Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: This combination ranks 833rd out of 2996 tested combos in the database for this game, placing it in the upper third of all configurations tested.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995 on average, which is 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49,196) and 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49,228). It sits 0.6% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698) and 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K (48,618).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The Radeon RX 9070 sits in the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,877. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, scores 23,736, which is 0.6% lower.

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 155 FPS average. With Medium settings it drops to 121 FPS, with High settings to 91 FPS, and with Ultra settings to 86 FPS.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K across all settings?

A: At 3840x2160, the combo produces 92 FPS on Low, 72 FPS on Medium, 54 FPS on High, and 51 FPS on Ultra. All four presets exceed 50 FPS, though only Low and Medium break the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the Radeon RX 9070 and the Core Ultra 5 245?

A: The GPU offers 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth across a 256-bit bus with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The CPU supports dual-channel DDR5 with 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 features 14 cores and 14 threads, meaning each core handles a single thread with no hyper-threading. The base clock runs at 3.50 GHz, boosting up to 5.10 GHz under load. This architecture, built on Arrow Lake-S with a 3 nm TSMC process, places the CPU in the 90th percentile among all processors tested. With 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core, the CPU handles the simulation-heavy workloads of Microsoft Flight Simulator effectively.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 48,995 puts it in close competition with several rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G leads it by just 0.4%, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 is 0.5% ahead. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H trails by 0.6%, and the Core i5-14600K trails by 0.8%. These margins are tight, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 245 delivers performance at parity with mid-range and some high-end desktop parts from the previous generation.

In Cinebench tests, the CPU scores 3,318 in R15 multi-core and 468 in R15 single-core. The R20 results show 13,828 multi-core and 1,952 single-core, while R23 produces 32,924 multi-core and 4,648 single-core. PassMark tests reveal a multithread score of 38,706 and a single-thread score of 4,394. These numbers suggest strong single-core performance, which matters for flight simulation's physics and AI calculations that often run on a few threads.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and active production status indicate it is a mainstream desktop part. With PCIe Gen 5 support offering 20 lanes from the CPU alone, the processor provides ample bandwidth for the GPU and storage devices. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units offers a fallback display output, though the discrete Radeon RX 9070 handles all rendering in this test scenario.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role involves managing the flight model, weather simulation, and world streaming. The data shows that the Core Ultra 5 245's single-thread performance keeps it competitive with the nearest rivals, as the delta percentages remain below 1% in all cases. This means the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at most settings, allowing the graphics card to drive frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the Navi 48 chip with RDNA 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm TSMC process. The GPU contains 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, along with 56 ray-tracing cores. It operates at a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at an effective 20.1 Gbps across a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 23,877 places it in the 69th percentile among all graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, scores 23,736 — a 0.6% difference. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 24,063, which is 0.8% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile scores 23,628, which is 1.1% lower. The RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24,170, putting it 1.2% ahead of the RX 9070.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the GPU scores 6,290. Geekbench results show 131,539 in OpenCL and 58,705 in Vulkan. PassMark tests yield a G3D score of 25,381 and a GPU compute score of 14,737. The GPU achieves a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS. These specifications indicate a capable mid-range to upper-mid-range graphics solution for 2025.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU handles terrain rendering, aircraft models, and lighting effects. The 16 GB VRAM capacity proves sufficient for the game's extensive texture streaming, even at 4K resolution where the game loads detailed scenery. The 644.6 GB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution textures without significant stuttering. The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design fit into standard desktop configurations, with a suggested PSU of 550 W.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals shows that it sits in a narrow band where small percentage differences separate it from older high-end cards and newer mid-range options. The data suggests the RX 9070 delivers consistent performance across the board, with no single benchmark showing a dramatic weakness.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 833rd out of 2,996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the top 28% of all configurations, which is a strong showing given the game's demanding nature. The rank reflects both the CPU's 90th percentile standing and the GPU's 69th percentile, with the overall result influenced by how these components interact in this specific title.

