Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: What is the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The combo achieves an average of 127 FPS at 1080p Low settings, dropping to 74 FPS at 1080p High, and 42 FPS at 4K Ultra. At 1440p, the average ranges from 103 FPS on Low to 57 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 26331, placing it 1.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary. It trails the AMD Radeon 860M by 0.3% and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 by 0.3%.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945, a 0% difference.

Q: Does the game's performance scale linearly with resolution changes?

A: No. At Medium settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS from 99 to 80 (a 19 FPS drop), and moving to 4K reduces it further to 59 FPS (a 40 FPS drop from 1080p). The scaling is not linear, indicating a growing GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the VRAM capacity of the RTX 5060, and how might it affect this game?

A: The RTX 5060 has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. In a flight simulator with large terrain datasets, this capacity may limit texture detail at 4K Ultra, though the measured data shows playable averages at all tested settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairs in this game?

A: The combination ranks 1289 out of 2996 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database. This rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 85th percentile performance and the GPU's 72nd percentile standing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process. Its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory operates at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective), delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth across a 128-bit bus. This bandwidth figure is significant for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams detailed scenery and terrain data continuously. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2497 MHz, with a base clock of 2280 MHz, and it houses 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's influence most clearly at 4K resolution. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 42, while at 4K Low it rises to 76. This 34 FPS spread across settings indicates that the GPU's compute and memory resources are heavily taxed by the game's higher preset demands. The RTX 5060's 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores support ray-traced effects and DLSS features, though the benchmark data presented here does not isolate those specific workloads.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 20891 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3628 provide synthetic context. Its 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests it sits above the median, and the nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon 860M at 26401 and the MX550 at 26421—are within 0.3% in average score. The RX 6750 XT trails by 1.2%, which is a small margin in synthetic terms but may translate to larger differences in real-world flight simulation scenarios.

At 1080p Medium, the GPU produces 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 and maximum of 114. At 1440p Medium, those figures drop to 80 average, 68 minimum, and 92 maximum. The 4K Medium row shows 59 average, 50 minimum, and 68 maximum. These min-max ranges reveal frame time consistency: the gap between minimum and maximum FPS widens as resolution increases, from 30 FPS at 1080p to 18 FPS at 1440p and 18 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions, particularly for texture streaming.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU load shifts. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 127 at 1080p to 103 at 1440p (a 24 FPS reduction) and then to 76 at 4K (a 27 FPS reduction from 1440p). The percentage drops are 18.9% from 1080p to 1440p and 26.2% from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as pixel count increases.

At High settings, the scaling is steeper: 74 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p (a 14 FPS drop), and 44 FPS at 4K (a 16 FPS drop). The percentage reductions are 18.9% and 26.7% respectively, nearly identical to the Low settings pattern. This consistency suggests that the game's rendering pipeline at these presets scales predictably with resolution, with the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth being the primary constraints.

Ultra settings show a different pattern: 71 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p (a 14 FPS drop), and 42 FPS at 4K (a 15 FPS drop). The 4K Ultra figure of 42 FPS is the lowest measured in the entire dataset. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 40.8%, compared to 40.2% at High and 40.2% at Low. This near-uniform scaling across presets indicates that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p Low to the GPU at 4K Ultra.

The Medium settings rows include min-max data, which allows for frame pacing analysis. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 30 FPS (84-114); at 1440p Medium, the spread narrows to 24 FPS (68-92); at 4K Medium, the spread narrows further to 18 FPS (50-68). This tightening of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent, likely because the CPU is no longer the bottleneck in most frames.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression across presets. Low settings deliver the highest average at 127 FPS, followed by Medium at 99 FPS (84 min, 114 max), High at 74 FPS, and Ultra at 71 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 3 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional visual features have a minimal performance cost at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 103 FPS on Low, 80 FPS on Medium (68 min, 92 max), 60 FPS on High, and 57 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24 FPS on Low, 19 FPS on Medium, 14 FPS on High, and 14 FPS on Ultra. The diminishing absolute drops at higher presets indicate that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor, with the CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads providing sufficient headroom at lower resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 76 FPS on Low, 59 FPS on Medium (50 min, 68 max), 44 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low figure of 76 FPS is notably higher than 1080p High (74 FPS), which demonstrates that the resolution scaling is not uniform across all settings combinations. The 4K Ultra average of 42 FPS is just below the 44 FPS at 4K High, a 2 FPS difference that may be within measurement variance but still indicates that the highest preset is only marginally more demanding than High at this resolution.

