Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding flight simulator that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily. The tested configuration pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D with the Intel Arc B370, a combination that produces playable results only at lower resolutions and settings. The data shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics processor, with frame rates that scale predictably with resolution and quality presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 50 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that breaks the 50 FPS mark, while all other tested settings and resolutions fall below 41 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2770 out of 2996 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile of all systems. This indicates that while the combination is functional, it delivers performance that is well below the majority of tested hardware configurations for this game.

Q: What is the impact of raising the settings from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: Moving from Low to Ultra at 1920x1080 reduces the average frame rate from 50 FPS to 28 FPS, a drop of 22 FPS. The data shows that this is a significant performance penalty of 44%, indicating that the graphics settings have a substantial effect on the playability of the game.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B370 a discrete graphics card?

A: No, the Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 25 W TDP. It uses system shared memory for its VRAM, which means its performance is dependent on the system's RAM and memory bandwidth.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium settings at each resolution. The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 20 at 3840x2160, while the highest minimum is 33 at 1920x1080. No minimum FPS data is available for other presets.

Q: What are the nearest rivals to the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D in terms of CPU performance?

A: The CPU's closest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and the Intel Core i9-13950HX, which score 0.2% and 0.5% higher, respectively. The AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 is 0.6% higher, while the Intel Core i5-14600 scores 0.7% lower.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. The GPU's benchmark percentile is a very low 5, and its average 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 1184. The data reveals a stark performance gap when compared to its nearest rivals, which include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, with the Arc B370 scoring 0.2% and 0.5% lower, respectively. This places it in the company of much older, lower-end hardware.

The graphics card operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. It has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units. Critically, its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it does not have dedicated VRAM. This is a fundamental limitation, as the GPU must share the system's main memory bandwidth (83.2 GB/s for the CPU) for all graphics data, which is a severe constraint for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator that loads vast amounts of terrain and aircraft data.

The measured FPS data confirms this bottleneck. The game's performance deficit is most pronounced at higher settings. For instance, at 1920x1080, the combo achieves 50 FPS on Low but only 28 FPS on Ultra. This 22 FPS drop is directly attributable to the GPU's inability to handle the increased shader and texture workloads. The GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 96.00 GTexel/s texture rate are simply insufficient for the demands of a modern flight simulator at higher quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2770 out of 2996 tested combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the system in the bottom 7.5% of all tested configurations, a position that clearly indicates the hardware pairing is not optimized for this game. The rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's low performance ceiling, as the CPU is a far more capable component.

The GPU's percentile rank of 5 versus all other GPUs is a clear indicator of its position in the market. In contrast, the CPU's percentile rank is 89, showing it is a high-end processor. This extreme disparity between the two components is the primary reason for the low combo rank. The system is effectively a powerful CPU held back by an entry-level integrated GPU. Benchmark results indicate that if the CPU were paired with a more capable graphics solution, the combo's rank would improve significantly, but with the Arc B370, the system is firmly anchored at the bottom of the performance table.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results. The Low preset delivers an average of 50 FPS, Medium delivers 39 FPS (with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 45), High delivers 30 FPS, and Ultra drops to 28 FPS. These numbers show that the game is only playable at this resolution on the Low and Medium presets, where frame rates are at or above the 30 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops across all settings. The Low preset averages 41 FPS, Medium averages 32 FPS (minimum 27, maximum 36), High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. At this resolution, only the Low preset provides a consistently smooth experience, with Medium being borderline. The High and Ultra presets fall below 30 FPS, making them less desirable for a fluid simulation.

At 3840x2160, the integrated GPU is overwhelmed. The Low preset is the only one to average 30 FPS. The Medium preset averages 23 FPS (minimum 20, maximum 27), High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages a slideshow-like 17 FPS. These results show that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combination. The data across all resolutions demonstrates a consistent pattern: the Intel Arc B370 can only manage playable frame rates at 1080p or 1440p with the lowest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and illustrates the GPU-bound nature of the system. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 50 at 1080p to 41 at 1440p, a drop of 9 FPS, and then to 30 at 4K, a further drop of 11 FPS. This represents a 40% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the lowest quality settings.

The trend is even more pronounced at higher settings. At Ultra, the average FPS drops from 28 at 1080p to 23 at 1440p and finally to 17 at 4K. This is a 39% decrease from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions. If the system were CPU-bound, the frame rate would remain relatively stable across resolutions, as the CPU's workload would be constant while the GPU's workload increases. Since the frame rate scales inversely with resolution, it confirms that the Intel Arc B370's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (50 to 41 FPS) shows a 18% performance hit, while the scaling from 1440p to 4K (41 to 30 FPS) shows a 27% hit. This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that is running out of memory bandwidth, as the demands of 4K rendering with system-shared memory become increasingly difficult to meet.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a high-performance desktop processor, as evidenced by its 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs. It is a 6-core, 12-thread part from the 7000 series, with a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The processor's architecture, Raphael, is built on a 5 nm process and features a large 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is beneficial for gaming workloads. Its average benchmark score is 44573, placing it slightly ahead of its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, by 0.2%.

Despite the CPU's considerable power, the system's overall performance in Microsoft Flight Simulator is poor. This is because the CPU is not the limiting factor. The PassMark single-thread score is 3494, and the multi-thread score is 25047, both of which are respectable. The CPU's ability to handle the complex physics and AI calculations in the simulator is not in question. The data shows that the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU with data, but the GPU cannot process it fast enough.

The CPU's role is to provide the necessary frames to the GPU, and with a strong multi-thread score, it can do so. However, the GPU's low performance means that the CPU is often idle, waiting for the graphics processor to complete its tasks. The bottleneck is unequivocally the Intel Arc B370. The system's performance would be vastly different with a discrete GPU, as the Ryzen 5 7500X3D would be able to push frame rates much higher if it were not constrained by the integrated graphics.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combination is at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which achieves an average of 50 FPS. This is the only configuration that provides a smooth and responsive experience. The Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 39 FPS and a minimum of 33, is also playable and offers a better visual quality, making it a viable alternative for users who prefer a balance between visuals and performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only recommended option, with an average of 41 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution dips to 32 FPS on average, which may be acceptable for some, but the minimum of 27 FPS indicates potential stutters. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the best choice as it provides the highest quality visuals while maintaining a playable frame rate.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, they deliver 30 and 28 FPS, respectively, which is at the edge of playability. At 1440p and 4K, these presets produce average frame rates below 24 FPS, making the simulation feel sluggish and unresponsive. For a flight simulator where smooth control is critical, the Low or Medium presets at 1080p are the only configurations that deliver a satisfactory experience. The data is clear: this hardware combination is best suited for 1080p gaming with moderate settings.