Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Xbox-era? No. For this page, the relevant tested pairing is the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The dataset includes measured FPS rows at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160 across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra presets, plus aggregate CPU and GPU benchmark scores. The combo ranks 2976 out of 3714 tested combinations, with measured averages ranging from 88 FPS at 1080p Low down to 29 FPS at 4K Ultra.

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

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a mobile processor built on Intel's Panther Lake architecture. It has 16 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 2.10 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The chip uses a 3 nm process, fits the Intel BGA 2540 socket, and carries a 25 W TDP. Cache is listed as 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3. Memory support is LPDDR5X over a dual-channel interface, with 153.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The CPU also exposes four PCIe Gen 5 lanes and includes Arc B390 integrated graphics.

Benchmark data for the CPU places it at the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44466. Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 18911, and single-core score is 2200.5. PassMark single-thread score is 4280. These aggregate numbers describe a processor with strong single-core throughput and substantial multi-core capacity. In the game data, the highest average FPS is 88 at 1920x1080 Low. That row uses the lowest resolution and lowest graphics preset in the dataset, so it is the clearest view of how much frame rate this CPU/GPU combination can produce when the graphics load is minimal.

The nearest CPU rivals in aggregate benchmark score are tightly clustered. The Core Ultra X9 388H is 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, which scores 44573. It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13950HX, which scores 44342. It is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, which scores 44309, and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600, which scores 44240. This tells a consistent story: the processor's raw aggregate score is within a narrow band of several well-known desktop and mobile parts, but the game-specific FPS is still highly dependent on the GPU and resolution.

The 16-thread configuration is notable because threads equal cores, so no simultaneous multithreading is indicated in the data. The high boost clock of 5.10 GHz gives the processor a strong headroom for lightly threaded workloads. Microsoft Flight Simulator is classified as a Flight Simulation game, and the data shows that at lower settings and lower resolutions, this CPU is able to support average frame rates well above 60 FPS. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 88 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it is 71 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, it is 52 FPS. The decline across those rows is tied to resolution, which points to the graphics side taking on more responsibility as resolution increases.

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

The measured presets are Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset produces an average of 68 FPS, with a minimum of 58 and a maximum of 78. High averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 49 FPS. If the goal is to stay above a 60 FPS average, 1080p Medium is the highest quality measured row that does so. The 58 FPS minimum sits below 60, but the average remains above it.

At 2560x1440, Low is the only preset with an average above 60 FPS, delivering 71 FPS. Medium averages 55 FPS, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is small, 41 versus 39, which means the Ultra preset does not cost a large amount of measured frame rate compared to High at this resolution. However, neither reaches the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches a 60 FPS average. Low is the fastest measured row at 52 FPS, Medium follows at 41 FPS, High is at 31 FPS, and Ultra is at 29 FPS. The Medium row includes the only 4K min/max data: a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47. For smoothness, 4K Low is the best measured option. For a higher visual load while staying near 40 FPS average, 4K Medium is the next step up, with an average of 41 FPS.

Across the entire dataset, the strongest balance of quality and average frame rate is the 1080p Medium row. It is the only preset above the 60 FPS average that still uses a middle graphics setting rather than Low. At higher resolutions, the recommendations split: 1440p Low for 60+ average FPS, and 4K Low if frame rate is the priority.

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

The measured rows show a uniform pattern: average FPS falls at every preset as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 to 3840x2160.

At Low settings, the averages are 88 FPS, 71 FPS, and 52 FPS. At Medium, they are 68 FPS, 55 FPS, and 41 FPS. At High, they are 51 FPS, 41 FPS, and 31 FPS. At Ultra, they are 49 FPS, 39 FPS, and 29 FPS. Every preset loses average FPS at every resolution increase.

This behavior is consistent with a system where the GPU is doing more work per frame as resolution rises. Resolution changes the pixel workload sent to the graphics processor, while the CPU-side simulation work for a given scene remains more constant. The data does not include separate CPU or GPU usage percentages, but the FPS progression is sufficient to show that the graphics component is a major limiting factor at 1440p and particularly at 4K.

The Low preset row is the most direct example. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 88 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 52 FPS. Because Low settings reduce graphics-option overhead, the remaining FPS cost is mostly attributable to resolution itself. That points squarely at GPU pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as the resources being stressed at 4K.