The Medium settings rows provide the only complete min-max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the average of 99 FPS with a 84-114 range shows a 30 FPS spread. At 1440p, the 80 FPS average has a 68-92 range (24 FPS spread). At 4K, the 59 FPS average has a 50-68 range (18 FPS spread). This progressive narrowing of the frame time range as resolution increases suggests that higher resolutions reduce the frequency of CPU-bound frame spikes, creating a smoother but lower overall experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 30459 and single-thread score of 4412 place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the average FPS of 127 suggests that the processor can feed the GPU with enough draw calls and physics calculations to maintain high frame rates. The 10 cores without hyper-threading (10 threads total) are sufficient for this game's single-thread-heavy simulation logic, as evidenced by the single-thread benchmark score of 4412.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (0% delta), the Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (-0.2% delta), and the Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (-0.4% delta). These negligible differences in average score suggest that the Core Ultra 5 225 is well-matched against these processors in general compute tasks, though the game's specific workload may favor one architecture over another.

At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 71, which is only 3 FPS below the 1080p High figure of 74. This small difference indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at these settings; rather, the GPU's rendering load from the Ultra preset's effects is the constraint. The CPU's 4.90 GHz boost clock helps maintain minimum frame rates, as the game's simulation thread requires consistent single-core performance.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s (dual-channel DDR5) and PCIe Gen 5 support (20 lanes) provide the data path for streaming terrain and aircraft models. The 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die give the processor substantial compute resources, and the integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 16EU is present but not relevant for this discrete GPU configuration.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 99 FPS average with a 84-114 range provides smooth gameplay with headroom for scenery complexity. At 1440p Medium, the 80 FPS average remains above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid simulation, and the 68-92 range indicates consistent frame delivery. At 4K Medium, the 59 FPS average is just below 60, but the 50-68 range shows that the experience is playable with occasional dips.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual fidelity. At 1080p High, the 74 FPS average is acceptable, and at 1440p High, the 60 FPS average hits the target exactly. However, at 4K High, the 44 FPS average drops below the smoothness threshold, making this combination less suitable for 4K gameplay.

Low settings provide the highest frame rates—127 FPS at 1080p, 103 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K—but these figures come at the cost of reduced visual detail, which is particularly noticeable in a flight simulator where terrain and cloud rendering are central to the experience.

Ultra settings are only recommended at 1080p, where the 71 FPS average remains playable. At 1440p Ultra, the 57 FPS average dips below 60, and at 4K Ultra, the 42 FPS average is too low for smooth simulation. The performance difference between High and Ultra is minimal (3 FPS at 1080p, 3 FPS at 1440p, and 2 FPS at 4K), so users who can run High can likely also run Ultra with similar frame rates.

For the best overall experience, the data suggests using Medium at 4K (59 FPS average) or High at 1440p (60 FPS average). The 4K Medium figure benefits from the tighter frame time distribution (50-68 range) compared to 1440p High, which has no min-max data available but likely has a similar spread.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1289 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all combinations. This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's strong 85th percentile synthetic performance and the GPU's 72nd percentile standing.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 36938, with nearest rivals within 0.5% (the Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945, Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093, and i9-12900T at 37112), suggests that this processor is competitive with other mid-range options. The GPU's average benchmark score of 26331, with the RX 6750 XT trailing by 1.2% and the 860M leading by 0.3%, indicates that the RTX 5060 is similarly well-positioned among its peers.

The combination's 1289th rank out of 2996 means that approximately 57% of tested combos perform better in this game, while 43% perform worse. This places the combo in the upper-middle tier of the database. The measured FPS data supports this positioning: at 1080p High, the 74 FPS average is solid for a flight simulator, and at 1440p Medium, the 80 FPS average demonstrates capable performance.

The rank is influenced by the fact that Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title that stresses both CPU and GPU. The Core Ultra 5 225's 10 cores and 10 threads handle the simulation logic well, while the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM and 448 GB/s bandwidth manage the texture streaming. However, at 4K Ultra, the combo falls to 42 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold and likely contributes to its mid-tier ranking.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 5060's 1.2% lead over the RX 6750 XT in synthetic benchmarks may translate to a similar margin in game performance, though the measured data does not include direct head-to-head comparisons. The combo rank of 1289 reflects the aggregate performance across all settings and resolutions tested, with the 4K results (42-76 FPS) and 1080p results (71-127 FPS) providing the upper and lower bounds of the experience.