Microsoft Flight Simulator

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with this Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination shows a clear tradeoff between visual fidelity and frame rate. For the best overall experience, the High preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended starting point, delivering an average of 70.2 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth flight simulation, while still providing a substantial visual upgrade over Medium. Pushing to Ultra at 1080p yields 65.7 FPS, which is a marginal 4.5 FPS drop from High — a small cost for the highest image quality. However, the data suggests that High is the sweet spot because the gap between Medium and High is smaller than the gap between High and Ultra in terms of performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 53.4 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at this resolution offers 74.3 FPS, making it the practical choice for 1440p gaming if smoothness is prioritized. For users with 4K displays, the situation is more constrained: High at 3840x2160 yields only 40.8 FPS, while Medium reaches 56.1 FPS. Given that flight simulators benefit from consistent frame pacing, the Low preset at 4K (67.5 FPS) may be preferable to Medium if the user values fluidity over detail. Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently delivers the highest frame rates — 119.6 FPS at 1080p, 92.8 FPS at 1440p, and 67.5 FPS at 4K — but the visual sacrifice is significant. The data indicates that High at 1080p is the best balance of quality and performance, with Ultra offering diminishing returns for only a 4.5 FPS penalty compared to High.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1032 out of 1795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the lower-middle portion of the database — roughly the 57th percentile of all tested combos. This ranking is notable because the individual components sit at different performance tiers: the RTX 4060 has a percentile vs all GPUs of 66, while the i5-12400F has a percentile vs all CPUs of 77. The combo rank being lower than either component's individual percentile suggests that Microsoft Flight Simulator's demands are not perfectly aligned with what this pairing excels at. The game is known for being demanding on both CPU and GPU, and the data reflects that this combo, while competent, does not punch above its weight in this specific title.

Compared to other tested combos, the 1032nd position out of 1795 means there are 763 combinations that perform worse. This is not a bottom-tier result, but it is far from a top-tier one. The ranking implies that users seeking higher frame rates or higher settings in this game would need to look toward combos with stronger GPU or CPU performance. Since the combo rank is based on the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, the data shows that this pairing is capable of playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it falls behind more powerful configurations at higher resolutions and Ultra settings. The gap between this combo and better-ranked ones is likely to widen at 4K, where the RTX 4060's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become limiting factors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the primary driver of frame rates in this combination, particularly at lower resolutions. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). These specifications are modest by modern standards, and the data shows their impact: the GPU delivers a PassMark G3D score of 19545 and an average benchmark score of 23181, placing it at the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% slower), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.7% slower), Intel Arc B580 (0.7% faster), and AMD Radeon 760M (0.8% faster) — all within a narrow 1.5% band, indicating this GPU is closely matched with those parts.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. The measured FPS drops from 70.2 at 1080p High to 53.4 at 1440p High, and further to 40.8 at 4K High. This scaling suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at 1440p and 4K, as the frame rate drops proportionally with resolution. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at High settings, but at 4K Ultra, the game's texture demands likely approach the VRAM limit, contributing to the 41.8 FPS result — only 1 FPS higher than High at the same resolution. The GPU's 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs are adequate for this title, but the 128-bit memory bus is a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows that the RTX 4060 can handle 1080p gaming with ease, including Ultra at 65.7 FPS, but its performance at 4K is only marginally playable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are: Low at 119.6 FPS, Medium at 91.6 FPS, High at 70.2 FPS, and Ultra at 65.7 FPS. These results show a clear progression where each higher preset costs roughly 20-25 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is 28 FPS, from Medium to High is 21.4 FPS, and from High to Ultra is only 4.5 FPS. This last gap is notably small, suggesting that Ultra's additional effects have minimal performance impact relative to High at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low at 92.8 FPS, Medium at 74.3 FPS, High at 53.4 FPS, and Ultra at 51.8 FPS. The pattern changes here — the gap between Medium and High is 20.9 FPS, which is substantial, while the gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 1.6 FPS. The data indicates that at 1440p, the GPU begins to struggle with the High preset, but Ultra is nearly identical in cost to High. The 1440p results show a 22.6% drop from 1080p at High settings (from 70.2 to 53.4), which is less than the theoretical 44% pixel increase, indicating some CPU involvement at lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are: Low at 67.5 FPS, Medium at 56.1 FPS, High at 40.8 FPS, and Ultra at 41.8 FPS. Notably, Ultra is 1 FPS higher than High at 4K, which is within measurement noise but suggests that the GPU is heavily constrained at this resolution. The drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings is 12.6 FPS (from 53.4 to 40.8), representing a 23.6% decrease. Across all resolutions, the Low preset always provides the highest FPS, with 119.6 FPS at 1080p being the single highest measured value. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can maintain high frame rates across all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about which component is the bottleneck. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, FPS drops from 70.2 to 53.4, a 23.9% reduction. The pixel count increases by 77.8% (from 2.07M to 3.69M pixels), but the frame rate only drops 23.9%, indicating that the CPU is partially limiting performance at 1080p. If the GPU were fully saturated at 1080p, the frame rate would drop more steeply with resolution.

