Microsoft Flight Simulator

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 is a combination that sits near the bottom of the performance table for Microsoft Flight Simulator. With a combo rank of 1722 out of 1795 tested configurations, this system is firmly in the lower percentile of results, delivering playable performance only at the lowest settings and resolutions. The data shows a platform that is severely constrained by its graphics card, which struggles to maintain fluid frame rates under the simulator's heavy rendering load.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded for this configuration is 48.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: It ranks 1722 out of 1795 total combos tested, placing it in the bottom 4% of all configurations for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows the GPU is the primary bottleneck; at 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops to as low as 15.5 FPS on Ultra settings, while the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to push higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, switching from Low to Ultra settings reduces the average frame rate from 48.7 FPS to 24.8 FPS, a performance drop of approximately 49%.

Q: Does this system achieve 60 FPS at any tested configuration?

A: No, the maximum average frame rate recorded across all resolutions and settings is 48.7 FPS, which falls short of the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the RX 570's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 30158, which is 0.2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060's score of 30109, according to the nearestRivals data.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the dominant constraint in this pairing. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, but this proves insufficient for Microsoft Flight Simulator's demanding scenery streaming. The GPU's base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz, based on the GCN 4.0 architecture, deliver 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. However, the benchmark results indicate that this raw compute power is not enough to maintain smooth gameplay.

At 1080p Low settings, the GPU manages 48.7 FPS, but this is the ceiling for this configuration. The data reveals a sharp decline as settings increase: Medium drops to 35.9 FPS, High to 26.7 FPS, and Ultra to 24.8 FPS. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is overwhelmed by the game's visual complexity. The RX 570's percentile rank of 74 among all GPUs might suggest mid-pack capability, but in this specific title, the 4 GB VRAM capacity and the architecture's age become critical weaknesses.

The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is notable. Its average benchmark score of 30158 is 0.2% higher than the RTX 5060 and 0.2% higher than the RX 7700 XT, but these synthetic benchmarks do not translate to real-world parity in Flight Simulator. The measured frame rates show that the RX 570's real-time rendering capability is far below what those scores might imply, particularly at higher resolutions where the 4 GB memory buffer is quickly exhausted.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides a solid foundation that is largely wasted by the GPU bottleneck. With 6 cores and 12 threads, this Rocket Lake processor has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the simulator's CPU-bound tasks like flight dynamics and AI traffic.

The CPU's benchmark results show it is a capable processor. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and single-core score of 2029 place it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. This places it in close competition with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores 17189 (0% delta), and the Intel Core i7-1260P, which scores 17212 (-0.2% delta). The 11400F's single-thread performance, as indicated by its 868 score in 3dmark_single_thread, is sufficient for the game's primary simulation thread.

The CPU's role becomes clearer when examining the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 48.7 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 26.9 FPS. This 45% reduction in frame rate when resolution quadruples indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as a CPU-bound scenario would show less dramatic scaling. The CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates if the GPU could keep up, but the RX 570's rendering limits cap the system's overall performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent pattern of performance degradation as both resolution and settings increase. At 1920x1080, the system ranges from 48.7 FPS on Low to 24.8 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset delivers 35.9 FPS, while High achieves 26.7 FPS. These numbers show that even at the lowest resolution, only the Low preset approaches playability, and the Ultra preset cuts frame rates nearly in half.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops further. Low settings produce 38.6 FPS, Medium 32.8 FPS, High 21.6 FPS, and Ultra 24.9 FPS. The anomaly of High performing worse than Ultra at this resolution (21.6 vs 24.9 FPS) is noteworthy, though the difference is within the margin of error for a simulator with variable scenery complexity. The 1440p data shows that only Low settings maintain a frame rate above 30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates across all settings. Low delivers 26.9 FPS, Medium 23.7 FPS, High 18.4 FPS, and Ultra 15.5 FPS. The 4K results confirm that this combination is not viable for high-resolution flight simulation, as even the lowest settings fail to reach 30 FPS. The average frame rates across all 12 tested configurations show a maximum of 48.7 FPS and a minimum of 15.5 FPS, with no configuration achieving 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-11400F and RX 570 ranks 1722 out of 1795 tested combos in Microsoft Flight Simulator, placing it in the bottom 4% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's inability to handle the game's demanding rendering pipeline, despite the CPU being a relatively strong performer. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all processors contrasts sharply with the GPU's 74th percentile, yet the combo's overall ranking is dismal, indicating that the game is heavily GPU-bound.

The data suggests that this pairing is fundamentally mismatched for this title. While the CPU can hold its own against rivals like the Ryzen 7 5700U and Core i7-1260P, the GPU's performance is insufficient for the simulator's needs. The combo rank of 1722 out of 1795 means that only 73 other configurations perform worse, making this one of the least capable systems for Flight Simulator.

Compared to other combos, this system is likely to struggle with any settings above Low at 1080p. The measured FPS data supports this conclusion, as the system only exceeds 40 FPS in two of the twelve tested scenarios (1080p Low at 48.7 FPS and 1440p Low at 38.6 FPS). This ranking position is a clear indicator that users should not expect a smooth experience without significant compromises.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the only viable configuration for this system is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers 48.7 FPS. This is the sole preset that approaches a playable experience, though it still falls short of the 60 FPS ideal. The Low preset at 1080p is the only combination that exceeds 45 FPS, making it the clear recommendation for any user seeking the best balance of visual quality and performance.

The Medium preset at 1080p (35.9 FPS) and Low at 1440p (38.6 FPS) are secondary options for users who prioritize resolution over settings. However, both fall below the 40 FPS threshold, which can lead to noticeable stuttering in a simulator that requires smooth frame pacing for accurate flight control. The High and Ultra presets at any resolution are not recommended, as they all fall below 27 FPS, with 4K Ultra dropping to 15.5 FPS.

For users who must use this hardware, the data indicates that reducing resolution has a greater impact on frame rate than reducing settings. The difference between 1080p Low (48.7 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (24.8 FPS) is 23.9 FPS, while the difference between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 10.1 FPS. This suggests that prioritizing Low settings at the native resolution is the most effective strategy for this configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 48.7 FPS at 1080p to 38.6 FPS at 1440p and 26.9 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 20.8 FPS (43%) from the lowest to highest resolution. This scaling is consistent with a GPU that cannot keep up with the increasing pixel count, as the CPU has sufficient headroom to maintain higher frame rates.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 35.9 FPS at 1080p, 32.8 FPS at 1440p, and 23.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 3.1 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 9.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a critical constraint at 4K. The High preset shows a more linear decline from 26.7 FPS at 1080p to 21.6 FPS at 1440p and 18.4 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling, with 24.8 FPS at 1080p falling to 15.5 FPS at 4K, a 37.5% reduction. This pattern across all settings confirms that the limiting component is the RX 570's rendering capability, not the i5-11400F's processing power. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the simulator's simulation logic, but the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are inadequate for the game's high-resolution textures and complex scenery. Users would need to significantly upgrade the GPU to achieve playable frame rates at higher resolutions, as the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration.