Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator, released 2020-08-17, is a flight simulation that stresses both CPU and GPU. The combination pairs the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H (16 cores, 16 threads, boost clock 5.00 GHz) with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (8 GB GDDR7, 384.0 GB/s bandwidth). Measured frame rates range from 39 FPS at 4K Ultra to 117 FPS at 1080p Low. The data shows a consistent pattern: the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, while the CPU's strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3984) allows high frame rates at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The 1080p High preset delivers 69 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the same preset drops to 55 FPS, and at 4K it reaches 41 FPS. The scaling is consistent across every preset. Low goes from 117 FPS at 1080p to 95 FPS at 1440p to 70 FPS at 4K. Medium goes from 91 FPS to 74 FPS to 54 FPS. Ultra goes from 65 FPS to 53 FPS to 39 FPS.

The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable on every preset: High moves 69 to 55, Medium 91 to 74, Ultra 65 to 53, and Low 117 to 95. The drop from 1440p to 4K is even larger in absolute terms — High goes 55 to 41, Medium 74 to 54, Ultra 53 to 39, and Low 95 to 70. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the scaling component; as resolution increases, the pixel workload grows and the frame rate falls accordingly. The CPU does not appear to be the limiter because the frame rate scales smoothly with resolution rather than hitting a CPU-imposed ceiling.

The 4K Low result of 70 FPS is the highest 4K frame rate, but it comes at the cost of visual quality. The Medium preset at 4K produces 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and a maximum of 63, which is the best quality-to-frame-rate balance at that resolution. The consistent resolution scaling — a clear drop from 1080p to 1440p and again from 1440p to 4K — is typical of a GPU-bound workload, and the CPU's high single-core score (3984 in Cinebench R23) supports the conclusion that the processor is not the limiting factor at any tested resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 2057 out of 3714 tested systems in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it below the median of the field — a mid-table position. The CPU's average benchmark score of 40518 puts it at the 87th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's average score of 29928 places it at the 75th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU's percentile is the weaker of the two, and since this game's frame rate scales heavily with resolution, the GPU's rank has a stronger influence on the game's result.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the average benchmark are the Intel Core 7 253PE (score 40557, 0.1% higher), the Intel Core 5 223PE (score 40585, 0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (score 40431, 0.2% lower), and the Intel Xeon 6507P (score 40426, 0.2% lower). The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (score 29945, 0.1% higher), the RTX 2080 Ti (score 29783, 0.5% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (score 30095, 0.6% higher), and the Radeon RX 6700 (score 30433, 1.7% higher). The GPU is effectively within a fraction of a percent of the RTX 3070 Ti, and the CPU is within 0.2% of its nearest competitors — both components are tightly clustered in performance space.

Given the GPU's 75th-percentile standing and the CPU's 87th-percentile standing, the 2057 rank in this game is consistent with a configuration where the GPU is the weaker link. The measured frame rates at 4K (39 to 70 FPS depending on preset) reflect the GPU's mid-tier position, while the 1080p results (65 to 117 FPS) show that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 and a maximum of 105. This is the best balance between visual quality and smoothness. High (69 FPS) and Ultra (65 FPS) are playable, but they trade 22 FPS of average frame rate for higher detail. Low reaches 117 FPS, which suits high-refresh-rate displays.

At 1440p, Medium again provides the best measured experience: 74 FPS with a min of 63 and a max of 85. High (55 FPS) and Ultra (53 FPS) fall below 60 FPS, while Low (95 FPS) is the fastest but visually degraded. For a 1440p display, Medium is the recommended preset.

At 4K, Medium is the only preset that stays above the 40 FPS average line, at 54 FPS (min 46, max 63). High (41 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) are below 40 FPS average, and Low (70 FPS) is the highest frame rate but lacks detail. The recommendation for 4K is Medium.

