Microsoft Flight Simulator

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K Ultra?

A: No. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the measured average frame rate is 28 FPS, which falls well below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Even at 4K High, the average is only 30 FPS.

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

A: Low is the only setting that clears 60 FPS at 2560x1440, with an average of 69 FPS. Medium drops to 54 FPS, so it does not meet the playable threshold.

Q: Does the system handle 1080p Medium well?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS. It clears the 60 FPS average threshold, though the minimum dips slightly below it.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-9400 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. It sits within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246) and within 0.3% of the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248). It is 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259) and 0.4% behind the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264).

Q: Where does the Intel Arc B570 rank among all GPUs?

A: The Arc B570 sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 20556, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, 0.1% difference) and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, 0.1% difference).

Q: What is the biggest FPS jump when lowering settings at 1080p?

A: Moving from Ultra to Low at 1920x1080 increases the average from 48 FPS to 86 FPS, a gain of 38 FPS. The step from Medium to Low adds 19 FPS, while High sits at 50 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows that this game's frame rate responds heavily to both resolution and settings, but the pattern reveals which component dominates at each step. At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Arc B570 delivers 30 FPS at High, 40 FPS at Medium, and 51 FPS at Low, while Ultra drops to 28 FPS. The CPU has enough headroom at this resolution to let the GPU dictate performance, and the scaling from Low to High is a 21 FPS drop, indicating that the graphics card's workload is the primary constraint.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts slightly. Low settings produce 69 FPS, while Medium drops to 54 FPS and High to 41 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, which is smaller than the 21 FPS gap seen at 4K between Low and High. This suggests that at 1440p, the CPU begins to contribute more, but the GPU still handles most of the load. The 39 FPS at Ultra confirms that the most demanding preset still overwhelms the Arc B570.

At 1920x1080, the CPU's role becomes more apparent. Low settings hit 86 FPS, Medium drops to 67 FPS, High to 50 FPS, and Ultra to 48 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 2 FPS, which is the smallest gap across all resolutions. This indicates that at 1080p, the Intel Core i5-9400 starts to become a bottleneck, preventing the GPU from fully expressing its performance at higher presets. The CPU's six cores and six threads, along with its 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs, align with this behavior.

Comparing resolutions at the same preset, the scaling is consistent. At Low, moving from 1080p to 1440p drops the average from 86 to 69 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K it drops from 69 to 51 FPS. At Medium, the progression is 67, 54, and 40 FPS across the three resolutions. At High, it is 50, 41, and 30 FPS. The consistent step-down pattern indicates that resolution scaling is predictable, and the GPU is the dominant factor at 4K, while the CPU becomes more relevant as resolution decreases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the recorded data shows the following averages: Low settings deliver 86 FPS, Medium 67 FPS, High 50 FPS, and Ultra 48 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution with recorded min/max values. The spread from Low to Ultra is 38 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring from Medium to High at 17 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 69 FPS, Medium 54 FPS, High 41 FPS, and Ultra 39 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 2 FPS, while the gap from Low to Medium is 15 FPS. This resolution is the only one where Low clears the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 51 FPS for Low, 40 FPS for Medium, 30 FPS for High, and 28 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. No preset at 4K reaches 60 FPS, and the gap from Low to Medium is 11 FPS, which is the smallest Low-to-Medium drop across all resolutions.

Across all three resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data. At 1080p Medium, the frame time variation is 20 FPS between min and max. At 1440p Medium, the variation is 16 FPS. At 4K Medium, the variation is 12 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions further supports the GPU-bound nature of 4K, where frame times become more consistent under sustained load.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-9400's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2264 (0.4% ahead), the Intel Core i7-10710U at 2248 (0.3% behind), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 (0.4% behind). For this game, any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical CPU-bound behavior, meaning the 1080p High-to-Ultra plateau around 48 to 50 FPS would remain essentially unchanged. The differences are within measurement noise, so swapping among these chips would not alter the verdict at any resolution.

The Intel Arc B570's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (0.1% behind), the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (0.1% ahead), the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at 20662 (0.5% ahead), and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20480 (0.4% behind). Since the Arc B570 sits at the 65th GPU percentile, these rivals would deliver the same frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator within a fraction of a percent. The RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750 are particularly close, so users with those GPUs should expect the same 4K limitations and the same 1080p Medium playability.

The combo rank of 2988 out of 3714 tested combinations places this system in the lower third of all tested setups. Given the CPU and GPU both sit near their respective rivals, the overall ranking reflects the pairing rather than any single component being unusually weak. The GPU's 65th percentile is stronger than the CPU's 47th percentile, which aligns with the observed CPU bottleneck at 1080p High and Ultra.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Microsoft Flight Simulator? The answer depends entirely on the target resolution and preset. At 1920x1080, the system is playable at Low and Medium settings, with Medium being the best playable option at 67 FPS average. High and Ultra fall short at 50 FPS and 48 FPS respectively, so they do not meet the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, only Low settings are playable, delivering 69 FPS. Medium drops to 54 FPS, which is below the threshold, and High and Ultra are not viable at 41 FPS and 39 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset is playable. The best average is 51 FPS at Low, with Medium at 40 FPS, High at 30 FPS, and Ultra at 28 FPS.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p Low and Medium are viable, 1440p Low is viable, and 4K is not viable for 60 FPS gameplay. Users targeting higher presets would need to accept frame rates below 60 FPS, or the system would require a different configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2988 out of 3714 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the 20th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 80% of tested combinations deliver better frame rates in this title. The rank reflects the measured data, not theoretical estimates, and it aligns with the observed performance: playable at 1080p Medium, marginal at 1440p Low, and unplayable at 4K.

The ranking is consistent with the component-level percentiles. The CPU sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The combined rank is lower than either individual percentile, which suggests that the pairing does not synergize particularly well for this game. The CPU's six threads and the GPU's 10 GB of VRAM are sufficient for the task, but the overall system lands in the lower third of tested configurations.

Compared to the nearest rival combos, the differences would be negligible. A system with an RTX 3070 Mobile instead of the Arc B570 would score nearly identically, as would a system with a Core i7-1068NG7 instead of the i5-9400. The rank of 2988 is therefore representative of a broad cluster of similar hardware, not a unique outlier.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 67 FPS. The recorded minimum of 57 FPS dips slightly below the threshold, but the average clears it. High and Ultra do not meet the 60 FPS requirement.

At 2560x1440, the only preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 69 FPS. Medium falls to 54 FPS, so it is not viable for a 60 FPS target. The recommendation for 1440p is Low, which provides a 9 FPS margin over the threshold.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The best average is 51 FPS at Low, which is 9 FPS short of the threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall further behind, so there is no recommended setting for 4K at 60 FPS. Users at this resolution would need to accept a lower frame rate or adjust their expectations.

The data indicates a clear progression: 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, 1440p Low is the only viable option, and 4K is not playable at any setting. For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p High at 50 FPS or 1440p Medium at 54 FPS are the closest alternatives, but they do not meet the 60 FPS standard used in this analysis.