High and Ultra show a similar but smaller absolute decline. At 1080p High the average is 51 FPS, and at 4K High it is 31 FPS. At 1080p Ultra the average is 49 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it is 29 FPS. The dataset shows that the two highest presets are close to each other at every resolution, while the Low preset is substantially faster. This suggests that the biggest FPS lever in this data is resolution, followed by the step from Low up to Medium and higher presets.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo's game-specific rank is 2976 out of 3714 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places this pairing in the lower portion of the tested database. Many other CPU/GPU combinations produce higher measured FPS in this game.

The component-level percentiles are higher than the combo rank might suggest. The CPU is at the 88th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. If aggregate component percentiles mapped directly onto game performance, this combo would be expected to sit higher than 2976. The rank indicates that Microsoft Flight Simulator's results depend on the specific pairing and on how the game uses the GPU and CPU together.

The CPU's aggregate nearest rivals are all within a narrow range. The average benchmark score of 44466 puts it 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13950HX, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600. The GPU's average benchmark score is 43268. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, with a delta of 0.0. The GPU is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, 0.1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M6000, and 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile.

These rival comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores, not on game-specific FPS. The 2976 rank is the only game-specific placement in the dataset, and it provides the direct context for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The rank shows that a mid-to-high component percentile does not automatically produce a high game-specific ranking.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process. The chip is GB207, with 16,900 million transistors and a die size of 149 mm². It has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1500 MHz and 24 Gbps effective data rate. Memory bandwidth is 384.0 GB/s. The base GPU clock is 1020 MHz, and the boost clock is 1500 MHz.

The GPU contains 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It also has 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores. FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS. The board is listed with a 50 W TDP and uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface. API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Aggregate GPU benchmarks show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2365 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 84171. The GPU's average benchmark score is 43268, placing it at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Those benchmark results line up with a mid-to-upper mobile GPU, but the game data still shows a clear ceiling in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The GPU's role in the measured FPS is visible in the resolution and preset scaling. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 88 FPS. At 1920x1080 Ultra, it drops to 49 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 52 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Ultra, it drops to 29 FPS. The 8 GB frame buffer is the only VRAM figure in the pack; the dataset does not include VRAM usage measurements, so the capacity limit cannot be directly observed. The FPS data does show that the 4K rows, especially High and Ultra, leave little headroom.

The memory configuration is important for resolution scaling. The 128-bit bus and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are the figures that connect to the 4K frame rates in this dataset. Higher resolutions require more memory traffic, and the measured averages decline accordingly at every preset. The boost clock of 1500 MHz is the maximum GPU clock listed, and the lowest measured average of 29 FPS occurs at the highest visual load of 4K Ultra.

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

The following table lists every measured row in the dataset. Only the Medium preset includes minimum and maximum FPS values; all other rows report average FPS only.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 88 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 68 | 58 | 78 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 51 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 49 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 71 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 55 | 47 | 63 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 41 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 39 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 52 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 41 | 35 | 47 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 31 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 29 | — | — |

At 1920x1080, the progression is 88 FPS on Low, 68 FPS on Medium, 51 FPS on High, and 49 FPS on Ultra. The Medium row has the only recorded variance data at this resolution, with min/max of 58 and 78.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 71 FPS, Medium averages 55 FPS, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The Medium row again provides the only variance data, with min/max of 47 and 63.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The Medium row has a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47. These 4K numbers show that the combination is best suited to Low or Medium settings at 4K, while High and Ultra fall below a 35 FPS average? Wait "High/Ultra fall below a 35 FPS average" — 35 number appears as min, not as threshold. Better not say "below a 35 FPS average". Say "High and Ultra average 31 and 29 FPS respectively." Good.

FAQ

Q: What is the best measured preset for a 60 FPS average in this dataset?

A: At 1920x1080, Medium averages 68 FPS and is the highest quality preset above a 60 FPS average. At 2560x1440, Low averages 71 FPS but Medium drops to 55 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS; Low is the fastest at 52 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest aggregate rivals?

A: The Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score of 44466. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, whose score is 44573. It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13950HX, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600.

Q: What is the lowest measured average FPS in the dataset?

A: The lowest average FPS is 29, measured at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset. The same resolution on High averages 31 FPS.

Q: Which measured rows include minimum and maximum FPS values?

A: Only the Medium preset rows include min and max values. At 1920x1080, the range is 58 to 78. At 2560x1440, it is 47 to 63. At 3840x2160, it is 35 to 47.

Q: Where does this combo rank in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The combo ranks 2976 out of 3714 tested combinations. The CPU is at the 88th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1500 MHz, 24 Gbps effective data rate, and 384.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.