Microsoft Flight Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 places 34th out of 1,795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This top-2% positioning reflects a pairing of two components that each sit near the apex of their respective benchmark hierarchies. The CPU holds an 89th percentile ranking against all processors, while the GPU achieves a 91st percentile standing among all graphics cards.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 35,355 places it in extremely tight competition with its nearest rivals. The Intel Core i5-14400 trails by a mere 0.1%, while the Intel Core i7-13800H edges ahead by 0.2%. The Intel Core i9-12900HX sits 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core i5-13600T is 0.3% lower. These sub-1% deltas indicate that the 12700KF is operating in a performance band where chip-to-chip variation can outweigh any architectural advantage.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 66,473 places it alongside professional workstation cards. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 is 0.4% faster, while the Tesla P40 trails by 0.5%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 leads by 0.9%, and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 is 1.3% ahead. This clustering suggests the RTX 4090's raw compute capabilities are comparable to data-center and professional visualization hardware, though its gaming-focused feature set is what drives flight simulator performance.

The combination's 34th rank out of 1,795 combos indicates that while this is an elite setup, there are 33 other combinations that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title. Given that the RTX 4090 is the fastest consumer GPU in this data set, the remaining headroom likely comes from CPUs with even higher single-thread performance, which Microsoft Flight Simulator heavily favors.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700KF compare to its closest CPU rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The 12700KF scores 35,355 on average. The Intel Core i5-14400 scores 35,336 (0.1% lower), the Intel Core i7-13800H scores 35,416 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-12900HX scores 35,289 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35,256 (0.3% lower). All four rivals are within a 0.5% band, making them effectively identical in multi-threaded workloads.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4090 achieves an average benchmark score of 66,473 and ranks in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733, 0.4% faster), NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66,127, 0.5% slower), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097, 0.9% faster), and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67,320, 1.3% faster).

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combination produces an average of 132.3 FPS. This is the second-lowest 1080p result among the four settings tested, with Low achieving 208.3 FPS, Medium reaching 182.2 FPS, and High delivering 134.8 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra result compare to 1440p Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 78.7, while at 2560x1440 Ultra it is 102.3. This represents a 23.6 FPS drop when moving from 1440p to 4K at the highest quality preset, or approximately a 23% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, the gap between Low (208.3 FPS) and Ultra (132.3 FPS) settings is 76 FPS. This wide spread across settings indicates the GPU is still meaningfully engaged even at 1080p, though the relatively modest 134.8 FPS at High settings suggests the CPU's single-thread performance may be constraining peak frame rates in this simulation-heavy title.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU and GPU in this combo?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has a launch MSRP of $384. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings substantial resources to Microsoft Flight Simulator. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for streaming high-resolution terrain and aircraft textures. The GPU's 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units are backed by 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores, enabling the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set that the simulator can leverage.

Clock speeds reach 2,235 MHz base and 2,520 MHz boost, with memory operating at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The AD102 chip, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 76,300 million transistors across a 609 mm² die, delivers 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw throughput translates directly into the measured frame rates.

The GPU's role becomes clearer when examining the FPS deltas across settings at each resolution. At 4K, moving from Low to Medium raises the average from 136.8 to 106.7 FPS — a 30.1 FPS decrease. Going from Medium to High drops to 76.7 FPS (another 30 FPS), and High to Ultra yields 78.7 FPS, a 2 FPS increase. The non-monotonic behavior at the top end suggests the Ultra preset introduces settings that the CPU cannot fully feed, even with this flagship GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 208.3 FPS on Low, 182.2 FPS on Medium, 134.8 FPS on High, and 132.3 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 76 FPS total range. The step from Low to Medium costs 26.1 FPS, Medium to High costs 47.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs only 2.5 FPS. This compression at the top suggests diminishing returns beyond Medium settings.

At 2560x1440, results are 188.1 FPS on Low, 145.6 FPS on Medium, 109 FPS on High, and 102.3 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Medium drop is 42.5 FPS, Medium-to-High is 36.6 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 6.7 FPS. The total range from Low to Ultra is 85.8 FPS, wider than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a factor.

At 3840x2160, the numbers are 136.8 FPS on Low, 106.7 FPS on Medium, 76.7 FPS on High, and 78.7 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Medium drop is 30.1 FPS, Medium-to-High is 30 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is a 2 FPS increase. The total range is 60.1 FPS, narrower than at 1440p. The Ultra setting actually outperforming High at 4K is notable, suggesting the Ultra preset may alter certain workload characteristics in a way that benefits this specific hardware combination.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals where the bottleneck shifts. From 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, FPS drops from 208.3 to 188.1, a 20.2 FPS reduction or roughly 9.7%. At Medium, the drop is 182.2 to 145.6 (36.6 FPS, 20.1%). At High, 134.8 to 109 (25.8 FPS, 19.1%). At Ultra, 132.3 to 102.3 (30 FPS, 22.7%).

From 1440p to 4K, Low drops from 188.1 to 136.8 (51.3 FPS, 27.3%). Medium drops from 145.6 to 106.7 (38.9 FPS, 26.7%). High drops from 109 to 76.7 (32.3 FPS, 29.6%). Ultra drops from 102.3 to 78.7 (23.6 FPS, 23.1%).

The pattern is telling. At Low settings, the 1080p-to-1440p penalty is under 10%, indicating the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p Low — the GPU has enough headroom that resolution increases barely matter. As settings rise, the GPU becomes more engaged, and resolution penalties grow. Between 1440p and 4K, all settings show 23-30% drops, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count dominates. The fact that Ultra has the smallest 1440p-to-4K penalty (23.1%) suggests that at Ultra, the CPU's simulation workload is such a large fraction of total frame time that even 4K pixel throughput cannot fully occupy the RTX 4090.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, every setting and resolution combination in this data set exceeds that threshold. The lowest measured average is 76.7 FPS at 4K High, which still clears 60 FPS with margin. This means the RTX 4090 paired with the 12700KF can run Microsoft Flight Simulator at maximum quality at any resolution tested without dropping below playable frame rates.

At 1920x1080, Ultra delivers 132.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate displays. The 2.5 FPS difference between High (134.8) and Ultra (132.3) is negligible, so choosing Ultra at 1080p carries no meaningful performance cost. Users with 144Hz or higher monitors can comfortably use Ultra.

At 2560x1440, Ultra yields 102.3 FPS, which remains above the 100 FPS mark. High provides 109 FPS, a 6.7 FPS improvement that may be worthwhile for those seeking maximum smoothness. The 1440p Ultra result is still excellent for a flight simulator, where frame pacing matters less than in fast-paced shooters.

At 3840x2160, the choice is more nuanced. Ultra produces 78.7 FPS, slightly higher than High's 76.7 FPS. This inverted relationship means there is no reason to choose High over Ultra at 4K — the Ultra preset delivers both better visual quality and a marginal FPS increase. Medium at 106.7 FPS is an option for those who prioritize higher frame rates over visual fidelity, but the 28 FPS gain over Ultra may not justify the visual compromise in a simulation genre where detail aids situational awareness.

The data indicates the optimal experience across all resolutions is the Ultra preset, as it never falls below 78.7 FPS average and at 4K actually outperforms High. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play at 1080p, Medium (182.2 FPS) or even Low (208.3 FPS) provides substantial headroom, but these settings sacrifice the visual immersion that defines Microsoft Flight Simulator's appeal. The balanced recommendation is Ultra at 1440p, which delivers 102.3 FPS while maintaining maximum graphical fidelity.