Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an exceptionally demanding title, and the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800M show a system that is clearly pushed to its limits at higher resolutions. The data reveals a consistent and predictable pattern: performance scales directly with resolution and preset, with the combination delivering playable frame rates only at 1080p and at lower settings in higher resolutions. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data, the role of the GPU and CPU, and what the benchmark numbers indicate for practical use.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 60 FPS at 1080p to 48 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 36 FPS at 4K. This represents a 20% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 25% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar across all presets, indicating that resolution is a primary factor in performance scaling.

At the Low preset, the frame rate falls from 102 FPS at 1080p to 83 FPS at 1440p, then to 61 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset shows 80 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, yields 57 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1440p and 4K is consistently larger than the delta between 1080p and 1440p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated as pixel count grows.

The scaling behavior indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the system is able to maintain respectable frame rates, with the Ultra preset still reaching 57 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to keep it busy, and the bottleneck is more balanced. However, as resolution rises to 1440p and especially 4K, the GPU’s workload increases dramatically, and the frame rate drops accordingly. The fact that the 4K Ultra result is only 34 FPS, while 4K Low is 61 FPS, shows that the GPU is the dominant constraint at this resolution.

The data also shows that the gap between presets widens at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 45 FPS (102 vs 57). At 1440p, that gap narrows to 37 FPS (83 vs 46). At 4K, the gap is 27 FPS (61 vs 34). This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario: when the GPU is not the limiting factor, changing settings has a larger impact. As resolution increases and the GPU becomes the bottleneck, the relative impact of preset changes diminishes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800M is the primary driver of frame rates in this configuration, and its specifications explain much of the observed behavior. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is substantial for a mobile GPU and should be sufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator’s large textures and detailed scenery at most settings. However, the measured data indicates that raw compute power, not memory capacity, is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2145 MHz, and a boost clock of 2335 MHz. The boost clock is the maximum achievable, and the game clock represents the expected sustained frequency during gaming workloads. The difference between base and boost is over 1000 MHz, which is a wide margin and suggests that the GPU can ramp up significantly under load. The memory clock is 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective, and this is paired with the 192-bit bus to achieve the stated 432.0 GB/s bandwidth.

In terms of raw throughput, the RX 7800M delivers 35.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, with a pixel rate of 224.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 560.4 GTexel/s. These numbers are high for a mobile part and indicate that the GPU is capable of substantial geometry and pixel processing. The 60 ray tracing cores are present but are not directly relevant to the standard benchmark results, which do not indicate ray tracing being enabled.

The benchmark results for the GPU place it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27883. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, which scores 27839 (a 0.2% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, which scores 27973 (a -0.3% delta). This means the RX 7800M sits in a tight performance band, essentially on par with these workstation-oriented cards. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is also close, with a score of 28020 and a -0.5% delta.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate is 34 FPS, which is below the commonly accepted threshold for smooth gameplay. Even at 4K Low, the 61 FPS average is playable but not high refresh rate territory. The fact that 4K Medium produces 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS suggests that frame pacing is inconsistent, which could be noticeable in a flight simulator where smooth panning is important.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 102, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 61, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 34 FPS. The Medium preset yields 47 FPS.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800M has an average benchmark score of 27883. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, scores 27839, a delta of 0.2%. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X scores 27973, a -0.3% delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti scores 28020, a -0.5% delta.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at the High preset?

A: At 1080p High, the average FPS is 60. At 4K High, the average FPS is 36. This is a 40% reduction in performance.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS is 40, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with the Medium preset. The corresponding average is 47 FPS and the maximum is 54 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU’s benchmark performance suggest it will bottleneck the GPU?

A: The CPU has a 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 32697. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T, scores 32707 (0% delta), while the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 scores 32662 (0.1% delta). This indicates the CPU is competitive, and the FPS scaling with resolution suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 102 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. The Medium preset at the same resolution produces 80 FPS on average, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. High settings at 1080p yield 60 FPS, while Ultra drops to 57 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each step up in preset reduces performance by roughly 10-20 FPS, with the largest single drop being from Low to Medium (22 FPS).

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 83 FPS, which is still a very playable figure. Medium settings at this resolution average 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 74. High settings produce 48 FPS, and Ultra drops to 46 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 2 FPS, which is a much smaller difference than at 1080p, where the gap was 3 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is starting to become a limiting factor, as the extra load from Ultra settings cannot be fully compensated.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 61 FPS, which is still above 60. Medium settings average 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 54. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 2 FPS, and the difference between Medium and High is 11 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is heavily loaded, and the additional computational demands of higher presets have a diminishing impact on visual quality relative to the frame rate cost.

