Microsoft Flight Simulator

The measured data for this combination of an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and an Intel Arc B580 in Microsoft Flight Simulator shows a clear performance hierarchy tied directly to resolution and graphical preset. The benchmark results provide average frame rates across three resolutions and four settings, with the playable threshold set at 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide performance spread depending on the preset. With Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 96 FPS, which is the highest result recorded for this combination. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 73.8 FPS, still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings produce an average of 58.9 FPS, falling just below the playable line. The most demanding preset, Ultra, yields an average of 53.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a roughly 44% reduction in average frame rate, from 96 FPS down to 53.7 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern continues but with lower overall numbers. The Low preset delivers an average of 76.7 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings drop to 57.9 FPS, slightly under the playable mark. High settings produce 44 FPS, and Ultra settings fall further to 44.7 FPS. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is very small, only 0.7 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the top end of the settings scale.

At 3840x2160, the performance picture changes significantly. No preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset averages 58.9 FPS, just short of playable. Medium settings average 45.5 FPS, High settings average 32 FPS, and Ultra settings average 31.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 13.4 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 13.5 FPS, showing a steady degradation as settings increase. The minimum and maximum frame rate values were not recorded in the dataset, so the analysis relies solely on average FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor in this game for this combination. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset produces 31.3 FPS, while the Low preset produces 58.9 FPS. This 27.6 FPS difference demonstrates how heavily the graphics workload impacts performance. The CPU, a 6-core 12-thread Zen 3 part, appears sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 96 FPS result at 1080p Low.

The data shows that resolution scaling has a more pronounced effect than preset scaling at the higher end. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings reduces the average from 96 FPS to 76.7 FPS, a 19.3 FPS drop. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Low settings further reduces it to 58.9 FPS, another 17.8 FPS drop. This consistent decline suggests that the GPU's rendering capacity is the bottleneck, as the CPU workload for a flight simulator at these settings is likely less variable.

At 1080p, the CPU's role becomes more visible. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 22.2 FPS (from 96 to 73.8), while the jump from Medium to High costs 14.9 FPS (from 73.8 to 58.9). This non-linear scaling hints that the CPU can maintain higher frame rates until the GPU workload becomes too heavy. The Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread score of 836 in 3dmark single-thread testing and its 2319 score in Cinebench R23 single-core suggest adequate per-core performance for simulation logic.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provides context for what similar hardware might achieve. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 sits at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19593. Its closest competitor, the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, scores 19617, a negligible 0.1 percent difference. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19668, 0.4 percent higher, while the Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, 0.5 percent lower. The Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19723, 0.7 percent higher. These small deltas indicate that any of these CPUs would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in this game.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B580 ranks at the 68th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, scores 23061, just 0.2 percent higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, 0.6 percent lower, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172, 0.7 percent higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, 1 percent higher. The tight clustering of these scores suggests that swapping the B580 for any of these cards would result in frame rate differences of less than 2 percent.

The Verdict

The verdict by resolution is clear from the data. At 3840x2160, no settings preset achieves the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best result is 58.9 FPS at Low settings, which misses the mark by 1.1 FPS. This resolution is not playable with this combination under any tested preset.

At 2560x1440, only the Low preset clears the threshold. It averages 76.7 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. Medium settings fall to 57.9 FPS, just 2.1 FPS below the threshold, but the data does not classify it as playable. High and Ultra settings are well below the line at 44 FPS and 44.7 FPS respectively.

At 1920x1080, two presets are playable. The Low preset averages 96 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 73.8 FPS. Both exceed the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at 58.9 FPS and Ultra at 53.7 FPS are not playable. The best playable setting at this resolution is Medium, with an average of 73.8 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the data shows no playable settings. The best possible average is 58.9 FPS at Low, but this falls short of the 60 FPS requirement. Users at this resolution would need to accept frame rates below the threshold.

For 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Low, which produces an average of 76.7 FPS. This is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS line at this resolution. The next step up, Medium, drops to 57.9 FPS, which is not playable.

For 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Medium, averaging 73.8 FPS. This provides a 13.8 FPS margin over the 60 FPS threshold. While Low achieves a higher 96 FPS, the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual quality and performance, as both are classified as playable.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K resolution?

A: No, the data shows no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best average is 58.9 FPS at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, only the Low preset is playable, averaging 76.7 FPS. Medium settings fall to 57.9 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals for this game?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 19593 is within 1 percent of its nearest rivals, which range from 19499 to 19723. This indicates nearly identical performance for gaming workloads.

Q: What is the best preset at 1080p that stays above 60 FPS?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 73.8 FPS, making it the most demanding playable option. The Low preset achieves 96 FPS but is less visually demanding.

Q: Does the GPU bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K, where even Low settings only reach 58.9 FPS. At 1080p, the CPU appears sufficient, as evidenced by the 96 FPS result at Low settings.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever playable at any resolution?

A: No, the Ultra preset never reaches 60 FPS. The best Ultra result is 53.7 FPS at 1920x1080, with lower results at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2827 out of 3714 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the lower portion of the benchmark database, around the 24th percentile of tested systems. The rank reflects the measured frame rates across all resolutions and presets, with the 4K results being particularly weak. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p Medium or 1440p Low gaming, with no capability at 4K. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs suggest that neither component is exceptionally strong, and their combined performance for this demanding flight simulator results in a mid-to-low tier ranking.