Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents a demanding workload that scales predictably with resolution, and the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER reveals a clear pattern. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 194 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same quality preset drops that to 157 FPS, a reduction of roughly 19%. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 116 FPS, which is 40% below the 1080p figure. This scaling curve indicates that at lower resolutions, the system has ample headroom, likely constrained by CPU-side simulation logic rather than raw graphics throughput.

The High preset tells a similar story. At 1080p, the average is 114 FPS. At 1440p, it falls to 92 FPS, and at 4K, it rests at 68 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 19%, and from 1440p to 4K is about 26%. These are substantial reductions, but the absolute numbers remain playable at every resolution tested. The Medium preset shows 151 FPS at 1080p, 122 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 19% decline, while 1440p to 4K is a 26% drop, mirroring the High preset's pattern.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 1080p producing 108 FPS, 1440p producing 87 FPS, and 4K producing 64 FPS. The relative drops are 19% and 26% respectively. Across all settings, the resolution scaling is remarkably consistent, suggesting that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's rendering pipeline handles the increased pixel count linearly. The limiting component at 1080p is likely the CPU's single-thread performance, since the frame rates exceed 150 FPS at Low and Medium, which is unusually high for a flight simulator. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the tighter clustering of scores across settings — from 64 FPS at Ultra to 116 FPS at Low — indicating that pixel throughput dominates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. Its base clock is 2340 MHz, boosting to 2610 MHz, and it houses 8448 shading units alongside 264 texture mapping units and 96 raster operation pipelines. The memory subsystem is substantial: 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This is critical for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast terrain and photogrammetry data. The 16 GB capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU is unlikely to spill into system memory, based on the measured performance.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 76th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 31087. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (avg score 31206, delta -0.4%), NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q (31220, -0.4%), NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell (31532, -1.4%), and NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31676, -1.9%). The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER sits within 2% of these competitors, indicating that its raw compute performance is well-established. In this game specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the 64 FPS average suggests the GPU is the limiting factor, whereas at 1080p Low, the 194 FPS result indicates the CPU is holding back the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (version 12_2) is relevant, as Microsoft Flight Simulator leverages DX12 for efficient multi-threaded rendering. The Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6 APIs are also available, but the game's primary path is DX12. The pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s provide theoretical ceilings that align with the measured 4K performance. The FP32 throughput of 44.10 TFLOPS is ample for the simulation's shader complexity. Notably, the GPU's launch MSRP is 799 USD, and it has been marked as end-of-life, with the GeForce 50 series as its successor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 272 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the top 9.1% of all combinations tested, which is a strong showing given the game's reputation for being notoriously demanding. The rank reflects the synergy between the CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads and the GPU's substantial memory bandwidth and shading power.

To contextualize this rank, consider the CPU's position relative to its peers. The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, delta 0%), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, delta -0.4%), and Intel Core i9-12900T (37112, delta -0.5%). The Core Ultra 5 225 is essentially tied with these processors, all within 0.5% of each other. This means the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo's ranking; rather, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary driver of the 272nd position.

The GPU's own ranking further clarifies this. At the 76th percentile among GPUs, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is solidly mid-to-upper tier. However, its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are professional or older workstation cards, which suggests that in gaming workloads, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER may punch above its weight. The combo's rank of 272 out of 2996 is better than the GPU's percentile would imply, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 225's architecture is well-suited to feeding the GPU in this simulation. The 4K results, where the GPU is the bottleneck, are particularly strong, with 68 FPS at High, suggesting that the 16 GB memory buffer and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's streaming demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 151 FPS, with a minimum of 129 FPS and a maximum of 174 FPS.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves 194 FPS, while 4K Ultra achieves 64 FPS. This represents a 3.03x increase in frame rate at the lower resolution and settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the limiting factor. The evidence is the spread between Low (116 FPS) and Ultra (64 FPS), which is a 45% reduction, indicating that pixel throughput dominates. At 1080p, the CPU is more likely the bottleneck, as Low produces 194 FPS and Ultra produces 108 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 272nd out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: Is 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for 4K Ultra?