The data shows that Medium is the safest preset across all three resolutions. It keeps the frame rate above 50 FPS at 4K, above 70 FPS at 1440p, and above 90 FPS at 1080p. For users who prioritize maximum visual fidelity at 1080p, Ultra at 65 FPS is acceptable; at 1440p, Ultra at 53 FPS is borderline; at 4K, Ultra at 39 FPS is not recommended.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 117 FPS
• Medium: 91 FPS (min 78, max 105)
• High: 69 FPS
• Ultra: 65 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 95 FPS
• Medium: 74 FPS (min 63, max 85)
• High: 55 FPS
• Ultra: 53 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 70 FPS
• Medium: 54 FPS (min 46, max 63)
• High: 41 FPS
• Ultra: 39 FPS

The highest measured average is 117 FPS at 1080p Low, followed by 95 FPS at 1440p Low and 91 FPS at 1080p Medium. The lowest average is 39 FPS at 4K Ultra, with 41 FPS at 4K High and 53 FPS at 1440p Ultra. The Medium preset has the most complete data: min and max values are available for all three resolutions, showing a range of 78 to 105 at 1080p, 63 to 85 at 1440p, and 46 to 63 at 4K. The min frame rate at 4K (46) is only 7 FPS below the 4K average (54), indicating that the GPU's frame time stays relatively stable even at high resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p display?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 85, which is the highest average among the quality presets at that resolution.

Q: Can the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. The highest 4K result is 70 FPS on Low, but the Medium preset averages 54 FPS with a min of 46. High and Ultra average 41 and 39 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Mobile compare to the RTX 3070 Ti?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 29928, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 3070 Ti's 29945. It is 0.5% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti's 29783.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p the combo reaches 117 FPS on Low, and the frame rate drops consistently as resolution rises, pointing to the GPU as the limiting component.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate measured?

A: The lowest average is 39 FPS at 4K Ultra. The next lowest is 41 FPS at 4K High.

Q: Does the CPU use simultaneous multithreading?

A: No. The CPU has 16 cores and 16 threads, meaning it does not use SMT. It has a base clock of 2.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor without SMT, built on the Panther Lake architecture at 3 nm. Its base clock is 2.00 GHz and its boost clock is 5.00 GHz. The L3 cache is 18 MB shared, with 192 KB L1 and 2.5 MB L2 per core. Memory support is LPDDR5X dual-channel at 153.6 GB/s bandwidth, and the TDP is 25 W.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 28221 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3984 in single-core. Its average benchmark score is 40518, placing it at the 87th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals are the Intel Core 7 253PE (40557, 0.1% higher), the Core 5 223PE (40585, 0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (40431, 0.2% lower), and the Intel Xeon 6507P (40426, 0.2% lower).

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to manage the simulation, physics, and draw calls. The measured 1080p Low result of 117 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU at high frame rates. The consistent frame-rate drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU. The 5.00 GHz boost clock and 16 threads are sufficient for this game's single-thread-heavy simulation, and the 87th-percentile standing confirms the CPU is a strong mobile part.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture (GB206) with a 5 nm process. It has 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, 48 ROPs, 36 RT cores, and 144 tensor cores. Its base clock is 907 MHz and its boost clock is 1425 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. FP32 compute is 13.13 TFLOPS, and the TDP is 50 W.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 29928, placing it at the 75th percentile of all GPUs. It trails the RTX 3070 Ti by 0.1% (29945) and the Radeon RX 6800 by 0.6% (30095), while leading the RTX 2080 Ti by 0.5% (29783) and the Radeon RX 6700 by 1.7% (30433).

In this game, the GPU is the limiting component at 4K. The 4K results — 39 FPS on Ultra, 41 on High, 54 on Medium, and 70 on Low — show that the GPU cannot sustain high-quality presets at that resolution. At 1080p, the GPU produces 91 FPS on Medium and 117 FPS on Low, demonstrating its capability at lower resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the tested presets, but the GPU's compute throughput (13.13 TFLOPS) and boost clock of 1425 MHz set the ceiling for 4K rendering.