Allods Online

The data for Allods Online using the Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a clear performance profile, dominated by the GPU’s capabilities. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings reveal a system where the CPU’s substantial compute power is largely held back by the graphics solution. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, component roles, and practical settings, using only the provided benchmark rows.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 120 at 1920x1080 to 75 at 2560x1440, a 37.5% reduction, and then further to 39 at 3840x2160, which is a 48% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is typical for a graphics card that is the primary bottleneck; as pixel count increases, the GPU’s workload expands proportionally, and the frame rate collapses.

The Medium settings row reinforces this trend. At 1920x1080, the average is 94 FPS, but at 2560x1440 it drops to 59 FPS (a 37.2% decrease), and at 3840x2160 it reaches 31 FPS (a 47.5% decrease from 1440p). The High settings show similar behavior: 59 FPS at 1080p, 37 FPS at 1440p (37.3% lower), and 19 FPS at 4K (48.6% lower). In every case, the jump from 1440p to 4K nearly halves the frame rate, which is a classic sign of the GPU hitting its memory bandwidth or shading limits.

Ultra settings are the most punishing. At 1920x1080, the average is 37 FPS; at 2560x1440, it falls to 23 FPS (a 37.8% drop); and at 3840x2160, it plunges to 12 FPS (a 47.8% drop from 1440p). The relative consistency of these percentage drops—hovering around 37% for the 1080p-to-1440p step and 48% for the 1440p-to-4K step—suggests that the scaling is driven by pixel throughput rather than any specific setting. The limiting component is clearly the Intel Arc B390, as the CPU’s high core count and clock speeds would not cause such uniform degradation.

Notably, the delta between Low and Ultra at the same resolution widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low (120 FPS) is 3.2 times faster than Ultra (37 FPS). At 1440p, Low (75 FPS) is 3.3 times faster than Ultra (23 FPS). At 4K, Low (39 FPS) is 3.25 times faster than Ultra (12 FPS). This consistency indicates that the GPU is saturated even at Low settings in 4K, and the extra work from Ultra settings pushes it into single-digit territory. The data suggests that for playable frame rates above 30 FPS, 4K is only feasible at Low settings, and even then the 39 FPS average is marginal.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in every measured frame. Its specifications are modest: 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The memory is listed as "System Shared," meaning it uses system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, and its bandwidth is "System Dependent." This architecture explains why the card’s benchmark scores are low. In 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), it scores 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, according to the data, are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, 1.3% slower), the GeForce 800M (score 1460, 1.5% slower), the GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, 2.5% slower), and the GeForce GT 710 (score 1443, 2.7% slower). This places the Arc B390 in a performance tier that is roughly 1-3% faster than those legacy entry-level cards, which is consistent with the low FPS observed in Allods Online.

The GPU’s pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute at 7.680 TFLOPS. These figures are not directly comparable to the FPS numbers, but they indicate a chip designed for basic graphics tasks rather than high-end gaming. In Allods Online, the GPU’s role becomes apparent when comparing Low and Medium settings. At 1080p, Low yields 120 FPS, but Medium drops to 94 FPS (a 21.7% reduction). This drop is larger than the typical CPU overhead, suggesting that the GPU is struggling with the increased shader complexity. At 4K, the difference between Low (39 FPS) and Medium (31 FPS) is a 20.5% reduction, again pointing to GPU limits.

The absence of dedicated VRAM is critical. With "System Shared" memory, the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which can cause stuttering in demanding scenes. The measured FPS rows do not include min or max values for most settings, but the Medium preset at 4K shows a min of 26 FPS and a max of 36 FPS, indicating significant frame time variance. At 1440p Medium, the min is 50 FPS and max is 68 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, the min is 80 and max is 108. These ranges show that the GPU can deliver bursts of higher performance but cannot sustain them, likely due to memory bottlenecks.

The Arc B390’s TDP is 80 W, and it operates as an IGP (integrated graphics processor), which is unusual for a desktop pairing. Its bus interface is also listed as "IGP," meaning it relies on the system’s memory bus. This design limits its ability to handle high-resolution textures, which explains why Ultra settings are nearly unplayable. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 12, which is below the threshold for a fluid experience. The GPU’s 12 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) are present, but they do not translate into practical performance in this MMORPG, as the measured data shows no ray tracing-specific tests.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF provides a stark contrast to the GPU. This processor has 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It belongs to the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process, and features a 24 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are excellent: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 32544, single-core is 4594, and Geekbench multicore is 17085. The CPU’s percentile vs all CPUs is 90, meaning it outperforms 90% of tested processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (avg score 49228, 0.3% slower), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (avg score 49196, 0.4% slower), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (avg score 48995, 0.8% slower), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 (avg score 49796, 0.8% faster). This places the i5-14600KF in a tight pack at the top of the CPU charts.

In Allods Online, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. Given the GPU’s low performance, the CPU is never the bottleneck. Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling: if the CPU were limiting, we would expect similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, because the CPU workload does not increase with pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops sharply from 1080p to 4K, as detailed earlier. For example, at High settings, the CPU can maintain 59 FPS at 1080p, but the GPU can only manage 19 FPS at 4K. This 3.1x difference is entirely attributable to the GPU.

The CPU’s high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594, Passmark single-thread score of 4273) is relevant for an MMORPG like Allods Online, which often has CPU-bound scenarios in crowded areas. However, the measured FPS rows do not show any setting where the CPU limit is reached, because even at 1080p Low, the 120 FPS average is likely GPU-bound, as the Arc B390’s 3DMark score suggests it cannot exceed that threshold in this title. The CPU’s 20 threads and 24 MB cache are more than sufficient for a game from 2010, so the data indicates the processor is operating well below its capacity.

The i5-14600KF’s launch MSRP is $294, and it uses a 125 W TDP. Its memory support includes DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel bus, but the GPU’s system-shared memory means the CPU’s memory bandwidth is also shared. This could theoretically affect CPU performance, but the benchmark rows show no such impact, as the FPS is consistently GPU-limited. The CPU’s 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes are not utilized by the IGP GPU, which uses the system bus instead.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target frame rate and resolution. For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1080p, the Low preset delivers 120 FPS on average, which is double the target, leaving headroom for system overhead. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 94 FPS, still well above 60, with a min of 80 FPS and max of 108, indicating a stable experience. High at 1080p drops to 59 FPS, which is just under the 60 FPS target, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS, which is not smooth. Therefore, for a 1080p display with a 60 Hz refresh rate, Medium is the highest setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, while Low is the safest for maintaining high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the data shows that Low is the only setting that clears 60 FPS, with an average of 75 FPS. Medium at 1440p has an average of 59 FPS, which is marginal for a 60 Hz monitor, and its min of 50 FPS could cause noticeable dips. High at 1440p averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS, both below playable thresholds for most users. Thus, for 1440p, Low is recommended for a fluid experience, while Medium is acceptable if the user can tolerate occasional drops below 60 FPS.

At 4K (3840x2160), the situation is grim. Low settings yield an average of 39 FPS, which is playable only if the user accepts a sub-60 frame rate. Medium drops to 31 FPS, High to 19 FPS, and Ultra to 12 FPS. None of these reach 60 FPS, and only Low is above 30 FPS, which is the minimum for a playable experience in many games. Given the data, 4K gaming with this combo is not advisable, but if forced, Low is the only viable preset. The Medium preset at 4K has a min of 26 FPS, which is below 30, indicating that even the average is not representative of the worst-case performance.

The recommendation is to prioritize resolution over settings. At 1080p, Medium offers the best balance, with 94 FPS average and a min of 80 FPS. At 1440p, Low is the only option for 60+ FPS, and at 4K, only Low is marginally playable. The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions, as it drops to 37 FPS at 1080p and below 24 FPS at higher resolutions. The data also shows that the gap between Low and Medium is smaller than the gap between Medium and High, suggesting that Medium is a sweet spot for visual quality without a massive FPS penalty.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core i5-14600KF and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2459 out of 2775 tested combos in Allods Online. This places it in the bottom 11.3% of all combinations, which is consistent with the GPU’s low percentile (9th percentile among all GPUs). The CPU’s high percentile (90th) does not compensate for the GPU’s weakness. In a game like Allods Online, the GPU is the primary driver of FPS, and the Arc B390’s score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad is far below what modern games require.

The ranking indicates that most other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates. The nearest GPU rivals (GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, etc.) have similar benchmark scores, so it is likely that combos with those GPUs also rank poorly. However, the i5-14600KF’s strength means that if this GPU were replaced with a more capable model, the FPS would improve dramatically. The data shows no situation where the CPU limits performance, so the combo’s rank is entirely due to the GPU.

The combo rank of 2459/2775 can be interpreted as follows: only 316 combos perform worse. This is a very low standing, but it is not surprising given the GPU’s 3DMark score. The CPU’s nearest rivals (Ryzen 9 7900, etc.) have similar average scores, so swapping the CPU would not change the rank significantly, as the GPU would still be the bottleneck. The ranking confirms that this pairing is unbalanced, with a high-end CPU wasted on a low-end GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. Starting with 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 120 FPS, with no min or max reported. Medium at 1080p has an average of 94 FPS, with a min of 80 and max of 108. High at 1080p averages 59 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline: 120, 94, 59, 37, with each step reducing FPS by roughly 20-30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 75 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS (min 50, max 68), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 16 FPS, from Medium to High is 22 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 14 FPS. This pattern differs from 1080p, where the drop from Low to Medium was 26 FPS, indicating that at 1440p, the GPU is more constrained, and the settings have less impact relative to the resolution overhead.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 39 FPS, Medium averages 31 FPS (min 26, max 36), High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. The differences between settings are smaller in absolute terms: Low to Medium is 8 FPS, Medium to High is 12 FPS, and High to Ultra is 7 FPS. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that changing settings has diminishing returns. The min FPS for Medium at 4K (26) is higher than the average for High at 4K (19), showing that even the worst-case Medium frame is better than the average High frame.

The data also reveals that the Medium preset is the only one with min and max values for all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 80-108 FPS (a 28 FPS spread). At 1440p, the range is 50-68 FPS (an 18 FPS spread). At 4K, the range is 26-36 FPS (a 10 FPS spread). This narrowing range with higher resolution indicates that the GPU becomes more consistent as it approaches its limits, but at the cost of lower average FPS. The lack of min/max for Low, High, and Ultra settings means we cannot assess their frame time consistency, but the averages are sufficient for ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 94 FPS, with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average is 75 FPS. At Medium settings, the average drops to 59 FPS, which is just below 60, and High and Ultra fall to 37 and 23 FPS respectively.

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

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, which is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% faster than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% faster than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% faster than the GeForce GT 710 (1443).

Q: What is the best preset for a 4K display?

A: At 3840x2160, only Low settings provide a playable average FPS of 39. Medium averages 31 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS, so Low is the only viable option.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Allods Online?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. Evidence includes the steep FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, where the same settings lose over half their frame rate, while the CPU’s high benchmark scores (90th percentile) indicate it is not limiting performance.

Q: What rank does this combo hold among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2459 out of 2775 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 11.3% of all pairings for this game.

Q: Does the CPU’s launch MSRP affect its performance?

A: The launch MSRP is $294, but the data does not show any relationship between price and measured FPS. The performance is determined by the GPU’s limitations, not the CPU’s cost.