The combo's position in the rankings suggests that it outperforms the majority of tested systems, likely due to the CPU's excellent single-thread performance and the GPU's adequate memory bandwidth. The rank of 833 out of 2,996 means roughly 2,163 combos score lower, while 832 score higher. This puts the combo in the upper third of the database, indicating it can handle Microsoft Flight Simulator at high settings with playable frame rates.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 245's performance is nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and Ryzen 9 7900, with deltas of -0.4% and -0.5% respectively. The GPU's rivals show similar tight margins. This suggests that the combo's rank is more dependent on the GPU than the CPU, since the CPU performance is so closely matched with several alternatives.

The rank also reflects the balance between the two components. Neither the CPU nor the GPU appears to bottleneck the other severely, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate scaling across settings and resolutions. The combo avoids the lower ranks that would result from a severe mismatch, such as a weak CPU paired with a strong GPU or vice versa.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which presets deliver the best experience. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 155 FPS average, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The Medium preset drops to 121 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High produces 91 FPS, and Ultra yields 86 FPS. For competitive or smooth play at 1080p, Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, while High remains entirely playable.

At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 125 FPS average, Medium produces 97 FPS, High drops to 73 FPS, and Ultra falls to 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p provides a strong experience with a 97 FPS average and a minimum of 83 FPS, ensuring consistent frame pacing. High at 1440p is still playable at 73 FPS, though the margin above 60 FPS is thinner.

At 4K, the Low preset manages 92 FPS, Medium achieves 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, High drops to 54 FPS, and Ultra falls to 51 FPS. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it maintains an average above 60 FPS with a minimum that just touches 61 FPS. High and Ultra at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold, which may cause noticeable stuttering in a flight simulator where smooth camera panning matters.

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently provides the best balance across all three resolutions. At 1080p it offers 121 FPS, at 1440p it delivers 97 FPS, and at 4K it maintains 72 FPS. Users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate can opt for High at 1080p (91 FPS) or 1440p (73 FPS), but 4K users should stick with Medium for the smoothest experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 155 FPS average on Low settings, representing the highest frame rate achieved in any configuration. The Medium preset produces 121 FPS average with a minimum of 103 FPS and a maximum of 139 FPS. High settings yield 91 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 86 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 69 FPS, showing that the GPU has substantial headroom even at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 125 FPS average, a 19% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium produces 97 FPS average with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS, representing a 20% drop from the 1080p Medium score. High settings deliver 73 FPS average, down 20% from 1080p High. Ultra produces 70 FPS average, down 19% from 1080p Ultra. The consistent 19-20% reduction across all presets indicates that the GPU scales predictably with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 92 FPS average, a 41% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium produces 72 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, down 40% from 1080p Medium. High settings deliver 54 FPS average, down 41% from 1080p High. Ultra produces 51 FPS average, down 41% from 1080p Ultra. The uniform 40-41% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions.

The minimum FPS data, available only for the Medium preset, shows that 1080p has a minimum of 103 FPS, 1440p has a minimum of 83 FPS, and 4K has a minimum of 61 FPS. These minimums are all within 20% of their respective averages, indicating stable frame delivery without severe dips.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a consistent pattern across all settings. At Low settings, the drop from 155 to 92 FPS represents a 41% reduction. At Medium, the drop from 121 to 72 FPS is a 40% reduction. High settings show a drop from 91 to 54 FPS, also 41% lower. Ultra settings drop from 86 to 51 FPS, a 41% reduction. This uniformity suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the scaling behavior remains constant regardless of the preset.

The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistently around 19-20% across all settings. The drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 26-28%, which is larger than the first step. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput become increasingly strained as resolution increases. The RX 9070's 644.6 GB/s bandwidth and 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K the GPU approaches its limits.

The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck at any resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain constant regardless of resolution, as the CPU's workload would not change with pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops uniformly with resolution, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 4,648 R23 single-core score, ensures that it can feed the GPU with enough data at all settings.

The 4K results show that the combo can handle the resolution only on Low and Medium presets, with 92 and 72 FPS respectively. High and Ultra at 4K produce 54 and 51 FPS, which fall below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For users targeting 4K, the Medium preset offers the best compromise, delivering 72 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's demands, but the raw compute power limits the highest presets.