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Simulation games (Flight Simulator, racing sims, city builders): the most CPU-bound genre and how to build for it

Simulators — flight (Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, DCS World, X-Plane 12), racing (iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Automobilista 2), city and factory builders (Cities: Skylines II, Factorio, Satisfactory) and farming/trucking sims — simulate thousands of interacting objects, which makes them the most CPU-bound genre on PC. A fast CPU with a large cache and 32 GB of RAM matters more than the GPU, with the exception of VR and triple-screen racing where the GPU load is huge as well.

simulation games · Microsoft Flight Simulator · racing sim · city builder · Cities Skylines · DCS · iRacing

📅 Updated 👥 FPSHQ Team · methodology

Action Adventure170 FPS (6)Shooter168 FPS (9)Simulation147 FPS (4)Racing142 FPS (3)RPG122 FPS (5)Action RPG77 FPS (10)
Genres in FPSHQ measurements: median average FPS at 1080p High/Ultra across all tested GPUs (number of games) FPSHQ database, as of 2026-10-13

Key figures

From the FPSHQ database, as of Oct 13, 2026

Action RPG · 77 FPSheaviest genre in measurements (median FPS 1080p)
106independent FPS measurements
4,800rows of aggregated review data
967GPU + game pairs with measurements or aggregated data

Demands by sub-genre

The figures block shows the median measured FPS by genre in FPSHQ's dataset and the number of measured runs.

Sub-genreExamplesMain limitNotes
Flight simsMSFS 2024, DCS World, X-Plane 12CPU main thread; VRAM in VRMSFS streams photogrammetry (fast internet); DCS Vulkan multithreading since 2023
Racing simsiRacing, ACC, AMS2, rFactor 2GPU at triple screens/VR; CPU for AI grids180 Hz+ or VR; frame-time consistency critical
City buildersCities: Skylines II, Anno 1800, Transport Fever 2CPU simulation, RAMlate-game FPS falls with population
Factory / colonyFactorio, Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere, RimWorldCPU, cache, RAMUPS (updates per second) is the metric
Vehicle / farmingEuro Truck Simulator 2, Farming Simulator 25GPU moderate, CPU moderatemods raise demands

Why cache beats cores here

Simulation state — thousands of agents, vehicles, power networks — is updated every tick in loops that touch memory unpredictably; the CPU spends much of its time waiting on RAM. A large L3 cache keeps more of that state on-chip, which is why the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and 7800X3D lead MSFS, Factorio and Cities benchmarks by 20–40 % over similarly clocked chips. Core count helps only where the engine parallelises (Cities II, DCS Vulkan, X-Plane 12 to a degree); Factorio and MSFS remain main-thread bound. Fast, low-latency RAM adds a further 5–15 %.

1080p2,0121440p1,8674K1,024720p3
Resolutions in 4,906 rows of measurements and aggregated review data in the FPSHQ database FPSHQ database, as of 2026-10-13

Build and settings advice

The bottleneck calculator is especially informative for simulators: it shows how little a GPU upgrade would help when the CPU limit sits at 45 FPS.

  • CPU: Ryzen X3D first; otherwise highest single-thread performance available
  • RAM: 32 GB (64 GB for MSFS with add-ons or large Cities maps), DDR5-6000 CL30
  • GPU: mid-range for single 1440p; RTX 4080/5080-class for 4K, triples or VR
  • Storage: NVMe with 500 GB+ free for MSFS (200+ GB with content) and mod libraries
  • Settings: lower terrain LOD / object density / traffic for CPU; use DLSS/FSR Quality for GPU; cap FPS at 30/40/60 for consistent frame pacing in flight sims
  • VR: resolution scale and fixed foveated rendering are the big levers
FPSHQ

On your PC

Enter your GPU (and CPU) — we calculate the effect of "Simulators" with the unified FPSHQ model using Cyberpunk 2077 as the example.

Save your PC in the account · Detect hardware with the app · Unified FPSHQ model estimate, not a measurement.

Where to use this on FPSHQ

Game requirementsCPU catalogBottleneck calculator

Forum discussions

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In short

What is Simulators?

Simulators — flight (Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, DCS World, X-Plane 12), racing (iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Automobilista 2), city and factory builders (Cities: Skylines II, Factorio, Satisfactory) and farming/trucking sims — simulate thousands of interacting objects, which makes them the most CPU-bound genre on PC. A fast CPU with a large cache and 32 GB of RAM matters more than the GPU, with the exception of VR and triple-screen racing where the GPU load is huge as well.

heaviest genre in measurements (median FPS 1080p)
Action RPG · 77 FPS
independent FPS measurements
106
rows of aggregated review data
4,800
GPU + game pairs with measurements or aggregated data
967
updated · source: Microsoft Flight Simulator, Factorio: Friday Facts (performance posts), FPSHQ model estimate

FAQ

What CPU is best for Microsoft Flight Simulator?
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (or 7800X3D) — the large cache lifts the main-thread-bound simulation 20–40 % over other CPUs.
Does a better GPU help city builders?
Little — Cities: Skylines II and similar are simulation-bound late game; a faster CPU and more RAM help.
How much RAM for simulators?
32 GB standard; 64 GB for MSFS with many add-ons or very large city/factory saves.
Why is my FPS low in sims with GPU usage at 50 %?
The classic CPU bottleneck: the simulation thread limits frames; lower object/traffic density or upgrade the CPU.

Sources

FPSHQ Team · methodology · methodology · Updated

✏️ Found a mistake? Suggest an edit

Edits are moderated. Say what to fix and, if you can, add a source (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel docs, the game developer).

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