A: Based on the measured results, yes. The 4K Ultra preset produces an average of 64 FPS, and the GPU's 16 GB GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 672.3 GB/s bandwidth does not appear to cause a performance collapse, as frame rates remain playable.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 5 225 compare to its closest CPU rival?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which is essentially identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F's 36945 (delta 0%). The Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (delta -0.2%), meaning all are within statistical noise.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings, and the optimal choice depends on the user's priority for visual fidelity versus frame rate. At 1920x1080, all four presets produce playable averages: Low at 194 FPS, Medium at 151 FPS, High at 114 FPS, and Ultra at 108 FPS. The step from High to Ultra costs only 6 FPS (from 114 to 108), making Ultra the recommended choice for 1080p users who want the best visual experience without a meaningful performance penalty. The High preset is a reasonable fallback for those who prefer a higher refresh rate.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 157 FPS, Medium 122 FPS, High 92 FPS, and Ultra 87 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is again modest (5 FPS), so Ultra is viable. However, users with 144 Hz monitors might prefer Medium (122 FPS) to stay above the refresh rate, sacrificing some visual detail. The Medium preset's minimum of 104 FPS is still comfortably smooth.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. Low yields 116 FPS, Medium 90 FPS, High 68 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. For a 60 Hz display, Ultra (64 FPS) is the best choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while staying above the refresh threshold. For 120 Hz displays, Medium (90 FPS) is the practical ceiling, and even that will not fully saturate the refresh rate. High (68 FPS) is a middle ground for users who want better visuals than Medium but do not require the absolute highest settings. The data indicates that the Ultra preset is not worth the 4 FPS loss over High at 4K, so High offers the best balance of quality and performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process node from TSMC. Its base clock is 3.30 GHz, boosting to 4.90 GHz, and it supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel interface with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. The L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with 3 MB of L2 per core and 192 KB of L1 per core. This configuration is notable for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on single-threaded performance for its simulation loop.

The CPU's benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655. The PassMark single-thread score is 4412, and the multi-thread score is 30459. These numbers place the Core Ultra 5 225 in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945 (delta 0%), meaning the two are functionally equivalent in aggregate performance. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (delta -0.2%), again within noise.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the system produces 194 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (194 to 108 FPS) suggests that the game's simulation logic is partially serial. The 10 cores and 10 threads (no hyperthreading) may limit multi-threaded scaling in the game, but the high boost clock of 4.90 GHz compensates in single-threaded workloads. The 20 MB L3 cache is sufficient for the game's streaming data, though the lack of 3D V-Cache (unlike some rivals) means the CPU relies on raw clock speed and memory bandwidth. The DDR5 support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth is a strength, as the game loads terrain data continuously.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo's performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 194 FPS. The Medium preset yields 151 FPS, with a minimum of 129 FPS and a maximum of 174 FPS. High settings produce 114 FPS, and Ultra produces 108 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra is a 44% reduction in frame rate, which is substantial but expected given the increased rendering load.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 157 FPS. Medium produces 122 FPS (minimum 104, maximum 140). High yields 92 FPS, and Ultra produces 87 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 45%, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. This consistency suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the primary factor in the settings scaling, with the CPU maintaining its role as a constant baseline.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 116 FPS. Medium yields 90 FPS (minimum 77, maximum 104). High produces 68 FPS, and Ultra produces 64 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra reduction at 4K is 45%, again matching the other resolutions. The absolute numbers at 4K are the most demanding, with Ultra barely exceeding 60 FPS. The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset across all resolutions: 129 at 1080p, 104 at 1440p, and 77 at 4K. These minimums indicate that the combo can maintain smooth frame pacing even in demanding scenes, with no severe stuttering observed in the measured data.

The full table of results is as follows: 1080p Low 194 FPS, 1080p Medium 151 FPS (min 129, max 174), 1080p High 114 FPS, 1080p Ultra 108 FPS; 1440p Low 157 FPS, 1440p Medium 122 FPS (min 104, max 140), 1440p High 92 FPS, 1440p Ultra 87 FPS; 4K Low 116 FPS, 4K Medium 90 FPS (min 77, max 104), 4K High 68 FPS, 4K Ultra 64 FPS. These numbers represent the complete measured dataset for this combination, and they show a system that is capable of handling Microsoft Flight Simulator at all tested settings, with the caveat that 4K Ultra sits just above the 60 FPS threshold. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 16 GB VRAM and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's demands, and the Core Ultra 5 225's 4.90 GHz boost clock provides the single-thread performance needed for the simulation's core loop.