Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination produces a playable but not class-leading experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with the data showing a clear 1080p performance ceiling that scales down sharply at higher resolutions. This pairing sits in the 61st percentile of all tested combos for this title, indicating a mid-pack result that leans heavily on the CPU’s strong multi-threaded capabilities to carry the frame rate at lower settings.

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

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings 12 cores and 20 threads to the simulation, running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boosting to 5.00 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture uses a 10 nm process and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the benchmark data does not distinguish which memory type was used. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core provide ample fast storage for the flight simulator’s terrain and aircraft data streams.

Synthetic benchmarks show this processor is a strong all-rounder. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28979 places it well above average, while the single-core score of 4091 indicates excellent per-thread performance. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 confirm that the CPU scales well with thread count, which matters for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s complex physics and scenery generation systems. The PassMark multi-thread score of 34092 and single-thread score of 3984 reinforce this pattern.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 89 among all CPUs means it outperforms roughly nine out of ten processors on the market. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14400, scores nearly identically with an average benchmark score of 35336 versus the 12700KF’s 35355, a delta of just 0.1%. The Core i7-13800H is 0.2% slower, while the Core i9-12900HX is 0.2% faster, and the Core i5-13600T trails by 0.3%. This tight grouping suggests that the 12700KF’s performance in this game is not unique — several other CPUs can match it — but its 20 threads give it headroom in thread-heavy workloads.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically, the measured frame rates at 1080p Low reach 110.1 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset for this combo. This suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at low settings; instead, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck. The high single-thread score of 4091 in Cinebench R23 helps the simulator’s main rendering thread stay responsive, but the game’s engine does not appear to fully utilize the 20 available threads, as evidenced by the relatively modest performance gains from 1080p Medium to Low.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU’s base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and it carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p flight simulation, but the 8 GB capacity becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings.

The RTX 2070 SUPER’s benchmark scores place it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its PassMark G3D score of 18169 and average benchmark score of 22206 show it is a capable mid-range card. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores 22307, which is 0.5% higher, while the GeForce GTX TITAN Z trails by 0.9% and the RTX 4060 Mobile leads by 2.3%. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 is 2.5% slower. This puts the RTX 2070 SUPER in a tight competitive cluster where small percentage differences separate the cards.

In this game, the GPU’s role becomes apparent when comparing 1080p Low to 1080p Ultra. The frame rate drops from 110.1 FPS to 61.7 FPS, a 44% reduction, indicating that the GPU is heavily taxed by the Ultra settings. The 8 GB VRAM is likely saturated at Ultra, as the simulator loads high-resolution textures for terrain and aircraft. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 37.6 FPS, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings. The GDDR6 memory’s 14 Gbps effective speed helps mitigate some of the bandwidth pressure, but it cannot overcome the capacity limitation.

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

The measured data shows a clear pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases, with the CPU becoming less relevant and the GPU taking over as the bottleneck. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 110.1 FPS at 1080p to 90.7 FPS at 1440p (a 17.6% reduction) and then to 63.3 FPS at 4K (a 30.2% reduction from 1440p). This scaling suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is increasingly stressed at higher resolutions, though the CPU still has headroom.

At High settings, the same pattern emerges but with a steeper drop. The 1080p High score of 62.7 FPS falls to 50.3 FPS at 1440p (a 19.8% reduction) and then to 38.8 FPS at 4K (a 22.9% reduction from 1440p). The 4K High frame rate is only slightly above the 4K Ultra score of 37.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is nearing its limits regardless of the settings tier.

The Medium settings show a similar trend: 85.5 FPS at 1080p, 69.7 FPS at 1440p, and 49.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops from 1080p to 4K are 18.5% for the first step and 29.6% for the second. The Ultra settings produce the lowest overall numbers: 61.7 FPS at 1080p, 49.2 FPS at 1440p, and 37.6 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p Low, where the 110.1 FPS score is 30% higher than the 1440p Low result. This gap narrows at higher settings, where the GPU’s workload increases. At 4K, all settings produce frame rates between 37.6 and 63.3 FPS, showing that the GPU is the dominant constraint. The 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops below 40 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1105 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 61st percentile, meaning 61% of all tested combinations perform better in this specific game. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status (65th percentile among all GPUs) combined with the CPU’s high-tier performance (89th percentile among all CPUs). The combo’s performance is therefore constrained by the GPU, which cannot fully leverage the CPU’s capabilities.

Given the CPU’s nearest rivals all score within 0.3% of each other, swapping the 12700KF for any of those processors would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in this game. The GPU’s nearest rivals similarly cluster within 2.5% of each other, meaning the RTX 2070 SUPER is not uniquely positioned. The combo’s rank is thus more indicative of the GPU’s limitations than the CPU’s strengths.

Compared to the theoretical maximum, this combo falls short because the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB VRAM and 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are not sufficient for the highest settings at 4K. The data shows that even at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate of 61.7 FPS is only marginally above the 60 FPS threshold, and at 1440p Ultra it drops to 49.2 FPS. This indicates that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at medium-to-high settings, or 1440p at medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best results. The Low setting produces 110.1 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 85.5 FPS, High settings produce 62.7 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 61.7 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal (1.0 FPS), suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual effects that do not significantly impact the GPU load at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all settings. Low produces 90.7 FPS, Medium yields 69.7 FPS, High drops to 50.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49.2 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows further to 1.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor. The Low-to-Medium drop of 21.0 FPS shows that the Medium preset significantly increases the GPU workload.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are the lowest. Low produces 63.3 FPS, Medium yields 49.1 FPS, High drops to 38.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 37.6 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 1.2 FPS, while the difference between Low and Medium is 14.2 FPS. The 4K Low score of 63.3 FPS is the only 4K result above 60 FPS, and it is still 42.6% lower than the 1080p Low score. This confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, with the 8 GB VRAM being the most likely constraint.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this CPU/GPU pairing?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 at Low settings yields the highest average FPS at 110.1 FPS. For a more balanced experience, 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides 69.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700KF compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336), 0.2% higher than the Core i7-13800H (35416), 0.2% lower than the Core i9-12900HX (35289), and 0.3% higher than the Core i5-13600T (35256).

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so significantly from 1080p to 4K?

A: The frame rate drops because the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the CPU can push 110.1 FPS, but at 4K Low, the GPU only manages 63.3 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the increased pixel count and texture load at 4K.

Q: What is the RTX 2070 SUPER’s performance percentile compared to all GPUs?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER ranks in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores 22307, which is 0.5% higher.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU can deliver 110.1 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 37.6 FPS, showing the GPU cannot keep up. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 4091 in Cinebench R23 ensures it is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combination ranks 1105 out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the 61st percentile. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier performance (65th percentile) rather than the CPU’s high-tier performance (89th percentile).