Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with Intel's Arc B580 is an all-Intel combination that runs Microsoft Flight Simulator, but the benchmark data shows this is a demanding pairing for a demanding game. Measured averages range from 96.4 FPS at 1080p Low down to 32.6 FPS at 4K Ultra. The Arc B580 sits in the 68th percentile of all tested GPUs and the i7-12700K in the 84th percentile of all tested CPUs, so the processor is the stronger half of this combo — which matters here, because Flight Simulator leans on the GPU hard once resolution climbs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

All figures below are measured average frame rates from this exact pairing, running Microsoft Flight Simulator (a 2020 release in the flight simulation genre). Minimum and maximum frame rates were not captured in this dataset, so averages are the full picture — worth remembering, because a flight simulator's worst moments (heavy scenery, weather, dense airports) usually dip well below the average.

1920x1080:

• Low: 96.4 FPS average
• Medium: 73.4 FPS average
• High: 56.8 FPS average
• Ultra: 55.5 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 75.1 FPS average
• Medium: 59.4 FPS average
• High: 43.2 FPS average
• Ultra: 40.6 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 56.2 FPS average
• Medium: 46.6 FPS average
• High: 35.8 FPS average
• Ultra: 32.6 FPS average

The pattern is consistent and predictable: every step up in resolution costs frame rate at every preset, and every step up in preset costs frame rate at every resolution. At 1080p the spread between Low and Ultra is large (96.4 to 55.5), but at 4K the presets compress into a narrow band from 56.2 down to 32.6 — the GPU simply runs out of headroom, so visual settings matter less and resolution dominates.

Notably, 1080p Ultra (55.5) and 1080p High (56.8) land within a couple of frames of each other, suggesting the Ultra preset's extra cost is mostly in effects the B580 handles without much marginal strain at this resolution. The bigger cliff sits between Medium (73.4) and High (56.8) at 1080p — roughly a 17-frame drop for one preset step.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data tells a clear story about which component limits this game.

From 1080p to 1440p at the same preset, frame rates drop sharply: Low falls from 96.4 to 75.1, Medium from 73.4 to 59.4, High from 56.8 to 43.2, and Ultra from 55.5 to 40.6. That's a consistent, resolution-driven decline of roughly a fifth to a quarter of the frame rate at every preset. When frame rate falls this uniformly as pixels increase, the GPU is the limiter — the CPU isn't the bottleneck at these settings.

At 1440p to 4K the decline continues at a similar relative rate (Low goes 75.1 to 56.2, Ultra 40.6 to 32.6), reinforcing that the Arc B580's 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is being pushed hard by the pixel counts rather than the simulation load.

The CPU side is harder to isolate from this dataset alone, but the context helps. The i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake part with a 5.00 GHz boost clock, a single-thread Passmark score of 4013, and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5 — comfortably in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. In a simulation title where per-core work matters, that single-thread muscle means the processor is very unlikely to be what's holding this combo under 60 FPS at High or Ultra. The GPU's 68th-percentile standing versus the CPU's 84th makes the Arc B580 the weaker link in this configuration for Flight Simulator at higher resolutions and presets.

Practical takeaway: upgrading the GPU would move these numbers; upgrading the CPU from a 12700K would likely move almost nothing in this game at 1440p and above.

How This Combo Ranks

Across the database, the i7-12700K + Arc B580 pairing ranks 2833 out of 3714 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the bottom portion of the field for this specific title — unremarkable in absolute terms, but the ranking needs context: Flight Simulator is one of the heaviest titles in the dataset, and the frame rates above show the combo is still perfectly usable at 1080p and 1440p with tuned settings.

The rank also reflects the mismatch inside the combo. The i7-12700K posts an aggregate average benchmark score of 35287 and sits well above most CPUs (84th percentile), with rivals like the Core i7-12700KF and Core i5-13600T within a fraction of a percent of it. The Arc B580's aggregate score is 23021, in the 68th percentile. In a game that is GPU-bound at every resolution this combo was tested at, the ranking follows the GPU, not the CPU.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i7-12700K + Intel Arc B580 run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p and 1440p with reduced settings. At 1920x1080, Low averages 96.4 FPS and Medium averages 73.4 FPS — both above the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 2560x1440, only Low clears it, at 75.1 FPS. No preset at 3840x2160 reaches 60 FPS; the best 4K result is Low at 56.2 FPS.

Q: Is this combo good for 4K gaming in Flight Simulator?

A: No. The measured 4K averages are 56.2 (Low), 46.6 (Medium), 35.8 (High), and 32.6 FPS (Ultra). Every preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and since minimum frame rates weren't captured, real-time dips in dense scenery would likely sit well below those averages.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck?

A: The GPU. Frame rates drop by a large, consistent margin at every preset when moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, which is the signature of a GPU-limited configuration. The i7-12700K, in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, has substantial headroom over the Arc B580's 68th-percentile position.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to rival GPUs in the database?

A: Its average benchmark score of 23021 places it within a percent of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, about 0.7% higher than the B580), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, about 0.6% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, essentially even), and the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, about 1% higher).

Q: What CPU upgrades or alternatives would perform similarly?

A: Based on aggregate scores, the Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365), Intel Core i5-13600T (35305), Intel Core i7-13700T (35403), and Intel Core 5 213PE (35428) are all within half a percent of the 12700K's 35287 — swapping to any of them would change Flight Simulator results negligibly, since this game is GPU-bound in this pairing anyway.

Q: Does the CPU have integrated graphics as a fallback?

A: Yes. The i7-12700K includes Intel UHD Graphics 770 integrated graphics, though the benchmark data in this pack covers only the Arc B580 configuration.

Similar Performance Alternatives

On the GPU side, the database's nearest rivals to the Arc B580 (average score 23021, passmark G3D score of 15748) are a tight cluster: the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP at 23061 (-0.2% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22895 (+0.6%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23172 (-0.7%), and the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23249 (-1%). All four sit within one percent of the B580's aggregate score, so any of them should deliver Flight Simulator frame rates broadly in line with the numbers above — the RTX 3080 and RTX 2080 being the most relevant gaming options among them.

On the CPU side, the i7-12700K's rivals (aggregate score 35287) are the Core i5-13600T (35305), Core i7-12700KF (35365), Core i7-13700T (35403), and Core 5 213PE (35428), all within roughly half a percent. The practical reading: there's no meaningful CPU-side substitution to make for this game. If the goal is better Flight Simulator performance, the change that matters is on the graphics side; the 12700K's 12 cores, 20 threads, and 5.00 GHz boost are more than this game needs to feed an Arc B580.

For reference, the i7-12700K launched at a launch MSRP of $409 and the Arc B580 at a launch MSRP of 249 USD.

Best Settings per Resolution

Using the 60 FPS average-frame-rate threshold:

• 1920x1080 — Medium, 73.4 FPS average. Medium is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, with a comfortable 13-frame cushion over the threshold. High drops to 56.8 and Ultra to 55.5, both under.
• 2560x1440 — Low, 75.1 FPS average. Low is the only preset that clears 60 FPS at this resolution. Medium comes close at 59.4 but falls just short, and with minimum frame rates unmeasured, it wouldn't be a safe pick.
• 3840x2160 — none. No tested preset averages 60 FPS at 4K. Low peaks at 56.2 FPS, short of the threshold by roughly four frames.

The verdict: this combo is a 1080p Medium machine for Flight Simulator, a 1440p Low machine, and not a 4K option at all. The i7-12700K has plenty of performance in reserve — the Arc B580 is the component setting the ceiling, and every one of these numbers reflects that.