Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti reveals a predictable but instructive performance curve as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 162.2 FPS, which drops to 131.5 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 93.5 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 42.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that even at the lowest preset, the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Low is 30.7 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K Low is 38.0 FPS, showing that the 4K jump is the more punishing transition.

At Medium settings, the pattern holds: 126.9 FPS at 1080p, 100.1 FPS at 1440p, and 75.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K Medium is 40.5%, nearly identical to the Low preset's scaling. High settings tell a similar story with 93.6 FPS at 1080p, 79.6 FPS at 1440p, and 59.1 FPS at 4K — a 36.9% decline from the lowest to highest resolution. Ultra settings produce 91.2 FPS at 1080p, 75.4 FPS at 1440p, and 53.8 FPS at 4K, a 41.0% reduction.

The data indicates that the RTX 3080 Ti is the limiting component at 4K across all presets, as the FPS drops are steep and consistent regardless of settings. However, at 1080p, the CPU begins to assert itself: the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 71.0 FPS (162.2 vs. 91.2), whereas at 4K the same settings spread is just 39.7 FPS (93.5 vs. 53.8). This compression at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as pixel count rises, while the i7-13700K's headroom is more visible at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU pairing achieves a combo rank of 461 out of 1,795 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the top 25.7% of all combos, which is a strong showing for a flight simulator known for its demanding rendering of terrain and weather systems. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing: the i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample compute for the simulation's physics and AI, while the RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory handles the high-resolution textures.

The CPU itself sits in the 93rd percentile compared to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47,282. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700KF (delta of -0.1%), AMD EPYC 4364P (delta of +0.3%), Intel Core i9-12900F (delta of +0.4%), and AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 (delta of -0.5%). These deltas are all within one percentage point, meaning the i7-13700K is essentially tied with its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks — the differences are noise-level. For the GPU, the RTX 3080 Ti ranks in the 83rd percentile with an average score of 41,224. Its nearest rivals are the RTX 3090 (delta -0.5%), AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (delta -0.9%), RTX 5070 (delta -1.1%), and Tesla M40 (delta -1.6%). Again, all within 2% of each other, suggesting the 3080 Ti is firmly in a performance tier with these cards.

Given the combo rank, the data suggests this pairing is well-matched for flight simulation, as it lands in the upper quartile without being a top-tier outlier. The 4K Ultra result of 53.8 FPS is playable but not silky-smooth, which aligns with the combo's mid-upper tier positioning.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, with 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. The card features 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS — though the measured FPS data here does not include ray tracing or DLSS-enabled runs. The GPU's boost clock is 1665 MHz, with a base clock of 1365 MHz, and memory runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) across a 384-bit bus, yielding 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is a critical asset for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain and photogrammetry data at high resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 53.8 FPS, and the memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s is likely sufficient to feed the GPU's 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute without stalling. The pixel rate of 186.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 532.8 GTexel/s are high enough to handle the simulator's detailed cockpit instruments and ground textures.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability: it scores 26,896 in Passmark G3D and 15,282 in Passmark GPU Compute, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,077. Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 191,309 and 171,798, respectively. These figures place the card in the 83rd percentile, and its nearest rival is the RTX 3090, which is only 0.5% ahead — a negligible margin. In practice, the 3080 Ti's performance in this game is characterized by strong scaling from 1080p to 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset pushes it to the edge of playability at 53.8 FPS.

FAQ

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

A: At 1440p, the combo delivers 79.6 FPS on High and 75.4 FPS on Ultra, which are both smooth and visually rich. At 4K, Ultra drops to 53.8 FPS, so 1440p offers the best balance of fidelity and frame rate.

Q: How much FPS does the combo lose when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: On Low settings, the drop is from 162.2 FPS to 93.5 FPS (68.7 FPS loss). On Ultra, it falls from 91.2 FPS to 53.8 FPS (37.4 FPS loss). The absolute loss is larger at lower settings, but the percentage drop is similar.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti or the i7-13700K the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as FPS drops steeply with resolution increases across all presets. At 1080p, the CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide enough headroom that the GPU becomes less saturated.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 461st out of 1,795 combos, placing it in the top 25.7%. This is a strong result for a flight simulator, which typically favors high single-thread performance and substantial GPU memory.