From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at High settings, FPS drops from 53.4 to 40.8, a 23.6% reduction. The pixel count increases by 125% (from 3.69M to 8.29M pixels), yet the frame rate drop is similar to the 1440p step. This pattern suggests that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck at 1440p and above, but the scaling is not linear due to memory bandwidth constraints. The RTX 4060's 272.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB VRAM are likely the limiting factors at 4K, where the game requires more memory and bandwidth than the GPU can provide.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is different: 119.6 FPS at 1080p drops to 92.8 FPS at 1440p (22.4% drop), then to 67.5 FPS at 4K (27.3% drop from 1440p). The fact that Low settings at 4K (67.5 FPS) is nearly identical to High settings at 1080p (70.2 FPS) confirms that resolution has a larger impact than quality settings when the GPU is the primary constraint. The data strongly indicates that this combo is CPU-limited at 1080p with lower settings, but GPU-limited at 1440p and 4K with higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest frame rate achievable with this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest measured average is 119.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only setting that breaks the 100 FPS barrier across all tested configurations.

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest measured frame rate is 67.5 FPS on Low settings. Medium yields 56.1 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 40.8 and 41.8 FPS respectively, all below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181. It is 0.6% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, 0.7% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, 0.7% slower than the Intel Arc B580, and 0.8% slower than the AMD Radeon 760M.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High delivers 70.2 FPS while Ultra delivers 65.7 FPS, a difference of only 4.5 FPS. This suggests Ultra has minimal additional performance cost over High at this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more in this game?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p with Low settings, where the frame rate of 119.6 FPS is high but not scaling perfectly with resolution. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck, as shown by the steep frame rate drops at High and Ultra settings.

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

A: This combo ranks 1032 out of 1795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the lower-middle range of the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting role in this combination, with its 6 cores and 12 threads providing the computational foundation for the game's simulation logic. This processor has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 18 MB of shared L3 cache. Its architecture is Alder Lake-S on a 10 nm process, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration. The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate solid single-threaded performance: a 3DMark single-thread score of 909, a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2332, and a PassMark single-thread score of 3481. These figures are important for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-threaded performance for its simulation engine.

The i5-12400F's multithreaded capabilities are also relevant: it scores 16518 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 9138 in Geekbench multi-core, and 19433 in PassMark multithread. Its average benchmark score is 19221, placing it at the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% faster), Intel Core i5-1335U (0.3% faster), AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (0.7% slower), and AMD EPYC 7773X (1.3% slower). With a TDP of 65 W, the CPU is efficient, and its 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide adequate bandwidth for the RTX 4060.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 119.6 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame rate capability in this game. The fact that 1440p Low (92.8 FPS) and 4K Low (67.5 FPS) show frame rate drops consistent with resolution scaling suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands at lower quality settings. However, at 1080p Ultra (65.7 FPS), the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the CPU has more headroom. The data indicates that the i5-12400F is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4060 at most settings, but it does cap performance at lower resolutions where the GPU could otherwise render more frames.