The data also shows that the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values in the dataset, at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 68-92 FPS; at 1440p, it is 55-74 FPS; and at 4K, it is 40-54 FPS. This provides a sense of frame time consistency, with the spread being roughly 24 FPS at each resolution. The fact that the minimum is consistently about 25% below the average suggests there are occasional dips, which could be due to complex scenes or terrain loading.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a mobile processor with a 28W TDP, and it supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 15028 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1743 in single-core. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 24873, and the single-thread score is 3468. These numbers place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32697. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, 0% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, 0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F (32750, -0.2% delta). This shows that the CPU is competitive with mid-range desktop and high-end mobile parts, despite being a low-power mobile chip.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, physics, and the complex simulation of flight dynamics, as well as to feed the GPU with draw calls. The 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample parallel processing capability, which is beneficial for a simulator that often has numerous background tasks. The boost clock of 4.80 GHz is high for a mobile chip and should provide strong single-threaded performance, which is often critical for simulation games.

The measured FPS data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this system. At 1080p Low, the CPU is able to push the GPU to 102 FPS, which is a high frame rate. If the CPU were severely limiting, the frame rate would cap at a lower value regardless of resolution. The fact that performance drops significantly as resolution increases indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. However, at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate is 57 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS High result. This could suggest that the CPU is starting to become a factor at the highest settings, but the data is not conclusive.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is lower than the GPU’s 432.0 GB/s, but this is expected, as the CPU and GPU have separate memory pools. The dual-channel DDR5 support is standard for mobile platforms, and the 24 MB of L3 cache is generous, which should help with frequently accessed data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and the desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset provides 60 FPS on average, which is a solid baseline for a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 57 FPS, which is only 3 FPS lower, so if visual fidelity is a priority, Ultra is a viable choice. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 80 FPS, which is a good option for players with higher refresh rate displays, as it provides a significant frame rate boost over High with presumably only a modest visual reduction.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 83 FPS, which is high but may not look great. The Medium preset averages 64 FPS, which is a better balance between visual quality and performance. The High preset at 1440p drops to 48 FPS, which is below 60 and may be noticeable for some players. The Ultra preset at 46 FPS is similar, and the 2 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests that there is no reason to choose High over Ultra if the frame rate is acceptable, as Ultra will provide better visuals for nearly the same performance cost.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 61 FPS is the only setting that achieves an average above 60 FPS, but the visual quality will be significantly reduced. The Medium preset at 47 FPS is a reasonable compromise, with the recorded minimum of 40 FPS indicating that there may be occasional stutters. The High and Ultra presets at 36 FPS and 34 FPS respectively are unlikely to provide a satisfactory experience for most users, as the frame rate is too low for smooth motion in a flight simulator where fine control and visual scanning are important.

The data suggests that for the best experience, players should target 1080p with High or Ultra settings, or 1440p with Medium settings. At 4K, only the Low preset is consistently playable, and even then, the 61 FPS average may dip in complex scenes. The Medium preset at 4K is marginal, with an average of 47 FPS and a minimum of 40 FPS. Given the data, the recommended preset for a balanced experience is Medium at 1440p, which offers a 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS, providing a good mix of visual detail and smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and AMD Radeon RX 7800M combination is ranked 1977 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is a direct reflection of the measured FPS data. The rank of 1977 out of 2996 means that approximately 66% of tested combos perform better in this specific game.

This ranking is consistent with the hardware’s specifications. The GPU is in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals are older workstation cards, which may have different driver optimizations for professional applications. The CPU is in the 83rd percentile, which is strong, but the combination of a mobile CPU and a mobile GPU is not optimized for the extreme demands of Microsoft Flight Simulator at high resolutions.

The combo rank is also influenced by the fact that the GPU is likely the limiting factor. The RX 7800M’s 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient, but its raw compute power is not enough to handle 4K Ultra settings in a simulation game that is known for being GPU-intensive. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (34 FPS) is below the threshold for a smooth experience, and the 1440p Ultra result (46 FPS) is also marginal.

In comparison to other combos, the rank of 1977 suggests that this system is better suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates at lower presets. The data shows that at 1080p Medium and above, the frame rates are playable, and at 1080p Low, the system can hit 102 FPS. However, for users who want to play at 1440p or 4K with high settings, this combo would not be the ideal choice, as the performance drops significantly.

The overall ranking is a useful summary metric, but it should be interpreted in the context of the game’s demands. Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most demanding games available, and a rank of 1977 out of 2996 means that while this combo is not top-tier, it is far from the bottom. The measured data shows that with the right settings, this system can provide a playable experience, particularly at 1080p and 1440p with medium presets.