Microsoft Flight Simulator

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three resolutions tell a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this combination. At 1080p with Low settings, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and Intel Arc B570 pairing delivers 86 FPS, which drops to 69 FPS at 1440p and further to 51 FPS at 4K. That represents a 40.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor even at the lowest quality preset.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern intensifies. The 1080p result of 67 FPS falls to 54 FPS at 1440p (a 19.4% drop) and then to 40 FPS at 4K (a 40.3% drop from 1080p). The gap between 1440p and 4K at Medium is 14 FPS, which is larger than the 13 FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p. This suggests that as resolution increases, the Intel Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus begin to struggle with the added pixel throughput demands.

High settings show a similar scaling curve but with lower absolute numbers. The 1080p High result is 50 FPS, dropping to 41 FPS at 1440p and 30 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 18% and 40% respectively, showing that the GPU remains the limiting component across all quality levels. At Ultra settings, the trend continues with 48 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K — the latter being the lowest measured result in the entire dataset.

The data indicates that this combo is heavily GPU-bound in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the Arc B570's performance ceiling becomes apparent as pixel count rises. The narrow delta between High and Ultra at 4K (30 vs 28 FPS) suggests diminishing returns from the GPU's shading units when pushed to extreme resolutions. For users targeting 4K, the frame rates hover near playable thresholds only at Low settings, while 1080p and 1440p offer more viable performance across all quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of AMD Ryzen 7 5700 with Intel Arc B570 ranks 2988th out of 3714 total combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. That places it in the bottom 19.5% of all tested configurations, which is a significant finding given the individual component specifications. The CPU alone sits at the 78th percentile among all processors in the broader benchmark suite, while the GPU ranks at the 65th percentile among all graphics cards.

The combo's ranking suggests that pairing a mid-high-tier CPU with a mid-tier GPU does not translate into strong performance in this specific title. Flight Simulator is known for its demanding rendering pipeline, and the data shows that the combination struggles relative to other pairings. The CPU's nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark database include the Intel Xeon D-2752TER (0.1% slower), AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (0.1% faster), AMD Ryzen 5 6600H (0.1% slower), and AMD Ryzen 7 5825U (0.3% faster) — all within a 0.4% band, showing the 5700 is competitively positioned among its compute peers.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% faster), Intel Arc A750 (0.1% slower), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% slower), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% faster). The Arc B570 sits in a tight cluster with these cards, with all deltas under 0.5%. This proximity to mobile and older desktop GPUs in synthetic benchmarks partially explains why the combo ranks poorly in actual game performance — Flight Simulator's unique workload likely exposes weaknesses not visible in generic 3DMark or Passmark tests.

The gap between the CPU's strong 78th percentile ranking and the combo's 19.5th percentile game ranking underscores that component selection for this title requires more than just raw compute power. The measured FPS data confirms this: even at 1080p Low, the combo only achieves 86 FPS, which is far from the performance ceiling that the CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20655 might suggest.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and acceptable performance threshold. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering 67 FPS average with a minimum of 57 FPS and maximum of 77 FPS. This is the only settings level at any resolution where the minimum frame rate stays above 50 FPS, making it the safest choice for consistent gameplay. Low at 1080p reaches 86 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity; High drops to 50 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS — both below the 60 FPS threshold that many simmers prefer.

For 1440p, Medium is again the recommended preset with 54 FPS average, 46 FPS minimum, and 62 FPS maximum. The Low preset at 69 FPS provides a smoother experience but at noticeably reduced visual quality. High at 41 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS dip into ranges where stuttering may become noticeable during complex flight scenarios. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this combo if visual quality matters, while 1440p Low is the choice for those prioritizing frame rate stability.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. Low settings produce 51 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that breaks the 50 FPS barrier. Medium at 40 FPS (34 min, 46 max) and High at 30 FPS are borderline playable, while Ultra at 28 FPS is marginal. For 4K users, Low settings are strongly recommended, with Medium as a fallback if the user accepts occasional dips below 35 FPS. The 10 GB VRAM on the Arc B570 likely contributes to the steep performance degradation at 4K Ultra, where texture memory demands peak.

Across all resolutions, the delta between High and Ultra is consistently small — 2 FPS at 1080p, 2 FPS at 1440p, and 2 FPS at 4K. This indicates that Ultra settings provide minimal visual benefit over High for this workload, making High the more efficient choice if users insist on higher quality presets. Medium offers the best overall experience for most users, providing a meaningful quality uplift over Low while maintaining playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings ladder shows a clear progression: Low delivers 86 FPS average, Medium provides 67 FPS (57 min, 77 max), High reaches 50 FPS, and Ultra manages 48 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 19 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 17 FPS, and High to Ultra costs only 2 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that Medium captures most of the visual improvements without the heavy performance penalty of High and Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the numbers compress downward: Low yields 69 FPS, Medium produces 54 FPS (46 min, 62 max), High drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The gaps between presets narrow compared to 1080p — Low to Medium is 15 FPS, Medium to High is 13 FPS, and High to Ultra is just 2 FPS. The narrowing gaps indicate that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases, with each quality level adding less performance differentiation.

