Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding flight simulation title released in 2020, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the Intel Arc B570 provides a clear picture of how this combination handles the game across resolutions and settings. The benchmark results show a system that is consistently playable at lower presets, but one that struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at higher settings and resolutions. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and how the combo ranks among other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a significant and predictable drop in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 86 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset, the average drops to 69 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls further to 51 FPS. This represents a decline of approximately 20% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 26% from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming an increasingly limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the number of pixels to render grows substantially.

The High settings preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 50 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 18%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 27%. For Medium settings, the averages are 67 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K, with a 19% drop followed by a 26% drop. Ultra settings produce the lowest numbers, with 48 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K, showing a 19% decline then a 28% decline.

The consistent pattern across all settings suggests that the Intel Arc B570, with its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 160-bit memory bus and 2500 MHz clock are simply not sufficient to maintain high frame rates when the pixel count increases. At 1080p, the CPU appears more capable of keeping up, as evidenced by the higher FPS numbers, but even at this resolution, the GPU still limits performance when settings are raised to High or Ultra. The data indicates that users aiming for 4K gaming with this combo should expect averages below 30 FPS on Ultra, which is not ideal for a smooth experience in a simulation title where precision matters.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines. It has 18 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The GPU operates at a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz for 19 Gbps effective speed. The 10 GB GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a notable constraint for a game like Microsoft Flight Simulator that streams vast amounts of terrain and scenery data.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a deltaPct of 0.1, the Intel Arc A750 at -0.1, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 0.4, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at -0.5. These close deltas indicate that the Arc B570 performs in a similar tier to these cards, but its specific strengths and weaknesses in gaming are reflected in the measured FPS data.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the GPU's role is critical for rendering the detailed cockpit, aircraft models, and ground textures. The measured results show that the Arc B570 can deliver playable frame rates at Medium settings across all resolutions, with averages of 67 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. However, at Ultra settings, the GPU struggles, with 48 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The 28 FPS at 4K Ultra is particularly low, suggesting that the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and demanding graphical effects. The 10 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this game, but the bandwidth and compute capabilities are not enough to sustain high frame rates at maximum settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired smoothness. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 86 FPS on average, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings at 1080p produce 67 FPS, still very playable, while High drops to 50 FPS and Ultra to 48 FPS. For users who prioritize visual fidelity at 1080p, High settings at 50 FPS may be acceptable, but Medium offers a better balance with 67 FPS and a noticeable improvement over Low.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 69 FPS, which is good, and Medium at 54 FPS is also smooth. High settings at 1440p drop to 41 FPS, and Ultra to 39 FPS. The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it provides a solid frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality. High and Ultra are below the 50 FPS mark, which may lead to stutter or a less responsive experience in a flight simulator where smooth camera panning is important.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low settings at 4K average 51 FPS, which is playable, while Medium drops to 40 FPS, which is borderline. High at 30 FPS and Ultra at 28 FPS are both quite low, likely resulting in a choppy experience. The recommendation for 4K is to use Low or Medium settings, with Low being the safer choice for consistent performance. The measured minimum FPS for Medium at 4K is 34, which means occasional dips below the average, but still within a range that many users might tolerate. Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1080p with Medium or High settings, or at 1440p with Medium, balancing frame rate and visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all combinations of resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with an average of 86 FPS. Medium settings at the same resolution average 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS. High settings average 50 FPS, and Ultra settings average 48 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 38 FPS, showing that the settings preset has a substantial impact on performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, Low settings average 69 FPS, Medium averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and a maximum of 62, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 30 FPS, slightly narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is exerting more influence on the results. At 3840x2160, Low settings average 51 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 46, High averages 30 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 23 FPS, the smallest spread, which further confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The Medium settings presets are the only ones that include both minimum and maximum FPS values, and these show a consistent pattern. At 1080p Medium, the range is 57 to 77 FPS, a 20 FPS variation. At 1440p Medium, the range is 46 to 62 FPS, a 16 FPS variation. At 4K Medium, the range is 34 to 46 FPS, a 12 FPS variation. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame times become more stable as the GPU nears its limits, but the lower averages mean the experience is less fluid. The Ultra settings at 4K, with an average of 28 FPS, are the lowest recorded, and this would likely result in noticeable frame pacing issues during complex flight scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B570 combination holds a combo rank of 2406 out of 2996 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This places the combo in the lower half of all tested configurations, specifically in the 20th percentile of the 2996 total combos. The ranking reflects the measured FPS data, which shows that the combo is capable of playable frame rates at lower settings, but falls behind many other configurations when higher settings are enabled.

The CPU itself is a strong performer, with a percentile rank of 92 among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 58386. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M with a deltaPct of 0.1, the Intel Xeon w5-2545 at -0.2, the Intel Core i9-14900 at 0.5, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 at -0.7. These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a top-tier processor in synthetic benchmarks. However, the GPU's percentile rank of 65 and average benchmark score of 20556 pull the overall combo ranking down, as the Arc B570 is not as competitive in gaming workloads.

The combo rank of 2406 out of 2996 suggests that while the CPU is excellent, the GPU holds back the system in this specific game. Other combos with stronger GPUs, even with lesser CPUs, likely achieve higher rankings because Microsoft Flight Simulator is more dependent on GPU performance at the resolutions tested. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve respectable frame rates, and less suited for 4K, where the GPU becomes a significant limitation.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is part of the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU has a 120 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. It includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming workloads. The CPU is manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC, with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 3551 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 343 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 22807 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, and 2228 in Cinebench R23 single-core. PassMark results show a multi-thread score of 41318, a single-thread score of 4704, and strong performance in integer math (123140) and floating point math (81998). The CPU's percentile rank of 92 places it well above average, and its nearest rivals are all within 1% of its average score, highlighting its competitive position.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator, the CPU's role is to handle the simulation logic, including flight dynamics, weather systems, and AI traffic. The measured FPS data suggests that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 86 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it achieves 67 FPS, both of which indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. The 96 MB of L3 cache is likely beneficial for this game, as it can store frequently accessed data and reduce memory latency. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, which is important for the main simulation thread. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's performance advantage is not fully utilized. The data shows that even at 4K Low, the combo reaches 51 FPS, which is still CPU-bound in part, but the GPU's capabilities cap the overall frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 50 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 28, which is the lowest measured result for this combo.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings at 2560x1440?

A: The minimum FPS for Medium settings at 2560x1440 is 46 FPS, with an average of 54 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS.

Q: What is the combo rank for this CPU and GPU in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The combo rank is 2406 out of 2996 tested combos, placing it in the lower half of all configurations.

Q: What is the boost clock of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D?

A: The boost clock is 5.60 GHz, and the base clock is 4.70 GHz.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the Intel Arc B570?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s, with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus.