Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is notoriously demanding, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the Intel Arc B570 shows a system that is capable of solid performance at mainstream resolutions but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The measured results across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a component pairing where the graphics card is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to explain how this combo behaves, where its limits lie, and which settings offer the best experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about the limiting component in this system. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 86 FPS, but at 1440p that drops to 69 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 51 FPS. This represents a 40.7% performance loss from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is a significant scaling penalty. The pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B570 is being pushed harder as resolution increases, and its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus becomes a constraint.

At High settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The 1080p result of 50 FPS drops to 41 FPS at 1440p and then to 30 FPS at 4K. That is a 40% loss from 1080p to 4K, and the absolute numbers show that 4K High is barely playable at 30 FPS. The Ultra preset tells the worst story: 48 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and just 28 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 41.7%, which shows that the GPU is the dominant factor limiting performance.

The Medium settings row is the only one with min and max FPS data, and it reveals that the frame time consistency degrades with resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 57-77 FPS, at 1440p it is 46-62 FPS, and at 4K it is 34-46 FPS. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS stays relatively consistent, but the overall level drops, confirming that the GPU is the primary scaling bottleneck. The CPU, a 6-core 12-thread Zen 2 part, does not appear to be the limiting factor here because the FPS scales almost linearly with the number of pixels being rendered.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 86, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This is the only setting where the combo exceeds 80 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The data shows that 4K is only playable at Low settings, where the average FPS is 51. At Medium settings, the average drops to 40 FPS, and at High and Ultra settings, it falls to 30 FPS and 28 FPS respectively, which are below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the High preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS, while the High preset averages 41 FPS. The difference is only 2 FPS, suggesting that the additional graphical load from Ultra over High is minimal in this scenario.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Medium settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 86 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 67 FPS. That is a 19 FPS difference, or a 28.4% reduction in performance when moving from Low to Medium.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate?

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides 54 FPS, which is a reasonable balance. The 1080p Medium preset offers 67 FPS, but the visual upgrade to 1440p might be worth the 13 FPS loss for some users.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 3600 holding back the Intel Arc B570 in this game?

A: The benchmark results do not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The FPS scales consistently with resolution changes, which suggests the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads appear sufficient for this workload at the tested settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the dominant factor in these results, and its specifications explain why the frame rates drop so sharply at 4K. The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. In a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams large amounts of terrain and texture data, this bandwidth is crucial. The data shows that at 4K, the average FPS at High settings is 30, while at 1080p it is 50. The 40% drop indicates that the memory subsystem and the GPU's compute capabilities are insufficient for the high pixel count.

The GPU's clock speed is fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, which is a modest clock for a modern graphics card. Its FP32 performance is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS, which places it in the mid-range segment. The benchmark scores support this: the GPU's PassMark G3D score is 14195, and its percentile vs all GPUs is 65. In its nearest rival comparisons, the Arc B570 is extremely close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, with a deltaPct of 0.1, and the Intel Arc A750, with a deltaPct of -0.1. This means the Arc B570 is essentially performance-equivalent to those two cards in general benchmarks.

In the context of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's 18 ray tracing cores and 2304 shading units are tasked with rendering complex scenery. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 28 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The GPU's memory size of 10 GB might also be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where texture sizes are the largest. The fact that the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2649 suggests it is a capable DirectX 12 performer, but the game's demands at 4K exceed what this card can deliver.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for which settings presets offer the best experience at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 86 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target, but the visual quality might be too compromised for a flight simulator. The Medium preset at 67 FPS offers a significant improvement in visuals while maintaining a playable frame rate. The High preset at 50 FPS is a middle ground, and the Ultra preset at 48 FPS is only 2 FPS lower than High, which suggests that the Ultra preset is not worth the extra load at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset stands out as the best option. It averages 54 FPS, which is the only setting at that resolution that stays above the 50 FPS mark. The Low preset at 69 FPS is smoother, but the visual downgrade is substantial. The High and Ultra presets at 41 FPS and 39 FPS respectively are close to each other, but both are below the ideal 60 FPS target. The data indicates that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, providing a good balance between visual fidelity and performance.

