Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents one of the most demanding rendering workloads in the benchmark database, and the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 produces a dataset that clearly illustrates the balance between CPU and GPU limitations. The measured frames per second across four resolutions and four quality presets reveal a component pairing that scales predictably, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count rises. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling behavior, the specific roles of the processor and graphics card, the exact measured figures, and where this combo stands relative to other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and consistent pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 126 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p, then to 75 at 4K. This represents a 40.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that even at the lowest graphical load, the rendering pipeline is heavily influenced by the resolution-dependent work. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs 24 FPS, while the step from 1440p to 4K costs another 27 FPS, showing a slightly steepening curve as pixel count grows.

At the Medium preset, the scaling follows a similar trajectory but with lower absolute values. The average FPS moves from 98 at 1080p, to 79 at 1440p, and finally to 59 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 20 FPS, which is a nearly linear decline. Interestingly, the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings show a proportional relationship: 84 at 1080p, 67 at 1440p, and 50 at 4K. These minimums are consistently about 14-15% below the averages, suggesting that frame time variance remains relatively stable across resolutions rather than becoming more erratic at higher pixel counts.

The High preset exhibits the most constrained scaling behavior. From 74 FPS at 1080p, the average falls to 60 at 1440p (a 19% drop) and then to 44 at 4K (a 27% drop from 1440p). The 4K High result of 44 FPS is particularly telling, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider the baseline for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset shows the lowest overall performance, with 70 FPS at 1080p, 57 at 1440p, and 42 at 4K. The gap between High and Ultra at each resolution is relatively small (4 FPS at 1080p, 3 FPS at 1440p, and 2 FPS at 4K), which suggests that the Ultra preset's additional graphical features are not the primary bottleneck.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts as resolution changes. At 1080p, the gap between Low (126 FPS) and Ultra (70 FPS) is 56 FPS, showing that the GPU has headroom to render more complex scenes. At 4K, the same gap narrows to 33 FPS (75 vs 42), which implies that the GPU is approaching its maximum throughput and the incremental cost of higher presets becomes relatively larger. The overall pattern suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU has a more significant role in determining the ceiling, while at 4K, the GPU's raw pixel-pushing capability becomes the dominant factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This memory configuration is substantial for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for loading large texture sets and terrain data. The 16 GB capacity means that at 4K Ultra settings, the GPU is unlikely to exceed its frame buffer, which is corroborated by the fact that the 4K Ultra result (42 FPS) is only 2 FPS lower than the 4K High result (44 FPS). If VRAM capacity were a limiting factor, the gap between High and Ultra at 4K would likely be larger due to texture swapping.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The boost clock represents a 29.4% increase over the base clock, which is a typical range for RDNA 3.0 architecture. The measured FPS data suggests that the GPU is able to sustain high clocks under load, as the 1080p Low result of 126 FPS indicates a high degree of utilization without thermal throttling. The GPU's 40 ray accelerators and 2560 shading units provide the computational resources needed for the game's lighting and shadow calculations, but the data shows that these features have a measurable cost at higher presets.

The RX 7700's nearest rivals in the database provide context for its performance class. The AMD Radeon R9 370X has an average score that is 0.1% lower, while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is 1% ahead, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 1.1% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% ahead. These small percentage differences indicate that the RX 7700 sits in a tightly contested performance tier. In Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically, the GPU's percentile rank of 58 versus all GPUs suggests it is above the median but not in the top tier, which aligns with the measured FPS results showing playable but not exceptional frame rates at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 provides 10 cores and 10 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This configuration lacks hyper-threading, which means each core handles a single thread. For Microsoft Flight Simulator, which typically utilizes multiple cores for simulation physics, AI traffic, and terrain streaming, the 10 physical cores are generally sufficient, but the lack of additional threads could limit performance in heavily populated areas of the simulation.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The 20 MB L3 cache is particularly relevant for flight simulation, as it helps store frequently accessed terrain and aircraft data. The processor's memory support is DDR5 with a dual-channel interface, providing 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This bandwidth is adequate for feeding the GPU, but it is not exceptionally high compared to other modern desktop processors.

The Core Ultra 5 225's benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 3655 points in single-core and 25891 points in multi-core. The single-core score is particularly important for flight simulation, as the main rendering thread often depends on single-thread performance. The CPU's nearest rivals show it is competitive with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (0.2% behind), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (0.4% behind), and Intel Core i9-12900T (0.5% behind). These tiny deltas mean that the choice of CPU among these options would have a negligible impact on flight simulation performance.

