultra is 36.9 FPS, which is the smallest of all resolutions, reinforcing that the CPU is the primary limiter here. At 2560x1440, the results are 145.6 (Low), 131.3 (Medium), 105.3 (High), and 100.8 (Ultra). The performance difference between Low and Ultra is 44.8 FPS, indicating a larger GPU influence. At 3840x2160, the results are 132.2 (Low), 98.6 (Medium), 77.2 (High), and 73.9 (Ultra). The gap between Low and Ultra is 58.3 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU is the dominant factor at 4K.

The data reveals an interesting anomaly at 1440p. The frame rate at Medium (131.3 FPS) is much closer to Low (145.6 FPS) than it is to High (105.3 FPS). This suggests that the Medium preset at 1440p is still relatively light on the GPU, while the High preset introduces a significant increase in shading and texture work. Similarly, at 4K, the jump from Low to Medium is a 33.6 FPS drop, but the jump from Medium to High is only 21.4 FPS. This pattern indicates that the Low preset is not as demanding as the others, creating a large performance gap, while the higher presets scale in a more linear fashion. The overall rank of this combo in the game is 129 out of 1,795, placing it in the top 7% of all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this system, and its capabilities are the primary driver of the high frame rates observed. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card has a massive memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This is crucial for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data. The card's high memory capacity ensures that it is not a limiting factor at any of the tested resolutions or settings. The GPU's boost clock of 2617 MHz and its 10,752 shading units provide the raw compute power needed to handle the game's complex lighting and weather effects.

The benchmark results show that the RTX 5080 is significantly more powerful than its nearest rivals, with an average score of 59,188. It outperforms the Intel Arc A570M by 1.6% and the Intel Arc A580 by 2.5%, solidifying its position as a top-tier card. The GPU's performance at 4K is particularly telling; it can maintain 132.2 FPS at Low settings, which demonstrates its raw power. However, the drop to 73.9 FPS at Ultra shows that even this powerful card struggles with the most demanding settings at 4K. The card's 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs underscores its high-end status, and this is evident in the way it handles the game's workload at lower resolutions, where it is often waiting for the CPU to provide more data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where it limits the maximum frame rate. The fact that the system only achieves 160.1 FPS at 1080p Low, despite the GPU's capabilities, points to a CPU bottleneck. This is a common scenario for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU, as the processor must handle the game's core simulation logic, which is often single-threaded.

The CPU's benchmark scores are solid, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14,372 and a single-core score of 2,029. Its average benchmark score of 17,181 puts it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, and it is virtually neck-and-neck with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores 17,189. The performance difference between the i5-11400F and its rivals is minimal, with deltas of 0.2% or less. This indicates that the CPU is not a weak link in terms of general processing power, but its limitations become apparent in a game like Flight Simulator, which has a heavy single-threaded component. The data shows that at 4K, the CPU's influence wanes, and the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor, allowing the system to scale its performance more predictably with GPU load.