Cyberpunk 2077

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B570 is a combination that clearly prioritizes 1080p and 1440p gaming over 4K. In Cyberpunk 2077, the benchmark data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, indicating that the Arc B570’s 10 GB of VRAM and 160-bit memory bus become the primary bottleneck well before the CPU’s headroom is exhausted. This is a combo built for high-refresh 1080p or solid 1440p play, not for maxing out a 4K panel without significant settings compromises.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a very predictable scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 76 FPS at 1920x1080 to 56 FPS at 2560x1440, and then plummets to 37 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 51% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is a massive hit. The trend is consistent across all settings: High settings go from 41 FPS at 1080p to 31 FPS at 1440p and 20 FPS at 4K. Medium settings follow the same path, with 56 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K.

The shape of these numbers tells a clear story about which component is holding the system back. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Ultra only costs 37 FPS (76 down to 39), but the resolution jump from 1080p to 4K at the same settings costs far more. For example, at Medium settings, moving from 1080p to 4K drops the average from 56 to 27 FPS — a 29 FPS loss. This is much larger than the FPS loss from changing settings at a fixed resolution. When resolution scaling produces such a severe drop, the GPU is the limiting factor. The Arc B570 simply lacks the raw pixel throughput and memory bandwidth to feed a 4K display effectively in this game.

What is particularly telling is the Ultra preset performance. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 19 FPS average. Even at 1440p Ultra, it only reaches 29 FPS. These are unplayable numbers, and the data suggests that the GPU is completely saturated. The 1080p Ultra result of 39 FPS is more respectable, but still not smooth for a demanding action RPG. The scaling pattern here points to a GPU that is best suited for 1080p and entry-level 1440p, with the CPU never becoming the limiting factor until frame rates are far higher than this GPU can deliver.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested combos for Cyberpunk 2077, this pairing sits in the lower percentile. The combo rank is 2316 out of 2920 total combinations, which places it in the bottom 21% of all tested systems. This is a low ranking, but it’s important to contextualize it. The ranking includes every possible CPU and GPU pairing tested, from ultra-high-end flagship rigs to budget builds. A rank of 2316 means there are 604 combos that perform worse, but the vast majority of systems tested will outperform this one.

The data indicates that the bottleneck here is almost entirely the GPU. The CPU itself is a 20-core, 28-thread part that scores in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which has an average score of 53288, and the Intel Xeon 6505P, which scores 53701. The i7-14700F is within 0.6% of the Ryzen 9 7900X and within 0.2% of the Xeon. This is a high-end CPU by any measure, which makes the low combo rank particularly striking.

The GPU, on the other hand, is a mid-range part. The Arc B570 scores in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rival is the Intel Arc A750, which has a score of 20582 and is 0.1% faster, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20534 and is 0.1% slower. This places the B570 firmly in the same performance tier as the previous generation’s mid-range cards. The delta between the CPU’s percentile (91) and the GPU’s percentile (65) is massive, and it explains why the combo rank is so low. The CPU has far more potential than the GPU can ever unlock in a GPU-bound game like Cyberpunk 2077.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, which is a substantial range. The chip features 33 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it has a 65 W TDP, though it can boost significantly higher under load. This is a 10 nm Intel part with a die size of 257 mm².

In Cyberpunk 2077, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, handle game logic, and manage the complex AI and physics systems. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 76 FPS average. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates cap out at a certain level regardless of GPU load. But the fact that FPS continues to drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K confirms the GPU is the constraint. The CPU has enough single-thread performance — evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2429 — to handle the game’s main thread. The multi-core performance is also exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a Passmark multithread score of 41317.

