Microsoft Flight Simulator

This dataset pairs the Intel Core i9-14900K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 running Microsoft Flight Simulator, a sim released on 2020-08-17. The CPU carries a launch MSRP of $589, and the GPU carries a launch MSRP of 599 USD. All figures below are measured data, placing this combo at rank 833 out of 3,714 tested configuration. The details illuminate how a 24-core CPU and a 12GB mid-range GPU split the heavy world-simulation load of this flight title.

How This Combo Ranks

The pair sits 833rd out of 3,714 tested combos, casting it firmly into the upper zone of the database but far from the top. On relative standings, the CPU alone holds the 95th percentile among all processors benchmarked, while the GPU holds the 81st percentile among all GPUs benchmarked — so the rank of 833 is lower than either component’s individual rank would hint at. That gap suggests the workload of Flight Simulator depends heavily on the pairing of both components, not just raw part performance.

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 79,097, sitting beside a tight cluster of rivals. For instance, the Intel Core i9-14900KF (average score 79,371) measures 0.3% higher than this i9-14900K, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79,574) shows a 0.6% advantage. On the other side, the AMD EPYC 7413 (80,041) is 1.2% higher, while the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (77,740) trails by 1.7%. With these near-identical scores, CPU choice between these parts is virtually noise; the ranking shifts from there. For the GPU, the RTX 4070 average score of 37,648 places it close to the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628 +0.1%), AMD Radeon Vega 56 (37,507, +0.4%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, -1.3%) — the last being 1.3% faster. In sheer rank terms, 833 lies in the top 22% of all combos, which aligns with the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s decent standing, but the sim’s heavy request for both memory bandwidth and core workloads keeps it from climbing higher in this high-frequency pool.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 depends on 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit interface, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Clocks sit at 1920 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, with a total transistor drag of 35,800 million on a 5nm process from TSMC. This memory configuration noticeably shapes its behavior in Flight Simulator. With a raw passage score of 26,927 in 3DMark’s PASS? Actually, the S3 mark Steel Nomad is 3,721, but the relevant game rendering sits on the VAST demands of earth tiles. The role of VRAM becomes clear in the measured FPS: at 4K Ultra, it holds an average of 55 fps, exactly one frame below the 4K High rate of 57 fps.

The 12GB pool is sufficient to load the imagery and autogen, which the 4K Medium row (76 avg, min 65, max 88) shows staying above the expected frametime threshold. Despite that, the card’s performance class is modest.; beyond the 1920 MHz base clock, the boost to 2475 MHz is essentially the same silicon found in desktop midh run. Its overall score of 37,648 places it—if you check the nearest rivals—at the center of a set: the Tesla P4 is 0.1% slower, the Vega 56 is 0.4% slower, the Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% slower, and the RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster. With 12GB of the fastest GDDR6X and a 504.2 GB/s bus, this GPU handles the photogrammetry of Flight Simulator without regard for swapping, yet it still has no room at 4K Ultra (55 avg). The lack of a minimum row for Low on 4K (98) hints the card is the primary constraint at those resolution points, leaving the i9’s raw instruct CRC untested.

FAQ

Q: What is the core configuration of the Intel Core i9-14900K already used here?

A: It is a 24-core, 32-thread part from the Raptor Lake-R generation, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost of 6.00 GHz, sharing 36 MB of L3 cache across all cores.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in raw compute score?

A: The 4070’s average GPU score is 37,648. The Tesla P4 scores 1hr 1hr? (exactly 37,628) which is .1% lower. The Vega 56 scores 37,507, the RTX 4080 Mobile 38,135 (1.3% higher), and the Radeon PRO W6400 37,157 (1.3% lower chance).

Q: What is the worst framerate documented across all settings/resolution?

A: The lowest single recorded FPS is at 4K Medium’s minimum – 65 fps, while the highest average is 165 fps at 1080p Low. The (ultra) remains at 55 fps at 4K Ultra.

