Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 867th out of 1,795 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the configuration in the middle of the pack, which is a strong result given that the game is notoriously demanding on both CPU and GPU resources. The combo outperforms roughly 52% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a balanced mid-range setup capable of delivering playable frame rates across most settings.

The CPU itself sits at the 88th percentile among all processors tested, meaning it outperforms 88% of the competition in general synthetic workloads. Its average benchmark score of 32,508 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H (32,513, delta 0%), and it is marginally ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32,446, delta 0.2%). This suggests the i5-14400F holds its own against more expensive laptop-class chips despite being a desktop part. The GPU, meanwhile, lands at the 79th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average score of 35,327. It is statistically tied with the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (35,264, delta 0.2%) and sits just 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (35,787), which is a remarkable result for a mid-range card.

What this ranking means in practice is that the combo is not an outlier in either direction. It will not compete with top-tier systems for 4K Ultra gaming, but it also will not struggle at 1080p. The data shows a configuration that delivers consistent, predictable performance, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p is the sweet spot. At Low settings, the combo achieves 128.8 FPS, and even at Ultra it maintains 68.7 FPS. At 1440p, performance remains solid with 103.2 FPS on Low and 57.4 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the system dips to 43.1 FPS on High and 41 FPS on Ultra, which is borderline playable but not ideal.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F scores 32,508 on average, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H (32,513, delta 0%). It is 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32,446) and 0.2% slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32,584). This places it in a tight cluster of similarly performing CPUs.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT scores 35,327 on average, which is 0.2% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (35,264) and 0.3% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35,435). It is also 1.3% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (35,787), showing it trades blows with much more expensive cards.

Q: What is the CPU's core and thread configuration?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2150 MHz, with a boost clock of 2600 MHz and a game clock of 2495 MHz.

Q: Is the combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: Both are viable, but 1080p offers a clearer advantage. At 1080p Ultra, the system hits 68.7 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it drops to 57.4 FPS. For a smoother experience, 1080p High (74.5 FPS) or Medium (98.8 FPS) are the most balanced choices.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for each resolution. At 1080p, the combo delivers excellent results across the board, with Low hitting 128.8 FPS, Medium at 98.8 FPS, High at 74.5 FPS, and Ultra at 68.7 FPS. For a flight simulator where smoothness matters more than visual fidelity during complex maneuvers, Medium or High are the recommended presets—they offer a substantial visual upgrade over Low while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the situation tightens. Low achieves 103.2 FPS, Medium 76.8 FPS, High 56.9 FPS, and Ultra 57.4 FPS. The jump from Medium to High is a 19.9 FPS drop, which is significant. For most users, Medium is the best balance of quality and performance, delivering nearly 77 FPS. High and Ultra are playable but hover around 57 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced sim.

At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. Low delivers 75 FPS, but Medium drops to 57 FPS, High to 43.1 FPS, and Ultra to 41 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is only viable at Low settings for a consistently smooth experience. Medium is borderline, and High/Ultra should be avoided unless the user prioritizes visuals over frame rate. The best overall experience across all resolutions is 1080p High, which offers near-Ultra visuals while staying above 70 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo's performance scales predictably with settings. Low yields 128.8 FPS, Medium 98.8 FPS, High 74.5 FPS, and Ultra 68.7 FPS. The largest single drop occurs between Medium and High, a 24.3 FPS reduction, indicating that High introduces significant rendering costs. The gap between High and Ultra is smaller at 5.8 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns on the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 103.2 FPS, Medium 76.8 FPS, High 56.9 FPS, and Ultra 57.4 FPS. Notably, High and Ultra are nearly identical, with Ultra actually 0.5 FPS faster than High, which is within measurement variance. This indicates that at 1440p, the Ultra preset does not meaningfully increase the load over High, likely due to a CPU or memory bottleneck emerging.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. Low delivers 75 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, High 43.1 FPS, and Ultra 41 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 18 FPS, from Medium to High is 13.9 FPS, and from High to Ultra is a modest 2.1 FPS. The 4K results show that the RX 6750 XT's 12 GB of VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Low and Medium, but the higher presets push the card to its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, revealing the nature of the bottleneck. At Low settings, the combo goes from 128.8 FPS at 1080p to 75 FPS at 4K, a 41.8% reduction. At Medium, it drops from 98.8 FPS to 57 FPS, a 42.3% reduction. At High, it falls from 74.5 FPS to 43.1 FPS, a 42.1% reduction. At Ultra, it declines from 68.7 FPS to 41 FPS, a 40.3% reduction.

These percentages are remarkably consistent across all settings, which suggests that the scaling is primarily driven by pixel count rather than settings complexity. The 4K resolution requires four times the pixels of 1080p, and the observed ~40% FPS drop indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. However, the fact that the drop is not closer to 75% (which would be expected if the GPU were fully saturated) implies that the CPU is also contributing to the frame time, especially at lower settings where the GPU is less stressed.

At 1440p, the scaling is more moderate. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by roughly 20-25% across settings, which aligns with the 1.78x pixel increase. This suggests that the combo is balanced at 1440p, with neither component completely dominating the other. The 4K results, however, clearly show that the RX 6750 XT's compute throughput (13.31 TFLOPS) and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints at that resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Microsoft Flight Simulator's complex flight model and physics calculations. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory latency.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-14400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21,914 and a single-core score of 3,093, indicating robust multi-threaded capabilities. Its PassMark multithread score of 25,783 and single-thread score of 3,723 further confirm that it is a well-rounded part. The CPU's 88th percentile ranking among all processors means it is faster than the vast majority of installed CPUs, which explains why it does not bottleneck the GPU at 1080p or 1440p.

At 4K, however, the CPU's role diminishes. The consistent ~40% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings suggests that the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions. The CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the deciding factor. The data indicates that the i5-14400F provides adequate headroom for this game, and upgrading the GPU would yield larger gains than upgrading the CPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2600 MHz and game clock of 2495 MHz enable a peak FP32 throughput of 13.31 TFLOPS, which is substantial for a mid-range card.

The GPU's 79th percentile ranking among all graphics cards means it outperforms 79% of the competition. Its PassMark G3D score of 20,700 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,548 confirm that it is a capable performer. The nearest rival data shows it is nearly identical to the RX 5600M (delta 0.2%) and only 1.3% behind the RTX 3080, highlighting its strong price-to-performance positioning (though pricing is not discussed here).

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K. At Low settings, it achieves 75 FPS, which is respectable, but at Ultra it drops to 41 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's textures at 4K, but the memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s appears to be a limiting factor at higher presets. The fact that High and Ultra produce nearly identical results at 1440p (56.9 vs 57.4 FPS) suggests that the GPU's compute units are saturated, and the settings are not the bottleneck—rather, the GPU's raw throughput is the ceiling.