Fortnite

Fortnite with an Intel Core i7-14700KF and Intel Arc B390 is a pairing that produces a very specific set of trade-offs. The CPU is a top-tier desktop part with 20 cores and a 5.60 GHz boost clock, while the GPU is an integrated graphics solution with a 300 MHz base and 2500 MHz boost clock. The benchmark data for this combo shows a system that is heavily limited by its graphics processor in nearly every scenario, making it a viable option only for low-detail, lower-resolution play. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, examines the role of each component, and contextualizes the combo’s overall ranking.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and dramatic scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 115 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that average to 73 FPS, a reduction of 42 frames. At 4K Low, the average falls to 39 FPS. This steep decline indicates that the rendering workload is scaling almost directly with pixel count, which is the classic signature of a system that is bound by the graphics processor’s fill rate and shading power. The Intel Arc B390 has a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s; these are modest figures that get saturated quickly as resolution climbs.

The pattern persists across all settings. With High settings, the average FPS goes from 63 at 1080p to 40 at 1440p, then to 21 at 4K. That is a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K for High, and the Low preset shows a similar 66% drop (115 to 39). The consistency of this scaling, regardless of the graphics preset, strongly suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. If the Core i7-14700KF were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a smaller FPS difference between 1440p and 4K, because the CPU’s workload (draw calls, physics, game logic) remains relatively constant while the GPU’s workload rises sharply. Instead, every step up in resolution produces a roughly proportional hit to frame rate, which points directly at the Arc B390’s limited compute and memory bandwidth as the primary constraint.

The Medium preset at 1440p and 4K provides the only min/max FPS data in the pack. At 1440p Medium, the average is 51 FPS with a min of 44 and max of 59. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 27 FPS with a min of 23 and max of 31. The narrow range between min and max (about 8 frames in both cases) indicates that frame times are relatively stable even under load, but the overall performance level is low. This stability is a small positive, but it does not compensate for the fact that 4K Medium is only playable at 27 FPS average, which is below the threshold for smooth action in a Battle Royale title. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo, regardless of settings. Even Low at 4K, which yields 39 FPS, will feel stuttery in fast-paced combat. The only realistic path to playable frame rates is to stay at 1080p, where even High settings produce a 63 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend entirely on the target resolution and the user’s tolerance for visual quality versus frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the best measured performance at 115 FPS average. This is the only settings/resolution combination in the entire pack that reaches a triple-digit average, making it the clear choice for competitive play or for users who prioritize smoothness above all else. The High preset at 1080p still manages 63 FPS, which is playable for casual matches, but it is a 45% reduction in average FPS compared to Low. The Medium preset sits in between at 81 FPS, offering a reasonable middle ground if the visual upgrade from Low to Medium is worth a 34 FPS drop.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. Low settings produce a 73 FPS average, which is acceptable for less demanding play, but Medium drops to 51 FPS and High to 40 FPS. For a game like Fortnite, where quick reactions matter, 51 FPS is borderline and 40 FPS will likely feel sluggish. The Ultra preset at 1440p is a non-starter at 26 FPS average. The data indicates that 1440p is only viable with Low settings, and even then, the 73 FPS average leaves little headroom for busy scenes with many players or build fights.

At 3840x2160, no setting is truly playable. Low yields 39 FPS, Medium 27 FPS, High 21 FPS, and Ultra 14 FPS. These numbers are all below the minimum threshold for a responsive experience in a fast-paced shooter. The recommendation is clear: if the user is stuck with this combo, they should run the game at 1080p with Low settings. This is the only configuration that provides a consistently high frame rate. For users who insist on higher visual fidelity, the High preset at 1080p is the best compromise, but they must accept that the average FPS will hover near 60, which can dip in intense moments. The Ultra preset is effectively a slide show at any resolution and should be avoided entirely.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant constraint in this pairing. Its specifications paint a picture of a low-power integrated GPU: a 3 nm process node, 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs. The boost clock is 2500 MHz, but the base clock is just 300 MHz, and the memory is listed as "System Shared" with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This means the GPU has no dedicated VRAM and relies on the system’s main memory, which introduces latency and bandwidth limitations that a discrete GPU would not face. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark score for this GPU is 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, according to the data, are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (scoring 1463, a 1.3% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (scoring 1460, a 1.5% delta). These are ancient, entry-level mobile parts, which underscores how far behind modern desktop GPUs the Arc B390 sits.

The measured FPS data confirms this. Even at 1080p Low, the combo only reaches 115 FPS, a figure that many discrete GPUs would exceed by a wide margin. The GPU’s 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply insufficient for the demands of Fortnite at higher detail levels. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p (115 to 41 FPS) is a 64% reduction, which shows that the GPU’s shading units and ROPs are quickly overwhelmed by the additional lighting, shadows, and post-processing effects. The Arc B390’s 12 ray tracing cores are present, but they are irrelevant here because enabling any RT feature would likely tank performance below playable levels. The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 are modern APIs, but they cannot compensate for the raw hardware limitations.