Q: Does the RTX 4070’s 12GB VRAM suffice for 4K Flight Simulator?

A: Yes. The 12 GB GDDR6X with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth allows 4K Ultra to score 55 fps average, and 4K Low 98. This indicates no VRAM-prepress path among the data points.

Q: Which memory bus do the Ti, i.e., the GPU uses?

A: The GPU has a 192-bit memory bus, with 12 GB GDDR6X at 1313 MHz, reaching 21 Gbps effective per second , giving 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Are the CPU’s nearest rivals a big leap?

A: No. the i9-14900KF is 0.3% higher relative to this i9-14900K, the Ultra 9 290HX Plus 0.6% higher, the EPYC 7413 1.2% higher, and the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 lags 1.7%. The differences are minimal.

Measured FPS Breakdown

A full set of measured junctions for the i9-14900K + RTX 4070 in Flight Simulator:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min | Max |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 165 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 128 | 109 | 147 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 96 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 92 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 133 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 103 | 88 | 119 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 78 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 74 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 98 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 76 | 65 | 88 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 57 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 55 | - | - |

The Medium preset is the only tier anywhere with min/max recorded, giving the tables a sense for variance. For instance, at 1080p Medium, frame time swings from 109 to 147 (a 38-frame delta), while at 1440p Medium spans 88 to 119, and at 4K Medium 65 to 88. It is that range data that informs why Medium is the recommended in the Settings section below.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops move nearly monotonically as the resolution rises. In Low, 1080p hits 165 fps, drops 32 to 133 at 1440p, and then 35 more to 98 at 4K – a total 67 fps loss from the lightest -> to the heaviest. In Medium, 1080p gives 128, 1440p gives 103 (25 fps lower), and 4K gives 76 (another 27 off). High: 96 to 78 (18 down), then 57 at 4K (another 21 loss). Ultra: 92 to 74 (18 down) and then 55 (19 more). The gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently smaller than 1080p to 1440p in four of four settings (Low: 35 vs 32; Medium: 27 vs 25; High: 21 vs 18; Ultra:19 vs 18). This inverts the typical GPU-bound pattern where the 4K hit is larger. It implies the CPU - the i9-14900K with its button 6.0 GHz boost - is carrying more of the frame load at lower resolutions, and the scaling penalty from 1440p to 4K becomes modest as the fill-rate of the VRAM comes into play.

Given that sprint, the GPU is far from maxed at 1080p: at 1080p Low, 165 FPS is close to the 133 at 1440p? no, 133 is lower. The data shows that 1080p Low 165, 1440p Low 133 - at least 32%, but the drop is expected with pixel count. Yet because the from 1440p to 4K only adds 21% more in the Ultra case, the Radeon– or 407- limits are not the main brake at 1080p; the sim’s single fra scene and CPU world writ large bottleneck the frame time before resolution does.

Settings Recommendations

The safest and most consistent being “Medium” because that’s the only preset where the measured data includes frame minima/maxima, giving purple confidence. At 4K, Medium yields 76 FPS average with a 65 FPS minimum — above perceived smooth range for a flight simulator. While High (57 average) and Ultra (55) show visibly higher quality, both dip below 60 averages, so Medium provides the best situational experience if you prefer a floor above critical. At 1440p, Medium (mean 103, min 88) is almost identical to High’s 78—and again, the topping. Ultra at 1440p hits 74, so Medium is fine. At 1080p, High (96) and Ultra (92) are within 11% of each other, but Medium jumps to 128 with min of 109, which is measurably more stable for shooting. Thus the recommendation stands: in Microsoft Flight Simulator, for this i9-14900K and 4070 pair, select Medium to lock the frame higher range; for Ultra quality mid-range, makes use the 35.0 fps headroom over the severe frame decays.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K features 24 cores (32 threads) and a 3.20 GHz base and a single-core boost clock of 6.00 GHz,