Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and visual fidelity. The measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT combination provides a clear picture of its capabilities across a range of settings. This analysis walks through the benchmark results to determine the optimal configuration and the role each component plays in shaping the experience.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data reveals a clear hierarchy of performance across the four available presets at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 125.3 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. The Medium preset still provides a highly playable 98.3 FPS, while High drops to 74.3 FPS and Ultra settles at 72.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is substantial, but even the most demanding preset remains comfortably above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve shifts downward, but the relationship between presets remains consistent. Low produces 99.1 FPS, Medium achieves 80.5 FPS, High reaches 59.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54.3 FPS. The High preset at this resolution is the first configuration where the average frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that visual quality settings have a direct and measurable impact on the playability ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the demands of the simulation become more pronounced. The Low preset still manages a respectable 74.3 FPS, but Medium drops to 59.0 FPS, High falls to 41.0 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 43.4 FPS. The data shows that the Ultra preset does not provide a meaningful advantage over High at 4K, with the difference being a mere 2.4 FPS. For the best balance of visual fidelity and smooth performance, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers a strong experience at 98.3 FPS, while the High preset at the same resolution remains viable at 74.3 FPS. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Low preset at 1080p provides the highest frame rate without exception.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. Its boost clock reaches 2600 MHz, with a game clock of 2495 MHz. The GPU’s performance percentile of 79 indicates it sits above the majority of tested graphics cards, and its average benchmark score of 35327 places it in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, which trails by just 1.3 percent.

The GPU’s role in Microsoft Flight Simulator is most evident in the resolution scaling of frame rates. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 74.3 FPS, which matches the Low preset result at 3840x2160 exactly. This suggests that at lower resolutions, the GPU has ample headroom, but at 4K, the workload becomes significantly more intensive. The measured data shows that the RX 6750 XT can handle the Low preset at 4K with 74.3 FPS, but the High preset at the same resolution drops to 41.0 FPS, revealing a steep performance cost for increased visual complexity.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a notable asset for this simulation, as detailed scenery and high-resolution textures can consume significant memory. However, the benchmark results indicate that raw compute throughput, rather than memory capacity alone, is the limiting factor when moving from Medium to High or Ultra presets at higher resolutions. The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure it can leverage modern rendering APIs, but the data shows that the 432.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the measured presets without becoming a bottleneck at 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core processor with 28 threads, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.10 GHz can boost up to 5.40 GHz, and it includes 33 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s percentile rank of 94 places it in the upper echelon of all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 54097. This score is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, which posts a delta of -0.6 percent, meaning the i7-14700F is marginally ahead.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s contribution is most apparent in the consistency of frame rates across different resolutions at the same settings. For example, the High preset produces 74.3 FPS at both 1920x1080 and 3840x2160. This identical result suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, but the CPU is capable of maintaining a steady frame delivery without introducing variability. The strong multi-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443, ensures that the simulation’s complex physics and AI calculations are handled efficiently.

The single-threaded performance is equally important for this genre, and the CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 4261 reflects its ability to handle the primary game thread. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz provides the high frequency needed for such workloads. The data shows that the CPU does not become a limiting factor in any of the measured configurations, as frame rates scale predictably with GPU load rather than showing erratic drops that would indicate a processor bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT places this configuration at rank 863 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This position in the middle of the overall distribution reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely limits the other. The CPU’s high percentile rank of 94 is offset by the GPU’s more moderate 79th percentile, resulting in a system that performs admirably but does not reach the upper echelons of the ranking.

Relative to other tested combinations, this setup demonstrates that the CPU is capable of supporting more powerful graphics cards, but the RX 6750 XT caps the overall frame rates. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, scores 1.3 percent higher on average, which suggests that this combination would perform similarly to a system pairing the i7-14700F with that GPU. The rank of 863 indicates that while there are many faster configurations, there are also numerous slower ones, placing this combo in a solid mid-tier position for this demanding simulation.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the frame rate drops from 125.3 FPS at 1080p to 99.1 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 26.2 FPS, and then to 74.3 FPS at 4K, a further reduction of 24.8 FPS. This linear scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component at lower settings, as the workload increases proportionally with pixel count.

For the High preset, the scaling is less uniform. At 1080p, the average is 74.3 FPS, which drops to 59.8 FPS at 1440p and then to 41.0 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 19.5 percent, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 31.4 percent. This accelerating decline at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources become increasingly strained, while the CPU maintains consistent performance.

The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with 72.6 FPS at 1080p, 54.3 FPS at 1440p, and 43.4 FPS at 4K. The fact that the Ultra preset at 4K performs nearly identically to the High preset at the same resolution, with a difference of only 2.4 FPS, indicates that the GPU has reached a threshold where additional visual settings have diminishing returns. The data strongly suggests that the RX 6750 XT is the limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU’s performance headroom cannot compensate for the GPU’s finite rendering capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 125.3 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a significant improvement over High at 1080p?

A: No, the difference is minimal. The High preset delivers 74.3 FPS, while Ultra achieves 72.6 FPS, a margin of just 1.7 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. At 4K, the High preset produces 41.0 FPS, while the same preset at 1080p yields 74.3 FPS, showing the GPU struggles with the increased pixel count.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 863 out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the performance distribution.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 achieves an average of 80.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is there a resolution where all presets remain above 60 FPS?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080, all four presets exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 125.3 FPS, Medium at 98.3 FPS, High at 74.3 FPS, and Ultra at 72.6 FPS.