Microsoft Flight Simulator

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The measured FPS rows for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 show a clear hierarchy across four presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 119 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset for this combo. Medium drops to 93 FPS average, High to 70 FPS, and Ultra to 66 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 26 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS. This suggests that the visual investment in Ultra over High yields diminishing returns in raw frame rate at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with Low at 96 FPS, Medium at 75 FPS, High at 56 FPS, and Ultra at 54 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra is just 2 FPS, the smallest step in the entire resolution ladder. At 3840x2160, Low produces 71 FPS, Medium 55 FPS, High 42 FPS, and Ultra 40 FPS. Again, the High-to-Ultra delta is minimal at 2 FPS. Across all three resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most balanced measured experience: it retains a substantial frame rate advantage over High and Ultra while presumably providing better visual quality than Low. The Medium rows also include min and max FPS values (79-107 at 1080p, 64-86 at 1440p, 47-64 at 4K), which the other presets lack in the data. These min/max figures indicate acceptable frame pacing at Medium, with the 4K minimum of 47 FPS still playable for a flight simulator.

For users prioritizing smoothness, Low at 1080p is the only preset crossing 119 FPS. For those wanting a middle ground, Medium at 1080p (93 FPS) or 1440p (75 FPS) appears optimal. Ultra never exceeds 66 FPS at any resolution, making it the least compelling choice given the tiny gain over High. The data suggests Medium as the best experience per measured row, especially since it is the only preset with documented min and max values, implying more consistent performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2460 MHz, with a base clock of 1830 MHz. The GPU sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals in average score are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, -0.2% delta), AMD Radeon 780M (17588, +0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, +0.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17509, +0.7%). The RTX 4060 is effectively in a dead heat with these cards in synthetic benchmarks, yet in Microsoft Flight Simulator, the measured FPS tells a different story.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a relevant factor for this game, which loads extensive scenery data. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 40 FPS, and at 4K High it averages 42 FPS. The 2 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K, identical to the 2 FPS difference at 1440p, suggests the GPU is hitting a ceiling that is not purely about memory capacity — otherwise, the gap would widen at higher resolutions. The 128-bit memory bus, despite the modest 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, appears sufficient to feed the 3072 shading units at the tested settings. The GPU's 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate translate into playable frame rates even at 4K Low (71 FPS), which indicates the card can handle the simulation's rendering load when settings are reduced.

The RTX 4060's transistor count of 18,900 million on a 5 nm TSMC process, with a die size of 159 mm², contributes to its efficiency. However, the data shows that in this game, the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p, the FPS spread across presets is 53 FPS (from 66 to 119). At 4K, the spread narrows to 31 FPS (from 40 to 71). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering. The GPU's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores support the game's DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) feature set, but the measured data does not isolate ray tracing effects. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s suggests fill-rate limitations could emerge at 4K Ultra, where the combo produces only 40 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K provides 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its TDP is 125 W, and it sits at the 90th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 48618. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, -0.2% delta), AMD EPYC 4345P (48470, +0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48287, +0.7%), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48995, -0.8%). The i5-14600K's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data locality for flight simulation workloads, which often involve streaming terrain and weather data.

In synthetic multi-threaded tests, the CPU scores 24491 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2064 in single-core. The Geekbench multi-core score is 16673, with a single-core score of 2491. These numbers indicate strong single-thread performance, which matters for Microsoft Flight Simulator's simulation logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck — the combo reaches 119 FPS at Low settings, which is high enough to suggest the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at that resolution. The 14-core configuration with 20 threads (likely 6 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores, though the pack does not specify the split) handles the game's background tasks without causing frame drops below the measured minimums.

The CPU's 90th percentile ranking relative to all CPUs, versus the GPU's 61st percentile ranking, indicates a pairing where the processor has more headroom than the graphics card. At 1080p Low, the 119 FPS average is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability for this game, but the GPU's limits appear at 1080p Ultra (66 FPS) and at all 4K presets. The i5-14600K's PassMark single-thread score of 4270 and multi-thread score of 38682 reinforce its capability. In a flight simulator, where frame times can spike when loading new scenery tiles, the CPU's 24 MB L3 cache and 5.30 GHz boost clock help maintain the measured minimum FPS values — for instance, the 79 FPS minimum at 1080p Medium and 47 FPS minimum at 4K Medium. The CPU's DDR4/DDR5 memory support and dual-channel memory bus are not quantified in the FPS data, but the measured results show no obvious memory-related stutter.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1978 out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the 53rd percentile of all tested systems in the database. The rank is determined by the combo's measured FPS across all resolution and settings rows. Given that the CPU ranks at the 90th percentile and the GPU at the 61st percentile, the combo's mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU's relatively lower standing — the CPU is not holding the system back, but the GPU's average benchmark score of 17639 limits the overall result.

