Fortnite

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a profoundly GPU-limited experience in Fortnite, a Battle Royale title that scales predictably with resolution and settings. The measured data shows a system where the processor’s substantial cache and core configuration are largely held back by an integrated-class graphics solution, resulting in playable frame rates only at the lowest settings and 1080p resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a graphics pipeline that saturates quickly as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 104 FPS at 1920x1080 to 66 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 38 FPS, and then falls further to 35 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 66% loss from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the Arc B370’s rendering throughput is the dominant constraint even at the lowest visual fidelity. The scaling pattern is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 31 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 38 FPS, suggesting that memory bandwidth or pixel fill rate becomes increasingly strained as resolution approaches 4K.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds but with lower absolute numbers. The average frame rate goes from 73 FPS at 1080p to 46 FPS at 1440p, then to 25 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 66%, mirroring the Low setting behavior. High settings show a slightly different pattern: 57 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 21 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 17 FPS, indicating that the GPU is already struggling so much at high detail that additional resolution has diminishing absolute impact, though the relative losses remain severe. Ultra settings are the worst case, with 37 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 13 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable, and even 1080p Ultra falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

The data clearly shows that this combo is not resolution-flexible. The Arc B370, with its 25 W TDP and system-shared memory, simply lacks the raw throughput to maintain playable frame rates beyond 1080p Low or Medium. The scaling pattern suggests that the GPU is the limiting component in every scenario; the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are never the bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates drop proportionally with resolution increases rather than plateauing due to processor limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 5 7500X3D and Arc B370 combination ranks 2517 out of 2740 tested combos in Fortnite, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This is a poor result, driven almost entirely by the GPU’s low percentile standing. The Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, ATI Radeon HD 5770, AMD Radeon HD 7650M, and AMD FirePro M2000, with scores of 1186, 1190, 1192, and 1168 respectively. These deltas are tiny — the Arc B370 is within 1.4% of all four rivals — placing it in the company of decade-old discrete graphics parts and low-end mobile GPUs.

In contrast, the CPU is a strong performer. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D ranks at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44573. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, Intel Core i9-13950HX, AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and Intel Core i5-14600, with deltas of 0.2%, 0.5%, 0.6%, and -0.7% respectively. This means the processor is statistically tied with those parts, all of which are high-end mobile or desktop chips. The massive gap between the CPU’s 89th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking explains the combo’s overall poor position in Fortnite. The system is severely imbalanced, with the processor capable of far more than the graphics solution can deliver.

The rank of 2517 out of 2740 indicates that a large majority of other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in this game. This is not a surprise given the GPU’s performance class, but it does highlight that the 7500X3D’s capabilities are largely wasted in this configuration. Any meaningful upgrade to the graphics card would likely catapult this combo much higher in the rankings, as the CPU has plenty of headroom.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. Built on Intel’s 3 nm process with the Xe3-LPG architecture and Panther Lake chip, it operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. These specifications are modest for a modern GPU, and the 25 W TDP confirms its integrated-class positioning.

Critically, the memory configuration is listed as “System Shared” for size, type, bus width, and bandwidth is “System Dependent.” This means the GPU relies on the system’s DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, which is a significant disadvantage for a game like Fortnite that benefits from fast, dedicated graphics memory. The lack of dedicated VRAM likely contributes to the steep performance drop at higher resolutions and settings, as the shared memory bus becomes a bottleneck.

The GPU’s benchmark results are dismal. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy parts from more than a decade ago. The measured Fortnite frame rates confirm this: even at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 104, which is playable but far from high refresh rate territory. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 73 FPS, and at 1080p High it falls to 57 FPS. These numbers are consistent with a GPU that is roughly equivalent to an entry-level discrete card from 2010, based on the rival scores.