Q: Can this combo run Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, Ultra at 1080p yields 91.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 912.4 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the simulator's texture streaming at this resolution.

Q: What settings provide the highest frame rate at 4K?

A: Low settings at 4K produce 93.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 75.5 FPS, High at 59.1 FPS, and Ultra at 53.8 FPS. Low is the only preset that clears 90 FPS at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four preset levels, all with average FPS values (no min or max FPS recorded). At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 162.2 FPS, Medium 126.9 FPS, High 93.6 FPS, and Ultra 91.2 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 71.0 FPS, with High and Ultra nearly identical (a 2.4 FPS difference). This suggests that beyond High, the visual gains of Ultra come at minimal frame rate cost at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 131.5 FPS, Medium 100.1 FPS, High 79.6 FPS, and Ultra 75.4 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 31.4 FPS, from Medium to High is 20.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra is just 4.2 FPS. The diminishing returns are clear: High to Ultra is nearly free, while Low to Medium is the most expensive step.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 93.5 FPS, Medium 75.5 FPS, High 59.1 FPS, and Ultra 53.8 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 18.0 FPS, Medium to High costs 16.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 5.3 FPS. At 4K, every preset step is more costly than at lower resolutions, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of this resolution.

Cross-resolution comparisons show that 1440p High (79.6 FPS) is just above 4K Low (93.5 FPS is higher, but 1440p High is the closest match in visual quality). The 4K Ultra result of 53.8 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire dataset, making it the sole borderline-playable scenario.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and its PCIe Gen 5 interface provides 20 lanes for the CPU.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i7-13700K scores 39,000 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,505 in single-core, indicating strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. Geekbench scores are 17,731 multi-core and 2,850 single-core. Passmark multi-thread scores 45,887, with single-thread at 4,333. These results place the CPU in the 93rd percentile, with an average score of 47,282.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is critical for the simulation's physics, flight model, and AI traffic. The 24 threads allow the simulator to distribute these tasks effectively, while the 5.40 GHz boost clock handles the game's primary thread, which is often the bottleneck in flight sims. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (162.2 FPS) suggests the CPU can feed the GPU up to that level, as the GPU is not fully taxed at that resolution. At 1080p Ultra, the FPS is 91.2, which is likely still CPU-limited given the GPU's headroom at lower settings. The near-identical results between High and Ultra at 1080p (93.6 vs. 91.2) further indicate that the CPU is the constraining factor in that range.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the resolution target and the desired frame rate floor. For 4K, the only preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS is Low at 93.5 FPS. Medium at 75.5 FPS is also playable, but High at 59.1 FPS and Ultra at 53.8 FPS dip below the 60 FPS threshold. For 4K users, Low or Medium is recommended, as the visual difference between Medium and High may not justify the 16.4 FPS cost.

At 1440p, all four presets clear 75 FPS, with Low at 131.5 FPS and Medium at 100.1 FPS. High at 79.6 FPS and Ultra at 75.4 FPS are both smooth, and the gap between them is only 4.2 FPS. For 1440p, Ultra is the best choice for maximum visual fidelity, as the frame rate penalty over High is minimal. The data shows that 1440p Ultra (75.4 FPS) outperforms 4K High (59.1 FPS), making 1440p the sweet spot for this combo.

At 1080p, even Ultra delivers 91.2 FPS, and High is nearly identical at 93.6 FPS. Low at 162.2 FPS is excessive for most users, but it demonstrates the CPU's capability. For 1080p, High or Ultra is recommended, as the difference between them is negligible (2.4 FPS). The overall best experience across all resolutions is 1440p Ultra, which provides 75.4 FPS with the highest settings — a balance that neither 4K (which requires sacrificing settings) nor 1080p (which leaves GPU headroom unused) can match.