Microsoft Flight Simulator

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT produces a capable 1440p and 1080p experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with the data indicating that 4K Ultra remains out of reach for smooth gameplay. The measured frames per second across resolutions show a clear pattern: the RX 6800 XT’s 16 GB of VRAM and high memory bandwidth keep the simulator stable, while the Core Ultra 5 225’s 10 cores provide adequate single-thread headroom for the flight sim’s engine. The benchmark results place this combination in the 31st percentile of all tested combos, ranking 1156 out of 3714, which is a solid mid-pack result for a demanding title.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with average FPS ranging from 85 at Ultra to 153 at Low. At 2560x1440, the combo still performs well, with averages from 69 at Ultra to 123 at Low. At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops below 60 at High and Ultra settings, making it less ideal for smooth play.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT’s VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The RX 6800 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is sufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s high-resolution textures, as evidenced by the playable average FPS at 1440p High (72 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (85 FPS), with no data suggesting VRAM-related stutters.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 a bottleneck for the RX 6800 XT here?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a major bottleneck. The Core Ultra 5 225 has 10 cores and 10 threads with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its single-core performance, indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655, aligns well with the GPU’s output, as the FPS scales predictably with resolution changes, implying GPU-bound behavior at higher settings.

Q: What settings preset offers the most balanced experience at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 96 FPS average with a minimum of 82 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with a significant jump from High’s 72 FPS, while still maintaining visual quality above Low’s 123 FPS.

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

A: The combo ranks 1156 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the 31st percentile. This indicates it outperforms roughly two-thirds of all tested combos in this game, though it is not near the top tier of performance.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra settings in this game?

A: No, the data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 51, which is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth. Even at High settings, the average is only 53 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the primary driver of frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with its memory subsystem proving critical for the game’s extensive terrain and aircraft detail. The GPU’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, paired with a 256-bit bus, delivers a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. This high bandwidth is essential for streaming the large textures and geometry data that the simulator generates, allowing the card to maintain consistent performance across the measured presets.

The GPU’s clock speeds, with a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, provide the raw compute power needed for the sim’s rendering workload. The architecture, RDNA 2.0 on a 7 nm process, includes 4608 shading units and 72 ray accelerators, which contribute to its DirectX 12 Ultimate support. In the measured results, the RX 6800 XT shows a clear performance curve: at 1080p, it scales from 153 FPS on Low to 85 FPS on Ultra, while at 1440p, it ranges from 123 FPS on Low to 69 FPS on Ultra.

The GPU’s role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. At 4K, the card’s limits are exposed, with average FPS dropping to 91 on Low but falling to 53 on High and 51 on Ultra. This indicates that while the VRAM is sufficient, the raw fill rate and shader processing power are not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum details. The data shows that the RX 6800 XT is best positioned for 1080p and 1440p gaming in this title, where its 16 GB buffer and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are fully utilized without hitting compute bottlenecks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. For a balanced experience at 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers 119 FPS average with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 137 FPS, providing a smooth and responsive feel for flight controls. This preset strikes a good balance between visual fidelity and performance, as High drops to 90 FPS and Ultra to 85 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation. The data shows 96 FPS average, with a minimum of 82 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over High’s 72 FPS and Ultra’s 69 FPS, while still delivering a much richer visual experience than Low’s 123 FPS. The minimum FPS of 82 ensures that even complex scenes with dense scenery will remain fluid.

For 3840x2160, no preset achieves a consistent 60 FPS average. The Low preset hits 91 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it borderline. High and Ultra are not recommended, as their averages of 53 and 51 FPS respectively will result in noticeable stutter. The data suggests that users with 4K displays should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for the best experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Microsoft Flight Simulator with this hardware configuration reveals a consistent performance hierarchy across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS of 153, followed by Medium at 119 FPS (with a range of 101 to 137 FPS), High at 90 FPS, and Ultra at 85 FPS. This shows a 44% performance difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 123 for Low, 96 for Medium (with a range of 82 to 110 FPS), 72 for High, and 69 for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 44 FPS, but the relative drop from High to Ultra is minimal at just 3 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset’s additional graphical effects have a diminishing impact on performance at this resolution, making High a more efficient choice if visual quality is desired.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down significantly. The Low preset achieves 91 FPS, Medium hits 71 FPS (with a range of 60 to 81 FPS), High drops to 53 FPS, and Ultra falls to 51 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is negligible, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 60 is the only setting at 4K that guarantees a stable frame rate, making it the highest playable option for this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination ranks 1156 out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 31st percentile of all results. This rank indicates that the combo performs better than the majority of systems tested, though it is far from the top tier. The data suggests that this pairing is well-suited for the game’s requirements, but it does not dominate the leaderboard.

To contextualize this rank, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 36938 places it near the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945 with a deltaPct of 0, and just above the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018 with a deltaPct of -0.2. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 48477 is slightly above the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile’s 47743 (deltaPct of 1.5) but below the Intel Arc A550M’s 49737 (deltaPct of -2.5). These benchmark scores align with the combo’s mid-pack ranking, showing that neither component is a standout performer but they work effectively together.

The rank of 1156 out of 3714 means that roughly 68% of tested combos outperform this one. This is expected for a mid-range CPU paired with a previous-generation high-end GPU. The data shows that the combo is more than capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it falls short of the performance needed for high-refresh-rate 4K gaming in this simulator.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a supporting but crucial role in Microsoft Flight Simulator’s performance, as the game’s engine relies heavily on single-threaded CPU performance for simulation logic. The CPU features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This boost clock is critical for the game’s main thread, which handles physics, AI, and flight dynamics.

The CPU’s benchmark scores highlight its capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 25891 in multi-core and 3655 in single-core, the latter being particularly relevant for this game. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4412 further confirms strong single-core performance. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per core L2 cache help reduce latency for the simulation data, while the 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth on a dual-channel DDR5 interface ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without bottlenecking.

In the measured results, the CPU’s role is evident in the FPS scaling. At 1080p, the difference between Low (153 FPS) and Ultra (85 FPS) is 68 FPS, showing that the GPU is the primary limiter at lower resolutions. However, at 4K, the difference between Low (91 FPS) and Ultra (51 FPS) is 40 FPS, indicating that the CPU still provides enough headroom for the GPU to work at its limits. The Core Ultra 5 225’s performance, compared to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F which has a nearly identical average score, confirms that it is a solid match for the RX 6800 XT in this demanding simulation title.