Fortnite

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers a broad range of frame rates in Fortnite, scaling from a highly competitive 361 FPS at 1080p Low to a more modest 44 FPS at 4K Ultra. The measured data reveals a system where the CPU's ten cores and the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM interact differently across resolutions and presets, making the choice of settings as impactful as the hardware itself. This analysis examines the measured FPS figures, the role of each component, and how this specific pairing ranks among the 2,740 tested combinations.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 361, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo in Fortnite?

A: The lowest average FPS is 44, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset.

Q: How does the combo's rank in Fortnite compare to the total number of tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 509th out of 2,740 tested combinations, placing it within the top 20% of all tested systems for this game.

Q: What is the average FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, and what are the reported min and max FPS?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 162, with a minimum of 137 FPS and a maximum of 186 FPS.

Q: Between the 1080p and 1440p resolutions, which settings preset shows the smallest relative drop in average FPS?

A: The High preset shows the smallest relative drop, with average FPS falling from 197 at 1920x1080 to 125 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 72 FPS.

Q: Does the data include any min or max FPS values for the Low and Ultra presets?

A: No, the data only includes min and max FPS values for the Medium preset at each resolution. Low and Ultra presets have no min or max FPS reported.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, featuring 6,144 shading units, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. Its memory configuration includes 12 GB of GDDR7 VRAM on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 2325 MHz, with a boost clock of 2512 MHz. These specifications directly influence Fortnite's performance, as the game's visual demands scale with resolution and settings.

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher settings and resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 44 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 66 FPS at 4K High. This 22 FPS difference between the Ultra and High presets at 4K suggests that the Ultra preset's additional graphical effects—likely including more complex lighting, shadows, and post-processing—place a substantial load on the GPU's compute and memory subsystems.

The GPU's 12 GB of VRAM appears sufficient for Fortnite at these settings, as the data does not show catastrophic frame rate collapses that would indicate memory swapping. However, the 192-bit memory bus and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are moderate for a high-end card, which may explain why the 4K Ultra result (44 FPS) is less than half of the 4K Low result (121 FPS). The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 77 FPS, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and shading power are heavily taxed by the highest quality presets.

At lower resolutions, the GPU's role shifts. At 1080p Low, the 361 FPS average suggests the GPU is far from saturated, and the frame rate is likely limited by the CPU's ability to feed draw calls. The RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 201.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are more than adequate for Fortnite's stylized, non-photorealistic graphics at 1080p and 1440p. The data implies that players seeking maximum refresh rates should favor lower settings to let the GPU render frames quickly, while those prioritizing visual fidelity at 4K will need to accept the GPU's limitations at Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for this combo. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 361 FPS, while Medium drops to 254 FPS, High to 197 FPS, and Ultra to 130 FPS. For competitive play where high refresh rates are advantageous, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, as it provides the highest headroom above common 144 Hz and 240 Hz monitor refresh rates.

At 1440p, the Low preset still achieves 229 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh gaming. The Medium preset at 162 FPS remains viable for 144 Hz displays, but the High preset at 125 FPS is borderline for that target. The Ultra preset at 83 FPS is better suited for 60 Hz displays or for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p offers a strong balance, with a 162 FPS average and a minimum of 137 FPS, ensuring smooth performance even in demanding scenes.

At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. The Low preset at 121 FPS is the only 4K setting that approaches high-refresh territory, while Medium averages 85 FPS and High averages 66 FPS. The Ultra preset at 44 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. For a 4K display, the Low preset appears to be the best recommendation, as it provides a smooth 121 FPS average, whereas Medium and High require compromising between visual quality and frame rate. The data indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Low or Medium settings for competitive performance, or at 4K with Low settings for a high frame rate experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. The Low preset averages 361 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire measured set. Medium settings reduce the average to 254 FPS, with a minimum of 216 FPS and a maximum of 292 FPS. High settings further lower the average to 197 FPS, and Ultra settings drop it to 130 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a total decrease of 231 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of graphical presets on this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are lower across all presets. Low settings yield 229 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. Medium settings average 162 FPS, with a minimum of 137 FPS and a maximum of 186 FPS. High settings average 125 FPS, and Ultra settings average 83 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: Low falls by 132 FPS, Medium by 92 FPS, High by 72 FPS, and Ultra by 47 FPS. This pattern shows that lower settings are more sensitive to resolution changes, likely because the CPU is already near its limit at 1080p Low, and the GPU becomes more involved as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down further. Low settings average 121 FPS, Medium averages 85 FPS (with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS), High averages 66 FPS, and Ultra averages 44 FPS. The difference between the 1440p and 4K results is substantial: Low falls by 108 FPS, Medium by 77 FPS, High by 59 FPS, and Ultra by 39 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is the only measured average below 60 FPS, indicating that this setting is the most demanding for the combo.

The Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the min is 216 FPS and max is 292 FPS, producing a spread of 76 FPS. At 1440p, the min is 137 FPS and max is 186 FPS, a spread of 49 FPS. At 4K, the min is 73 FPS and max is 98 FPS, a spread of 25 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, reducing the variability that CPU-driven scenes can cause.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 361, dropping to 229 at 1440p (a 132 FPS decrease) and then to 121 at 4K (a further 108 FPS decrease). This indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is not fully utilized at 1080p, as the frame rate is likely capped by the CPU's single-thread performance and the game's draw call submission. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, which helps maintain high frame rates, but the 10-core, 10-thread configuration may still limit the upper bound in less GPU-intensive scenarios.

At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 254, falling to 162 at 1440p and 85 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is about 66.5%, which is less severe than the Low preset's 66.5% drop (from 361 to 121). This suggests that as settings increase, the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck, and the CPU has more breathing room to keep up with the rendering demands.

At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 130, dropping to 83 at 1440p and 44 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 66.2%, which is similar to the Medium preset. This consistency across Medium and Ultra presets indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at these settings, and the resolution scaling follows a predictable pattern based on pixel count. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is particularly telling, as it shows that even with the RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of compute power, Fortnite's Ultra preset at 4K requires more than this GPU can deliver for a smooth 60 FPS experience.

The limiting component analysis points to the CPU at low settings and low resolutions, where frame rates exceed 250 FPS. At 1080p Low, the 361 FPS average is likely near the CPU's maximum capable frame rate for this game. As resolution and settings increase, the GPU's workload grows, and the frame rate becomes more dependent on the GPU's pixel and texture processing capabilities. The data suggests that for this combo, the CPU is sufficient for high-refresh gaming at 1080p and 1440p, while the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, especially with higher quality presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. These specifications are relevant to Fortnite, which is known to be sensitive to CPU single-thread performance and memory latency.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 361 FPS average likely approaches the limit of what the CPU can process in terms of game logic and draw calls. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz helps maintain high frame rates, but the 10-thread configuration may not be fully utilized by Fortnite, which typically relies more on a few powerful cores rather than many threads. The CPU's percentile rank of 85 among all CPUs indicates it is a solid performer, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, with deltaPct values of 0 and -0.2 respectively, showing they perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks.

The CPU's 20 MB of L3 cache is moderate by modern standards, and Fortnite's performance can benefit from larger caches, as seen in the Ryzen 5 5500X3D's benchmark score of 37018, which is just 0.2% higher than the Ultra 5 225's 36938. The lack of a 3D V-Cache variant means the Ultra 5 225 relies on its clock speed and architecture to maintain competitive frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU is not fully saturated. However, the gap between the 1080p Low (361 FPS) and 1440p Low (229 FPS) suggests that the CPU can still push high frame rates at higher resolutions, but the GPU's workload begins to dominate.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is sufficient for Fortnite, as the game does not require excessive memory throughput. The 10 cores and 10 threads are more than enough for a Battle Royale title, which typically runs on fewer threads. The data implies that for players using this combo, the CPU will not be a bottleneck at 1440p or 4K with any settings, as the GPU's rendering demands take precedence. At 1080p with Low or Medium settings, the CPU's performance is the key factor in achieving the highest frame rates, and the Ultra 5 225 delivers results that are comparable to its nearest rivals.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 509th out of 2,740 tested combinations in Fortnite. This position places it in the 81.4th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 81% of other combos in this game. The ranking is based on measured FPS data across multiple resolutions and settings, providing a comprehensive view of the combo's capabilities.

The GPU's percentile rank of 82 among all GPUs is slightly higher than the combo's overall rank, suggesting that the RTX 5070 is a strong performer in general, but the CPU may hold it back in some scenarios. The CPU's percentile rank of 85 is actually higher than the GPU's, which indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. Instead, the combo's rank of 509 is likely influenced by the specific demands of Fortnite, which can favor certain hardware configurations.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580, AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, and AMD Radeon Pro 5300, with deltaPct values of 0.1, 0.8, and -1.2 respectively. These are professional-grade GPUs, and the RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 is within 1.2% of these rivals, indicating that synthetic benchmarks do not fully capture its gaming performance. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Core i9-12900T, have nearly identical synthetic scores, but their real-world performance in Fortnite could vary due to architectural differences.

The combo's rank of 509 out of 2,740 places it in the top 20% of all tested systems, which is a strong result for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The data shows that this combo is well-suited for Fortnite at 1080p and 1440p, where it can achieve frame rates above 125 FPS at High settings. At 4K, the combo's performance is less impressive, with only the Low preset exceeding 120 FPS, but this is expected given the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM and 192-bit memory bus. The ranking reflects a balanced system that excels at lower resolutions and settings, making it a viable choice for competitive players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity.