Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents an unusual scaling curve for the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The data shows a 208.3 FPS average at 1080p Low settings, which drops to 69.9 FPS at 4K High settings. This wide spread indicates a system that is heavily front-end limited at lower resolutions, but becomes progressively more balanced as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second reveal a steep and consistent decline as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the system produces 208.3 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is doing most of the heavy lifting. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 170.1 FPS, a reduction of 38.2 FPS or roughly 18.3% from the baseline. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 122 FPS, which still represents a highly playable experience but shows a 41.4% reduction from the 1080p Low result.

The scaling pattern changes when looking at higher presets. At High settings, the system delivers 121.4 FPS at 1080p, 100.2 FPS at 1440p, and 69.9 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 17.5%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 30.2%. This widening gap between successive resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at 4K, particularly when the graphics workload increases. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with 115.9 FPS at 1080p, 95.6 FPS at 1440p, and 67.5 FPS at 4K.

The Low preset tells the clearest story about the CPU’s headroom. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 208.3 FPS, but at 4K Low it still manages 122 FPS. This suggests that even at 4K, the CPU is not fully saturated, as the frame rate remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the average dips to 67.5 FPS, while the i7-14700KF can push much higher frame rates when the GPU is not the constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, running on a 10 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it carries 33 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 44,557 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,290 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile against all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 70,104 puts it virtually tied with the Intel Core i7-14700K, which scores 70,074, a delta of 0%.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s influence is most visible at lower resolutions and lower graphics presets. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 208.3 FPS, which is 71.2% higher than the 4K High result. This indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than the GPU can render at higher settings. The gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 38.2 FPS, while the gap between 1440p Low and 4K Low is 48.1 FPS, showing that the CPU’s advantage diminishes as resolution increases.

Flight simulators are known for their reliance on single-thread performance, and the i7-14700KF’s 5.60 GHz boost clock and 6,290 Cinebench R23 single-core score are strong assets. The processor’s 20 cores and 28 threads also help with background tasks and AI traffic simulation, though the benchmark data does not isolate these effects. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking suggests it is among the top 4% of all CPUs tested, which is consistent with the high frame rates observed at 1080p Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 379 mm² and 45,900 million transistors. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and it offers 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. In synthetic tests, it scores 34,245 in Passmark G3D and 19,822 in Passmark GPU Compute, placing it in the 88th percentile against all GPUs.

The GPU’s role becomes dominant at 4K resolution, particularly with higher presets. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 67.5, which is only 3.4 FPS lower than the 4K High result of 69.9 FPS. This small delta between High and Ultra at 4K suggests that the GPU is already near its limit, and additional graphical fidelity has diminishing returns. In contrast, at 1080p, the difference between High and Ultra is 5.5 FPS (121.4 vs. 115.9), showing that the GPU has more headroom at lower resolutions.

Comparing the RTX 4080 SUPER to its nearest rivals, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT scores 53,489 in average benchmark, which is 0.2% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 53,610. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 0.4% lower, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700S is 2.1% lower. This indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is well-positioned among its peers, though not dramatically ahead. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is ample for Flight Simulator’s high-resolution textures, and the 736.3 GB/s bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame rates when flying over detailed scenery.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 208.3, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the peak performance point for this CPU-GPU pairing.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 121.4 at 1080p to 69.9 at 4K, a reduction of 51.5 FPS or approximately 42.4%. This indicates a significant GPU workload increase at 4K.

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

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS is 67.5. The CPU is capable of higher frame rates, as evidenced by the 122 FPS at 4K Low, so the GPU is the bottleneck at Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the RX 6900 XT in average benchmark?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53,610, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT’s score of 53,489. This is a negligible difference in synthetic testing.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield 127.8 FPS, while High settings yield 100.2 FPS. The difference is 27.6 FPS, meaning Medium provides a 27.5% higher frame rate than High at this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU’s single-core performance matter for this game?

A: Yes, the i7-14700KF’s single-core score of 6,290 in Cinebench R23 is relevant because Flight Simulator benefits from high single-thread performance. The 5.60 GHz boost clock supports this, though the measured data does not isolate this effect.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 161.3 FPS, which is substantially smoother than the High preset’s 121.4 FPS while still offering better visuals than Low. The 39.9 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1080p is significant, making Medium the best choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset provides 127.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings at 1440p drop to 100.2 FPS, which is still playable but less comfortable for fast maneuvers. The Ultra preset at 95.6 FPS offers only a 4.6 FPS improvement over High, suggesting that the visual gains are minimal relative to the performance cost. Medium is the recommended preset at 1440p for consistent frame times.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. High settings produce 69.9 FPS, while Medium produces 92.9 FPS. The 23 FPS gap between these two presets is substantial, and High is only marginally above the 60 FPS baseline. Ultra at 4K drops to 67.5 FPS, which is only 2.4 FPS lower than High, indicating that Ultra is not worth the performance hit. For 4K, Medium is the best option, as it stays comfortably above 90 FPS while maintaining acceptable visual fidelity.

The Low preset is only recommended for competitive or maximum-frame-rate scenarios, as it produces 208.3 FPS at 1080p and 122 FPS at 4K. However, the visual degradation is severe, and the data shows that Medium offers a reasonable compromise between performance and quality across all three resolutions. For users with 120Hz or higher displays, Medium at 1440p (127.8 FPS) is the sweet spot, while those on 60Hz 4K displays can safely use High (69.9 FPS) without dropping below the refresh rate threshold.