The fact that this GPU has a 9th percentile ranking versus all GPUs is the key takeaway. It is not a part designed for gaming at high refresh rates; it is an integrated solution meant for basic graphics tasks. In Fortnite, it performs at a level comparable to a decade-old discrete GPU, as evidenced by its rivals list. Users should not expect to push this GPU beyond Low or Medium settings at 1080p, and even then, they will see frame rates that are far below what a dedicated gaming GPU would deliver. The system’s memory being shared with the CPU also means that any increase in resolution or settings will increase memory pressure, potentially causing stutters on top of the already low FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s overall ranking in Fortnite is poor. The data shows a combo rank of 2417 out of 2740 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems. This is a direct consequence of the GPU’s extreme weakness relative to the CPU. The Core i7-14700KF is a high-end processor that ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70163. Its nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (average score 69996, a 0.2% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (average score 69515, a 0.9% delta). This CPU is clearly capable of feeding a much faster GPU, but it is paired with a graphics solution that scores in the 9th percentile. The result is a massive bottleneck that drags the entire combo down to a rank of 2417.

To put this in perspective, the CPU alone is among the best available, but the GPU is near the bottom of the barrel. The combo rank of 2417 out of 2740 suggests that the vast majority of other tested systems, even those with older or lower-end CPUs, outperform this pairing because they have a more balanced GPU. The data implies that any user with this CPU would see a dramatic improvement in Fortnite performance by simply swapping the integrated GPU for any discrete graphics card, even a modest one. The ranking is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability; it is a measure of how poorly this specific pairing works for a demanding game like Fortnite.

The delta between the CPU’s percentile (94) and the GPU’s percentile (9) is the story. This is a textbook case of an unbalanced build. The combo rank of 2417 out of 2740 means that roughly 88% of tested combos perform better in Fortnite. For context, the GPU’s nearest rivals (GT 520MX, 800M, GT 625 OEM, GT 710) are all parts that were considered low-end even at their release, and the Arc B390 is effectively in that same performance class. The ranking confirms that this is not a system for any serious Fortnite play, and it highlights the importance of a balanced component selection.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is the undisputed strong point of this combo. It has 20 cores and 28 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It is built on Intel’s 10 nm process with a 125 W TDP. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a Raptor Lake Refresh part, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The CPU’s benchmark scores are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and a single-core score of 6235. In PassMark multithread tests, it scores 52425, and its single-thread score is 4480. These numbers place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market.

However, in Fortnite, the CPU’s role is largely underutilized because the GPU is the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the CPU is capable of driving far more than 115 FPS, but the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to let the CPU stretch its legs. The data shows that the FPS does not improve dramatically when lowering settings from High to Low at 1080p (63 to 115 FPS), but this improvement is entirely due to the GPU having less work to do, not because the CPU is suddenly faster. The CPU is likely sitting at a low utilization rate in most scenes, waiting for the GPU to finish its work. The high core count and fast clocks are wasted in this configuration.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.2% faster on average) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.9% slower). These are all excellent CPUs, but in this combo, their performance differences would be indistinguishable in Fortnite because the GPU caps the frame rate so low. The CPU’s 33 MB of L3 cache and 28 threads are more than sufficient for a game like Fortnite, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The CPU’s single-core performance, as evidenced by its 6235 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is also excellent, but it cannot translate into high FPS when the GPU can only produce 21 FPS at 4K High. The conclusion is that the CPU is overkill for this GPU, and any user with this CPU should consider it a future-proofing investment for when they upgrade the graphics card, rather than a component that contributes meaningfully to current Fortnite performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 115 FPS. There are no min or max values recorded for Low. The Medium preset averages 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. The High preset averages 63 FPS, with no min or max values. The Ultra preset averages 41 FPS, also without min or max data. This shows a clear progression: each step up in settings costs roughly 20-30% of the average FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 34 FPS drop, from Medium to High is an 18 FPS drop, and from High to Ultra is a 22 FPS drop.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 73 FPS. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 59. The High preset averages 40 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is severe: Low drops from 115 to 73 (a 37% reduction), Medium drops from 81 to 51 (a 37% reduction), High drops from 63 to 40 (a 37% reduction), and Ultra drops from 41 to 26 (a 37% reduction). This consistent 37% drop across all settings reinforces the notion that the GPU is purely pixel-bound.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 39 FPS. The Medium preset averages 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 and a maximum of 31. The High preset averages 21 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 14 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the drops are: Low from 73 to 39 (a 47% reduction), Medium from 51 to 27 (a 47% reduction), High from 40 to 21 (a 48% reduction), and Ultra from 26 to 14 (a 46% reduction). The percentage loss increases slightly at 4K, which is expected because the GPU is running out of raw throughput.

Looking at the best-case scenario, 1080p Low at 115 FPS is the only configuration that approaches a high-refresh experience. The worst-case is 4K Ultra at 14 FPS, which is unplayable. The Medium preset at 1080p (81 FPS) is the highest average that still offers a consistent frame time range (69-93 FPS), but it is still below the 144 FPS that many gamers target. The data shows that this combo is fundamentally limited to 1080p gaming, and even then, only at Low or Medium settings if the user wants a stable frame rate. At 1440p, only Low settings are viable, and at 4K, none of the settings produce acceptable performance. The min/max data points for Medium at 1440p and 4K show that the frame times are consistent (a range of 8 frames in both cases), which is a minor positive, but it does not make up for the low averages. The overall picture is that this combo is not suited for Fortnite unless the user is willing to play at 1080p Low, and even then, they will be leaving a massive amount of CPU performance on the table.