Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a highly playable Microsoft Flight Simulator experience, particularly at 1080p and 1440p resolutions. Benchmark data shows this combination achieves 71.4 FPS at 1080p High settings, which is smooth for a flight simulator where camera panning and ground detail matter. The combo ranks 975th out of 1795 tested configurations, placing it in the 54th percentile of all measured systems, with the data indicating that the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with the combo achieving 119.8 FPS at Low settings and 97 FPS at Medium settings. At 2560x1440, performance drops to 98.9 FPS on Low and 75.6 FPS on Medium, while 3840x2160 yields 71.6 FPS on Low and 56.3 FPS on Medium.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19221, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210, 0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167, 0.3% delta). It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7% but leads the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3%.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic benchmark standing relative to its closest competitors?

A: The Radeon RX 6700 XT scores 33721 on average, placing it slightly above the Radeon RX 6800 (33493, 0.7% delta) and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294, 1.3% delta). It trails both the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (34050) and the AMD Radeon RX 480 (34059) by 1%.

Q: Does the combo perform better at Ultra settings in 1080p or 1440p?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 67.6 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it reaches 55.6 FPS. The 1080p result is 12 FPS higher, indicating that the CPU can handle Ultra settings at lower resolutions but the GPU workload increases significantly at 1440p.

Q: How many cores and threads does the CPU have, and what is its boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 65W TDP make it a mainstream desktop part from the Alder Lake architecture.

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

A: The Radeon RX 6700 XT features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock runs at 2000 MHz, with 16 Gbps effective speed, and the GPU has a boost clock of 2581 MHz.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for Microsoft Flight Simulator, as evidenced by the FPS scaling across settings. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's high-resolution textures and terrain data. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 37.2 FPS, which shows the GPU struggling with the sheer pixel count and lighting calculations. The RDNA 2.0 architecture with 2560 shading units and 40 ray accelerators handles the game's DirectX 12 Ultimate workload, but the 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 performance becomes the limiting factor at higher settings.

The GPU's game clock of 2424 MHz and boost clock of 2581 MHz provide consistent performance across the measured rows. At 1080p High, the card produces 71.4 FPS, but dropping to Low settings yields 119.8 FPS, a 67.8% improvement that highlights how settings affect the GPU's workload. The 4K results are particularly telling: High settings produce 39.5 FPS, Medium 56.3 FPS, and Low 71.6 FPS. This 32.1 FPS spread between Low and High at 4K indicates the GPU is heavily taxed by the game's rendering features, not just resolution.

The GPU's 77th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its proximity to the RX 6800 in synthetic tests (0.7% delta) suggest it has headroom for this game, but the data shows it falls short of maintaining 60 FPS at 4K with High or Ultra settings. The 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs process the game's geometry and textures efficiently, yet the 335 mm² die size with 17,200 million transistors indicates the hardware is working near its limits in the most demanding scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting role in this combo, providing enough processing power to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck at most settings. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the CPU leverages its Alder Lake architecture and 10 nm process to deliver strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for flight simulators that rely heavily on physics and AI calculations. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, and the 2.50 GHz base clock with 4.40 GHz boost clock allows the CPU to ramp up during intensive scenes.

Synthetic benchmarks reveal the CPU's capabilities: it scores 16518 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2332 in single-core, with a PassMark multithread score of 19433. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 909 (single-thread) to 5912 (max threads), indicating good multi-threading efficiency. In this game, the CPU's role is evident when comparing 1080p Low (119.8 FPS) to 1440p Low (98.9 FPS) — the 20.9 FPS drop shows the GPU becoming more involved, but the CPU still maintains frame delivery.

