Microsoft Flight Simulator

# Microsoft Flight Simulator — AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D + Intel Arc B390

This combination places the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D, an 8-core Zen 3 part on AMD Socket AM4, alongside the Intel Arc B390, an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture. The measured frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator (released August 17, 2020) reveal a system that is heavily constrained by the GPU at every resolution, with the CPU's substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache doing little to overcome the graphics bottleneck. The data shows a combo that ranks 2665th out of 2996 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested for this flight simulator.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lives. At Low settings, the system delivers 56 FPS at 1920x1080, but that falls to 45 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 33 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 41% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling is even more severe at High settings: 33 FPS at 1080p drops to 26 FPS at 1440p and then to 19 FPS at 4K — a 42% loss. Medium settings follow the same pattern, with 43 FPS at 1080p falling to 35 FPS at 1440p and 26 FPS at 4K.

The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests a purely GPU-bound scenario. When resolution increases, the pixel count rises, and the Intel Arc B390 simply cannot keep pace. The GPU's boost clock is 2500 MHz with a base clock of 300 MHz, but its memory is "System Shared" with system-dependent bandwidth — meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR4 memory for all graphics data. At 4K, the system falls below playable thresholds in every setting, with Ultra and High both averaging just 19 FPS.

The pattern implies that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D, with its 8 cores and 16 threads boosting to 4.10 GHz, is far more capable than what the Arc B390 can utilize. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (56 FPS) suggests the CPU could push much higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful graphics solution, but the integrated GPU caps performance well before the processor reaches its limits.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) built on Intel's 3 nm process, part of the Arc Graphics-M generation for Panther Lake. It carries 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its theoretical peak performance is 7.680 TFLOPS FP32, which sounds respectable on paper, but the memory configuration tells a different story. The VRAM is "System Shared" with a "System Shared" bus width and "System Dependent" bandwidth — there is no dedicated graphics memory.

This shared memory architecture is the primary reason for the low frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 19 FPS, identical to 4K High, suggesting the GPU is completely saturated. The measured 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places the Arc B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7% slower). These are all legacy, low-end parts from a decade ago, which contextualizes the Arc B390's performance tier.

The GPU's pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, but these figures are meaningless when memory bandwidth is system-dependent. In a flight simulator that streams vast terrain and scenery data, the shared memory bottleneck becomes especially pronounced. The 12 RT cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, but at these frame rates, ray tracing would be impractical.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2665th out of 2996 tested combinations in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems. This is a poor ranking that reflects the GPU's limitations far more than the CPU's capabilities. For context, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D alone sits in the 77th percentile of all CPUs based on its average benchmark score of 24709, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D (24728, 0.1% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX (24822, 0.5% slower), Intel Core i5-12450HX (24576, 0.5% faster), and Intel Core i5-11600 (24563, 0.6% faster). The CPU is a mid-to-high tier processor, but the GPU is in the 9th percentile.

The disparity between CPU and GPU performance tiers explains the combo's low rank. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D has a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22366 and a single-core score of 3157, indicating strong processing power for flight simulation physics and scenery generation. Yet the Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is comparable to GPUs from the early 2010s. The data suggests this pairing is fundamentally imbalanced, with the GPU acting as a severe bottleneck that prevents the CPU from demonstrating its true potential in this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the playable range for this combo is extremely narrow. At 1920x1080, Low settings yield 56 FPS average, which is the only configuration that approaches smooth gameplay. Medium settings at 1080p drop to 43 FPS, which may be acceptable for some users but is below ideal for a flight simulator where precise control inputs matter. High settings at 1080p fall to 33 FPS, and Ultra drops to 31 FPS — both are marginal at best.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 45 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium at 1440p averages 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 FPS and maximum of 40 FPS, indicating noticeable frame pacing inconsistencies. High and Ultra at 1440p are 26 FPS and 25 FPS respectively, which are too low for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, every setting falls below 35 FPS, with Low at 33 FPS, Medium at 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), and High and Ultra both at 19 FPS. These are all unplayable for a simulator that requires steady frame delivery.

The data indicates that the only viable experience is 1080p Low, which offers 56 FPS. Users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate might tolerate 1080p Medium at 43 FPS, but the measured minimum of 37 FPS suggests occasional stutters. For this hardware combination, the recommendation is clear: run at 1080p Low for the best experience, or accept 1080p Medium if visual quality is paramount and frame rate drops below 40 FPS are tolerable.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Microsoft Flight Simulator at 4K?

A: No, not at playable frame rates. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 ranges from 33 FPS on Low settings to 19 FPS on High and Ultra. Even at Low, the frame rate is too low for a smooth flight simulation experience.

Q: What is the best settings configuration for this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers 56 FPS average, which is the only measured configuration that exceeds 50 FPS. For a balance of quality and performance, 1080p Medium at 43 FPS is the next best option, but it carries a minimum FPS of 37.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows consistent drops that indicate graphics-bound performance.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7% slower). All are within 2.7% of the Arc B390's score.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 45 FPS, Medium averages 35 FPS (min 30, max 40), High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. Only Low settings approach playable territory, and even then, the frame rate is below the 60 FPS ideal.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 5700X3D's large L3 cache help in this game?

A: The CPU has 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22366 indicates strong processing capability. However, the measured FPS data shows the GPU limits performance so severely that the CPU's cache advantages cannot manifest in higher frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 5000 series, based on Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer) on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a TDP of 105 W. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth. Its defining feature is the 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is unusually large and designed to improve gaming performance.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU performs strongly: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 22366, single-core scores 3157, and Geekbench multicore scores 11086 with single-core at 1849. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 6764, and the max-thread score is 6755, showing good scaling across cores. The PassMark multithread score of 26318 and single-thread score of 2970 further confirm its solid performance.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle flight physics, AI traffic, and scenery generation. Given the CPU's 77th percentile ranking and its nearest rivals (Ryzen 5 7600X3D within 0.1%, Ryzen 9 5900HX within 0.5%), there is ample processing headroom. However, the measured FPS data shows that the game never reaches a CPU-bound state — even at 1080p Low, the system only hits 56 FPS, which is far below what this CPU could deliver with a discrete GPU. The 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for this game's threading model, but the Arc B390's integrated nature means the CPU must also feed the GPU through shared system memory, creating an additional bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low settings: 56 FPS average
• Medium settings: 43 FPS average, 37 FPS minimum, 50 FPS maximum
• High settings: 33 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 31 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low settings: 45 FPS average
• Medium settings: 35 FPS average, 30 FPS minimum, 40 FPS maximum
• High settings: 26 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 25 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low settings: 33 FPS average
• Medium settings: 26 FPS average, 22 FPS minimum, 30 FPS maximum
• High settings: 19 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 19 FPS average

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide roughly 1.3x to 1.7x the frame rate of Ultra settings. The gap between Medium and High is smaller, suggesting diminishing returns as settings climb. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 20% performance at every setting level, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs an additional 25-27%. This consistent scaling confirms that the Intel Arc B390's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the definitive limiting factors, regardless of the CPU's substantial computing resources.