Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a uniquely demanding title, and the data for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER reveals a system that is consistently bound by its graphics processor across most settings. The measured results show a clear scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K, with the frame rate dropping by roughly 44% when moving from the highest setting at 1920x1080 to the same setting at 3840x2160. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the render resolution increases the pixel workload faster than the graphics card can compensate.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 illustrates a textbook case of graphics card saturation. At the "Low" settings preset, the system achieves an average of 112.7 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 86.6 FPS at 1440p, and then to 64.8 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings represents a reduction of approximately 43%, indicating that even at the lowest graphical load, the GPU is the primary limiter. The "Ultra" preset tells a similar story but with lower absolute numbers: 61 FPS at 1080p, 48.1 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K. The relative scaling between resolutions is consistent, which points to a stable performance curve where the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are the deciding factors.

The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this configuration for most of the tested scenarios. If the processor were limiting performance, the frame rate would show diminishing returns when lowering the resolution, as the CPU workload per frame remains relatively constant. Instead, the measured FPS scales almost linearly with the number of pixels, which is a strong indicator that the RTX 2070 SUPER is working at its limit. Notably, the gap between "Low" and "Ultra" at 4K is 27.8 FPS, while at 1080p it is 51.7 FPS. This compression of performance at higher resolutions further confirms that shading rate and pixel fill are the constraints, not the game’s simulation logic or draw calls.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings a substantial amount of processing power to this pairing, with 10 cores and 16 threads operating at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its architecture, Alder Lake, uses a hybrid design that combines performance and efficiency cores, which is well-suited for a simulator that must handle complex flight models, weather systems, and terrain streaming. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor posts a strong single-thread score of 1016 in 3DMark, which is crucial for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator that often relies on a primary simulation thread for physics and AI.

However, the measured FPS data reveals that the CPU’s headroom is not being fully utilized in this title. At 1080p with "Low" settings, where the GPU has the least amount of work to do, the system reaches 112.7 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, this number would be capped at a level determined by the processor’s ability to feed the GPU with draw calls. Given that the processor’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 23444 and its single-core score is 3309, the chip is far from being overwhelmed. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck, as the CPU’s performance headroom remains untapped even at lower resolutions where the frame rate is highest.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the i5-12600KF and RTX 2070 SUPER holds a rank of 1097 out of 1795 combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested configurations, which is a logical outcome given that the GPU is a previous-generation mid-range card. The combination’s percentile ranking reflects its position relative to other systems, and the data shows that it sits below the 50th percentile of all tested combos. This rank is not a judgment of the components’ individual quality but rather a measure of their collective performance in this specific game.

Comparing the individual components to their nearest rivals provides context. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 27827, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27829, and only 0.1% below the Intel Core i5-12600K. This indicates that the i5-12600KF is a high-performing processor that is competitive with older flagship models. On the GPU side, the RTX 2070 SUPER has an average score of 22206, which is 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400 and 2.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile. The GPU’s percentile rank against all GPUs is 65, meaning it performs better than 65% of all graphics cards in the database, but its age is showing when paired with modern titles at high resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how this system handles the game’s various presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers playable frame rates across the board: 112.7 FPS on "Low", 84.8 FPS on "Medium", 67.7 FPS on "High", and 61 FPS on "Ultra". The jump from "Low" to "Ultra" costs roughly 46% of the frame rate, which is a significant hit but still results in a smooth experience for most users. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 86.6 FPS on "Low", 67.3 FPS on "Medium", 51.7 FPS on "High", and 48.1 FPS on "Ultra". The "Ultra" preset at 1440p falls below the 60 FPS threshold, which may be noticeable in a flight simulator where smooth panning is important.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. The "Low" preset yields 64.8 FPS, which is acceptable, but "Medium" drops to 52 FPS, "High" to 40.1 FPS, and "Ultra" to 37 FPS. These numbers indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is not capable of delivering a consistently smooth 4K experience at higher quality settings. For users with a 4K display, the data suggests that the "Low" or "Medium" presets are the only viable options for maintaining a playable frame rate. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a loss of about 42.5% of performance across all settings, which is a consistent pattern that underscores the GPU’s limitations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the defining component in this system’s performance profile. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, it offers a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The card’s boost clock is 1770 MHz, and it features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. Its compute capability is rated at 9.062 TFLOPS for FP32, which is modest by modern standards. In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 18169 in Passmark’s G3D test, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs.

The gaming data directly reflects the GPU’s specifications. At 4K "Ultra", the system averages 37 FPS, which is below the threshold for a fluid experience. The GPU’s Turing architecture, while supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, does not have the raw throughput to handle the high-resolution textures and complex shaders that Microsoft Flight Simulator uses at maximum settings. The frame rate differences between presets are largely due to the GPU’s workload, as lowering the settings reduces the shader complexity and texture resolution, allowing the card to push more frames. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s position in the market, as an end-of-life product released in 2019, is evident in these results, as it is outperformed by newer entries in the database, such as the RTX 4060 Mobile, which scores 2.3% higher in average benchmarks.