Microsoft Flight Simulator

# FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combo ranks 866th out of 1795 tested combinations in the database, placing it in the middle tier of all tested systems for this specific title.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core i7-13700K scores 47282 on average, which is 0.1% behind the Core i7-13700KF (47334), 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P (47131), and 0.4% ahead of the Core i9-12900F (47081).

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

A: The Radeon RX 6750 XT sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35327, indicating it outperforms roughly four-fifths of all graphics cards in the database.

Q: What is the best frame rate achieved at 1080p with this hardware?

A: The highest measured average FPS at 1920x1080 is 126.5 FPS on Low settings, while the Ultra preset still delivers 70.3 FPS at the same resolution.

Q: How much does the Ultra preset cost in performance compared to High at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 38.4 FPS versus 40.9 FPS on High, a drop of 2.5 FPS (approximately 6%) when moving from High to Ultra at the same resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the primary constraint at 4K: the frame rate drops from 126.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 73.3 FPS at 4K Low, a reduction of 53.2 FPS, while the CPU's single-thread performance (1136 in 3DMark) remains constant regardless of resolution.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using the Navi 22 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 7nm process with 17,200 million transistors. Its memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2150 MHz, a game clock of 2495 MHz, and a boost clock of 2600 MHz, while memory runs at an effective 18 Gbps.

The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units provide a pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 416.0 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance reaches 13.31 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.62 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers the API requirements for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

In this game, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 126.5 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 73.3 FPS — a 53.2 FPS reduction that occurs even with minimal graphical load. This pattern indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being stretched at higher resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's texture streaming demands, and the 432.0 GB/s bandwidth helps maintain steady frame delivery when flying over densely detailed terrain.

The GPU's percentile ranking at 79 out of 100 places it in the upper tier of available graphics cards. In the database's nearest rivals comparison, the RX 6750 XT (35327 average score) sits 0.2% ahead of the Radeon RX 5600M (35264), 0.3% behind the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435), and 0.9% behind the Radeon 880M (35646). Its average benchmark score of 35327 reflects solid mid-range compute capability, though Microsoft Flight Simulator's heavy draw-call overhead and terrain streaming mean the CPU also plays a significant part in the overall experience.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of presets across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 126.5 FPS, Medium reaches 97.3 FPS, High achieves 76 FPS, and Ultra drops to 70.3 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs only 5.7 FPS, making Ultra a reasonable choice for users with 1080p displays who want maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low yields 101.8 FPS, Medium provides 81.7 FPS, High settles at 58.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 56.8 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to just 1.9 FPS, but both presets fall below the 60 FPS threshold. For 1440p users, Medium at 81.7 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, staying comfortably above 60 FPS while maintaining a meaningful improvement over Low.

At 4K, all presets struggle to maintain high frame rates. Low averages 73.3 FPS, Medium drops to 59.8 FPS, High falls to 40.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 38.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only option that keeps average FPS near 60, though users with VRR displays may prefer High at 40.9 FPS for better visual quality. The Ultra preset at 4K delivers only 38.4 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most flight simulation scenarios.

Given the data, the recommended presets are: Ultra at 1080p (70.3 FPS), Medium at 1440p (81.7 FPS), and Medium at 4K (59.8 FPS). These choices maximize visual quality while maintaining playable frame rates. For users prioritizing smoothness over detail, Low at 1440p (101.8 FPS) or Low at 4K (73.3 FPS) provides the highest headroom for complex flight scenarios with dense cloud coverage or busy airports.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four presets, providing a comprehensive view of this hardware combination's performance envelope.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 126.5 FPS, which represents the maximum measured frame rate across all configurations. Medium settings achieve 97.3 FPS, High settings reach 76 FPS, and Ultra settings maintain 70.3 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 56.2 FPS, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution even with the most demanding preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 101.8 FPS, a 24.7 FPS reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings deliver 81.7 FPS, down 15.6 FPS from 1080p Medium. High settings produce 58.7 FPS, a 17.3 FPS drop from the 1080p High figure. Ultra settings yield 56.8 FPS, which is 13.5 FPS lower than 1080p Ultra. The 1440p results show that the system can still handle Medium settings comfortably above 60 FPS, but High and Ultra fall below that threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance ceiling becomes apparent. Low settings average 73.3 FPS, which is the only 4K preset to exceed 60 FPS. Medium settings drop to 59.8 FPS, narrowly missing the 60 FPS mark. High settings fall to 40.9 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 38.4 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 2.5 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the Ultra preset's additional graphical features at this resolution.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Medium remains relatively constant across resolutions (29.2 FPS at 1080p, 20.1 FPS at 1440p, 13.5 FPS at 4K), while the gap between High and Ultra narrows as resolution increases (5.7 FPS at 1080p, 1.9 FPS at 1440p, 2.5 FPS at 4K). This indicates that the Ultra preset's overhead becomes less impactful as the GPU becomes more pixel-bound.

# Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals how this hardware combination scales with pixel count. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 126.5 FPS at 1080p to 101.8 FPS at 1440p to 73.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 42% reduction from 1080p to 4K (53.2 FPS lost), with 1440p retaining 80.5% of the 1080p performance and 4K retaining 58% of the 1080p performance.

For Medium settings, the progression is 97.3 FPS at 1080p, 81.7 FPS at 1440p, and 59.8 FPS at 4K. The total loss from 1080p to 4K is 37.5 FPS (38.5%). High settings show 76 FPS at 1080p, 58.7 FPS at 1440p, and 40.9 FPS at 4K — a 35.1 FPS total reduction (46.2%). Ultra settings produce 70.3 FPS at 1080p, 56.8 FPS at 1440p, and 38.4 FPS at 4K, losing 31.9 FPS (45.4%) overall.

The scaling behavior indicates a shift in the bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1136) is likely the limiting factor, since the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can feed draw calls. The 16-core, 24-thread Core i7-13700K with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz provides strong per-core performance, but Microsoft Flight Simulator's simulation logic and terrain streaming are inherently single-thread-heavy.

At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. The RX 6750 XT's 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.31 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 3840x2160 with demanding presets. The 4K Low result of 73.3 FPS shows that even minimal graphical settings strain the GPU at this resolution, while the CPU's performance headroom goes unused.

The intermediate 1440p results show a balanced configuration where both components contribute meaningfully. Medium settings at 81.7 FPS and Low at 101.8 FPS demonstrate that 1440p is the sweet spot for this pairing, allowing the CPU to feed enough frames while the GPU maintains acceptable throughput. The narrowing gap between High and Ultra at higher resolutions (5.7 FPS at 1080p versus 2.5 FPS at 4K) further confirms that GPU-bound scenarios diminish the impact of CPU-driven settings adjustments.