Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding flight simulation title released on 2020-08-17, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor with the Intel Arc B570 graphics card produces a specific performance profile that varies significantly across resolutions and quality presets. The measured data indicates that this pairing is positioned near the lower end of the tested spectrum, with a combo rank of 2406 out of 2996 total combinations. This analysis examines the benchmark results to understand how the CPU and GPU contribute to the experience, how the combo compares to others, and which settings provide the most playable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The combo ranks 2406 out of 2996 tested combinations, placing it in the lower percentile of all systems evaluated for this game.

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo at any resolution and settings?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 86 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 69 average FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, followed by 67 average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: Can this system achieve a 60 FPS average at 2560x1440 resolution?

A: No, the data shows that at 2560x1440, the highest average FPS is 69 at Low settings, but the Medium preset drops to 54 average FPS, and High falls to 41 average FPS. Only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750?

A: Based on average benchmark scores, the Intel Arc B570 scores 20556, while the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582. This puts the B570 at a delta of -0.1% compared to the A750, indicating a negligible performance difference between the two cards.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance score in Cinebench R23?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584 and a multi-core score of 18309, which is useful for understanding its capability in handling the game's simulation logic.

Q: At which settings does the system provide the most consistent frame rate, as indicated by min and max FPS data?

A: The only settings with both min and max FPS data are Medium at all three resolutions. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 67 FPS with a min of 57 and max of 77. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 54 FPS with a min of 46 and max of 62. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 40 FPS with a min of 34 and max of 46.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, also known as Battlemage (Arc 5), and is manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines, with 18 ray tracing cores. The card operates at a consistent base and boost clock of 2500 MHz for both values. Memory configuration consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s with memory clocks at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The GPU's raw compute capability is measured at 11.52 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, with a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s.

