Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a uniquely demanding title, and the measured results for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 paired with the Intel Arc B370 place this configuration in the 2770th position out of 2996 tested combos. This is a system that is heavily constrained by its graphics processor, making preset selection the single most critical factor for achieving a playable experience. The data indicates that this combination is best suited for lower resolutions and reduced graphical fidelity, where the CPU's eight cores can provide a stable foundation for the simulator's complex physics and world simulation.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this specific hardware pairing paints a clear picture: the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting factor, and the graphical preset must be chosen carefully to maintain a fluid experience. Across all resolutions, the "Low" preset delivers the highest average frame rates, while "Ultra" consistently produces the lowest, often dipping below the threshold of playability.

At 1920x1080, the "Low" preset achieves an average of 50 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this configuration. This is a significant jump from the "Medium" preset, which averages 39 FPS, and the "High" preset, which averages 30 FPS. The "Ultra" preset falls to an average of 28 FPS. The data suggests that for a smooth experience at 1080p, the "Low" preset is the only reliable option, providing a playable frame rate that minimizes stutter in a title where smoothness is paramount for flight control.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges, but the overall performance drops. The "Low" preset averages 41 FPS, which remains the most viable option. The "Medium" preset averages 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS, which may still be acceptable for some users but is on the edge of playability. The "High" preset drops to 24 FPS, and "Ultra" falls to 23 FPS, making both unsuitable for a consistently smooth experience.

At the demanding 4K resolution (3840x2160), the configuration struggles significantly. Even the "Low" preset only manages an average of 30 FPS, which is borderline for a flight simulator where precise control is required. The "Medium" preset averages 23 FPS, and both "High" and "Ultra" presets fall to 18 FPS and 17 FPS respectively. The data indicates that 4K gaming is not a realistic target for this hardware combination, as even the lowest settings fail to provide a frame rate that would be considered comfortable.

In summary, the best experience is found at 1920x1080 with the "Low" preset. This setting yields an average of 50 FPS, which is the only configuration that consistently approaches a smooth 60 FPS target. The "Medium" preset at 1080p, with an average of 39 FPS, could be considered by users who prioritize visual quality over absolute smoothness, but the significant drop from "Low" suggests the GPU is heavily taxed by the additional effects. For users who wish to play at higher resolutions, the "Low" preset is the only viable choice, but they should expect a sub-optimal experience.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the primary bottleneck in this system. Its benchmark percentile score of 5 places it in the bottom tier of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad is comparable to older, low-end cards. The nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M, with deltaPct values of -0.2% and -0.7% respectively. This indicates that the B370 is not just a little slow; it is in the same performance class as integrated graphics from over a decade ago.

The GPU's architecture is Xe3-LPG, built on a 3 nm process by Intel. It features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units. The clock speeds are listed with a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 6.144 TFLOPS. These numbers, while present in the data, are far less important than the actual measured FPS, which shows the card struggling to maintain playable frame rates even at 1080p on low settings.

The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning the GPU uses a portion of the system's DDR4 RAM rather than having its own dedicated VRAM. The memory bus width and bandwidth are also listed as "System Shared" and "System Dependent," respectively. This is a critical weakness for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator, which streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data. The lack of dedicated, high-bandwidth VRAM likely contributes significantly to the low performance, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access. The RT cores (10) and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate are present in the specification, but the low raw compute power means these features are unlikely to be usable at a playable frame rate. The data clearly shows that the GPU's capabilities are the primary constraint, and no amount of CPU power can compensate for its lack of throughput.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 provides a stark contrast to the GPU. This 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture is a solid mid-range performer, with a percentile rank of 78 among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 25517 places it in a competitive position, with its nearest rivals being the Intel Xeon D-2752TER (deltaPct -0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (deltaPct 0.1%). In synthetic benchmarks like Cinebench R23, it scores 20655 in multi-core and 2916 in single-core, demonstrating a robust processing capability.

The CPU's base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has a TDP of 65 W and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. While this is not the fastest memory subsystem available, it is more than sufficient for the CPU's needs. In the context of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU is responsible for simulating the flight model, the weather system, and the complex interactions between the aircraft and the world. It also handles the main game logic and the streaming of world data.

Given the vast difference in performance between the CPU and GPU, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor in this configuration. The measured FPS data shows a clear GPU bottleneck: increasing the resolution from 1080p to 4K reduces the frame rate by approximately 40-60%, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively constant across resolutions. The Ryzen 7 5700's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R20 score of 8675 and Geekbench multicore score of 9959, ensures that it can feed the GPU with data without becoming a constraint. In this pairing, the CPU is the supporting actor, providing a stable platform while the GPU struggles to keep up with the graphical demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combination for a smooth experience?

A: The data shows that the only configuration approaching a smooth experience is 1920x1080 with the "Low" preset, which achieves an average of 50 FPS. All other combinations result in average frame rates below 45 FPS, with 4K settings falling well below 30 FPS.

Q: Is this configuration capable of 4K gaming in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS recorded is 30 on the "Low" preset. The "Medium" preset averages 23 FPS, and the "High" and "Ultra" presets average 18 and 17 FPS, respectively, which is far too low for a playable experience.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: According to the benchmark data, the Arc B370's average score of 1184 is nearly identical to that of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which has a score of 1186 and a deltaPct of -0.2%. It is also comparable to the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, deltaPct -0.7%) and the AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168, deltaPct 1.4%). This places it in a very low performance tier.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The benchmark data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25517 places it in the 78th percentile, while the GPU is in the 5th percentile. The significant FPS drops when increasing resolution further confirm that the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the FPS difference between the "Low" and "Ultra" presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset averages 41 FPS, while the "Ultra" preset averages 23 FPS. This represents a drop of 18 FPS, or approximately 44%, when moving from the lowest to the highest graphical settings.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threading capability contribute positively to this game's performance?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700 has 8 cores and 16 threads, which is beneficial for the complex simulation workloads in this game. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20655 indicates strong multi-threaded performance, which helps ensure the CPU can keep up with the simulation logic and not further bottleneck the already weak GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across the three resolutions provides a clear insight into the system's scaling behavior and its limiting component. As resolution increases, the demands on the GPU rise exponentially, and the frame rate drops accordingly. The data shows that this system is firmly GPU-limited, as the CPU's performance remains constant while the GPU's workload increases.

From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, there is a noticeable drop in performance across all presets. At the "Low" preset, the FPS falls from 50 to 41, a decrease of 9 FPS or 18%. At the "Medium" preset, it drops from 39 to 32, a fall of 7 FPS or 18%. The "High" preset sees a reduction from 30 to 24 FPS (20%), and the "Ultra" preset drops from 28 to 23 FPS (18%). This consistent percentage decrease of roughly 18-20% is a typical result of increasing the pixel count by 78%, indicating that the GPU is struggling to manage the additional pixel filling requirements.

The scaling from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 (4K) is even more dramatic. The "Low" preset falls from 41 to 30 FPS, a 27% decrease. The "Medium" preset drops from 32 to 23 FPS, a 28% reduction. The "High" preset goes from 24 to 18 FPS, a 25% decrease, and the "Ultra" preset falls from 23 to 17 FPS, a 26% drop. This steeper decline at 4K is expected, as the pixel count increases by 125% from 1440p. The fact that the frame rate scales so inversely with resolution confirms that the Intel Arc B370 is completely saturated at these higher resolutions.

This behavior is a textbook example of a GPU bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see similar frame rates across all resolutions, as the CPU's workload would be unchanged. Instead, the FPS drops almost linearly with the pixel count, showing that the GPU's rendering capabilities are exhausted. The Ryzen 7 5700, with its eight cores, is more than capable of feeding the GPU with data, but the B370 simply cannot push enough pixels to maintain a high frame rate at higher resolutions. The data suggests that users must choose between a higher resolution with a low preset or a lower resolution with a higher preset, with the former providing a more consistent (though still low) experience at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and Intel Arc B370 combination in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The data is presented by resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080

• Low: The average FPS is 50. This is the highest recorded average for this configuration.
• Medium: The average FPS is 39, with a minimum of 33 and a maximum of 45.
• High: The average FPS is 30.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 28.

2560x1440

• Low: The average FPS is 41.
• Medium: The average FPS is 32, with a minimum of 27 and a maximum of 36.
• High: The average FPS is 24.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 23.

3840x2160

• Low: The average FPS is 30.
• Medium: The average FPS is 23, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27.
• High: The average FPS is 18.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 17.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: frame rates decrease as resolution and settings increase. The "Medium" preset at 1080p provides a playable 39 FPS, but the jump to 1440p on the same preset reduces it to 32 FPS. At 4K, even the "Low" preset struggles to maintain 30 FPS. The "Ultra" preset is essentially unplayable at all resolutions, with the best case being 28 FPS at 1080p. This breakdown confirms that the configuration is only suitable for 1080p gaming on low or medium settings, and users should not expect a playable experience at higher resolutions or settings.