Fortnite

Fortnite with an Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end pairing that delivers a wide performance envelope, from 430 FPS at 1080p Low to 52 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data shows a system that is exceptionally capable at lower resolutions and settings, but which begins to strain under the heaviest 4K loads, where the GPU becomes the decisive factor. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to explain exactly how resolution, settings, and component roles interact for this specific combo.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern: performance scales inversely with resolution, but the rate of decline is not uniform. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 430 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 273 FPS, a 36.5% reduction. At 4K Low, the average is 144 FPS, which is a 47.2% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at Low settings indicates that the system is moving from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern changes significantly when looking at High settings. At 1080p High, the average is 235 FPS. At 1440p High, it falls to 149 FPS, a 36.6% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 79 FPS, which is a 47.0% drop from the 1440p figure. The consistency of the percentage drops between Low and High settings across resolution steps suggests that the workload scales similarly with pixel count, but the absolute frame rates are much lower at High settings due to increased GPU load.

The most telling data point for bottleneck analysis comes from the Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 155 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 99 FPS, a 36.1% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average plunges to 52 FPS, a 47.5% drop from 1440p. The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS is the lowest in the entire dataset, showing that this setting combination places a massive load on the GPU. The fact that the 4K Ultra score (52 FPS) is less than half of the 1080p Ultra score (155 FPS) indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at that resolution, as the CPU headroom is being left unused.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of frame rates at higher resolutions and settings in Fortnite. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game’s textures and effects at all tested settings. The GPU’s boost clock of 2550 MHz, combined with its 10240 shading units, gives it the raw compute power to handle the game’s rendering demands.

The GPU’s role becomes more pronounced as the settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 52 FPS, which is a 63.8% drop from the 4K Low result of 144 FPS. This massive performance penalty from Low to Ultra at the same resolution highlights how much work the GPU is doing. The GPU’s performance percentile of 86 and its average benchmark score of 54209 place it near the top of the database, but the data shows it is still not enough for 4K Ultra at high refresh rates.

The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, has an average score of 54247, which is only 0.1% higher. This indicates that the SUPER variant offers virtually identical average performance in synthetic benchmarks. However, in Fortnite, the measured data shows the 4080 SUPER is the one being tested, and its results are what matter. The GPU’s 16 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any resolution tested, as even the 4K Ultra setting does not show signs of VRAM overflow, such as stuttering or severe frame drops, based on the available min FPS data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. With 16 cores and 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, it has ample processing power. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116. Its average benchmark score of 46881 puts it at the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU’s influence is clear at 1080p Low, where the combo hits 430 FPS. This high frame rate is only possible if the CPU can feed the GPU quickly enough. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10717 and the single-thread score of 1136 show strong per-core performance, which is critical for a game like Fortnite that relies heavily on a few main threads. The CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, has an average score of 46971, which is 0.2% lower, indicating the i7-13700K is essentially tied with it in general compute.

However, the CPU’s role diminishes as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 52 FPS, which is far below what the CPU is capable of producing. The data suggests that the i7-13700K is not the bottleneck at 4K, as the GPU is fully saturated. The CPU’s high clock speed and core count ensure that it does not hold back the GPU at any resolution, but the GPU simply cannot keep up with the demands of 4K Ultra, leaving the CPU with headroom to spare.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of 3700 tested combos, this pairing of the i7-13700K and RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 272nd for Fortnite. This puts it in the top 7.4% of all tested combinations, which is a strong result. The rank reflects the overall balance of CPU and GPU power for this specific game.

The rank of 272 is notable because it is lower than what the individual component percentiles might suggest. The CPU is at the 89th percentile, and the GPU is at the 86th percentile, but the combo rank is at the 92.6th percentile (100 - 7.4). This discrepancy suggests that while both components are strong, the pairing may not be perfectly optimized for Fortnite’s specific workload, or that there are many other combos in the database that are even more powerful.

The data implies that this combo is better suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p than for 4K gaming. At 1080p Medium, it achieves 303 FPS, which is well above the 240 Hz refresh rate of many high-end monitors. At 1440p High, it achieves 149 FPS, which is suitable for 144 Hz displays. The 4K results, ranging from 144 FPS at Low to 52 FPS at Ultra, show that the combo can handle 4K, but not at the highest settings with high refresh rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for high refresh rate gaming?

A: Based on the data, 1080p Low provides 430 FPS, and 1080p Medium provides 303 FPS, both of which are ideal for 240 Hz or higher monitors. For 1440p, High settings yield 149 FPS, which is good for 144 Hz displays.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, it can. At 4K Low, it achieves 144 FPS, and at 4K High, it achieves 79 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 52, which may not be smooth enough for fast-paced gameplay.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the average FPS goes from 430 at Low to 155 at Ultra. This is a 64.0% reduction in frame rate, showing that Ultra settings place a significantly higher load on the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K Ultra. The CPU is capable of higher frame rates, as seen at lower resolutions, but the GPU only manages 52 FPS at this setting, suggesting it is fully saturated.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4080 non-SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080’s score of 54247. This indicates they perform nearly identically in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 430, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data presents the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination tested.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 430 FPS
• Medium: 303 FPS (min 257, max 348)
• High: 235 FPS
• Ultra: 155 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 273 FPS
• Medium: 193 FPS (min 164, max 221)
• High: 149 FPS
• Ultra: 99 FPS

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 144 FPS
• Medium: 102 FPS (min 86, max 117)
• High: 79 FPS
• Ultra: 52 FPS

The data shows a clear progression: at every resolution, lowering the settings from Ultra to Low significantly increases the average FPS. The largest absolute jump is at 1080p, where moving from Ultra (155 FPS) to Low (430 FPS) adds 275 FPS. At 4K, the jump from Ultra (52 FPS) to Low (144 FPS) adds 92 FPS. The min FPS data, available for Medium settings, shows that the frame time consistency is good, with the 4K Medium min of 86 FPS being only 15.7% below the average of 102 FPS. This indicates a stable experience without major stutters.