Microsoft Flight Simulator

Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER present a compelling pairing for Microsoft Flight Simulator, but the benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily skewed toward GPU performance. The processor, a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake Refresh part with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost of 4.70 GHz, sits at the 88th percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 32508 places it in a dead heat with rivals like the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, 0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446, 0.2% delta). This suggests that at the resolutions tested, the i5-14400F is unlikely to be the primary constraint, offering ample headroom for the simulation’s complex flight models and AI traffic.

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

The Core i5-14400F’s configuration—10 cores and 16 threads with a 20 MB shared L3 cache—provides a robust foundation for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s heavy single-threaded and moderately threaded workloads. With a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and a single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3093, the processor delivers strong per-core performance that is critical for the game’s rendering engine and physics calculations. The multi-core Cinebench R23 score of 21914 further indicates that the CPU can handle background tasks and the simulation’s world-updating threads without bottlenecking the GPU. The data supports this: at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 193.9 FPS, a figure that is 59% higher than the 122.1 FPS seen at 4K Low. This scalability shows that the CPU is capable of feeding frames well beyond what the GPU can render at lower resolutions, as the gap between resolutions is entirely attributable to GPU load.

Nearest rival analysis for the CPU shows it is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-13705H (32586, -0.2% delta) and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584, -0.2% delta). This means that for this specific title, the i5-14400F’s performance envelope is well understood: it will not be the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K, where the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck. The processor’s 65 W TDP and lack of overclocking capability (multiplier locked) suggest a stable, predictable performance profile, which is reflected in the consistent FPS numbers across different settings. The data indicates that even at Ultra settings, where CPU overhead can increase, the i5-14400F maintains playable framerates, with the 1080p Ultra result of 117.1 FPS being only 6% lower than the 4K High result of 69 FPS when accounting for resolution scaling.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the undisputed star of this pairing, and the benchmark results underscore its dominance. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s high-resolution textures and detailed terrain. The GPU’s boost clock of 2550 MHz and its Ada Lovelace architecture with 10240 shading units allow it to handle the game’s demanding rasterization and ray-traced effects. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 34245 places it at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489, 0.2% delta) in average benchmark score. This indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is a top-tier performer, and the measured FPS confirms it.

At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 68.9 FPS, which is a playable result for a flight simulator. The GPU’s 16 GB VRAM is crucial here, as Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K Ultra can consume significant memory; the data shows that the GPU does not hit a memory wall, as the FPS drop from 4K High (69 FPS) to 4K Ultra (68.9 FPS) is negligible. The GPU’s raw compute power, measured at 52.22 TFLOPS FP32, ensures that the rendering pipeline is the primary driver of performance. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s nearest rival in the GPU benchmark is the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, with a delta of only 0.2%, but in this game’s measured results, the NVIDIA card demonstrates its strength by maintaining high framerates even at 4K, where the data shows a 100% increase in FPS when moving from Low to High at 1080p (193.9 FPS vs 124.5 FPS), indicating that the GPU is the scaling factor.

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

The measured FPS across resolutions provides a clear picture of the system’s scaling behavior. At 1080p, the combo achieves impressive numbers: 193.9 FPS at Low, 162.8 FPS at Medium, 124.5 FPS at High, and 117.1 FPS at Ultra. Moving to 1440p, the framerates drop proportionally, with the High setting yielding 97.1 FPS and Ultra at 94.2 FPS. At 4K, the results are 122.1 FPS (Low), 98 FPS (Medium), 69 FPS (High), and 68.9 FPS (Ultra). The scaling pattern is revealing: from 1080p to 4K at High settings, the FPS drops from 124.5 to 69, a 44.6% reduction. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario, as the CPU’s performance remains constant across resolutions, but the GPU’s workload increases exponentially with pixel count.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is still capable of pushing 193.9 FPS, but at 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 122.1 FPS, a drop of 37%. This indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU has more than enough headroom to maintain high frame rates. The 1440p results further confirm this: the gap between 1080p and 1440p High is 27.4 FPS (124.5 to 97.1), while the gap between 1440p and 4K High is 28.1 FPS (97.1 to 69). This linear scaling is typical of a GPU-bound system, where the CPU’s role becomes less significant as resolution increases. The fact that the 4K Ultra result (68.9 FPS) is nearly identical to the 4K High result (69 FPS) suggests that the GPU is saturating its resources, and the additional quality settings at Ultra do not significantly impact performance beyond what the GPU can handle.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the broader context of all tested hardware combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 115th out of 1795 combos. This places it in the top 6.4% of all tested systems, which is an exceptional result. The rank reflects the GPU’s high percentile (88th) and the CPU’s similarly strong standing (88th), indicating that this combo is well-balanced for the game. The data shows that the combination is capable of delivering 4K Ultra performance at 68.9 FPS, which is a significant achievement given that many systems struggle to maintain 60 FPS at this resolution in a flight simulator.

The combo’s rank of 115 suggests that there are 114 other combinations that outperform it, likely featuring higher-end CPUs or GPUs, but this pairing still offers a premium experience. The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark (Intel Core i7-12800H) and GPU benchmark (AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT) do not directly translate to this combo’s rank, as the rank is specific to the game’s measured results. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of this high rank, as the CPU’s performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking. The fact that the combo achieves over 100 FPS at 1440p High (97.1 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (117.1 FPS) shows that it is not just a 4K-capable system, but also a high-refresh-rate contender at lower resolutions.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user’s resolution and performance priorities. At 4K, the High preset offers the best balance, delivering 69 FPS, which is nearly identical to the Ultra preset’s 68.9 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset provides no meaningful performance penalty, but the visual difference between High and Ultra in a flight simulator is often subtle, making High a more efficient choice for maintaining a stable frame rate. The Medium preset at 4K (98 FPS) is also viable, offering a significant FPS boost over High (69 FPS) at the cost of some visual fidelity, which is recommended for users prioritizing smoothness over detail.

At 1440p, the High preset (97.1 FPS) is the sweet spot, providing excellent visual quality while staying well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset (94.2 FPS) is also playable and offers the best image quality, but the 3 FPS difference over High is negligible. For users with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset (131.7 FPS) is ideal, as it pushes the framerate well beyond 120 FPS. At 1080p, the Ultra preset (117.1 FPS) is recommended for the best visual experience, as it still maintains a high frame rate. The Medium preset (162.8 FPS) is the best choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, but for a flight simulator, the Ultra preset’s visual fidelity is more valuable than the extra FPS. The Low preset at any resolution is not recommended, as the game’s visuals are heavily degraded, and the frame rate gains (e.g., 193.9 FPS at 1080p Low vs 117.1 FPS at Ultra) are not worth the loss in immersion. The data consistently shows that the High preset is the most balanced choice across all resolutions, offering a 50% FPS increase over Ultra at 4K (69 vs 68.9) while providing near-maximum visual quality.