Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 108th out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the top 6.1% of all configurations. This is a strong result for a flight simulator that stresses both CPU and GPU heavily. The combo's position indicates it delivers a high-end experience without being at the absolute bleeding edge, and the data shows it outperforms the vast majority of systems tested in this database.

The ranking is bolstered by the CPU's strong synthetic performance. The i7-12700KF posts an average benchmark score of 35355, placing it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i5-14400 (avg score 35336, a 0.1% difference), the Intel Core i7-13800H (avg score 35416, a -0.2% difference), and the Intel Core i9-12900HX (avg score 35289, a 0.2% difference). This cluster of scores shows the i7-12700KF is essentially tied with these competing parts, meaning the FPS differences in this game come down to other factors like GPU and memory configuration.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 SUPER achieves an average benchmark score of 53610, placing it in the 88th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (avg score 53489, a 0.2% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (avg score 53414, a 0.4% difference), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (avg score 52505, a 2.1% difference). The RTX 4080 SUPER leads these rivals by a small margin, which translates to a meaningful but not overwhelming FPS advantage in this simulator.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER brings 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This is critical for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain, aircraft, and weather data. The GPU's memory clocks run at 1438 MHz (or 23 Gbps effective), and its base clock is 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2550 MHz. These clocks, combined with the 10240 shading units and 320 tensor cores, allow the GPU to handle the simulator's complex rendering workloads efficiently.

The data shows that the GPU is a limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 70.1 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it reaches 95.4 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it hits 115.8 FPS. The relatively small gap between 1440p and 4K Ultra (from 95.4 to 70.1, a drop of about 26.5%) suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck at 4K. However, the RTX 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile ranking among GPUs indicates it is well above average, and its 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute gives it ample headroom for the simulator's physics and visual effects.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 115.8 FPS. This is a very smooth experience for a flight simulator, well above the 60 FPS threshold typically needed for comfortable play.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows that at 1440p Ultra, the combo achieves 95.4 FPS, which is still high enough for fluid gameplay. At 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 70.1, which many users would still find playable, but the 1440p setting offers a better balance of visual fidelity and frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game's performance?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. For example, at 1080p Low, the combo hits 211.1 FPS, but at 4K Low it drops to 120.7 FPS. This suggests that while the CPU is strong enough to feed the GPU, the GPU's workload increases significantly with resolution.

Q: How does the i7-12700KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, which is just 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336), and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i9-12900HX (35289). It trails the Intel Core i7-13800H (35416) by 0.2%. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER ranks in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610. This places it comfortably in the high-end tier of graphics cards.

Q: Does the combo support ray tracing?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 80 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing capabilities. However, the measured FPS data for Microsoft Flight Simulator does not include specific ray tracing tests, so the impact on performance in this game is not quantified here.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers:

• Low: 211.1 FPS
• Medium: 161.6 FPS
• High: 121.3 FPS
• Ultra: 115.8 FPS

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 168.1 FPS
• Medium: 128.5 FPS
• High: 96.7 FPS
• Ultra: 95.4 FPS

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 120.7 FPS
• Medium: 96.7 FPS
• High: 69.8 FPS
• Ultra: 70.1 FPS

Notably, at 4K, the High and Ultra settings produce nearly identical FPS (69.8 vs 70.1), which suggests that the Ultra preset is not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution, or that the GPU is hitting a hard limit. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K is also modest (120.7 to 96.7, a 19.9% drop), while the jump from Medium to High is much steeper (96.7 to 69.8, a 27.8% drop).

Settings Recommendations

The data shows that the High preset at 1440p provides the best combination of visual quality and performance, with 96.7 FPS. This is smooth enough for immersive flight simulation, and the visual detail at High settings is substantial. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 115.8 FPS is also an excellent choice for users who prioritize maximum visual fidelity and have a high-refresh-rate monitor.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 96.7 FPS is the recommended sweet spot, as it offers a significant visual upgrade over Low (120.7 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 4K (70.1 FPS) is playable but offers only a marginal improvement over High (69.8 FPS), making it a less attractive choice given the nearly identical performance.

The Low preset is best reserved for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, as it delivers 211.1 FPS at 1080p and 168.1 FPS at 1440p, but the visual degradation is substantial for a game that relies heavily on scenery detail.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It has 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, which provides fast access to frequently used data. The CPU's synthetic benchmarks show strong single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4091 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2526.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is particularly important for handling the simulation's complex physics, AI traffic, and weather systems. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 211.1 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound given the low GPU load. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35355, indicates it has enough headroom to avoid being a bottleneck at most settings. However, at 4K Ultra (70.1 FPS), the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as the CPU's performance is consistent across resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals, all within 0.3% of its average score, confirm that the i7-12700KF is a well-rounded performer for this game. Its 20 threads allow it to handle the simulator's multi-threaded workloads, while its high boost clock ensures responsive single-thread performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shift in bottleneck from CPU to GPU. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 211.1 at 1080p to 120.7 at 4K, a 42.8% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 161.6 to 96.7, a 40.2% reduction. At High, the drop is from 121.3 to 69.8, a 42.5% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 115.8 to 70.1, a 39.5% reduction.

These consistent reductions of roughly 40% across all settings indicate that the GPU is the primary scaling factor as resolution increases. The CPU's performance remains relatively constant, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS at 1080p Ultra (115.8) is only slightly higher than at 4K Low (120.7), despite the massive difference in GPU workload. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is beginning to limit performance, while at 4K, the GPU is fully saturated.

The data also shows that the gap between 1440p and 4K is smaller than the gap between 1080p and 1440p in relative terms. For example, at Ultra, the drop from 1440p (95.4 FPS) to 4K (70.1 FPS) is 26.5%, while the drop from 1080p (115.8 FPS) to 1440p (95.4 FPS) is 17.6%. This suggests that the GPU's performance scales less efficiently at higher resolutions, which is typical of memory-bandwidth-limited scenarios. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is substantial, but the simulator's large texture sets and draw distances at 4K place a heavy load on it.