Fortnite

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and Intel Arc B390 combination delivers a highly constrained Fortnite experience, with the measured data indicating that the Intel Arc B390 is the definitive bottleneck across all tested resolutions and settings. The CPU is a modern 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 part based on the Raphael architecture, operating on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide substantial single-thread headroom, which is typically critical for a competitive title like Fortnite. The processor’s benchmark scores reinforce this capability, showing a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22799 and a single-core score of 3218, alongside a Geekbench single-core score of 2374. These figures place the Ryzen 5 7500F in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 24964 is nearly identical to that of its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935, deltaPct 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (25005, deltaPct -0.2). For Fortnite, the CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth are more than sufficient to feed the GPU; the data shows the processor is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process node. Its clock speeds are listed with a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning the VRAM size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all system-dependent, which is a critical factor for Fortnite’s performance. The GPU’s lone benchmark result is a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This score is only marginally above its nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, deltaPct 1.3) and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, deltaPct 1.5). With a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s, the Arc B390 is limited in raw throughput. In Fortnite, this results in low frame rates even at 1080p, making the GPU the primary constraint on performance in every measured scenario.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy of settings presets for this combo, with the "Low" preset consistently providing the only playable frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 115 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches smooth competitive play. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to an average of 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS, which is still serviceable but represents a significant 30% decrease from the Low preset. The High preset at 1080p falls further to 63 FPS, while the Ultra preset collapses to 41 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 73 FPS, which is acceptable, but the Medium preset drops to 51 FPS, and the High preset to 40 FPS. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 39 FPS, making the game effectively unplayable at that resolution with any visual quality.

Based on the data, the optimal experience for this combination is the Low preset at 1920x1080, as it is the only setting that allows the game to run above the 100 FPS threshold typically associated with smooth gameplay. The 115 FPS average at 1080p Low is the standout result, providing a playable experience. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the highest quality setting that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, with the 69 FPS minimum recorded in the data. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as it produces frame rates below 45 FPS at 1080p and below 30 FPS at 1440p, making the game feel sluggish. The data suggests that the performance gap between Low and Medium is substantial, but the gap from Medium to High or Ultra is even more punishing, indicating that the GPU’s shared memory bandwidth and limited shading power are quickly overwhelmed by increased rendering demands.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2417 out of 2740 combos for Fortnite, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s performance, as the CPU’s individual percentile of 77% suggests it is capable of handling more demanding graphics hardware. The combo rank of 2417 indicates that most other tested pairings, even those with older or slower CPUs, outperform this specific configuration due to the presence of a discrete GPU. The data shows that the Arc B390’s performance is comparable to legacy mobile GPUs like the GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, which are over a decade old, highlighting the severity of the bottleneck. For a game like Fortnite, which is designed to run on a wide range of hardware, the combination’s low rank is a direct consequence of the integrated GPU’s inability to maintain high frame rates at any resolution above 1080p Low. The processor is essentially idle in most scenarios, waiting for the GPU to render each frame, which is reflected in the steep FPS drops as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in Fortnite?

A: According to the measured data, the best experience is at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which achieves an average of 115 FPS. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 100 FPS, providing the smoothest gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p is the second-best option, with an average of 81 FPS and a minimum of 69 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its closest rivals in terms of GPU score?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463) and 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460). Its closest rivals are the GT 625 OEM (1446) and GT 710 (1443), with the Arc B390 being 2.5% and 2.7% faster, respectively.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Fortnite performance?

A: The data clearly indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 7500F has a single-core Geekbench score of 2374 and sits in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, while the Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. At 1080p, the CPU can easily push 115 FPS on Low settings, but the frame rate drops drastically with higher settings, showing the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 73 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 26 FPS. This represents a 64% reduction in average frame rate when going from Low to Ultra, demonstrating the GPU’s severe limitations with increased graphical load.

Q: Can this system handle Fortnite at 4K resolution?

A: No, the measured data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages an average of 39 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 27 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 14 FPS. These frame rates are below playable thresholds for a competitive game like Fortnite.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500F compare to the Intel Core i7-11850H in CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24964, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H’s score of 24935. The two processors are effectively tied in performance, with the Ryzen 5 7500F also being 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (25005).

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 115 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p produces an average of 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS, showing some frame time variance. The High preset drops to 63 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 41 FPS, indicating a steep performance cliff as settings increase. At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 73 FPS, which is a 37% drop from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 1440p records an average of 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 59 FPS. The High preset at 1440p yields 40 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 26 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only option above 30 FPS, averaging 39 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 21 FPS, and the Ultra preset plummets to 14 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Low preset is always significantly faster than Medium, and the gap widens at higher resolutions. For example, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 34 FPS, while at 4K, the difference is 12 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth, which is system-shared, becomes increasingly saturated as resolution increases, limiting the gains from lower settings at 4K. The Medium preset at 1440p (51 FPS) is slower than the Low preset at 1080p (115 FPS), illustrating that resolution has a more significant impact than settings for this GPU. The Ultra preset is consistently below 45 FPS at all resolutions, making it an unusable option for any real gameplay scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis reveals how the GPU’s performance degrades as pixel count increases, confirming its role as the limiting component. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at the Low preset drops the average FPS from 115 to 73, a 37% reduction. Continuing to 3840x2160 at Low settings further drops the frame rate to 39 FPS, which is a 66% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient to handle the increased pixel load. At the Medium preset, the drop is even more pronounced: 81 FPS at 1080p falls to 51 FPS at 1440p (37% drop) and then to 27 FPS at 4K (67% drop from 1080p). The High preset follows a similar trajectory, with 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor because the frame rate drops are proportional to the increase in resolution, which is a hallmark of GPU limitation. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU would be the constraint regardless of pixel count. Instead, the Arc B390’s performance roughly halves when moving from 1080p to 4K at each settings level, which aligns with the four-fold increase in pixel count (1080p has approximately 2 million pixels, while 4K has approximately 8 million). The system-shared memory architecture further exacerbates this issue, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which is listed as "System Dependent." The measured FPS data shows that even at the lowest settings, 4K is not viable, and the only way to achieve a playable experience is to stay at 1080p with Low settings, where the 115 FPS average provides the headroom needed for competitive play.