Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator pairs the Intel Core i7-13700K with the AMD Radeon RX 9060, producing a combination that ranks 1712th out of 2996 tested configurations in this title. The data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by the GPU at higher resolutions, yet capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings. This analysis examines the measured FPS results, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and provides specific recommendations based solely on the provided benchmark data.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The combo ranks 1712th out of 2996 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this specific game.

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved by this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination achieves an average of 111 FPS, which is the highest measured average across all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its closest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score is 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's score of 16129, making them nearly identical in overall compute performance.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 37, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, as the average FPS drops significantly from 66 at Low settings to 37 at Ultra settings, showing the frame rate scales heavily with graphics load rather than CPU capability.

Q: What is the delta percentage between the i7-13700K and its closest CPU rival?

A: The i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900's score of 46971, a negligible difference.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines, along with 28 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz, with memory running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is accessed via a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role is central to rendering the detailed terrain, aircraft models, and weather effects. The measured FPS data shows a clear correlation between GPU workload and performance. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 62 at Ultra to 111 at Low, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities are being exercised heavily as settings increase. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the combination of higher memory pressure and increased pixel count likely contributes to the lower frame rates observed, particularly at Ultra settings where the average drops to 37 FPS.

The GPU's pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are relevant to this game's visual complexity. Flight Simulator streams vast landscapes, and the texture rate helps determine how quickly ground details can be processed. The RX 9060's FP32 throughput of 21.43 TFLOPS provides the computational headroom for the game's physics and lighting calculations, though the benchmark results suggest that at higher resolutions, the GPU's 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB capacity become limiting factors, as evidenced by the steep performance drop from 1080p to 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which indicates the GPU is the dominant bottleneck in this configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 111 at 1080p to 89 at 1440p (a 19.8% reduction) and further to 66 at 4K (a 40.5% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU has sufficient headroom to feed frames, but the GPU struggles to fill more pixels.

At Medium settings, the same trend is visible: 86 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19.8%, and from 1080p to 4K is 40.7%, nearly identical to the Low settings scaling. This consistency suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline is being saturated at each resolution, and the settings level does not alter the fundamental bottleneck.

At High settings, the average FPS is 65 at 1080p, 52 at 1440p, and 39 at 4K. The percentage drops are 20% from 1080p to 1440p and 40% from 1080p to 4K, again showing a linear relationship with pixel count. Ultra settings follow the same pattern: 62 FPS at 1080p, 50 at 1440p, and 37 at 4K, with reductions of 19.4% and 40.3% respectively. The near-constant percentage drops across all settings strongly indicate that the limiting component is the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth, not the CPU or any other system element.

The data shows that the i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, is not the primary constraint at any resolution. The frame rate scaling with resolution is uniform, and the CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116, suggest it has ample processing power to handle the game's simulation logic. The GPU is clearly the component that determines performance in this title, and users seeking higher FPS at 4K would need to consider a more powerful graphics card.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1712th out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 57th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning, as the CPU is a high-end part that ranks in the 89th percentile against all CPUs. The disparity between the CPU's strong standing and the combo's overall rank underscores the GPU's role as the performance limiter in this game.

The RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 puts it in the 59th percentile against all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129 (0.7% higher). Other close competitors include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862, 1.0% lower) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852, 1.0% lower). These rivals are all within a 2.1% performance band, indicating that the RX 9060 sits in a tightly contested mid-range segment.

The CPU, in contrast, has an average benchmark score of 46881, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971) and 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022). The i7-13700K is also 0.5% higher than both the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX and Intel Xeon w3-2535, which score 46654 and 46653 respectively. This places the CPU in a highly competitive group where no rival has a significant advantage, but the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU's mid-tier position.

