Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a clear picture for Microsoft Flight Simulator: this is a combination that can handle the sim at 1080p and 1440p with settings tuned to Medium, but it falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 4K. The data shows a system that is capable but requires resolution and setting compromises to achieve smooth gameplay.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the highest preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Medium, with a measured average of 73 FPS. While the Low preset reaches 95.7 FPS, the Medium setting offers a substantial visual upgrade over Low while still providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is also Medium, delivering an average of 60.9 FPS. This is a tight squeeze above the 60 FPS line, indicating that the system is right at the edge of its capabilities at this resolution. The Low preset achieves 79.5 FPS, but Medium is the most demanding preset that still clears the bar.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves the 60 FPS target. The highest average FPS at 4K comes from the Low preset at 54.9 FPS, which falls short of the playable threshold. The Medium preset drops to 45.4 FPS, High to 32.3 FPS, and Ultra to 33.9 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS requirement, so the verdict for 4K is that there are no playable settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results reveal a workload that scales heavily with resolution, indicating the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises. The performance drop from 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium is significant, going from 73 FPS down to 60.9 FPS, a reduction of roughly 17%. This scaling shows that the Arc B580's rendering load increases substantially with resolution, and the CPU is not the limiting factor at these settings.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens at higher resolutions, further confirming the GPU's dominant role. At 1080p, the difference between Low (95.7 FPS) and Ultra (56 FPS) is about 71%. At 1440p, Low (79.5 FPS) versus Ultra (40.5 FPS) represents a 96% spread, and at 4K, Low (54.9 FPS) versus Ultra (33.9 FPS) is a 62% difference. The increasing gap at 1440p suggests that the GPU is being pushed harder, while the CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a 32 MB L3 cache is sufficient to feed the GPU at these settings.

The Ryzen 5 5600's single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584, is adequate for flight simulation's often single-threaded rendering tasks. However, the data indicates that the Arc B580's raw throughput, with its 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, is the deciding factor. At 4K, the GPU simply cannot maintain the frame rate needed, regardless of CPU headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 95.7 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average
• High: 55.8 FPS average
• Ultra: 56 FPS average

At 1080p, the system shows a broad range of performance. The jump from Medium to High is a steep decline of 23.6%, suggesting that the High preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU. Interestingly, Ultra's average of 56 FPS is marginally higher than High's 55.8 FPS, which may indicate a difference in specific rendering paths or a measurement anomaly, but both are below the 60 FPS threshold.

2560x1440:

• Low: 79.5 FPS average
• Medium: 60.9 FPS average
• High: 47.2 FPS average
• Ultra: 40.5 FPS average

The 1440p results show a consistent degradation as settings increase. Medium just clears the 60 FPS line, while High falls to 47.2 FPS and Ultra to 40.5 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 49% performance loss, which is a substantial hit but expected for a demanding simulator.

3840x2160:

• Low: 54.9 FPS average
• Medium: 45.4 FPS average
• High: 32.3 FPS average
• Ultra: 33.9 FPS average

At 4K, the system is clearly overmatched. Even Low settings cannot reach 60 FPS, and the average of 54.9 FPS is the best possible outcome. High and Ultra are nearly identical at 32.3 FPS and 33.9 FPS respectively, indicating that the GPU is completely saturated and additional settings changes have minimal impact.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p with Medium settings, the system achieves an average of 73 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Low settings reach 95.7 FPS, but High and Ultra fall below 60 FPS at 55.8 FPS and 56 FPS respectively.

Q: Is 1440p playable with this combo?

A: Yes, but only with Medium settings, which deliver an average of 60.9 FPS. Low settings are smoother at 79.5 FPS, but High (47.2 FPS) and Ultra (40.5 FPS) do not meet the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the best 4K setting for this system?

A: There is no playable setting at 4K. The highest average FPS is 54.9 FPS on Low, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium (45.4 FPS), High (32.3 FPS), and Ultra (33.9 FPS) all fail to reach playable frame rates.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600 perform in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 20468, placing it in the 74th percentile against all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 18309 and single-core is 2584, which are competitive with near rivals like the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (deltaPct 0.1%) and AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (deltaPct 0.2%).

Q: What is the Arc B580's benchmark standing?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 23021, placing it in the 68th percentile against all GPUs. It performs closely to the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (deltaPct 0.6%).

Q: Which component is more important for this game?

A: The data shows the GPU is the primary bottleneck. Performance scales significantly with resolution, and the Arc B580 can maintain 60 FPS at 1080p Medium but not at 4K, regardless of CPU capability.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2824th out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, reflecting its inability to handle 4K and its limited headroom at 1440p. The rank is driven primarily by the GPU's performance, as the CPU's benchmark percentile (74th) is higher than the GPU's (68th), yet the game's resolution scaling indicates that GPU limitations dominate the experience.

The combo's average FPS across all measured settings and resolutions is roughly 52.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. This aggregate figure masks the fact that the system is quite capable at 1080p and acceptable at 1440p with the right settings, but it also highlights that the system is not a high-end performer for this title. The rank of 2824 suggests that many other combinations deliver higher overall frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + Intel Arc B580 can run Microsoft Flight Simulator, but the experience is heavily dependent on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system is playable with Medium settings, achieving 73 FPS, and even offers a high-refresh option at Low with 95.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium settings just barely clear the 60 FPS threshold with 60.9 FPS, making it a viable but marginal option. At 3840x2160, there are no playable settings, as the best average FPS is 54.9 FPS on Low.

The verdict by resolution is clear: this combo is suitable for 1080p and 1440p gaming, provided the user sticks to Medium settings or lower. For 4K, the system falls short of the 60 FPS target across all presets. The data indicates that users with a 1080p or 1440p monitor will have a satisfactory experience, while those expecting 4K performance will need to either lower their expectations or consider a more powerful GPU. The system's rank of 2824 out of 3714 confirms that it is a mid-to-low tier performer for this specific title, but it is not without merit for mainstream resolutions.