Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination produces a playable but not dominant experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with the data placing this pairing at rank 1564 out of 2996 tested combinations. The CPU provides a strong foundation with 20 cores and 20 threads, running at a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which proves sufficient for the simulation's heavy single-threaded demands in most scenarios. The measured results show that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 119 FPS, indicating that the processor is not the primary bottleneck when graphical load is minimal, but as resolution and settings scale upward, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become the limiting factors.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

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. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for Flight Simulator's streaming world data. The processor posts strong synthetic scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42,216 and a single-core score of 5,960, which places it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 64,640 sits within 0.7% of the AMD EPYC 7343 and 0.3% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, showing that this chip is competitive with workstation-class parts in raw compute.

In this specific game, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining FPS at lower settings and resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 119 FPS, which is 25% higher than the 1080p High result of 70 FPS, demonstrating that the processor can push frames quickly when the GPU is not heavily tasked. However, the data also reveals that the CPU is not the primary constraint at higher settings. When moving from 1080p Low to 1080p Ultra, FPS drops from 119 to 66, a 45% reduction, which suggests that the GPU is being saturated as graphical fidelity increases. The processor's 65W TDP and locked multiplier indicate an efficiency-focused design, and the PassMark multithread score of 49,682 confirms its ability to handle background simulation tasks while maintaining playable frame rates.

The single-thread performance is particularly relevant for Flight Simulator, which relies heavily on the main rendering thread. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 600 and R23 single-core score of 5,960 indicate strong per-core capability, allowing the game to maintain smooth performance in complex scenes with dense terrain and weather effects. The 20 threads also handle the game's auxiliary tasks like AI traffic and physics calculations without creating a bottleneck, as evidenced by the 42 FPS average at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor rather than the CPU.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—across three resolutions, and the optimal choice depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 70 FPS with no reported minimum frame time, which provides a smooth experience for most users, while Ultra drops to 66 FPS, a marginal 6% reduction that may not justify the visual uplift. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS, making it the best balance for high-refresh-rate monitors, as it maintains framerates well above the 60 FPS threshold while keeping the 1% lows comfortable.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 56 FPS, which is playable but slightly below the 60 FPS target, while Medium achieves 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS, indicating that Medium is the recommended choice for this resolution to ensure consistent performance. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 54 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold, and Low reaches 96 FPS, suggesting that users prioritizing framerate over visuals should consider Low. For 4K gaming, the data shows that High produces 42 FPS, Medium produces 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 FPS and maximum of 64 FPS, and Ultra produces 40 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only option that approaches playable territory, though even its 47 FPS minimum may cause noticeable stutter in dense urban areas, making Low at 71 FPS the only preset that provides a consistently smooth experience at this resolution.

The measured rows indicate that Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions, as it consistently delivers the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p, Medium's 93 FPS average is 33% higher than High's 70 FPS, while at 1440p, Medium's 75 FPS is 34% higher than High's 56 FPS. At 4K, Medium's 55 FPS is 31% higher than High's 42 FPS. The minimum frame times for Medium are also respectable, with 79 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, indicating that the preset avoids severe frame pacing issues.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the system delivers 119 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. This represents a 19% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 26% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 40% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling is less severe than expected if the GPU were the sole bottleneck, indicating that at Low settings, the CPU still has some influence on performance, particularly at 1080p where the 119 FPS result approaches the limit of what the processor can feed to the GPU.

At Medium settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced: 93 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 27%, and the total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 41%. This pattern suggests that as settings increase, the GPU becomes progressively more dominant in determining framerate. At High settings, the results are 70 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, with a 20% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 25% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 40% reduction. The Ultra preset shows 66 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K, with an 18% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 26% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 39% reduction.

The consistent 40% reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings points to the GPU as the limiting component, as a CPU-bound system would show much smaller FPS drops at higher resolutions. The RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus width is a modest configuration for 4K gaming, and the data confirms that this GPU cannot maintain playable framerates at 4K Ultra without dropping to 40 FPS. The 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggle with the 8.3 million pixels at 4K, particularly in a simulation game like Flight Simulator that renders vast terrains and complex lighting.

