Fivem

Fivem, the multiplayer modification platform for Grand Theft Auto V, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with both CPU and GPU resources. The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 creates a configuration where the GPU is decisively the primary bottleneck, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis examines the measured frame rate data for this specific combination, interpreting how the component characteristics and benchmark scores translate into real-world performance across different settings and resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, confirming that the GeForce GTX 1650 is the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 76 FPS, which drops to 50 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 28 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 63% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, a pattern that clearly indicates the GPU is being saturated by the increasing pixel count.

The scaling behavior changes notably when moving to higher quality presets. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 48 at 1080p to 32 at 1440p and finally to 18 at 4K — a 62.5% total drop. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 60 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets suggests that the GTX 1650's rendering throughput, not the CPU or memory subsystem, is the dominant constraint. If the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at lower resolutions, but the data shows continuous degradation even at 1080p when increasing settings, which points squarely at GPU limitations.

The Ultra preset provides the clearest evidence of GPU-bound behavior. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 14 FPS average, while 1440p Ultra yields 25 FPS and 1080p Ultra reaches 37 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 39 FPS (76 vs 37), which is a substantial range that the CPU can accommodate, but the sheer inability to maintain playable frame rates above 30 FPS at 1440p Ultra or 4K under any settings reinforces that the GTX 1650's 4 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface are insufficient for high-resolution textures and effects. The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can approach smooth gameplay, and even then only at Low or Medium settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Fivem?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 76, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 70 FPS.

Q: Can this combination handle 4K resolution in Fivem?

A: The data shows that 3840x2160 is not viable for this pairing. The best result at 4K is 28 FPS average with Low settings, while High, Medium, and Ultra presets produce 18, 22, and 14 FPS respectively. All of these fall below the generally accepted threshold for smooth multiplayer gameplay.

Q: How does the GTX 1650's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 7472, placing it in the 40th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Arc A310, which scores 7550, putting the GTX 1650 1% behind. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M and Intel UHD Graphics 750 are 0.3% and 0.4% slower respectively, indicating this GPU sits in a tightly contested low-end segment.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking compared to all processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. This places it significantly higher than the GPU's 40th percentile, confirming a substantial performance imbalance in this pairing.

Q: Are there any settings where the combo maintains 60+ FPS consistently?

A: Only one measured configuration achieves 60 FPS or higher: 1080p Low with an average of 76 FPS. The 1080p Medium preset records exactly 60 FPS average, but the minimum FPS drops to 51, indicating occasional dips below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: What does the minimum FPS data reveal about frame pacing?

A: The only settings that include minimum FPS measurements are Medium at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 51 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 34 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 19 FPS. These figures show that even the more stable Medium preset has significant frame drops, with the 4K minimum falling 13.6% below the average.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 2887 out of 3005 tested combos in Fivem, placing it in the bottom 4% of all configurations. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's limited capabilities, as the CPU itself is a high performer in its own right. The Core Ultra 5 235's average benchmark score of 46062 puts it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% faster), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% slower), and AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% faster). This indicates the processor is well-equipped for demanding workloads, but its potential is largely unrealized in this pairing.

The GTX 1650, by contrast, sits at the 40th percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 7472. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A310, is 1% faster, while the AMD Radeon HD 8850M is 0.3% slower. The GPU's low ranking relative to the CPU creates a situation where the overall combo rank is dragged down significantly. In Fivem's multiplayer environments, which can be CPU-intensive due to many connected players and scripted events, the Core Ultra 5 235 has ample headroom, but the GTX 1650 cannot translate that headroom into higher frame rates. The combo rank of 2887 out of 3005 suggests that most other pairings tested provide a better overall experience in this game, likely because they pair more balanced components or stronger GPUs with comparable CPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This configuration delivers an average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. The 60 FPS average meets the standard for smooth gameplay, and while the minimum dips below 60, it remains above 50 FPS, which is generally acceptable for a multiplayer title like Fivem. The Low preset at 1080p offers higher performance at 76 FPS average, but the visual quality reduction may be significant for players who value graphical fidelity. The Medium preset appears to strike the best balance, as the data shows a 28 FPS improvement over High (60 vs 48) while still maintaining a playable frame rate.

At 1440p, the Medium preset produces 40 FPS average with a 34 FPS minimum, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced multiplayer action. The High preset at 1440p drops to 32 FPS average, and Low yields 50 FPS, but the latter sacrifices substantial visual quality. For 4K, no settings are recommended, as even Low produces only 28 FPS average, which falls below the threshold for responsive gameplay. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it produces 37 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K — all of which are below what the data suggests is necessary for a smooth experience. Players seeking the best experience should prioritize 1080p Medium, with 1080p Low as a fallback for higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows a clear progression across settings. Low settings deliver the highest performance with an average of 76 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. High settings further reduce the average to 48 FPS, and Ultra settings drop it to 37 FPS. The 39 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates that the GPU has some headroom at this resolution, but the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings produce 50 FPS average, Medium produces 40 FPS (minimum 34, maximum 45), High produces 32 FPS, and Ultra produces 25 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 25 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more saturated as resolution increases. The Medium preset's minimum of 34 FPS is particularly notable, as it shows that even moderate settings can cause frame drops below 35 FPS at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings yield 28 FPS average, Medium yields 22 FPS (minimum 19, maximum 25), High yields 18 FPS, and Ultra yields 14 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra narrows further to 14 FPS, reinforcing that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K. The Medium preset's minimum of 19 FPS is only slightly below its average, suggesting that the GPU is consistently outputting these low frame rates rather than experiencing occasional drops. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, and the pattern shows that minimum FPS scales proportionally with resolution, confirming the GPU-bound nature of this configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm TSMC process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's benchmark results are strong: it scores 14,769 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,085 in single-core, along with 37,816 in Passmark multithread and 4,516 in Passmark single-thread. These scores place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,062. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, are within 0.1% of its performance, indicating that this is a competitive mid-range processor.

In Fivem, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and the many scripts and entities that are characteristic of multiplayer servers. The Core Ultra 5 235's 14 cores and 5.00 GHz boost clock provide substantial headroom for these tasks, and its 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data-heavy workloads. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 76 FPS, but this is likely near the GPU's limit rather than the CPU's. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see frame rates plateau across different settings at the same resolution, but the data shows a clear drop from Low to Ultra at every resolution, which is characteristic of GPU saturation. The CPU's high percentile ranking and benchmark scores suggest it could support higher frame rates if paired with a more capable GPU, but with the GTX 1650, its performance is largely underutilized.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 53.28 GPixel/s. These specifications place it in the 40th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 7,472. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A310, which is 1% faster, and the AMD Radeon HD 8850M, which is 0.3% slower, indicating that the GTX 1650 sits at the low end of discrete GPU performance.

In Fivem, the GPU is responsible for rendering the game world, including textures, lighting, and post-processing effects. The measured FPS data shows that the GTX 1650's 4 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface are significant limitations, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 60 FPS, but increasing to High or Ultra causes frame rates to drop to 48 and 37 FPS respectively. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is unable to maintain playable frame rates under most settings, with the best result being 50 FPS at 1440p Low. The GPU's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors suggest it is designed for low-power systems, but this also limits its performance ceiling. The data indicates that the GTX 1650 is the primary bottleneck in this pairing, as the CPU's high benchmark scores are not reflected in the frame rates. The GPU's 4 GB VRAM is likely insufficient for high-resolution textures in Fivem, and its 128.1 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the demands of 4K rendering, as evidenced by the dramatic frame rate drops at higher resolutions.