At 3840x2160, the results show the most constrained performance envelope: Low achieves 51 FPS, Medium reaches 40 FPS (34 min, 46 max), High manages 30 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 28 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap is 11 FPS, Medium-to-High is 10 FPS, and High-to-Ultra remains 2 FPS. The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium (34 FPS) is the only recorded minimum above 30 FPS at this resolution, while the maximum at 4K Medium (46 FPS) barely exceeds the Low preset's average.

The complete dataset shows a consistent pattern: the Arc B570's performance scales predictably with resolution, but the CPU's influence diminishes as pixel count rises. At 1080p Low, the CPU likely contributes more to the 86 FPS result, while at 4K Ultra's 28 FPS, the GPU is clearly the sole bottleneck. The 10 GB memory capacity appears sufficient for Medium settings at 1440p and Low at 4K, but the bandwidth limitations of the 160-bit bus become evident at higher resolutions and quality levels.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the most viable resolution, with all four presets achieving playable frame rates. The 1080p Medium preset offers 67 FPS average (57 min, 77 max), which is the most balanced result. At 1440p, only Low and Medium remain above 50 FPS and 46 FPS respectively, while 4K requires Low settings to stay above 50 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: The performance drop varies by preset. At Low settings, frame rates fall from 86 FPS at 1080p to 51 FPS at 4K, a 40.7% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 67 FPS to 40 FPS (40.3% reduction). High settings lose 40% (50 to 30 FPS), and Ultra loses 41.7% (48 to 28 FPS). The consistency of these percentages indicates uniform GPU scaling behavior.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 sufficient for this game?

A: The CPU's synthetic benchmarks suggest it has ample compute power, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20655 and a Passmark multithread score of 24303. However, the combo's 2988th rank out of 3714 combos in this game indicates that the CPU alone does not guarantee strong performance. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration with 3.70 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost clocks is adequate, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Which preset provides the most consistent frame rate?

A: The 1080p Medium preset has the narrowest gap between minimum and maximum (57 to 77 FPS), a 20 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the spread is 16 FPS (46 to 62), while at 4K Medium it is 12 FPS (34 to 46). The minimum-to-maximum variance suggests that 1440p Medium offers the most stable experience relative to its average frame rate.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the Arc B570's average score of 20556 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 0.1% faster, the Intel Arc A750 is 0.1% slower, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 0.4% slower, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X is 0.5% faster. This clustering suggests the B570 is competitively positioned, but its 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs limits its high-resolution performance.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured 4K Ultra result is 28 FPS average, with no minimum or maximum recorded. This is the lowest frame rate in the entire dataset, 2 FPS below 4K High (30 FPS) and 12 FPS below 4K Low (51 FPS). For 4K users, Ultra settings are not recommended given the sub-30 FPS average.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is a Zen 3 architecture processor built on TSMC's 7 nm process node, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz boosts to 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache, providing a total of 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5700 demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20655 places it well ahead of its single-core score of 2916, showing that the 16 threads are effectively utilized in heavily threaded workloads. The Geekbench multicore score of 9959 versus a single-core score of 1907 reinforces this pattern, as does the Passmark multithread score of 24303 against a single-thread score of 3296. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 901 single-thread to 6617 max-thread, indicating good thread scaling efficiency.

However, in Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at most tested settings. The data shows that frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p Low, the 86 FPS result likely benefits from the CPU's strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 901), but as resolution increases, the GPU's 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth become the limiting factors.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the Intel Xeon D-2752TER, AMD Ryzen 5 7640U, AMD Ryzen 5 6600H, and AMD Ryzen 7 5825U — all have average scores within 0.3% of the 5700's 25517 average. This tight clustering indicates that the CPU's performance is well-understood and predictable. The 5700's 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is a capable processor, but the game's 2988th combo ranking reveals that pairing it with the Arc B570 does not yield top-tier results in this specific title.

The 5700's PCIe Gen 3 interface with 20 lanes (CPU only) may also influence performance. The Arc B570 uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, and while the CPU's Gen 3 support is backward compatible, the reduced bandwidth could impact data transfer in a game that streams large terrain and aircraft models. However, the measured FPS data alone cannot isolate this factor, as the GPU's own bandwidth constraints are more pronounced at higher resolutions.