In the context of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role is critical for rendering the detailed terrain, aircraft models, and dynamic weather. The benchmark results show that the Arc B570's performance is a limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 51 at Low, 40 at Medium, 30 at High, and 28 at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is severe, with a reduction of 23 FPS, representing a 45% decrease in performance. This indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the increased pixel count and graphical complexity at 4K resolution. The GPU's percentile ranking of 65 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556, suggests it is a mid-range card. Its closest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores 20582, showing a -0.1% delta, meaning the B570 is virtually tied with its predecessor in raw compute performance. Another close competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534, which is 0.1% behind the B570, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at 20662, which is 0.5% ahead. These minor deltas suggest the B570's rendering capabilities are well-understood in this performance class, and in this game, the data shows that the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, especially with more demanding presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, and belongs to the 5000 series. It operates on the AMD Socket AM4 platform with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The CPU has a 32 MB shared L3 cache, with 64 KB of L1 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and has a 65 W TDP. The processor is manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC, with 4,150 million transistors on a 74 mm² die. In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 5600 scores 18309 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2584 in single-core, and 5641 in 3DMark with 16 threads. Its average benchmark score is 20468, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CPUs.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU is responsible for simulation calculations, including flight physics, AI traffic, and weather systems. The data from the measured FPS indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS scales from 86 at Low to 67 at Medium, 50 at High, and 48 at Ultra. The performance difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is minimal (only 2 FPS), which suggests that the CPU is providing consistent simulation data, and the GPU is beginning to handle the increased visual load. However, at 3840x2160, the frame rates are much lower, with 51 at Low and 28 at Ultra, demonstrating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V at 20454 (0.1% behind), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G at 20425 (0.2% behind), and the AMD EPYC 9454P at 20422 (0.2% behind). These close scores indicate that the Ryzen 5 5600's processing power is typical for this performance tier, and in this game, it provides sufficient single-thread performance to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the overall system performance is capped by the graphics card at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and Intel Arc B570 combination is ranked 2406 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the system in the bottom 20% of all combinations evaluated, indicating that it is not a high-performance pairing for this specific title. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU in handling the game's workload. Given that the GPU is ranked in the 65th percentile among all GPUs and the CPU is in the 74th percentile among all CPUs, the combo's low rank in this game suggests that Microsoft Flight Simulator is particularly demanding on the GPU. The data shows that the system's performance is heavily influenced by resolution and settings, with the best-case scenario being 86 average FPS at 1080p Low. At more common settings like 1440p High, the average FPS drops to 41, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays. The rank of 2406 out of 2996 implies that the vast majority of other tested combinations deliver higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs. This combo is functional for play at lower settings, but it is not competitive with higher-end systems in this simulation game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 86 FPS, which is excellent for smooth performance, while the Medium preset provides 67 average FPS with a minimum of 57, ensuring a consistently playable experience. The High preset drops to 50 average FPS, and Ultra to 48, which are still playable but may result in occasional stutters. For 1080p, Medium is the recommended balance, as it maintains a solid frame rate with better visual fidelity than Low. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, offering 54 average FPS with a min of 46 and max of 62. The Low preset is faster at 69 average FPS, but the visual quality is noticeably reduced. High at 1440p drops to 41 average FPS, which is borderline for a flight simulator where smooth panning is important. For 1440p, Medium is the best choice. At 3840x2160, all settings produce low frame rates: Low at 51, Medium at 40, High at 30, and Ultra at 28 average FPS. Only Low approaches 60 FPS, but it falls short at 51. Medium provides 40 average FPS, which is the minimum recommended for acceptable playability. For 4K, Medium is the recommended setting, as it offers better visuals than Low while maintaining a playable frame rate, though users should expect some compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 86 FPS at Low, 67 FPS at Medium (with min 57 and max 77), 50 FPS at High, and 48 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 38 FPS drop, from 86 to 48, which is a 44% reduction in performance. At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 69 at Low, 54 at Medium (with min 46 and max 62), 41 at High, and 39 at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 30 FPS, from 69 to 39, a 43% decrease. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 51 at Low, 40 at Medium (with min 34 and max 46), 30 at High, and 28 at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 23 FPS, from 51 to 28, a 45% decrease. These numbers show a consistent pattern where the relative performance loss from Low to Ultra is similar across all resolutions, around 43-45%, indicating that the GPU's workload scales roughly proportionally with settings. The only settings with min and max data are Medium, which shows the frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the min of 57 and max of 77 show a 20 FPS range. At 1440p Medium, the range is 16 FPS (46 to 62). At 4K Medium, the range is 12 FPS (34 to 46). This suggests that as resolution increases, the frame pacing becomes more consistent, likely because the GPU is consistently saturated.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the limiting component changes. At Low settings, the average FPS at 1920x1080 is 86, which drops to 69 at 2560x1440 and 51 at 3840x2160. This represents a 40.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p (86 to 69) and a 40.7% drop from 1440p to 4K (69 to 51). At Medium settings, the average FPS is 67 at 1080p, 54 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19.4% (67 to 54), and from 1440p to 4K is 25.9% (54 to 40). At High settings, the average FPS is 50 at 1080p, 41 at 1440p, and 30 at 4K, with drops of 18% (50 to 41) and 26.8% (41 to 30). At Ultra settings, the average FPS is 48 at 1080p, 39 at 1440p, and 28 at 4K, with drops of 18.8% (48 to 39) and 28.2% (39 to 28). The data shows that at Low settings, the performance drop is roughly equal between resolution steps (about 40% each), which indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the pixel count increases by 2.25x from 1080p to 1440p and 2.25x from 1440p to 4K. At higher settings, the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is smaller (around 18-19%) compared to the drop from 1440p to 4K (around 26-28%). This suggests that at 1080p with Medium or higher settings, the CPU may be more involved in limiting performance, as the GPU is not fully saturated. As resolution increases to 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, as evidenced by the larger frame rate drops. Overall, the data confirms that this combo is GPU-bound at 4K and becomes more balanced at 1080p, where the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides adequate simulation processing to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions.