Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 lands in the lower tier of tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, ranking 1451 out of 1795 combos. This places the pairing in the 19th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that while it can run the simulator, it is not positioned for high-refresh-rate or maximum-fidelity play. The data shows a combination that is heavily reliant on settings management to achieve playable frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this specific CPU-GPU pairing at rank 1451 out of 1795 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is a below-median result, suggesting that the RTX 2060 is the primary bottleneck in this pairing for this particular title. The CPU, an Intel Core i5-14400F, performs in the 88th percentile against all CPUs in general benchmarks, while the GPU sits in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. This discrepancy is the core story: the processor has ample headroom, but the graphics card cannot translate that into high frame rates in this demanding simulator.

In general compute benchmarks, the i5-14400F scores an average of 32508, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. It is 0% slower than the Intel Core i7-12800H and only 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645. However, these rival comparisons are for raw CPU throughput; in this game, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is what defines the experience. The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 16074 is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S but 1.7% lower than both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700. These small deltas in synthetic tests do not change the fact that this combo is optimized for 1080p gaming rather than 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The data shows an average of 56.2 FPS at 4K Low, which drops to 30.3 FPS at 4K High. Ultra settings at 4K produce an average of 31.2 FPS, which is borderline playable.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1080p is the clear sweet spot. The measured FPS at 1080p Medium is 72, and at 1080p High it drops to 55.3. All 1080p presets except Ultra exceed 48 FPS, making it the most versatile resolution.

Q: How does the CPU's core count influence performance here?

A: The i5-14400F has 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Given that the GPU is the limiting factor at most settings, the CPU's 20 MB of L3 cache and high single-core performance (3093 in Cinebench R23) are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 2060.

Q: Is the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM enough for this game?

A: The data suggests it is adequate for the tested presets, but the 6 GB GDDR6 memory with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth likely contributes to the significant FPS drops at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 192-bit bus width is a limiting factor for high-resolution textures.

Q: How does this combo compare to its closest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 2060 scores 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S in average benchmarks. However, this does not translate to a large advantage in this simulator, where the measured frame rates indicate a need for lower settings.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of this CPU?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F had a launch MSRP of $196.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings optimization. For a smooth experience, the 1080p Medium preset is the best balance, yielding 72 FPS average. This is a 30% improvement over the 1080p High preset's 55.3 FPS, while still maintaining visual quality above the Low preset. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 54.7 FPS, which is playable, but the High preset at 44.9 FPS starts to feel less fluid. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for consistent playability, producing 56.2 FPS average; the Medium preset at 44.2 FPS may be acceptable for some, but the High preset's 30.3 FPS is marginal. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it only achieves 48.5 FPS at 1080p and drops below 45 FPS at 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide performance range based on settings. The Low preset achieves 92.2 FPS average, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 72 FPS, High to 55.3 FPS, and Ultra to 48.5 FPS. This represents a 47% reduction in frame rate from Low to Ultra at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scores compress significantly. Low yields 71.3 FPS, Medium 54.7 FPS, High 44.9 FPS, and Ultra 44.1 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is negligible, suggesting a GPU-bound scenario where the extra settings cost more than they deliver.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060 struggles. The Low preset is the only one above 50 FPS, hitting 56.2 FPS. Medium scores 44.2 FPS, while High and Ultra are nearly identical at 30.3 FPS and 31.2 FPS, respectively. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are exhausted, and the rendering load becomes prohibitive for higher presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and reveals the GPU's limitations. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 72 at 1080p to 54.7 at 1440p (a 24% reduction) and then to 44.2 at 4K (a further 19% reduction). At High settings, the drop is more linear: 55.3 to 44.9 to 30.3, a cumulative 45% loss from 1080p to 4K.

This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 4.70 GHz boost clock, is not the bottleneck; if it were, the frame rates would not drop so dramatically as resolution increases. The data suggests that the GPU's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6 GB of VRAM are saturated at higher resolutions, causing the steep performance cliff between 1440p and 4K. The 4K Low preset's 56.2 FPS versus 4K Medium's 44.2 FPS shows that even modest increases in graphical load at this resolution exact a heavy toll.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3093 in single-core, which are strong figures that place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which heavily relies on single-thread performance for simulation logic, the CPU’s high boost clock is beneficial. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the primary constraint. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 92.2 FPS, which is respectable, but the frame rate drops as the GPU becomes more loaded at higher settings. The CPU’s performance headroom is evident: it can feed the GPU faster than the GPU can render at higher resolutions. The 16 threads also handle background tasks and game engine overhead without issue, but they do not rescue the frame rates at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the decisive component in this pairing. It features 1920 shading units, 30 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores based on the Turing architecture. It has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 1680 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 14111 in Passmark G3D and 5488 in GPU compute, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s 6 GB VRAM is the likely culprit for the 4K performance drop. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 31.2, which is barely above the 4K High score of 30.3. This plateau suggests that the memory capacity is exhausted, forcing the card to swap data, which cripples performance. The 192-bit memory bus also limits the effective bandwidth at higher resolutions. The data shows that the RTX 2060 is best utilized at 1080p, where it can deliver 72 FPS at Medium settings, but it is not capable of sustaining high frame rates at 1440p Ultra or any 4K preset above Low. The benchmark results indicate that this GPU is the bottleneck in this combination for Microsoft Flight Simulator.