Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator presents one of the most demanding rendering workloads in the current benchmark database, and the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 produces a specific performance profile that is heavily dictated by resolution. The data shows a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the average frame rate drops substantially, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts. The measured results provide a clear picture of how this pairing behaves, moving from a playable experience at 1080p to a marginal one at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a significant performance cliff that is typical of a GPU-bound scenario in a simulation title. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 48 FPS at 1080p to 39 FPS at 1440p, a decrease of 9 frames, and then further down to 29 FPS at 4K. This represents a roughly 40% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial hit that points directly at the GeForce GTX 1070's rendering capabilities. The scaling is not linear, with the jump from 1440p to 4K being particularly punishing, as the pixel count increases by 2.25 times while the frame rate only manages a 10 FPS drop, suggesting the GPU is struggling to fill the additional pixels.

Looking at the Low preset, the pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The average frame rate goes from 83 FPS at 1080p to 67 FPS at 1440p, and then down to 49 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K here is 34 FPS, which is a 41% reduction, consistent with the High preset's scaling. This consistency across presets indicates that the resolution scaling is primarily a function of the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth, both of which are fixed characteristics of the GTX 1070. The data suggests that the limiting component at higher resolutions is unambiguously the graphics card, as the CPU's role diminishes when the pixel throughput demands increase.

The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, illustrates the frame time variance at different resolutions. At 1080p, the average is 64 FPS with a range from 55 to 74 FPS, showing a relatively stable experience. At 1440p, the average drops to 52 FPS with a range from 44 to 60 FPS, and at 4K, the average falls to 38 FPS with a range from 32 to 44 FPS. The widening gap between min and max FPS at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is encountering more frequent spikes in rendering load, likely due to the increased complexity of the scenery and weather systems in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This data reinforces that the GTX 1070 is the bottleneck at 4K, as the frame pacing becomes less consistent.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate strong single-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4394. This is relevant because Microsoft Flight Simulator is known to rely heavily on single-threaded performance for its main simulation loop, even though it can utilize multiple cores for other tasks like terrain loading and AI traffic. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s should provide ample headroom for feeding the GPU data.

Given the measured FPS data, the Core Ultra 5 245 does not appear to be the limiting factor in this configuration. At 1080p with the Low preset, the system achieves 83 FPS, which is a solid frame rate that suggests the CPU is capable of driving the simulation logic faster than the GPU can render the scene at lower settings. However, at 1080p with the Ultra preset, the average FPS drops to 46, which is very close to the 48 FPS seen at High. This clustering of results at higher settings indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU's performance is not scaling with the increased graphical load. The CPU percentile of 90 versus all CPUs places it in the top tier of processors, and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with a deltaPct of -0.5, show that it is competitively positioned in general benchmarks.

The data suggests that the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's demands, as the FPS drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior rather than CPU stalls. The boost clock of 5.10 GHz is particularly important for this game, as higher clock speeds directly translate to faster simulation ticks. The fact that the FPS does not improve dramatically when lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p at the same settings (e.g., High preset goes from 39 to 48 FPS) indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as a CPU-limited scenario would show minimal FPS changes across resolutions. The Core Ultra 5 245's performance is sufficient to keep the GTX 1070 fully occupied, making it a suitable pairing for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 2482 out of 2996 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower half of all configurations, which is expected given the age and tier of the GTX 1070. The rank of 2482 indicates that there are a significant number of systems that can achieve higher frame rates in this game, which is a direct consequence of the GPU's position in the performance hierarchy. The GTX 1070 has a percentile of 47 versus all GPUs, meaning it sits just below the median, and its average benchmark score of 9780 is closely matched by rivals like the AMD FirePro W5000 with a deltaPct of -0.2.

This rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capability, as the Core Ultra 5 245 is a high-end processor that ranks in the 90th percentile. Instead, it highlights the imbalance of this pairing, where the GPU is clearly the weaker component. The combo rank suggests that users with this configuration will experience frame rates that are below average for the database, but the data shows that the experience is not uniformly poor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 83 FPS, which would be competitive with many mid-range systems. However, at 4K Ultra, the 27 FPS average is well below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The rank of 2482 out of 2996 indicates that there are roughly 514 combos that perform worse, which provides some context that this is not the absolute bottom of the barrel, but it is far from the top.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14600K with a deltaPct of 0.8, show that the Ultra 5 245 is essentially on par with other modern mid-range to high-end processors. This means that swapping the CPU for a comparable model would not significantly change the overall ranking, as the GPU would remain the limiting factor. The data implies that to improve the combo's rank, a GPU upgrade would be necessary, as the CPU has ample headroom. The measured FPS at 1080p Medium (64 FPS) and 1440p Medium (52 FPS) are respectable, but they do not boost the combo above the median rank due to the high-end nature of the game's requirements.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 83 FPS for Low, 64 FPS for Medium, 48 FPS for High, and 46 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 37 FPS, which represents a 45% reduction in performance when increasing the visual fidelity. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 55 and a max of 74, indicating a fairly stable experience with some variance. The Ultra preset at 46 FPS is just below the 48 FPS of High, suggesting a diminishing return on performance for the extra graphical features.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates drop to 67 FPS for Low, 52 FPS for Medium, 39 FPS for High, and 37 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min of 44 and a max of 60, which is a tighter range than at 1080p. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the Low preset is 16 FPS (from 83 to 67), which is a 19% decrease. This is a substantial hit, but the system remains playable at Low and Medium settings. The High preset at 39 FPS is on the edge of playability, while Ultra at 37 FPS is very close to the High setting, again showing that the GPU is saturated at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 49 FPS for Low, 38 FPS for Medium, 29 FPS for High, and 27 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset has a min of 32 and a max of 44, which is a wider spread than at lower resolutions, indicating more frame time instability. The drop from 1440p to 4K at the Low preset is 18 FPS (from 67 to 49), a 27% decrease. The High and Ultra presets at 29 and 27 FPS respectively are both below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for playable, making these settings unsuitable for a smooth experience at 4K. The data shows a clear progression where the system is capable of high frame rates at 1080p Low, but degrades rapidly as resolution and settings increase.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz, and it has 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The GPU's FP32 performance is 6.463 TFLOPS, which is modest by modern standards but was considered high-end at its release. The data shows that this GPU is the primary bottleneck in this configuration, as the FPS scaling with resolution is directly tied to its pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a critical factor in Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is known for using large amounts of texture data for terrain and aircraft. At 4K Ultra settings, the game likely approaches or exceeds the 8 GB VRAM limit, which would cause the GPU to fall back on slower system memory, potentially explaining the low 27 FPS average. The memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s is also a limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the GPU needs to fetch and process more texture data per frame. The GTX 1070's 47th percentile ranking versus all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 9780 place it in the mid-range of the database, which aligns with the measured FPS results.

The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M with a deltaPct of -0.5, show that the GTX 1070 is performing as expected for its class. The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 48 and the Passmark G3D score of 13498 indicate that it is capable of handling modern APIs, but its performance is limited by its older architecture. The data suggests that the GTX 1070 is the clear limiting factor in this system, as the CPU is not holding it back. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent across all settings, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. For users looking to improve performance, upgrading the GPU would yield the most significant gains, as the CPU has demonstrated it can support higher frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this configuration depend heavily on the target resolution and the desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 83 FPS, which is excellent for a smooth experience, while the Medium preset at 64 FPS is also very playable and offers a better visual balance. The High preset at 48 FPS is playable, but the Ultra preset at 46 FPS provides minimal gains over High and is not worth the potential stability risk. For the best overall experience at 1080p, the Medium preset is recommended, as it provides a comfortable frame rate with a min of 55 FPS, which should avoid noticeable stutters.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 67 FPS is the most playable option, while the Medium preset at 52 FPS is acceptable for most users, though the min FPS of 44 indicates some dips. The High preset at 39 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS are borderline and may result in a less fluid experience, especially in dense urban areas or during weather changes. For 1440p, the Medium preset is the best choice, as it maintains an average above 50 FPS while offering a significant visual improvement over Low. The Ultra preset at 37 FPS is not recommended, as the performance drop from Medium is substantial without a proportional gain in visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset at 49 FPS is the only setting that provides a consistently playable experience, while the Medium preset at 38 FPS is marginal and the High and Ultra presets at 29 and 27 FPS respectively are not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, and even then, the frame rate may dip in demanding scenarios. The data suggests that users with this configuration should prioritize resolution scaling down to 1080p or 1440p to achieve a balanced experience, rather than pushing for 4K with lower settings. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance across the measured rows.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Microsoft Flight Simulator with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with the Medium preset delivers an average of 64 FPS with a min of 55 FPS, which is the most balanced experience. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 52 FPS, which is also playable, while 4K only reaches 49 FPS on the Low preset.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 holding back the GTX 1070 in this game?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor. The FPS drops consistently across resolutions (e.g., High preset goes from 48 FPS at 1080p to 29 FPS at 4K), which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance, and the CPU's high single-thread scores (4648 in Cinebench R23) suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: What is the maximum FPS achievable with this combination?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 83, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The minimum measured average FPS is 27, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to others in the database?

A: This combination ranks 2482 out of 2996 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower half of the database, primarily due to the GTX 1070's mid-range performance, as the CPU ranks in the 90th percentile of all processors.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM on the GTX 1070 sufficient for 4K gaming in this title?

A: The data suggests it is not sufficient for high settings at 4K. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 only achieves 27 FPS, and the High preset achieves 29 FPS, indicating that the GPU is struggling with the memory demands and pixel throughput at this resolution.

Q: Can the system maintain a stable 60 FPS at any setting?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p with the Low preset, which averages 83 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 64 FPS, which is above 60, but the min FPS of 55 indicates it may drop below 60 at times. No other resolution or settings combination reaches a 60 FPS average.