Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is notoriously demanding, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a dataset that clearly illustrates the shifting bottleneck between the CPU and GPU as resolution and graphical fidelity change. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is capable of smooth performance at lower settings but becomes heavily constrained by the graphics card as pixel count and detail levels rise. This analysis examines the resolution scaling, the role of the GPU's specifications, and the overall ranking of this specific hardware pairing within the game's benchmark database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and pronounced decline in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, but the rate of that decline is heavily dependent on the quality preset. At the "Low" setting, the frame rate drops from 103.1 FPS at 1080p to 77.9 FPS at 1440p, a decrease of approximately 24%, and then to 60.8 FPS at 4K, a further 22% reduction from the 1440p figure. This relatively modest scaling curve suggests that at "Low" settings, the system is not entirely overwhelmed by the GPU workload, allowing the processor to maintain a higher frame rate floor.

However, the scaling behavior changes dramatically when the settings are increased. At "Ultra" settings, the performance drops from 57.5 FPS at 1080p to 43.5 FPS at 1440p, and finally to just 32.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at "Ultra" is significantly larger than at "Low," indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor. The data suggests that at 1080p "Ultra," the CPU is still able to feed the GPU enough data to maintain a playable frame rate, but as the resolution increases, the raw pixel-pushing demands on the RTX 2060 SUPER become insurmountable, causing a steep performance cliff. The difference between 1080p and 4K at "High" settings (61.4 FPS vs. 34.5 FPS) further confirms this trend, with the 4K result being nearly 44% lower.

The gap between the "Low" and "Ultra" presets also widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 45.6 FPS (103.1 vs. 57.5), but at 4K, the gap narrows to 28 FPS (60.8 vs. 32.8). This compression of the performance gap at higher resolutions is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck; the graphics card is working at maximum capacity regardless of the preset, so the frame rate becomes more dependent on the resolution itself rather than the complexity of the scene. For this combination, 1440p appears to be the practical ceiling for "High" settings, while 4K is only viable at "Low" settings where the 60.8 FPS average is achieved.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the clear performance limiter in this pairing at higher resolutions and quality settings. Its specifications, including 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, are sufficient for 1080p and entry-level 1440p gaming, but the data shows they are stretched thin at 4K. The GPU's boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz, combined with its 2176 shading units, deliver a raw compute capability that is quickly saturated by the demands of Microsoft Flight Simulator's rendering engine at higher resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the card's 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs is reflected in its inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K "Ultra" settings, where it averages just 32.8 FPS.

The GPU's memory configuration also plays a role in the observed performance. While 8 GB of VRAM is often considered adequate for 1080p, the high-resolution textures and complex geometry of the flight simulator at 4K can easily approach or exceed this limit. The data does not show a direct cause-and-effect for memory overflow, but the severe frame rate drop at 4K "Ultra" (32.8 FPS) compared to 1080p "Ultra" (57.5 FPS) is consistent with the GPU struggling to manage data within its memory constraints. The card's 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is a strong figure for its class, yet it is insufficient for the 4K workload, suggesting that the GPU's compute units are starved for data, leading to the observed performance degradation.

In contrast, the Intel Core i5-14600KF appears to be more than capable of keeping up with the GPU's output at most settings. With 14 cores and 20 threads, a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, the processor is not the bottleneck until frame rates become very high. The "Low" preset results, particularly the 103.1 FPS at 1080p, demonstrate that the CPU can drive the GPU to its limits, but the GPU's own performance ceiling prevents the system from achieving higher frame rates. This is a classic balanced pairing at 1080p, but the GPU's limitations become dominant as the resolution and graphical load increase.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with "Ultra" settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with "Ultra" settings is 57.5 FPS, which suggests a playable experience, though not at the highest refresh rates.

Q: Can this combination handle 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: At 3840x2160, the system can achieve an average of 60.8 FPS on "Low" settings, but performance drops significantly at higher presets, with "High" yielding 34.5 FPS and "Ultra" only 32.8 FPS. This indicates 4K is only viable at the lowest graphical fidelity.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (19680), according to the nearestRivals data. This indicates it performs on par with these cards in non-game-specific tests.

Q: What is the performance difference between the "Medium" and "High" presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the "Medium" preset yields an average of 62.4 FPS, while the "High" preset yields 48.5 FPS. This represents a significant performance cost of 13.9 FPS for the increased visual quality.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The frame rates at 4K are consistently low across all presets (ranging from 32.8 to 60.8 FPS), and the relatively small difference between "High" and "Ultra" (34.5 vs. 32.8 FPS) suggests the graphics card is saturated, rather than the processor.

Q: How does this specific combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1229 out of 1795 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower half of the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance. The "Low" preset achieves an average of 103.1 FPS, which is the only setting to break the 100 FPS barrier. The "Medium" preset follows at 80.2 FPS, "High" at 61.4 FPS, and "Ultra" at 57.5 FPS. This shows a clear scaling pattern where each step up in quality costs roughly 20 FPS, except for the final step from "High" to "Ultra," which costs only 3.9 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop across the board. The "Low" preset remains the highest at 77.9 FPS, a 25.2 FPS reduction from 1080p. "Medium" produces an average of 62.4 FPS, "High" produces 48.5 FPS, and "Ultra" produces 43.5 FPS. The performance gap between "High" and "Ultra" narrows to 5 FPS at this resolution, indicating the GPU is starting to become the primary constraint.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is severely tested. The "Low" preset is the only one that provides a smooth experience, with an average of 60.8 FPS. "Medium" drops to 44.3 FPS, "High" to 34.5 FPS, and "Ultra" to 32.8 FPS. The difference between "High" and "Ultra" is now just 1.7 FPS, demonstrating that the graphics card has reached its absolute performance limit, and further graphical enhancements have almost no measurable impact on frame rate. The data clearly shows that for this combination, 1080p is the resolution for high-fidelity gaming, while 4K is reserved for the lowest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is positioned at rank 1229 out of 1795 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the 32nd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 68% of the tested configurations perform better. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is a high-end part that would be capable of supporting a much more powerful graphics card.

The CPU's own benchmark scores show it performs nearly identically to its closest rivals. The Intel Core i5-14600K is 0.4% slower, and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is 0.6% slower, while the AMD EPYC 4345P is 0.5% faster. However, this processing power is not fully utilized in this configuration at higher resolutions, where the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking becomes the deciding factor. The combo's rank of 1229 is a reflection of a system that is well-balanced for 1080p gaming but is ultimately held back by the graphics card in a demanding title like Microsoft Flight Simulator at higher resolutions. The data suggests that a system with a more powerful GPU would score significantly higher, as the CPU has headroom to spare.