Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Microsoft Flight Simulator benchmark for the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile shows a configuration that delivers playable frame rates across every resolution and quality preset. The combination ranks 815th out of 3714 tested systems, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations. The CPU sits in the 83rd percentile of all processors, while the GPU occupies the 84th percentile of all graphics cards. At 1080p Ultra, the average frame rate is 92 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 74 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 55 FPS. The data indicates a well-balanced pairing: the GPU becomes the dominant factor as resolution increases, while the CPU still supplies enough performance to avoid becoming a hard bottleneck at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all four quality presets, with an average drop of approximately 40% when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. On the Low preset, the average frame rate goes from 166 FPS at 1080p to 98 FPS at 4K, a 41% reduction. The Medium preset drops from 129 FPS to 77 FPS, a 40% reduction. High settings fall from 97 FPS to 58 FPS, a 40% reduction, and Ultra settings drop from 92 FPS to 55 FPS, also a 40% reduction. This uniform percentage suggests that the resolution cost is independent of the quality setting, a sign that the game scales predictably with pixel count.

The step between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the step between 1440p and 4K. On Medium, the frame rate moves from 129 FPS at 1080p to 104 FPS at 1440p, a 19% drop, then from 104 FPS to 77 FPS at 4K, a 26% drop. The same pattern holds for every preset: the 1440p-to-4K transition costs more frame rate than the 1080p-to-1440p transition. This is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, but the magnitude is not as large as the pixel-count increase would suggest. 1440p contains 1.78 times as many pixels as 1080p, yet the frame rate drop is only 19%, while 4K contains 2.25 times as many pixels as 1440p, yet the frame rate drop is 26%. The fact that the scaling is not linear with pixel count indicates that the CPU is still a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the system reaches 166 FPS, a high frame rate for a flight simulator, which is not a genre typically associated with high FPS. The same GPU at 4K Low produces 98 FPS, showing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck as resolution climbs. The pattern suggests that the RTX 4090 Mobile's 16 GB VRAM and 576 GB/s bandwidth are fully utilized at 4K, while the Core Ultra 7 155H's 16 cores and 22 threads are sufficient to keep the GPU fed at 1080p. The scaling curve is smooth, with no sudden cliffs, meaning the system degrades gracefully as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p Ultra?

A: The average frame rate is 92 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H compare to its closest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 32697, which is within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812) and within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662). It is effectively tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, delta 0%).

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s.

Q: Where does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combination ranks 815th out of 3714 tested configurations, which means it outperforms approximately 78% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 4K Medium?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 77 FPS, with a minimum of 65 and a maximum of 88.

Q: What are the CPU's Cinebench R23 scores?

A: The CPU scores 15028 in the multi-core test and 1743 in the single-core test.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary driver of high-resolution performance. It packs 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, which provides 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial amount of memory and bandwidth for a flight simulator that loads large terrain textures and detailed scenery. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1335 MHz and a boost clock of 1695 MHz, with memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The shading units number 9728, the texture mapping units 304, and the ROPs 112. The GPU's FP32 performance is 32.98 TFLOPS, and its compute score in PassMark is 27212.

The GPU sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43667. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43301, delta +0.8%), the RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, +0.9%), and the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, +0.9%). The only rival with a higher score is the RTX A6000 (44075, delta -0.9%), meaning the 4090 Mobile is just 0.9% behind that workstation card. This places the RTX 4090 Mobile at the top of the mobile GPU hierarchy, though not the absolute fastest in the database.

The 16 GB VRAM is more than enough for Microsoft Flight Simulator, as the game's highest settings at 4K do not exceed this capacity. The 576 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming does not become a bottleneck. The boost clock of 1695 MHz is moderate for a high-end GPU, but the high shader count and memory bandwidth compensate. The GPU's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are present for ray-tracing and DLSS, but the benchmark data does not isolate these features. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, where even the Low preset yields only 98 FPS, while the CPU is still capable of delivering 166 FPS at 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates span three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a complete picture of performance. The table below lists all average values, with the Medium preset also showing minimum and maximum values.

| Resolution | Setting | Average FPS | Minimum | Maximum |

|-----------|---------|-------------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | Low | 98 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 77 | 65 | 88 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 58 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 55 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 133 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 104 | 88 | 119 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 78 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 74 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 166 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 129 | 109 | 148 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 97 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 92 | - | - |

The Medium preset is the only setting that includes minimum and maximum values, which reveals frame pacing characteristics. At 1080p, the spread between minimum and maximum is 39 FPS (109 to 148), indicating a stable frame delivery. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 31 FPS (88 to 119), and at 4K, it narrows further to 23 FPS (65 to 88). The decreasing spread as resolution increases suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded at higher resolutions, while the CPU's frame-time spikes are more visible at lower resolutions.

The 1080p Low result of 166 FPS is the highest frame rate in the entire data set, demonstrating that the CPU can push a large number of frames when the GPU is not stressed. The 4K Low result of 98 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold, so even the most demanding resolution is playable with reduced quality settings. The 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS is the lowest frame rate in the set, but it remains within the playable range for a flight simulator, which is a genre that tolerates lower frame rates than competitive shooters.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings depend on the target resolution and the user's frame rate preference. At 4K, the Medium preset is the best choice for a smooth experience, as it delivers an average of 77 FPS with a minimum of 65 FPS, ensuring no frame drops below 60. The High and Ultra presets fall to 58 and 55 FPS, which are below the 60 FPS threshold, making them less suitable for a fluid experience. The Low preset at 98 FPS is excessive for a 60 Hz display but useful for high-refresh-rate 4K monitors.

At 1440p, the High preset provides 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset provides 74 FPS, both of which are above 60 FPS. The Medium preset reaches 104 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors. For the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness, the Ultra preset at 1440p is a solid choice, as its 74 FPS average is still comfortable. The Low preset at 133 FPS is good for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 92 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and provides the highest visual fidelity. The High preset at 97 FPS is slightly faster, but the difference is negligible. The Medium preset at 129 FPS is well suited for 144 Hz monitors, while the Low preset at 166 FPS is ideal for 240 Hz displays. For most players, the Ultra preset at 1080p offers the best combination of visual quality and performance, as it keeps the frame rate above 90 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a 24 MB L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 15028, and its single-core score is 1743. In the PassMark suite, the multi-thread score is 24873, and the single-thread score is 3468. The CPU's average benchmark score is 32697, which places it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rival in the database is the Intel Core i5-14600T, which has an average score of 32707 and a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 is 0.1% faster, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is 0.2% slower, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H is 0.4% faster. This cluster of CPUs is tightly packed, meaning the 155H is statistically similar to its competitors. The 22 threads and 4.80 GHz boost clock are important for flight simulation, which relies on both single-thread performance for the simulation logic and multi-thread performance for asset streaming.

The CPU's memory bandwidth is 89.6 GB/s via a dual-channel DDR5 interface, which is sufficient to feed the GPU's 576 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU also has an integrated Arc Xe-LPG 128EU GPU, but it is not used in this configuration. The launch MSRP of the CPU is $503, but this is not a factor in the benchmark analysis.

The data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 166 FPS, which is a high frame rate that relies on the CPU's ability to process the simulation and draw calls. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1743, is sufficient for the game's simulation thread. The 16 cores and 22 threads handle background tasks, such as terrain streaming and AI traffic, without impacting the main frame rate. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking and its close match with the i5-14600T indicate that it is a strong mid-to-high-range processor, and the benchmark results confirm that it does not limit the RTX 4090 Mobile in Microsoft Flight Simulator.