The CPU's percentile rank of 77 places it in the same tier as the Core i7-8700K (0.1% delta), meaning it has similar processing power to a much older high-end chip. This is notable because Microsoft Flight Simulator's CPU demands can spike during complex scenery loading, and the 12400F's 12 threads help distribute these tasks. However, the data shows that at 4K Ultra (37.2 FPS) and 4K High (39.5 FPS), the CPU is not the limiting factor — the GPU is clearly saturated, as evidenced by the minimal FPS difference between those two settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all settings. Low settings produce 119.8 FPS, Medium hits 97 FPS, High achieves 71.4 FPS, and Ultra reaches 67.6 FPS. The 52.2 FPS gap between Low and Ultra demonstrates the wide performance range available. The 1080p High result of 71.4 FPS is particularly strong for a flight simulator, offering smooth panning and detailed cockpit views.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably but remains playable. Low settings yield 98.9 FPS, Medium 75.6 FPS, High 54.5 FPS, and Ultra 55.6 FPS. Interestingly, Ultra (55.6 FPS) slightly outperforms High (54.5 FPS) at 1440p, which may indicate that the measured rows capture different in-game scenes or that the settings have a non-linear impact on performance. The 1440p results show a 43.4 FPS drop from Low to Ultra, more pronounced than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed at higher settings. Low produces 71.6 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium drops to 56.3 FPS, High to 39.5 FPS, and Ultra to 37.2 FPS. The 4K Low result is nearly identical to the 1080p High result (71.6 vs 71.4 FPS), suggesting that at 4K Low, the GPU is still able to maintain a playable frame rate, but the quality settings have a massive impact on performance. The 34.4 FPS difference between 4K Low and 4K Ultra highlights the GPU's limitations with this game's high-end visual features.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance. At Low settings, the combo delivers 119.8 FPS at 1080p, 98.9 FPS at 1440p, and 71.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 21.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 40.2% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is relatively linear, indicating that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands as resolution increases.

At High settings, the scaling is steeper: 71.4 FPS at 1080p, 54.5 FPS at 1440p, and 39.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 23.7%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 27.5%. This suggests that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily at higher resolutions with more complex effects. The 4K High result of 39.5 FPS is only 2.3 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result of 37.2 FPS, confirming the GPU is the limiting component at 4K.

The data implies that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution for this combo. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the FPS to remain similar across resolutions. Instead, the FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, which is the signature of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU's 12 threads and high boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU even at 1080p Low where the GPU is producing nearly 120 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the data suggests different optimal settings depending on the resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium settings (97 FPS) provide an excellent balance between visual quality and performance, offering a 36% improvement over High settings (71.4 FPS) while still looking detailed. Ultra (67.6 FPS) is playable but the 29.4 FPS penalty over Medium may not justify the visual gains.

At 2560x1440, Low settings (98.9 FPS) are the only preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. Medium (75.6 FPS) is also smooth, and this is likely the sweet spot for 1440p gaming, providing better texture quality and draw distances without sacrificing frame rate. High (54.5 FPS) and Ultra (55.6 FPS) are playable but may feel less responsive during quick camera movements.

At 3840x2160, Low settings (71.6 FPS) are the only option that delivers consistent smoothness. Medium (56.3 FPS) is borderline, while High (39.5 FPS) and Ultra (37.2 FPS) should be avoided for serious play. The 4K Low result is nearly identical to 1080p High, so users with 4K displays should consider running the game at 1080p with higher settings if they prioritize visual fidelity over native resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 975th out of 1795 tested configurations, placing it in the 54th percentile of all systems. This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the hardware's synthetic benchmark scores: the CPU sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU also ranks at the 77th percentile among all GPUs. The combination of two 77th-percentile parts results in a slightly below-average gaming system relative to the full range of tested combos, likely because higher-tier GPUs and CPUs can push this game to higher frame rates.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is competent, it is not a top-tier setup for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The data shows that the GPU's nearest rival, the RX 6800, has an average score that is 0.7% higher, which could translate to a few more FPS in this game. Similarly, the CPU's proximity to the Core i7-8700K (0.1% delta) means there is no meaningful CPU performance advantage to be gained by upgrading to that older chip.

The 975th rank out of 1795 combos indicates that roughly 820 tested configurations outperform this one. This is expected for a mid-range CPU paired with a mid-to-high-end GPU, as many users likely pair the RX 6700 XT with faster CPUs like the Core i7 or Ryzen 7 series. The data does not show any specific weakness in this combo, but rather a balanced setup that delivers solid, playable performance in the majority of scenarios without reaching the high-end frame rates achieved by top-tier combinations.