Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an exceptionally demanding title, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 reveals a system that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions but struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at higher fidelity settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) across three resolutions and four presets show a clear pattern: this combination delivers a solid, playable experience at 1080p with Medium settings, but requires significant compromises as resolution scales up. The data indicates that the system’s performance ceiling is firmly in the 60 FPS territory at 1440p only when settings are dropped to Low, while 4K remains out of reach for a smooth experience at any tested preset. This analysis will break down the exact numbers, interpret what they mean against similar hardware, and provide a clear verdict on what this PC can realistically run.

Best Settings per Resolution

Based on the measured FPS data and the playable threshold of 60 FPS, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 frames per second at each resolution is as follows:

• 1920x1080 (1080p): The best setting is Medium, which delivers an average of 67 FPS. This is the highest preset that clears the 60 FPS bar, as the High preset drops to 50 FPS and Ultra falls to 48 FPS.
• 2560x1440 (1440p): The best setting is Low, producing an average of 69 FPS. While this is comfortably above the threshold, it is the only preset at this resolution that achieves it. Medium falls to 54 FPS, and High drops to 41 FPS.
• 3840x2160 (4K): No tested preset achieves 60 FPS. The highest average FPS is at Low settings, reaching 51 FPS, which is still below the playable threshold. The verdict data confirms that no playable settings exist at this resolution for this combo.

FAQ

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

A: No, not at a consistent 60 FPS. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 50 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Medium preset is the highest that achieves 60 FPS, with an average of 67 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming on this system?

A: The data shows that only the Low preset breaks the 60 FPS barrier at 2560x1440, with an average of 69 FPS. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS, which is below the target, so Low is the recommended setting for a smooth experience.

Q: Is 4K resolution playable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: According to the verdictByResolution data, there are no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best average FPS recorded is 51 FPS at Low settings, which is still below the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset only manages an average of 28 FPS.

Q: How does the average FPS change from Medium to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset averages 67 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS. This represents a drop of 19 FPS, or roughly a 28% decrease in performance when moving to the highest fidelity settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at the Low preset?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 86 FPS. At 2560x1440 with the same Low preset, the average FPS drops to 69 FPS. This indicates a 17 FPS reduction, showing the significant impact of increased resolution on this hardware.

Q: Does the system have any headroom above 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only at the Low preset. The average FPS of 69 at 2560x1440 with Low settings is 9 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a small buffer. However, this headroom disappears entirely when moving to Medium settings, which average 54 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Intel Arc B570 handle Microsoft Flight Simulator across different configurations. The data includes average FPS for all presets, with minimum and maximum FPS available for the Medium preset at each resolution.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: Average 28 FPS. No min/max data available.
• High: Average 30 FPS. No min/max data available.
• Medium: Average 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS.
• Low: Average 51 FPS. No min/max data available.

The 4K results show that the system is heavily burdened at this resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra is significant, with a 23 FPS difference. Even at Low, the average of 51 FPS is below the playable threshold, and the Medium preset’s minimum of 34 FPS indicates noticeable stuttering.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: Average 39 FPS. No min/max data available.
• High: Average 41 FPS. No min/max data available.
• Medium: Average 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS.
• Low: Average 69 FPS. No min/max data available.

At 1440p, the pattern is similar, but the average FPS is higher across all presets. The Medium preset shows a wide variance, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, suggesting that performance can fluctuate significantly depending on the scene. The Low preset is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: Average 48 FPS. No min/max data available.
• High: Average 50 FPS. No min/max data available.
• Medium: Average 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS.
• Low: Average 86 FPS. No min/max data available.

The 1080p results are the most promising. The Medium preset provides a good balance, with an average of 67 FPS and a minimum of 57 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target. The Low preset offers excellent performance at 86 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets remain below the threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Intel Arc B570 combination holds a rank of 2988 out of 3714 tested combos. This places it in the lower percentile of systems, indicating that while it is not the weakest performer, it is far from the top tier for this particular game.

The combo rank reflects the overall capability of the system across all resolutions and settings. Given that the system cannot achieve 60 FPS at 4K and only manages it at Low settings for 1440p, a rank near the bottom third is consistent with the data. The CPU, however, is a very strong performer in general benchmarks, with a percentile of 96 among all CPUs. This suggests that the GPU, with a percentile of 65 among all GPUs, is the primary limiting factor for this game, dragging down the combo’s overall rank.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the individual components provides context on what other hardware might behave similarly.

For the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, the nearest rivals based on average benchmark score are all server-grade processors. The Intel Xeon 6520P has an identical average score of 93786 with a delta of 0%. The AMD EPYC 4564P is slightly ahead with a score of 95183 (delta -1.5%), the AMD EPYC 9175F scores 95615 (delta -1.9%), and the AMD EPYC 4565P scores 95764 (delta -2.1%). While these are different market segments, their similar processing power means they would likely deliver comparable frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios within the game.

For the Intel Arc B570, the nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (delta 0.1%), the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (delta -0.1%), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (delta 0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662 (delta -0.5%). These GPUs, despite being from different generations and form factors, exhibit nearly identical average benchmark scores, suggesting they would produce very similar frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator when paired with a similarly strong CPU.

The Verdict

The data provides a clear verdict on what this PC can run. At 1920x1080, the system is playable at Medium settings with an average of 67 FPS, and it also clears the 60 FPS threshold at Low settings with 86 FPS. However, the High and Ultra presets are not playable, averaging 50 FPS and 48 FPS respectively.

At 2560x1440, the only playable setting is Low, which averages 69 FPS. All other presets—Medium (54 FPS), High (41 FPS), and Ultra (39 FPS)—fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the system cannot achieve a playable experience at any setting. The highest average FPS is 51 FPS at Low, which is still below the target. The verdict data explicitly confirms that there are no playable settings at this resolution.

In summary, this PC is a capable 1080p machine for Microsoft Flight Simulator, but users will need to stick to Medium settings or lower for a smooth experience. For 1440p, significant graphical compromises are required, and 4K is not feasible for this title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data allows for an analysis of which component is more critical for this game. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a very high-end CPU, ranking in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks is exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and a single-core score of 2439. In contrast, the Intel Arc B570 ranks in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2649 and a Passmark G3D score of 14195.

The scaling of FPS with resolution changes highlights the GPU’s dominance in this workload. When moving from 1080p to 1440p at the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 86 to 69, a 19.8% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low, the FPS drops further from 69 to 51, a 26.1% decrease. This significant performance degradation as resolution increases is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is powerful enough to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the Arc B570’s rendering capabilities become the bottleneck as pixel count rises.

Further evidence comes from the preset scaling at a fixed resolution. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average FPS from 86 to 48, a 44% drop. This large performance hit from increasing graphical fidelity is also indicative of GPU limitations, as higher settings increase the workload on the shaders, TMUs, and ROPs. The CPU, with its abundant cores and high single-thread performance, is not the limiting factor here. Therefore, the data suggests that for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Intel Arc B570 is the component that determines the playable settings and resolutions, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus provides ample headroom and is not a bottleneck in this configuration.