Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a versatile experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with frame rates that scale predictably across resolutions and presets. The data shows a system capable of smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K remains playable with adjustments. This analysis interprets the measured FPS rows, the CPU and GPU roles, and how this specific combination ranks among 1795 tested combos.

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results indicate that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, High produces an average of 113.7 FPS, which is only 2.7 FPS below the Ultra preset’s 111 FPS but a substantial 37.1 FPS above Medium’s 150.8 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is minimal, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest settings. At 2560x1440, High delivers 91 FPS, which remains comfortably playable, while Ultra drops to 87.8 FPS, a difference of only 3.2 FPS. The story changes at 4K, where High yields 63.7 FPS and Ultra falls to 65 FPS, a negligible 1.3 FPS difference. In all cases, High provides nearly identical performance to Ultra, making it the recommended preset for visual fidelity without sacrificing frame rate.

For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Medium preset is a strong alternative. It produces 150.8 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 86.8 FPS at 4K. The gap between Medium and High is 37.1 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23.1 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium offers a significant performance boost while presumably retaining acceptable visual quality. The Low preset pushes frame rates to 185.7 FPS at 1080p and 154.2 FPS at 1440p, but the 4K result of 110.2 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU remains a limiting factor in this resolution. The Ultra preset is only advisable when chasing maximum detail at 1080p, where it ties High at 111 FPS, but it loses ground at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 3DMark scores show a single-thread result of 910 and a max-thread result of 5890, indicating strong single-core performance that is critical for flight simulators. The Cinebench R23 scores of 2249 single-core and 15935 multi-core further confirm this, with the single-core result being particularly relevant for a game that often relies on one primary simulation thread. The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help feed the GPU with data, and its 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above average.

In this game, the CPU’s role is evident in the scaling of FPS between resolutions. At 1080p, the system achieves 185.7 FPS on Low, which is likely a scenario where the CPU can feed frames quickly enough to expose the GPU’s limits. However, at 4K, the FPS drops to 110.2 FPS on the same setting, indicating that the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i7-9700 (0.1% higher average score) and the Intel Core i7-8700 (-0.2% lower) — shows that it is competitive with older higher-tier parts. This suggests that the i5-12400 is not the limiting factor in most scenarios, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU takes over.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 7680 shading units and 60 RT cores deliver a FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS. The GPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900, places it in the upper tier of graphics cards. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024 and PassMark G3D score of 31624 show strong raw performance.

The GPU’s memory capacity of 12 GB is sufficient for the tested presets, but the data shows its limits at 4K. The frame rate drop from 110.2 FPS on Low to 63.7 FPS on High at 3840x2160 — a 46.5 FPS decrease — highlights the GPU’s struggle with higher detail settings at this resolution. At 1080p, the GPU is often underutilized, as seen in the 185.7 FPS Low result, which is likely limited by the CPU or game engine. The RTX 4070 Ti’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (-0.6% average score) and the Intel Arc A730M (-1.5%), showing that it sits near the top of the performance stack, but the game’s demanding nature at 4K Ultra means the GPU is the primary constraint in that scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 202nd out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 11.3% of all systems. This rank suggests that the pairing is well-balanced for this title, though it is not at the very top tier. The CPU’s 77th percentile and GPU’s 85th percentile individually are strong, but the combo rank of 202 indicates that other combinations with higher-end CPUs or GPUs likely achieve better results.

The rank implies that the i5-12400 may slightly hold back the RTX 4070 Ti in CPU-bound scenarios, particularly at 1080p where the FPS differences between presets are larger. However, the data shows that the combo still delivers excellent performance, with the 1080p High result of 113.7 FPS being well above the 60 FPS target. The 4K results, while lower, remain playable on High and Ultra. This rank reflects the i5-12400’s strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for flight simulators, and the RTX 4070 Ti’s raw power.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear trend of decreasing performance as resolution increases. At 1080p, the average FPS across all settings is 140.3 (calculated from 185.7, 150.8, 113.7, and 111). At 1440p, the average drops to 113.25 (from 154.2, 120, 91, and 87.8), representing a 19.3% decrease. At 4K, the average falls to 81.4 (from 110.2, 86.8, 63.7, and 65), a 42% decrease from 1080p. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

The most telling comparison is the Low preset, which shows 185.7 FPS at 1080p, 154.2 FPS at 1440p, and 110.2 FPS at 4K. The 75.5 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K on Low settings suggests that even when the GPU is not stressed by high detail, the resolution itself creates a significant workload. Conversely, the Ultra preset shows 111 FPS at 1080p and 65 FPS at 4K, a 46 FPS drop that is smaller in absolute terms but represents a 41.4% reduction. This suggests that the CPU can maintain a relatively stable frame rate at 1080p across presets, but the GPU becomes overwhelmed at 4K, particularly on Medium and High settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset yields 63.7 FPS at 3840x2160, which is nearly identical to the Ultra preset’s 65 FPS. Medium offers a more comfortable 86.8 FPS, making it the better choice for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700, placing it in a tight competitive cluster.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 185.7 FPS, while Ultra drops to 111 FPS. This 74.7 FPS difference suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU can maintain high frame rates but the GPU’s workload increases with detail settings.

Q: Does the combo rank high among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 202nd out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the top 11.3% of all systems tested in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p and 4K on High settings?

A: The High preset delivers 91 FPS at 2560x1440 and 63.7 FPS at 3840x2160, a drop of 27.3 FPS, which is a 30% reduction in performance.

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K on Ultra?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset produces 65 FPS at 3840x2160, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, though High is nearly identical at 63.7 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact average FPS values from the measured data, organized by resolution and settings:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

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

| 3840x2160 | High | 63.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 110.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 86.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 65 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 91 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 154.2 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 120 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 87.8 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 113.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 185.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 150.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 111 |

The data reveals that the largest performance gap between settings occurs at 1080p, where Low outperforms Ultra by 74.7 FPS. At 1440p, this gap narrows to 66.4 FPS, and at 4K, it shrinks to 45.2 FPS. This pattern confirms that the GPU’s workload increases with resolution, reducing the relative impact of settings changes. The 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS is only 1.3 FPS higher than High, indicating that the game’s Ultra preset at 4K is heavily GPU-bound. For users seeking the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 185.7 FPS, but the Medium preset at 1440p offers a balanced 120 FPS, making it a strong middle ground for most displays.