Fortnite

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B370 in Fortnite produces a combination that is heavily constrained by the graphics processor. The data shows this pairing ranks 2517 out of 2740 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom tier of systems. The CPU is a high-end desktop part with 24 cores, 32 threads, and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, while the GPU is a low-power integrated solution with a 25 W TDP and 1280 shading units. This mismatch is immediately visible in the measured frame rates, which struggle to reach playable levels at higher settings. The benchmark results indicate that the Arc B370 is the limiting component in nearly every scenario, with the i9-14900K’s considerable processing power unable to compensate for the GPU’s throughput limitations. The following analysis breaks down how this specific combination behaves across resolutions and settings, using the exact measured data to explain the performance characteristics.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor built on Intel’s Raptor Lake architecture, specifically the Raptor Lake Refresh generation. It operates at a base clock of 3.20 GHz and can boost up to 6.00 GHz, which is among the highest single-core frequencies available in the tested database. The CPU features an 80 KB L1 cache per core, a 2 MB L2 cache per core, and a shared 36 MB L3 cache. Its benchmark scores reflect its position as a top-tier desktop processor: it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and a single-core score of 2262.5, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 21697 and a single-core score of 2655. The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs sits at 95, meaning it outperforms 95% of all processors in the database.

In Fortnite, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls, but the measured frame rates show that the i9-14900K is not the bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 104 FPS on average, which is the highest measured result across all settings and resolutions. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach triple-digit frame rates, but the GPU’s rendering capacity caps the output. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by a PassMark single-thread score of 4697, is relevant for Fortnite’s engine, which typically relies on a few main threads for frame rendering. However, the data shows that the GPU’s 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply too low to translate the CPU’s capabilities into high frame rates at more demanding settings.

The i9-14900K’s nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i9-14900KF with an average score of 79371 and a deltaPct of -0.3%, meaning the 14900K is 0.3% behind that chip. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574, which is 0.6% ahead of the 14900K, while the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, putting it 1.2% ahead. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, which is 1.7% behind the 14900K. These small deltas indicate that the CPU is competitive with its immediate peers, but none of these differences matter in Fortnite when the GPU is this weak. The CPU’s 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory are characteristics that would matter more in a balanced system, but here they have no observable effect on the measured FPS.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides four settings presets for each resolution: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. The only scenario where the system approaches a fluid experience is at 1080p Low, where it reaches an average of 104 FPS. This is the clear recommendation for any user prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 73 FPS, which is still playable for most users, but the 31 FPS loss from Low to Medium is substantial. The High preset at 1080p yields 57 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play, while Ultra drops to 37 FPS, which feels sluggish for a fast-paced battle royale.

At 1440p, the situation worsens significantly. Low settings produce 66 FPS on average, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 46 FPS, and High falls to 36 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is nearly unplayable at 24 FPS. For 4K, the data shows that even Low settings only reach 35 FPS, and Medium drops to 25 FPS, with High at 19 FPS and Ultra at 13 FPS. The pattern is consistent: the Arc B370 cannot handle higher settings at any resolution, and the only viable path to smooth gameplay is to use Low settings and accept lower resolutions.

The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p Low, where the system delivers 104 FPS. This is the only setting where the frame rate exceeds the typical 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin. At 1440p Low, 66 FPS is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The data suggests that users should avoid Medium and above settings entirely, as the performance penalties are steep and the visual improvements are unlikely to compensate for the frame rate losses. The Medium preset at 1080p, for instance, offers 73 FPS but with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS, while Low has no reported minimum or maximum, indicating a steadier frame delivery. For competitive Fortnite, Low settings are the standard choice, and this system aligns with that expectation only at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling behavior reveals the GPU-bound nature of this system. Starting at 1080p Low with 104 FPS, moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 66 FPS, a reduction of 38 FPS or roughly 36.5%. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls further to 35 FPS, which is a 66.3% drop from the 1080p result. For Medium settings, the progression is 73 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. High settings show 57 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 37 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 13 FPS at 4K.

These drops are consistent with a GPU that is limited by its fill rate and compute throughput. The Arc B370 has a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, which are modest figures for modern games. As resolution increases, the number of pixels to render grows quadratically, and the GPU’s ability to keep up diminishes rapidly. The fact that the i9-14900K’s CPU performance remains constant across these resolutions — with no measurable bottleneck at 1080p — confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect similar frame rates across resolutions, but the data shows a clear inverse relationship between resolution and FPS.

