Microsoft Flight Simulator

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X paired with the Intel Arc B370 delivers a decidedly limited experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with measured frame rates that place this combination near the bottom of the database. The data reveals a system that can produce playable, if modest, results at 1080p with reduced settings, but one that struggles significantly at higher resolutions and graphical presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data makes a clear case for prioritizing the Low preset across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low setting achieves an average of 50 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo in any configuration. This represents a substantial 28% improvement over the Medium preset’s 39 FPS average at the same resolution, and a 67% improvement over the High preset’s 30 FPS. For users seeking a fluid experience in a flight simulator where camera panning and terrain streaming demand consistency, the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that consistently breaks past the 30 FPS threshold.

The Medium preset offers a compromise, delivering 39 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 2560x1440, and 23 FPS at 3840x2160. While the 1080p Medium result is acceptable, the frame rate drops sharply when moving up in resolution. The High preset, which yields 30 FPS at 1080p and 24 FPS at 1440p, sits in a precarious position—it is technically playable at 1080p but leaves no headroom for the complex scenes and dense urban areas that Flight Simulator frequently renders. The Ultra preset is the weakest performer, with averages of 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and just 17 FPS at 4K.

Benchmark results indicate that the Low preset is the optimal choice for this hardware combination, as it is the only setting that consistently provides a frame rate high enough to avoid noticeable stutter during flight. The Medium preset can be considered for 1080p users who prioritize visual fidelity over smoothness, but the data suggests that the performance penalty outweighs the graphical gains for most scenarios.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on Intel’s 3 nm process. Its specifications reveal a part designed for efficiency rather than raw performance: 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, alongside 10 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W. Memory is system-shared, meaning the GPU relies on the host system’s DDR4 memory, with bandwidth described as system dependent.

These specifications translate into a GPU that ranks in the 5th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals in the database are legacy parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, delta -0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, delta -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, delta -0.7%). The Arc B370 sits just ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168, delta 1.4%). This positioning underscores that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this combo.

The shared memory architecture and modest compute resources directly impact Flight Simulator’s performance. The game is known for streaming vast amounts of terrain and scenery data, and the system-shared memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor. The GPU’s 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 96.00 GTexel/s texture rate are insufficient for the game’s demands at higher settings, as evidenced by the sharp FPS drops when transitioning from Low to Medium or High presets. The ray tracing cores, while present, are unlikely to be utilized effectively given the overall performance envelope.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent and steep decline as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component in this pairing. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 50 at 1920x1080 to 41 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 18%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average falls to 30 FPS, representing a 40% drop from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the number of pixels rendered directly impacts performance.

The Medium preset exhibits a similar trend: 39 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 41%, nearly identical to the Low preset’s scaling. The High preset shows a slightly larger relative decline, from 30 FPS at 1080p to 24 FPS at 1440p (a 20% drop) and then to 18 FPS at 4K (a 40% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset follows the same pattern, with 28 FPS at 1080p falling to 23 FPS at 1440p and finally to 17 FPS at 4K.

The consistency of these scaling ratios across all settings indicates that the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, is not the primary constraint. The 5700X is an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 3 processor with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz and 32 MB of L3 cache, which places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12600K (average score 27578, delta 0%), the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (average score 27636, delta -0.2%), and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (average score 27535, delta 0.2%). This CPU has ample headroom for the game’s simulation logic; the frame rate drops are entirely attributable to the GPU’s inability to handle higher pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2770 out of 2996 combos for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems, a position that reflects the severe GPU limitation rather than any deficiency in the CPU.

The ranking is particularly telling when considering the CPU’s strength. The Ryzen 7 5700X, with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz and 16 threads, is a capable processor that performs comparably to the Intel Core i5-12600K, which has an identical average benchmark score of 27578. In a system with a more powerful discrete GPU, this CPU would likely produce far higher frame rates in Flight Simulator. However, the integrated Arc B370, with its 5th percentile ranking and 1184 average benchmark score, drags the entire combo down to the bottom quartile.

The delta between the CPU and GPU performance tiers is stark. The CPU sits in the 79th percentile, while the GPU sits in the 5th percentile. This imbalance means that the combo’s ranking is almost entirely determined by the GPU. Users considering this pairing should be aware that the CPU is not the limiting factor; upgrading the GPU would yield significant performance gains, while upgrading the CPU would have negligible impact on this game’s frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings produces the highest average FPS at 50. This is the only configuration that consistently exceeds 40 FPS, making it the recommended choice for playable performance.

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

A: The Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184, which is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, delta -0.2%) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, delta -0.5%). It sits just above the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, delta 1.4%).

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

A: No, the CPU data indicates it is not the limiting factor. The 5700X ranks in the 79th percentile of all CPUs and performs on par with the Intel Core i5-12600K (average score 27578 for both). The GPU is the clear bottleneck.

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

A: The average FPS drops from 50 at 1920x1080 to 30 at 3840x2160, representing a 40% decrease. This steep drop confirms the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: Can this system handle the High preset at any resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 30 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves no headroom. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 24 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 18 FPS.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking for this game?

A: This combination ranks 2770 out of 2996 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of systems for Microsoft Flight Simulator performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 50 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS. The High preset averages 30 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 28 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 11 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 2 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the top end.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 41 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 36 FPS. The High preset averages 24 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 23 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is just 1 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset offers no meaningful advantage at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 30 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 23 FPS, with a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS. The High preset averages 18 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 17 FPS. All 4K configurations fall below the 30 FPS threshold, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Low preset provides the highest frame rates at every resolution, and the performance gap between Low and Medium widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the gap is 11 FPS; at 1440p, it is 9 FPS; and at 4K, it is 7 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS values (33, 27, and 20 at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively) indicate that even this mid-range setting can cause noticeable stutters in demanding scenes. For users who prioritize a stable experience, the Low preset is the only viable option, while those who accept lower frame rates can explore the Medium preset at 1080p.