Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with the data showing a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution increases. This analysis examines the measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets, interpreting the results against the hardware’s specifications and benchmark standings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz can boost up to 4.40 GHz, and it carries 18 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 per core. The processor’s benchmark percentile of 77 versus all CPUs indicates it sits above the median, with an average benchmark score of 19221. This places it in close competition with the Intel Core i7-8700K (deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Core i5-1335U (deltaPct 0.3), while it trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7%.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions where frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 183.1 FPS, which is a substantial 53.3 FPS higher than the 1080p Medium result of 144.2 FPS. This scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach very high frame rates. The single-thread performance, measured at 909 in 3dmark_single_thread and 2332 in cinebench_r23_singlecore, is critical for a flight simulator that often relies on a primary simulation thread. The 12 threads help with background tasks and scenery loading, but the boost clock of 4.40 GHz is the key driver for that top-end 1080p performance.

The data shows that the CPU does not become a hard limit even at 1080p Ultra, where the system still produces 99.4 FPS. This is notably higher than any 4K result, indicating that the CPU has headroom to spare. At 1440p, the Low preset hits 149 FPS, which is a drop of 34.1 FPS from 1080p Low, showing that the GPU is beginning to take on more load. The processor’s 6 physical cores are sufficient for this title, as the frame rate differences between presets at the same resolution are primarily driven by GPU workload rather than CPU thread saturation.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). Its benchmark percentile of 84 versus all GPUs places it well above average, with an average benchmark score of 42576. The nearest rivals show a tight grouping: the NVIDIA RTX A6000 is 0.2% faster, the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE is 0.3% faster, and the AMD Radeon Pro 580X is 1.4% slower.

The GPU’s 12 GB VRAM is a significant asset for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 62 FPS, which is the lowest measured result. This is not a VRAM capacity issue but rather a raw compute limit. The GPU’s 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 554.4 GTexel/s texture rate are being fully utilized at this resolution and preset. The boost clock of 2475 MHz allows the GPU to maintain high throughput, but the data shows that 4K Ultra is right at the edge of playability.

The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is also relevant. At 4K, the pixel throughput demands are high, and the 192-bit bus is a limiting factor compared to wider buses in higher-tier cards. At 1440p High, the system achieves 86.2 FPS, which is a 24.1% drop from the 1080p High result of 107.8 FPS. This scaling is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, where frame rate decreases as resolution increases. The GPU’s 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs handle the rasterization workload, while the 56 RT cores are not heavily utilized in this non-ray-traced title.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation at higher resolutions. Starting with the Low preset, the system delivers 183.1 FPS at 1080p, 149 FPS at 1440p, and 105.4 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 18.6%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 29.3%. This increasing rate of decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where each pixel doubling imposes a larger relative cost.

For the High preset, the results are 107.8 FPS at 1080p, 86.2 FPS at 1440p, and 62.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 20.0% and 27.5%, respectively. The 4K High result of 62.5 FPS is just above the 4K Ultra result of 62 FPS, indicating that the GPU is nearing its performance ceiling at this resolution. The Medium preset shows 144.2 FPS at 1080p, 113.7 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K, with drops of 21.2% and 27.9%.

The Ultra preset yields 99.4 FPS at 1080p, 79.2 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 20.3%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 21.7%. This smaller relative drop at the high end suggests that the CPU is also contributing to the frame rate at 1080p Ultra, where the GPU is less stressed. The overall trend indicates that at 1080p, the system is partially CPU-limited, particularly at Low and Medium presets where frame rates exceed 144 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is the clear limiting component across all presets, with the CPU having ample headroom.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across presets and resolutions. For a smooth experience at high refresh rates, the 1080p Medium preset at 144.2 FPS offers an excellent balance, providing a significant boost over High at 107.8 FPS while retaining visual quality. The Low preset at 183.1 FPS is best for competitive or maximum frame rate scenarios, but the visual compromise is substantial in a game where scenery detail is paramount.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 113.7 FPS is the recommended choice for most users. It delivers a frame rate that is 27.5 FPS higher than High at 86.2 FPS, and the visual difference between Medium and High is often less noticeable in flight simulators than in fast-paced action games. The Ultra preset at 79.2 FPS is playable, but the drop below 80 FPS may introduce stutter on some displays. The Low preset at 149 FPS is available for those prioritizing frame rate, but it sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a simulator.

At 4K, the data shows that High at 62.5 FPS and Ultra at 62 FPS are nearly identical, with a difference of only 0.5 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset is essentially free in performance terms, as the GPU is already maxed out. Therefore, the recommendation is to use Ultra at 4K for the best visual quality, since the performance cost over High is negligible. The Medium preset at 82 FPS is the better choice for a higher frame rate, offering a 24.3% improvement over High while still maintaining decent detail levels. The Low preset at 105.4 FPS is the only 4K option that exceeds 100 FPS, but it carries the same visual penalties as at other resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 289th out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 16.1% of all configurations. This ranking is a strong indicator of the system’s overall capability, as it outperforms the vast majority of tested hardware pairings. The combo’s position is driven by the GPU’s strong 84th percentile standing, which offsets the CPU’s more modest 77th percentile.

The ranking reflects the system’s ability to deliver high frame rates across all tested resolutions. At 1080p, the combo is capable of exceeding 100 FPS on High and Ultra presets, which is a demanding threshold for a flight simulator. At 1440p, the system maintains playable frame rates on all presets, with Medium and High both exceeding 86 FPS. The 4K results, while lower, are still respectable for a title known for its heavy GPU load.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing benefits from the GPU’s high memory bandwidth and 12 GB VRAM, which are well-suited to the game’s data streaming demands. The CPU’s 12 threads and high boost clock ensure that it does not bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions. The close benchmark scores of the CPU’s nearest rivals (Intel Core i7-8700K at 0.1% delta, Intel Core i5-1335U at 0.3% delta) suggest that swapping to a similar-tier processor would yield minimal performance changes. Conversely, the GPU’s rivals are so tightly clustered (RTX A6000 at -0.2%, RX 7650 GRE at -0.3%) that the combo’s rank is stable against small hardware variations.