The 4K results are particularly telling. Even at Low settings, the system only manages 35 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. At Ultra, it drops to 13 FPS, which is essentially a slideshow. This indicates that the Arc B370’s 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and its system-shared memory bandwidth are insufficient for 4K gaming in Fortnite. The GPU’s boost clock of 2400 MHz and base clock of 300 MHz do not help overcome the fundamental lack of processing power. The data strongly suggests that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo, and even 1440p requires Low settings to achieve acceptable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2517 out of 2740 tested combos in Fortnite. This places it in the 8th percentile of all combinations, meaning that 91.8% of tested systems perform better in this game. The rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s low performance percentile, which stands at 5, meaning it outperforms only 5% of all GPUs in the database. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, a very low figure that places it near the bottom of the rankings.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with an average score of 1186 and a deltaPct of -0.2%, meaning the Arc B370 is 0.2% behind that chip. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, which is 0.5% ahead of the Arc B370, while the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, putting it 0.7% ahead. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, which is 1.4% behind the Arc B370. These deltas are tiny, indicating that the Arc B370 is performance-equivalent to a decade-old discrete GPU. This explains why the combo ranks so low in Fortnite, a game that has evolved graphically since its 2017 release.

The CPU’s own ranking does not help the combo’s position. The i9-14900K’s percentile of 95 puts it in the top 5% of CPUs, but the GPU’s percentile of 5 drags the overall combo down. In contrast, a combo with a similarly strong CPU but a mid-range GPU would rank much higher. The data shows that Fortnite is sensitive to GPU performance, and the Arc B370’s integrated nature, with a 25 W TDP and system-shared memory, is a severe handicap. The combo rank of 2517 out of 2740 is a clear verdict: this pairing is not suitable for a game like Fortnite beyond the lowest settings and resolutions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process. It has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its base clock is 300 MHz, and its boost clock is 2400 MHz. The GPU’s memory is system-shared, meaning it uses the host system’s RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth that is system-dependent. This is a critical limitation for Fortnite, which benefits from dedicated video memory for textures and frame buffering.

The GPU’s FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, and its FP16 performance is 12.29 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. These specifications are low compared to discrete GPUs, and the measured frame rates reflect this. At 1080p Low, the GPU manages 104 FPS, but this drops to 57 FPS at High settings and 37 FPS at Ultra. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is its only benchmark result, and it places the GPU in the 5th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s low power envelope of 25 W TDP and its IGP slot width mean it is designed for portable devices, not desktop gaming. The display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, further confirming its mobile-oriented design. In Fortnite, the GPU’s system-shared memory creates a bottleneck when textures are loaded, especially at higher settings. The data shows that Ultra settings at 4K produce only 13 FPS, which is a stark illustration of the GPU’s inability to handle high-resolution rendering. The boost clock of 2400 MHz is decent for an integrated part, but the low shading unit count and memory bandwidth cap its real-world performance.

The GPU’s nearest rivals are all older discrete cards, which underscores its weak standing. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, a 2010-era mobile GPU, performs nearly identically, with a deltaPct of -0.2%. This comparison is damning for the Arc B370, as it shows that eight years of architectural improvements have not translated into meaningful performance gains for this particular SKU. In Fortnite, the GPU’s role is to render frames, and the data shows it can only do so at acceptable rates when the graphics load is minimized.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1080p, the system achieves 104 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. Medium settings at 1080p produce 73 FPS on average, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. High settings yield 57 FPS on average, and Ultra settings drop to 37 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 31 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 16 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 20 FPS. This indicates that the GPU’s performance degrades non-linearly as settings increase, with the largest penalty coming from the Low to Medium transition.

At 1440p, the frame rates are significantly lower. Low settings produce 66 FPS on average, which is a 36.5% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings at 1440p 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 gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 20 FPS, which is smaller than the 31 FPS gap at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is already approaching its limits at this resolution. The minimum FPS of 39 FPS at 1440p Medium indicates that frame time spikes can occur, which would be noticeable during intense gameplay.

At 4K, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 35 FPS on average, which is a 66.3% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings at 4K average 25 FPS, with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS. High settings average 19 FPS, and Ultra settings average 13 FPS. The 4K Medium results show a narrow range of 21 to 28 FPS, indicating that the GPU is consistently bottlenecked. The progression from 1080p to 4K shows that the GPU is the sole limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance is unchanged across resolutions. The data confirms that this combo is only viable at 1080p Low, with 1440p Low being a marginal alternative for users who prioritize resolution over frame rate. All other settings and resolutions result in sub-60 FPS averages, with 4K being effectively unplayable for any competitive Fortnite gameplay.