Given that the combo ranks 1712th out of 2996, it sits below the median, and the measured FPS data confirms this is a 1080p-centric configuration. At 4K, the average FPS at High settings is 39, which is below the playable threshold for many users, while at 1080p High, the average of 65 FPS is more acceptable. The ranking reflects the system's suitability for 1080p gaming rather than high-refresh or high-resolution play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across four settings levels and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 62 at Ultra to 111 at Low. The Medium setting yields 86 FPS on average, with a minimum of 73 and a maximum of 99, while High settings produce 65 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 22.5% decrease in performance, while the step from Medium to High is a 24.4% decrease, and from High to Ultra is a 4.6% decrease, indicating that the Ultra preset is only marginally more demanding than High at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 50 at Ultra, 52 at High, 69 at Medium, and 89 at Low. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 59 and a maximum of 80 FPS, suggesting some frame-time variance but still playable performance. The transition from Low to Medium reduces FPS by 22.5%, and from Medium to High by 24.6%, mirroring the 1080p scaling. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to 3.8%, which is consistent with the 1080p observation that Ultra offers minimal improvement over High.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 37 at Ultra, 39 at High, 51 at Medium, and 66 at Low. The Medium setting has a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 59 FPS, indicating that even at 4K, Medium settings can maintain playable frame rates, though the average of 51 is marginal. The drop from Low to Medium is 22.7%, from Medium to High is 23.5%, and from High to Ultra is 5.1%. The 4K results show the same relative scaling between settings as lower resolutions, confirming that the GPU's performance is consistently limited by its compute and memory resources.

The data also shows that the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at the same settings is roughly 40-45%, which aligns with the 4x pixel count increase, though the actual reduction is less than 75% due to other bottlenecks like memory latency. The minimum and maximum FPS values are only provided for Medium settings across all resolutions, showing a spread of 26 FPS at 1080p, 21 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K, indicating that frame times become more consistent at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 65 FPS, which is a solid balance between visual quality and performance. The Medium preset offers 86 FPS, which is more suitable for users with high-refresh monitors, while Ultra provides only 62 FPS, a marginal improvement over High that does not justify the performance cost. The Low preset at 111 FPS is excessive for most users, as the visual downgrade is significant, but it demonstrates the GPU's headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 52 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 69 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a comfortable frame rate while maintaining acceptable visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 50 FPS is not recommended, as the performance drop from High is minimal, and the Low preset at 89 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality. Users with adaptive sync displays may find the Medium preset's range of 59-80 FPS acceptable, but the average of 69 is the best balance.

At 3840x2160, the data shows that even Medium settings only achieve an average of 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS, which may be insufficient for smooth gameplay in a flight simulator where precise control is important. The Low preset at 66 FPS is the only setting that provides a truly playable experience at 4K, though it requires significant visual compromises. The High and Ultra presets at 39 and 37 FPS respectively are below the threshold for comfortable play, and users targeting 4K should consider the Low preset or a more powerful GPU.

For users with variable refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 1440p is the best overall choice, as it offers a balance of visual quality and performance that avoids the stutter seen at lower frame rates. At 1080p, the High preset is recommended for most users, as it provides 65 FPS with better visual fidelity than Medium. The data consistently shows that the Ultra preset offers negligible FPS gains over High across all resolutions, making it an inefficient choice for this GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its benchmark scores demonstrate strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a Passmark multithread score of 45887.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is primarily to handle the game's simulation logic, including flight physics, weather systems, and AI traffic. The game is known for being CPU-intensive, but the i7-13700K's single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2529 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4333, is more than adequate for this task. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the FPS scaling with resolution is consistent and uniform, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck.

The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample parallel processing capability, which is beneficial for the game's background tasks such as terrain loading and object streaming. However, the measured FPS data does not show any signs of CPU limitation, as even at 1080p Low settings (111 FPS), the frame rate is high and does not plateau at a level that would indicate CPU saturation. The CPU's 3DMark scores, such as 12412 for max threads and 10717 for 16 threads, further confirm its capability to feed the GPU without being a constraint.

The i7-13700K's 125W TDP and support for DDR5 memory contribute to its overall system performance, but in this specific game, the CPU's influence is secondary to the GPU. The combination's rank of 1712th out of 2996 is primarily determined by the RX 9060's mid-range position, and the CPU's high percentile ranking (89th) does not compensate for the GPU's limitations. Users considering this combination should prioritize GPU upgrades if they seek higher resolutions or settings, as the CPU has substantial headroom that is not being fully utilized in this title.