Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a strictly limited experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, one that is playable only at lower resolutions and reduced settings. Benchmark data indicates that while the combo can surpass 60 FPS at 1080p on Low and Medium settings, it falls short of that threshold at 1440p on anything above Low, and it cannot achieve a playable frame rate at 4K on any tested preset. The verdict is clear: this is a capable entry-level configuration for the simulator, but users targeting high fidelity or high resolutions will need to make significant compromises.

FAQ

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

A: No. The measured FPS data shows the highest average frame rate at 3840x2160 is 51 FPS on Low settings. All other 4K presets (Medium, High, Ultra) produce average FPS values between 28 and 40, all below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p for this combo?

A: At 2560x1440, only the Low preset is playable, achieving an average of 69 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 54 FPS average, and High and Ultra average 41 and 39 FPS respectively, all below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Which 1080p settings can maintain 60 FPS or higher?

A: At 1920x1080, both Low and Medium presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, with averages of 86 FPS and 67 FPS respectively. The High preset averages 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 48 FPS, both below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-12600KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 27799, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. It is 0.3% slower than the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and 0.3% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE.

Q: What GPU performance level does the Intel Arc B570 match?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score is 20556. This places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and Intel Arc A750, and within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon R9 M390X.

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2988 out of 3714 tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the lower portion of the performance distribution, roughly in the 19th percentile.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear pattern: the GPU is the primary bottleneck in Microsoft Flight Simulator for this combo, but the CPU's role becomes more visible at lower resolutions. Looking at the scaling from 4K to 1440p to 1080p, the average FPS on Low settings improves from 51 to 69 to 86, a 35% jump from 4K to 1080p. This indicates that as resolution drops, the frame rate rises, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios. However, the gains are not linear, suggesting that the CPU begins to limit performance at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the combo hits 86 FPS, but at 1080p Medium it drops to 67 FPS, and at 1080p High to 50 FPS. This steep decline with each preset increase at the same resolution points to the GPU struggling with the added shading and texture work. The same pattern holds at 1440p, where Low yields 69 FPS but Medium drops to 54 FPS. In contrast, the CPU's single-threaded performance, as evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302, is sufficient to feed the GPU at lower settings, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's lack of raw throughput at higher presets.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset produces the lowest average FPS (28 at 4K, 39 at 1440p, 48 at 1080p), while Low produces the highest. This consistent delta of roughly 20-25 FPS between Low and Ultra at each resolution underscores that the Arc B570's compute and memory resources (10 GB GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus with 380 GB/s bandwidth) are the limiting factor. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads and a PassMark multithread score of 27575, is not the primary constraint; it is the GPU that determines the playable envelope.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2988 out of 3714 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the bottom 20% of all configurations tested, which is a poor showing for a modern CPU and a 2025 GPU. The rank suggests that the majority of tested systems outperform this pairing in this specific title.

This low ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data. The combo fails to reach 60 FPS at 4K on any preset, and at 1440p it only reaches that mark on Low. Even at 1080p, it cannot maintain 60 FPS on High or Ultra. The data indicates that the Arc B570, despite being a current-generation part, does not have the performance headroom for a demanding simulation like Microsoft Flight Simulator when paired with this CPU. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 (meaning it outperforms 79% of all CPUs) does not translate into a high combo rank because the GPU's percentile of 65 is not enough to compensate for the game's heavy graphics load.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core i5-12600KF's nearest rivals are all within 0.3% of its average benchmark score of 27799. This means a system using the Intel Core i9-10900K or the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D would offer essentially identical CPU-bound performance in this game. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, despite being a mobile part, also falls in this range. Any of these CPUs would yield nearly the same frame rates when paired with the Arc B570, assuming no other system differences.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B570's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, the Intel Arc A750, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X. All of these have average scores within 0.5% of the Arc B570's 20556. In practice, swapping the Arc B570 for an Arc A750 or an RTX 3070 Mobile would produce almost identical FPS numbers in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The Quadro M4000M and R9 M390X are older parts, but their benchmark scores suggest they would also deliver a comparable experience, meaning users with those GPUs should expect the same 1080p Low/Medium playable settings and the same inability to handle 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. On Low settings, the average FPS is 86, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings drop to an average of 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 and a maximum of 77. High settings average 50 FPS, and Ultra settings average 48 FPS. The minimum and maximum figures for Medium show a 20 FPS variance, indicating some frame time inconsistency.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance falls significantly. Low settings still manage an average of 69 FPS, but Medium drops to 54 FPS (with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 62). High settings average 41 FPS, and Ultra settings average 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, which is substantial, and the data shows that only the Low preset can sustain a playable experience at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles across the board. Low settings produce an average of 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 40 FPS (34 min, 46 max), High settings average 30 FPS, and Ultra settings average 28 FPS. None of these presets reach the playable threshold, and the Ultra setting is nearly half the required frame rate. The data shows a clear ceiling at 4K for this hardware.

The Verdict

This PC can run Microsoft Flight Simulator, but only under strict conditions. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: at 3840x2160, there are no playable settings, as even Low averages 51 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the only playable setting is Low, which achieves an average of 69 FPS. At 1920x1080, both Low and Medium are playable, with averages of 86 FPS and 67 FPS respectively, and Medium is the best setting that clears 60 FPS.

For users with a 1080p monitor, the combo is viable for the simulator, provided they stick to Medium or lower presets. At 1440p, the experience is marginal, requiring Low settings for a smooth frame rate. At 4K, the hardware is simply not sufficient, and users would need to reduce resolution or accept sub-60 FPS performance. The data does not support any claim of high-fidelity or high-resolution playability for this pairing; it is a low-to-medium settings solution for 1080p and a low-settings solution for 1440p.