The data indicates that many other combos achieve higher FPS in this game, primarily those with faster GPUs. The combo's rank of 1978 means that roughly 1736 tested combos performed worse, while 1977 performed better. This is a middling result for a CPU-GPU pairing where the CPU is clearly high-end (90th percentile) and the GPU is mid-range (61st percentile). The gap between the CPU's percentile and the GPU's percentile suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield a more significant rank improvement than upgrading the CPU. The nearest rival scores for the CPU (all within 0.8% delta) and GPU (all within 0.7% delta) show that both components are tightly clustered with their peers in synthetic benchmarks, yet the in-game rank places this combo in the middle of the pack, indicating that the game's workload favors higher-end GPUs more than the synthetic averages would suggest.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data allows a direct comparison of resolution scaling across the three tested resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 119 at 1080p to 96 at 1440p (a 19% decrease) and then to 71 at 4K (a 26% decrease from 1440p). At Medium, the progression is 93 to 75 to 55, with percentage drops of 19% and 27%. At High, the numbers are 70 to 56 to 42, with drops of 20% and 25%. At Ultra, the values are 66 to 54 to 40, with drops of 18% and 26%. The consistency of these percentage drops — roughly 19-20% from 1080p to 1440p and 25-27% from 1440p to 4K — indicates a uniform scaling behavior.

The pixel count increases by 77% from 1080p to 1440p and by 125% from 1440p to 4K. The FPS drops are much smaller than the pixel count increases, which suggests that the game is not purely pixel-bound. If it were, the FPS would drop roughly in proportion to the pixel count increase. Instead, the moderate FPS declines point to a mix of CPU and GPU involvement. At 1080p Low, the 119 FPS is likely near the CPU's frame generation limit, so the drop to 96 FPS at 1440p Low is only 19%, even though the GPU workload increased by 77%. This implies the CPU is partially limiting at lower resolutions. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more dominant, but the FPS still does not plummet, indicating that the RTX 4060 has enough bandwidth and compute to handle the increased pixel load without collapsing.

The limiting component shifts from CPU at 1080p Low to GPU at 4K Ultra. At 1080p Low, the high FPS suggests the CPU (with its 5.30 GHz boost and 24 MB L3) is the ceiling. At 4K Ultra, the 40 FPS result is likely GPU-bound, given the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus. The fact that the FPS at 4K Ultra (40) is nearly identical to the FPS at 1440p Ultra (54) and 1080p Ultra (66) — with only a 26 FPS total spread across resolutions at Ultra — indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a similar load regardless of resolution, possibly due to CPU-side simulation limits or a VRAM capacity ceiling that kicks in at all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 119 FPS average on Low settings. The Medium preset averages 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 107. High settings produce 70 FPS average, while Ultra yields 66 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 53 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (79) is higher than the average FPS at High (70) and Ultra (66), which suggests that Medium maintains a more consistent frame rate than the higher presets.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 96 FPS. Medium averages 75 FPS with a range of 64 to 86. High averages 56 FPS, and Ultra averages 54 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 42 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (64) exceeds the average FPS at Ultra (54), reinforcing the pattern seen at 1080p where Medium provides better consistency than Ultra.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 71 FPS. Medium averages 55 FPS with a range of 47 to 64. High averages 42 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 31 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (47) is higher than the average FPS at Ultra (40), and it is also higher than the average FPS at High (42). This is notable because it means even the worst-case frame rate at Medium beats the average frame rate at the two highest presets.

Comparing across resolutions at the same setting, the Low preset shows the largest absolute FPS difference between 1080p and 4K (48 FPS), while Ultra shows the smallest absolute difference (26 FPS). This indicates that at Ultra, the game becomes so demanding that resolution has less impact on the final frame rate — the system is already near its performance ceiling at 1080p Ultra (66 FPS) and only drops to 40 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset's min/max values at each resolution show a consistent pattern: the min FPS at 1080p (79) is higher than the max FPS at 4K (64), meaning the best-case 4K frame rate is worse than the worst-case 1080p frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for this combo at 1080p?

A: Based on the measured data, Medium at 1080p averages 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 107. Low averages 119 FPS, but Medium provides a higher minimum FPS than the average FPS of High (70) and Ultra (66), making it a more consistent choice.

Q: Does the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The data shows the combo averages 71 FPS at 4K Low and 40 FPS at 4K Ultra. The VRAM capacity is not directly measured, but the small FPS difference between High (42) and Ultra (40) at 4K suggests the GPU is compute-bound rather than memory-bound, since a VRAM capacity limit would likely produce a larger drop.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48618, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4345P, 0.7% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX, and 0.8% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245. All deltas are within 0.8%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU limits at 1080p Low (119 FPS) because the FPS drop to 1440p Low (96 FPS) is only 19% despite a 77% increase in pixel count. At 4K Ultra (40 FPS), the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the narrowing FPS spread across resolutions at Ultra settings.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1978 out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The CPU is at the 90th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 61st percentile among all GPUs, indicating the GPU holds the combo back from a higher ranking.

Q: How does the FPS scale from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium, the average FPS goes from 93 at 1080p to 75 at 1440p (a 19% drop) and then to 55 at 4K (a 27% drop from 1440p). The minimum FPS follows a similar trend: 79 at 1080p, 64 at 1440p, and 47 at 4K.