For 4K, the options are limited. The Low preset at 51 FPS is the only playable option, while Medium at 40 FPS, High at 30 FPS, and Ultra at 28 FPS are all below the smoothness threshold. The recommendation is to stick with Low settings at 4K, or to drop down to 1440p if visual quality is a priority. The measured min FPS data for Medium at 4K shows 34 FPS, which can cause noticeable stutters. The best experience per the data is clearly 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium, depending on the user's preference for resolution over settings quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 86 FPS, the Medium preset averages 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS, the High preset averages 50 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS. The difference from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 38 FPS, which is a 44.2% reduction in performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 69 FPS, the Medium preset averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, the High preset averages 41 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS. The jump from Low to Ultra at this resolution is a 30 FPS loss, or a 43.5% reduction. The Medium preset shows a tighter frame time range compared to the drop from Low to Medium, which is 15 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 51 FPS, the Medium preset averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, the High preset averages 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 28 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 23 FPS, or a 45.1% reduction. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each preset is consistent: Low drops from 86 to 51 FPS, Medium from 67 to 40 FPS, High from 50 to 30 FPS, and Ultra from 48 to 28 FPS. This consistent scaling confirms that the GPU is the consistent limiting factor across all settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Zen 2 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz and its boost clock is 4.20 GHz. The CPU has a 32 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. In terms of raw compute, its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 15045 and its single-core score is 2124. The Geekbench multicore score is 7372 and the single-core score is 1536.

Given these specifications, the CPU is a capable mid-range part, but its role in Microsoft Flight Simulator appears to be secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that the performance scales almost perfectly with resolution, which is a strong indicator of a GPU bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, but that is not the case here. For example, at Low settings, the FPS drops from 86 at 1080p to 51 at 4K, which is a 40.7% decrease that aligns with the increased pixel count.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core i7-1260P, which has an average score of 17007 and a deltaPct of 0.2, and the Intel Core i5-11400, which has an average score of 17067 and a deltaPct of -0.2. This means the Ryzen 5 3600 is effectively tied with those processors in general benchmarks. In the context of this game, the CPU's 12 threads are likely sufficient to handle the simulation logic and draw calls at the tested settings, as the GPU is clearly the component that runs out of steam. The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs is 71, indicating it is a better-than-average processor, but the data shows that it is not the reason for the frame rate caps seen at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and Intel Arc B570 ranks at position 2988 out of 3714 total combinations. This places it in the lower 20% of all tested systems, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing that it struggles at 4K and only achieves playable frame rates at lower resolutions and settings.

The combo rank of 2988 out of 3714 indicates that there are many faster systems in this game, which is expected given the demanding nature of Microsoft Flight Simulator. The GPU's rank vs all GPUs is 65th percentile, and the CPU's rank is 71st percentile, but the combination of the two does not result in a high overall rank for this game. This suggests that the game is particularly sensitive to GPU performance, and the Arc B570's mid-range capabilities hold the combo back. The fact that the GPU is comparable to the RTX 3070 Mobile in general benchmarks, but the combo still ranks low, highlights how demanding this specific title is.

The nearest rival comparisons for the GPU show it is within 0.5% of the RTX 3070 Mobile and the Arc A750, but these are mobile and previous-generation parts. In this game, the measured data shows that the combo is only able to hit 86 FPS at 1080p Low, which is the peak performance. The rank of 2988 suggests that users with this system will need to make significant compromises in settings or resolution to achieve a smooth experience, and the data supports the notion that 1080p Medium is the highest quality preset that maintains a playable frame rate. The rank also indicates that for users prioritizing high FPS in this simulator, this is not a top-tier combination, but it is functional for casual play at lower settings.