The boost clock of 2400 MHz is reasonably high, but the low shading unit count and shared memory architecture limit real-world performance. The 10 ray tracing cores are present, but Fortnite’s ray tracing features would be impractical at these frame rates; the data shows no RT-specific measurements, and the standard rendering performance is already too low for smooth gameplay at high settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 104 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that exceeds 100 FPS. Medium settings drop to 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. High settings average 57 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 37 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 31 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 16 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 20 FPS. This suggests that the GPU has diminishing returns as settings increase, but the absolute numbers are all below what most competitive players would consider ideal for a fast-paced Battle Royale.

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly. Low settings average 66 FPS, which is a 38 FPS loss from 1080p. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra settings average 24 FPS. The 1440p results are marginal at best; only Low settings approach playable frame rates, and even then, the 66 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes with many players or build structures.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. Low settings average 35 FPS, Medium averages 25 FPS with a minimum of 21 FPS and maximum of 28 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. None of these are acceptable for a competitive shooter, and even casual play would be compromised by the low frame rates. The 4K Medium result, with its 21 FPS minimum, indicates that the system can dip below 20 FPS in busy scenarios.

The measured rows show a consistent pattern: each step up in resolution costs roughly 30-40% of the frame rate, and each step up in settings costs a similar amount. The minimum FPS data, available only for Medium settings, shows that the system maintains relatively stable frame times at that preset, but the averages are too low for smooth gameplay at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Raphael codename and Zen 4 architecture, built on TSMC’s 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache is the key feature of the X3D branding, designed to improve gaming performance by reducing memory latency.

The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong. It achieves a single-thread score of 3494 and a multithread score of 25047 in PassMark tests, with an average benchmark score of 44573. Its percentile rank of 89 among all CPUs places it well above average. The nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, Intel Core i9-13950HX, AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and Intel Core i5-14600, all of which have nearly identical average scores. This indicates that the 7500X3D is a high-end performer that can handle any modern game’s CPU demands.

However, in this Fortnite configuration, the CPU is severely underutilized. The measured frame rates are almost entirely dictated by the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns. At 1080p Low, the system hits 104 FPS, which is likely near the GPU’s maximum output for that setting; the CPU could theoretically push much higher frame rates if paired with a faster graphics card. The 96 MB L3 cache is beneficial for game data caching, but it cannot compensate for the GPU’s lack of pixel throughput.

The CPU’s memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is more than adequate for this GPU. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes is also future-proof, but the Arc B370 is an IGP with no dedicated bus interface, so it shares system memory. The processor’s integrated Radeon Graphics are present, but the system uses the discrete Arc B370 for rendering, as indicated by the measured data. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking versus the GPU’s 5th percentile creates a massive bottleneck in the other direction — the CPU is waiting for the GPU to finish rendering at every frame.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo in Fortnite is at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that achieves an average frame rate above 100 FPS, hitting 104 FPS. This provides a smooth, responsive experience suitable for competitive play, though it lacks visual fidelity. The 1080p Medium preset averages 73 FPS, which is still playable and offers better visuals, but the minimum FPS of 62 suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable in fast-paced combat.

For 2560x1440, Low settings are the only viable option, with an average of 66 FPS. This is marginally playable, but the frame rate is not high enough for competitive advantage. The 1440p Medium preset, at 46 FPS, is below the threshold for smooth gameplay and should be avoided. At 3840x2160, no settings are recommended for actual play; even Low averages only 35 FPS, which is too low for a Battle Royale where quick reactions are essential.

The Ultra preset is never recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it averages 37 FPS; at 1440p, 24 FPS; and at 4K, 13 FPS. These are all well below playable thresholds. The High preset is also marginal, with 57 FPS at 1080p being the only remotely acceptable result, but the visual improvement over Medium is not worth the 16 FPS loss.

In summary, the best experience is 1080p Low, which balances frame rate and responsiveness. For users willing to accept lower FPS for better visuals, 1080p Medium is a compromise, but the data suggests that the GPU’s limitations make anything above Low at 1440p or any setting at 4K impractical for this game. The CPU is not the limiting factor in any of these scenarios; all frame rate restrictions come from the Arc B370.