The measured FPS data at 1080p Low (126 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (70 FPS) demonstrates that the CPU is capable of driving the GPU to high frame rates when the graphical load is light. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra produces lower FPS than 4K Low (75 FPS) suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions; rather, the GPU's workload dominates. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node (TSMC foundry) indicate efficient power delivery, which allows sustained boost clocks without excessive heat generation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows the following average frame rates: Low achieves 126 FPS, Medium achieves 98 FPS with a minimum of 84 and maximum of 113, High achieves 74 FPS, and Ultra achieves 70 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at this resolution with min/max data, showing a 29 FPS variance between minimum and maximum. The step from Low to Medium is 28 FPS, from Medium to High is 24 FPS, and from High to Ultra is only 4 FPS. This last small gap indicates that the transition from High to Ultra adds relatively little visual benefit for the performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 102, Medium at 79 with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 91, High at 60, and Ultra at 57. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs 24 FPS at Low, 19 FPS at Medium, 14 FPS at High, and 13 FPS at Ultra. The diminishing absolute cost as preset quality increases suggests that the GPU is already working hard at higher presets, so the resolution increase has a smaller proportional impact. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a 24 FPS variance between minimum and maximum, which is slightly narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to: Low at 75, Medium at 59 with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 67, High at 44, and Ultra at 42. The Medium preset at 4K has a 17 FPS variance between minimum and maximum, which is the narrowest of any resolution for this preset. This suggests that at 4K, the frame rate is more consistent, likely because the GPU is consistently saturated. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 2 FPS, which is the smallest gap between any two consecutive presets across all resolutions.

Comparing across all resolutions and settings, the best case scenario is 1080p Low at 126 FPS, while the worst case is 4K Ultra at 42 FPS. The 4K High result of 44 FPS is only marginally better than 4K Ultra, indicating that users on 4K displays should consider the Ultra preset since the performance cost is minimal. The 1440p High result of 60 FPS is exactly at the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that 1440p is the practical ceiling for high-quality gameplay with this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1324 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the 44.2nd percentile of all combinations, meaning that 44.2% of tested combos perform worse and 55.8% perform better. This is a mid-pack ranking, which is consistent with the GPU's 58th percentile ranking versus all GPUs and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking versus all CPUs.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile (85) and the GPU's lower percentile (58) indicates that the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the graphics card. The CPU is clearly capable of feeding the GPU, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 126 FPS, but the GPU's limited throughput at higher resolutions and settings caps the overall performance. This suggests that users with this combo who want better flight simulation performance would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU upgrade.

The combo rank of 1324 is roughly in the middle of the pack, but it is important to contextualize this within the specific demands of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flight simulators are notoriously demanding on both CPU and GPU, and this combo's ranking reflects that it can handle the game at playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles at 4K with high presets. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can achieve 60+ FPS at Medium and High settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset provides 98 FPS on average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for dips below the average. The High preset at 74 FPS is also viable, but the Ultra preset at 70 FPS offers only a 4 FPS improvement over High, making High the better choice for visual quality with minimal performance loss.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 79 FPS, which is comfortable for most users. The High preset at 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold, meaning that any demanding scene could push it below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 102 FPS provides a smooth experience but sacrifices visual fidelity. For 1440p, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, offering a 19 FPS margin over the 60 FPS target while maintaining acceptable visual quality.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve 60 FPS. The Low preset at 75 FPS is the only one above 60 FPS, but it requires significant visual compromises. The Medium preset at 59 FPS is just below 60 FPS, and the min FPS of 50 indicates that some scenes will be noticeably slower. The High and Ultra presets at 44 and 42 FPS respectively are playable but not ideal for fast-paced flight maneuvers. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only recommended option for a consistently smooth experience, though the Medium preset is acceptable for those who prioritize visuals over frame rate.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides 79 FPS on average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves 98 FPS, and at 3840x2160, only the Low preset (75 FPS) exceeds 60 FPS. Based on the measured results, 1440p Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which is essentially identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta). It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900T.

Q: Is the GPU's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gameplay?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces 42 FPS, while the 4K High preset produces 44 FPS, a difference of only 2 FPS. This small gap suggests that the 16 GB VRAM is not being exceeded, as a VRAM bottleneck would typically cause a larger performance drop at Ultra settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra presets?

A: Across all resolutions, the average FPS difference between High and Ultra is 4 FPS at 1080p, 3 FPS at 1440p, and 2 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset consistently performs only slightly worse than High, making it a viable choice for users who want maximum visual quality.

Q: Does the combo rank higher due to the CPU or GPU?

A: The CPU has a percentile rank of 85 versus all CPUs, while the GPU has a percentile rank of 58 versus all GPUs. The combo ranks 1324 out of 2996, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded for any preset?

A: The 4K Ultra preset has an average FPS of 42, which is the lowest average in the measured data. The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 50, which is the lowest minimum value recorded across all Medium presets.