The scaling also reveals that the CPU is not a significant constraint at higher resolutions, as the FPS drops are nearly linear with pixel count increases. At 4K Ultra, the 40 FPS result is only 39% lower than 1080p Ultra's 66 FPS, which aligns with the 4x pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K. This indicates that the RTX 4060 is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p Low, and users seeking higher framerates at 1440p or 4K would need a more powerful GPU.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data indicates that 1080p Medium provides the best experience, with an average of 93 FPS and a minimum of 79 FPS. At 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset with 75 FPS average and 64 FPS minimum, while at 4K, Low is the only preset that maintains above 60 FPS at 71 FPS, as Medium drops to 55 FPS with a 47 FPS minimum.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 compare to its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 64,640, which places it 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823) and 0.7% behind the AMD EPYC 9124 (65,104), while being 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7343 (64,202). This puts it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the RTX 4060's GPU benchmark standing relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 17,639, which places it 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17,666) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551), while being 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17,509). This puts it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Does the system achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: No, the system does not reach 60 FPS at 4K with any settings preset. The highest result at 4K is 71 FPS on Low, but Medium drops to 55 FPS, High to 42 FPS, and Ultra to 40 FPS. Only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the difference in performance between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the system achieves 70 FPS, while at 1440p High, it achieves 56 FPS, representing a 20% decrease in framerate when increasing resolution from 1080p to 1440p. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU can maintain higher framerates at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4060's memory configuration affect its performance in this game?

A: The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. This configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as evidenced by the 93 FPS at 1080p Medium, but it struggles at 4K, where the 40 FPS Ultra result suggests that the memory bandwidth and capacity are inadequate for high-resolution textures and detailed scenery.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. Its base clock of 1830 MHz boosts to 2460 MHz, and the memory runs at 2125 MHz with 17 Gbps effective speed. The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is a modest configuration compared to higher-tier cards. With 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, along with 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, the RTX 4060 delivers 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role is critical at higher settings and resolutions, as the game's photorealistic terrain and dynamic weather systems require substantial pixel throughput. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU is not the bottleneck, as the 119 FPS result is likely CPU-limited. However, as settings increase to Medium, High, and Ultra at 1080p, the FPS drops to 93, 70, and 66 respectively, indicating that the GPU's rendering capabilities are being taxed. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, with even the Low preset limiting performance to 71 FPS, and Ultra dropping to 40 FPS.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. Its PassMark G3D score of 19,545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,302 place it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,639. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17,666, 0.2% faster), the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588, 0.3% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, 0.5% slower). The RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle to feed the GPU's 48 ROPs efficiently, resulting in the low FPS figures observed.

The GPU's power draw is listed at 115 W TDP with a suggested PSU of 300 W, making it an efficient card for its performance class. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores support ray tracing and DLSS, but the measured FPS data does not include ray tracing or upscaling results, so their impact on this game's performance is not quantified in this dataset. The GPU's production status is listed as end-of-life, but its performance in this simulation at 1080p and 1440p remains competitive, as shown by the 93 FPS at 1080p Medium and 75 FPS at 1440p Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 119 FPS on Low settings, 93 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS, 70 FPS on High, and 66 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 53 FPS, or 44%, showing that the GPU is heavily impacted by graphical settings even at this resolution. The 1080p Medium result with its 79 FPS minimum indicates that this preset avoids major stutters, while the Ultra preset's lack of reported minimum and maximum FPS suggests that the performance is more variable.

At 2560x1440, the FPS figures are 96 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 86 FPS, 56 FPS on High, and 54 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is consistent: 19% for Low (119 to 96), 19% for Medium (93 to 75), 20% for High (70 to 56), and 18% for Ultra (66 to 54). The Medium preset at 1440p remains the most balanced option, offering a 64 FPS minimum that keeps the experience smooth, while the High and Ultra presets fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p Ultra result of 54 FPS is only 2 FPS lower than High's 56 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further: 71 FPS on Low, 55 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 47 FPS and maximum of 64 FPS, 42 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced: 26% for Low (96 to 71), 27% for Medium (75 to 55), 25% for High (56 to 42), and 26% for Ultra (54 to 40). The Medium preset at 4K has a 47 FPS minimum, which is likely to cause noticeable frame drops in busy scenes, while the High and Ultra presets are below playable thresholds. The Low preset at 4K is the only option that exceeds 60 FPS, achieving 71 FPS, which indicates that the game is playable at 4K only with reduced visual quality on this hardware.

The data also highlights the gap between Low and Medium settings at 4K: 71 FPS versus 55 FPS, a 23% difference, showing that the Medium preset's additional effects significantly impact the GPU. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are nearly identical at 42 and 40 FPS, respectively, suggesting that the Ultra preset's marginal visual improvements come at a small performance cost. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown demonstrates that the RTX 4060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Flight Simulator, with 4K requiring significant settings reductions to maintain playable framerates.