Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a playable but demanding experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and settings. The data shows this combination ranks in the 22nd percentile of tested combos, making it a mid-to-low-tier setup for this specific title. While the CPU provides substantial headroom, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, particularly at 4K where even Low settings dip below 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the most viable resolution, with the Low preset achieving 92 FPS, Medium reaching 71 FPS, and High at 54 FPS. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (74 FPS) remains comfortably above 60 FPS, while 3840x2160 struggles across all settings, with the highest average being 55 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark relative to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640, placing it 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 4464P and 0.7% behind the AMD EPYC 7343. It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F and 0.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9124, indicating very tight competition among these processors.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile compared to all graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 15290. Among its nearest rivals, it performs nearly identically to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (0% delta) and is 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon 680M.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most balanced experience at 1920x1080?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers 71 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS. This offers the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate stability, as the High preset drops to 54 FPS and Ultra falls to 51 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's multi-core score of 42216 in Cinebench R23 and its 93rd percentile ranking across all CPUs indicate strong processing power, yet the RTX 2060's 58th percentile and 6 GB VRAM become limiting factors at higher resolutions and settings.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested processor and graphics card combinations?

A: This specific pairing ranks 2344 out of 2996 tested combos, placing it in the lower 22% of all configurations evaluated for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This ranking reflects the GPU's age and capacity limitations rather than CPU inadequacy.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and can boost up to 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960, demonstrating robust performance for both multithreaded and single-threaded workloads.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle the complex simulation logic, physics calculations, and AI traffic that the game generates. The data shows that the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU, as evidenced by its 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. The 30 MB L3 cache and 20 cores provide ample headroom for the game's demanding simulation loops, which often scale well with multi-core processors. However, the game's frame rate output remains tied to the GPU's ability to render the vast landscapes and detailed aircraft models.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that data can flow quickly between the processor and system memory, reducing potential stutters when the game loads new scenery or aircraft. The benchmark results indicate that the Ultra 7 265 performs within 0.7% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD EPYC 7343 and EPYC 9124, meaning there is no significant performance gap that would explain any frame rate variance in this game. Ultimately, the CPU's contribution is to provide a stable foundation, but it is not the limiting factor in most scenarios tested here.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 1920 shading units, 30 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and its 12 nm process node results in a 160 W TDP. In benchmark tests, it achieves a Passmark G3D score of 14111 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU is responsible for rendering the highly detailed terrain, dynamic weather, and aircraft interiors. The 6 GB VRAM becomes a significant constraint at higher resolutions, particularly at 3840x2160 where the game requires more memory for textures. The data shows that at 4K Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 30 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 55 FPS, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are stretched thin. The RTX 2060's nearest rivals, including the GTX 580 and Radeon 680M, show negligible performance deltas (0% and 0.1% respectively), confirming that this GPU sits in a narrow performance band.

The GPU's 6 GB memory capacity is the most likely bottleneck when moving from 1080p to 1440p or 4K. At 2560x1440, the frame rate drops by 18 FPS on Low settings compared to 1080p (74 FPS vs 92 FPS), and by 11 FPS on High (43 FPS vs 54 FPS). This consistent reduction across settings suggests that memory bandwidth and capacity are limiting factors, as the game attempts to stream in more detailed textures at higher resolutions. The GPU's 14 Gbps effective memory speed and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain higher frame rates in this simulator, which is known for its heavy asset streaming.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the data strongly favors 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This configuration yields an average of 71 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, providing a smooth and stable frame rate that avoids the dips seen at higher settings. The High preset at 1080p drops to 54 FPS, which is still playable but less fluid, while Ultra falls to 51 FPS, offering minimal visual gains for a significant performance cost.

At 2560x1440, only the Low preset achieves a playable frame rate at 74 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 58 FPS, which is borderline for flight simulation where smoothness is critical for controlling the aircraft. The High and Ultra presets at this resolution (43 FPS and 41 FPS respectively) are not recommended for anything beyond static screenshots, as the frame rates are too low for interactive gameplay. The data shows that 1440p requires a significant settings compromise to maintain playability.

For 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. The Low preset achieves 55 FPS, Medium reaches 42 FPS, High drops to 32 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 30 FPS. None of these settings provide a consistently playable experience, as even the Low preset's 55 FPS is close to the threshold where simulation input lag becomes noticeable. The minimum frame rate data for Medium at 4K (36 FPS) highlights the instability, and users should avoid 4K entirely with this GPU in this game.

The optimal choice is therefore the Medium preset at 1920x1080, which balances visual quality with performance. The 61 FPS minimum ensures that the game remains responsive during taxing moments, such as flying over dense urban areas or through heavy cloud cover. For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, the Low preset at 1080p (92 FPS) or 1440p (74 FPS) offers the smoothest experience, but the Medium preset provides a more immersive experience without sacrificing playability.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2344 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 22% of all configurations evaluated. This ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's performance, as the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking suggests it is not the weak link. The RTX 2060's 58th percentile position among GPUs, combined with the game's demanding nature, results in a setup that struggles to deliver high frame rates at mainstream resolutions.

The combo's rank indicates that most other tested combinations deliver better performance in this title. The data shows that the GPU's nearest rivals, such as the RTX 3050 OEM (0.6% higher score) and RX 7600 (0.8% higher score), would likely provide marginal improvements, but the fundamental limitation of 6 GB VRAM and Turing-era compute capacity remains. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the EPYC 4464P (0.3% higher score), do not offer enough performance difference to change the overall ranking significantly.

For context, the combo's rank of 2344 means that approximately 78% of tested configurations outperform it in this specific game. This is not surprising given that Microsoft Flight Simulator is known to be extremely demanding on GPUs, and the RTX 2060 is an older mid-range card that has been superseded by multiple generations. The ranking reflects the GPU's inability to maintain high frame rates at 1440p and 4K, as evidenced by the measured FPS data, rather than any deficiency in the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression of frame rates across settings. The Low preset delivers an average of 92 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. The Medium preset averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, providing a stable experience. The High preset drops to 54 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 51 FPS, showing a diminishing return on visual investment as the GPU becomes more strained.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all settings. The Low preset averages 74 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but represents a 18 FPS drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 58 FPS, with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, indicating occasional dips below playable thresholds. The High preset falls to 43 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 41 FPS, both of which are below the smoothness threshold for flight simulation.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. The Low preset averages 55 FPS, the only setting at this resolution to approach playability. The Medium preset averages 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS and a maximum of 49 FPS, showing significant frame time variance. The High preset drops to 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 30 FPS, which is the lowest recorded score. None of the 4K settings provide a consistently smooth experience, making this resolution impractical for this combination.

The data reveals a consistent pattern where each settings tier reduction yields approximately 10-20 FPS improvement at 1080p, but the gains diminish at higher resolutions. For example, at 1080p, moving from Ultra to Low increases performance by 41 FPS (from 51 to 92), while at 4K the same change yields only 25 FPS improvement (from 30 to 55). This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute capacity become more critical than the settings configuration, limiting the effectiveness of quality reductions.