The 20 cores and 28 threads are far more than Cyberpunk 2077 can utilize. The game typically scales well to 8-16 threads, and the i7-14700F provides ample headroom. This means that even in busy city scenes with many NPCs, the CPU should not cause stutters or frame drops. The benchmark results support this: the minimum FPS values recorded are close to the averages. For example, at 1440p Medium, the average is 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which is only a 17% drop. This indicates a stable frame time delivery, which is a sign of a CPU that is not struggling. The CPU is essentially waiting for the GPU to catch up in all scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates at all settings. Low settings produce 76 FPS average, which is very smooth. Medium settings drop to 56 FPS average, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS. High settings yield 41 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 39 FPS average. The difference between High and Ultra is only 2 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual effects that are not heavily taxing the GPU at this resolution, or that the GPU is hitting a compute limit.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance becomes more marginal. Low settings still provide a playable 56 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 42 FPS average, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS. High settings fall to 31 FPS average, and Ultra settings are at 29 FPS average. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant: the High preset loses 10 FPS, and the Medium preset loses 14 FPS. This is a clear indication that the GPU is struggling to fill the extra pixels.

At 3840x2160, the combo is not viable for serious play. Low settings manage 37 FPS average, which is borderline. Medium settings drop to 27 FPS average, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 32 FPS. High settings are at 20 FPS average, and Ultra settings are at 19 FPS average. These numbers are below the threshold for a smooth experience in an action RPG. The 4K results are uniformly poor, and the minimum FPS at Medium settings (23 FPS) shows that there are noticeable dips. The data strongly suggests that 4K should be avoided, even at Low settings, unless the player is willing to tolerate a sub-40 FPS experience.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent pattern of about a 50% performance penalty. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 37 FPS. At 1440p, it’s 27 FPS. At 4K, it’s 18 FPS. This decreasing absolute difference is expected, as the GPU becomes more constrained at higher resolutions and the settings have less relative impact.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, using the BMG-G21 chip. It has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines. The GPU has 18 ray tracing cores and a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz. The memory configuration is 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 2375 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective. The GPU’s FP32 performance is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS, and it has a 150 W TDP.

In Cyberpunk 2077, the GPU’s role is to render the scene, handle lighting and shadows, and process the game’s demanding effects. The data shows that the B570 is the clear bottleneck. The 10 GB of VRAM is a potential concern at higher resolutions, but the memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is more likely the limiting factor. At 4K, the GPU needs to fetch and process a massive amount of texture data, and the 160-bit bus simply cannot provide enough throughput. This is reflected in the catastrophic FPS drop at 4K.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores support its mid-range positioning. It scores 14195 in Passmark G3D and 2649 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 83514, and the Vulkan score is 96844. These are respectable numbers for a mid-range card, but they are nowhere near the levels required for high-refresh 4K gaming. The GPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, is only 0.1% faster, which shows that this is a modest generational improvement over the previous Battlemage predecessor.

The ray tracing performance is also a factor. The B570 has 18 RT cores, and Cyberpunk 2077 is known for its heavy ray tracing workload. While the data does not include specific RT benchmark results, the low overall FPS at Ultra settings suggests that the GPU is struggling with the game’s most demanding effects. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 39, which is likely with ray tracing off or on a low setting. Enabling full ray tracing would likely push the frame rate into the low 20s, making the game barely playable.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Cyberpunk 2077 with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings are playable, with Low at 76 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS. 1440p is viable at Low (56 FPS) and Medium (42 FPS), but High and Ultra drop below 31 FPS. 4K should be avoided, as even Low settings only achieve 37 FPS.

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

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU has a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 65th percentile. The FPS drops significantly as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. At 1080p Low, the system hits 76 FPS, but at 4K Low, it only manages 37 FPS.

Q: How does this combo compare to the Intel Arc A750?

A: The Arc B570 and Arc A750 are nearly identical in performance. The A750 has an average benchmark score of 20582, which is 0.1% higher than the B570’s 20556. In practical terms, the two GPUs are interchangeable for gaming performance.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 42 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS. This is a playable experience, though there are some noticeable dips in demanding scenes.

Q: Is the i7-14700F a high-end CPU for this game?

A: Yes, the i7-14700F is a high-end CPU. It scores 35122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4958 in single-core. It is in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, is only 0.6% faster. The CPU has far more performance headroom than the GPU can utilize in Cyberpunk 2077.

Q: What are the minimum FPS numbers at 4K?

A: The only 4K setting with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium, which has a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 32 FPS. The average for that setting is 27 FPS. The other 4K settings (Low, High, Ultra) do not have min/max values recorded, but their averages range from 19 to 37 FPS.