Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-14600KF compare to its closest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49367. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 49166, which is a delta of 0.4 percent. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X scores 49062, putting it 0.6 percent behind the i5-14600KF in this data set.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs, and what does that indicate?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT holds an 82nd percentile rank among all GPUs. This places it above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (which has an average score of 38135 and a 0.6 percent delta), but it is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, which has a delta of 0 percent.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination yields the highest average FPS for this game?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 174.8, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is significantly higher than any other configuration in the measured data, with the next closest being 138.8 FPS at 2560x1440 on Low settings.

Q: How large is the performance gap between Ultra and Low settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 resolution, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 57.6 FPS, while the Low preset delivers 101.3 FPS. This represents a 43.1 percent advantage for Low settings over Ultra at 4K, a substantial difference that underscores the heavy GPU load of this game at high resolutions.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance as measured by Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 4643 points in the Cinebench R23 single-core test. Its multi-core score is 32889. These scores align with its 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, indicating strong overall processing capability.

Q: Does the system configuration rank well for this specific game?

A: The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 390th out of 1795 total combos tested in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the configuration in the top 21.7 percent of all tested combos for this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is central to this game's performance, equipped with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus. This memory configuration provides a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s, which is ample for the high-resolution textures and detailed scenery that Microsoft Flight Simulator demands. The GPU's base clock is 1387 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. These clock speeds are moderate for the RX 7000 series, but the sheer memory capacity and bandwidth are the standout features here.

In benchmark results, the GPU scores 29009 in Passmark G3D and 5623 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its percentile ranking of 82 among all GPUs indicates it sits comfortably in the upper tier of graphics hardware. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (delta 0 percent) and the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (delta 0.3 percent), showing that the RX 7900 XT is competitive with these parts in raw compute measures.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU's role becomes clear: at 1080p Ultra, the system hits 101 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 57.6 FPS. The scaling is not linear, suggesting that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 20 GB VRAM buffer is particularly relevant here, as Flight Simulator can consume large amounts of memory for terrain and aircraft models, and the RX 7900 XT never appears to be constrained by capacity in these measurements.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 appears to be the sweet spot. It delivers 107.4 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while retaining higher visual fidelity than Low. At 1080p, Medium yields 138.5 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual gain over Low (174.8 FPS) may not justify the drop for competitive or fast-paced flying.

At 4K, the choice is more nuanced. High settings produce 62.4 FPS, which is just above the playable threshold, while Medium gives 79.9 FPS and Low gives 101.3 FPS. Ultra at 4K drops to 57.6 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness point for many users. The data suggests that 4K High is the ceiling for a consistent 60 FPS experience, but Medium at 4K offers a safer margin for demanding scenes.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low at any resolution provides the highest FPS, but the gap between Low and Medium at 1440p (138.8 vs. 107.4 FPS) is notable. Given that Medium at 1440p provides a 32.8 percent improvement in FPS over High at the same resolution, it is the recommended balance of quality and speed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 174.8 FPS on Low, 138.5 FPS on Medium, 101.6 FPS on High, and 101 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is a 20.8 percent reduction, while High and Ultra are nearly identical, differing by only 0.6 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns for Ultra settings at 1080p, as the visual improvements do not translate to measurable performance gains.

At 2560x1440, the results are 138.8 FPS on Low, 107.4 FPS on Medium, 80.8 FPS on High, and 80 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Medium and High is 26.6 FPS, which is a 24.8 percent reduction. High and Ultra are again very close, with only 0.8 FPS separating them, indicating that the Ultra preset at 1440p is not worth the extra load.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 101.3 on Low, 79.9 on Medium, 62.4 on High, and 57.6 on Ultra. The difference between High and Ultra is 4.8 FPS, which is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (17.5 FPS). This pattern shows that the GPU struggles most with the transition from Medium to High at 4K, while the Ultra preset's additional features have a relatively minor impact.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 174.8 at 1080p to 138.8 at 1440p and then to 101.3 at 4K. This represents a 20.6 percent reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 42.1 percent reduction from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the drop is from 101.6 to 80.8 to 62.4 FPS, a 20.5 percent and 38.6 percent reduction, respectively.

The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU's performance does not change with resolution. The i5-14600KF has a strong single-core score of 4643 in Cinebench R23, which is sufficient for the simulation's physics and AI, but the RX 7900 XT's rendering load grows disproportionately as pixel count increases. The fact that Ultra settings at 4K yield only 57.6 FPS, while Low at 4K yields 101.3 FPS, reinforces that the GPU's shader and memory bandwidth are saturated at high resolutions and settings.

The 800.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears to be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, as the gap between Medium and High at 4K (17.5 FPS) is larger than at 1440p (26.6 FPS) or 1080p (36.9 FPS). This suggests that the GPU's memory subsystem is under increasing pressure as resolution scales.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its cache configuration includes 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a mid-range desktop chip. In synthetic tests, it scores 32889 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4643 in single-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600K (delta 0.4 percent) and the AMD EPYC 4345P (delta -0.5 percent), showing that it is well-matched against these parts. Its average benchmark score of 49367 is 1.4 percent higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, which is notable given the Xeon's server-class positioning.

In this game, the CPU's role is less about raw multi-core throughput and more about single-thread performance, as Flight Simulator's simulation logic is heavily single-threaded. The i5-14600KF's single-core score of 4643 ensures that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions. Evidence for this is seen in the 1080p results: at Low settings, the system achieves 174.8 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS target, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at high frame rates. At 4K, the CPU's load is reduced relative to the GPU, and the FPS drops are entirely attributable to GPU rendering limits, not processor constraints.