Fortnite

Fortnite with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Intel Arc B370 presents a sharply defined performance profile, one where the integrated GPU is the decisive factor across all tested scenarios. The data shows a system that is fundamentally limited by its graphics solution, with the capable 20-core processor left largely underutilized in this Battle Royale title. Benchmark results indicate a playable experience only at the lowest settings and resolution, with a steep and predictable decline as graphical demands increase.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 104 FPS at 1080p to 66 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 38 FPS, and then further down to 35 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66% drop in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that strongly indicates the graphics subsystem is the primary bottleneck. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K alone costs 31 FPS, nearly as much as the 38 FPS lost between 1080p and 1440p, which underscores how quickly the Arc B370’s rendering capabilities are exhausted at higher pixel counts.

The Medium preset exhibits a similar trajectory. At 1080p, the average is 73 FPS, which drops to 46 FPS at 1440p and then to 25 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 21 FPS. While the absolute differences vary, the consistent downward slope confirms that resolution scaling has a profound impact on this combo. The High preset follows the same pattern, with average FPS of 57 at 1080p, 36 at 1440p, and 19 at 4K. The Ultra preset, the most demanding, yields averages of 37 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and just 13 FPS at 4K. In every preset, the 4K results are below 35 FPS, rendering the game effectively unplayable at that resolution regardless of settings.

What this scaling behavior says about the limiting component is unambiguous. A system that is CPU-bound would typically show a much smaller FPS drop when resolution increases, because the CPU workload per frame remains relatively constant while the GPU must render more pixels. Here, the drastic drops at every step indicate that the Intel Arc B370, with its 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs, is overwhelmed by the pixel throughput required at higher resolutions. The 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in Fortnite. Even at 1440p, the system only achieves a comfortable average above 60 FPS at the Low preset, which further cements the GPU as the constraining element. The processor’s potential is masked by the graphics bottleneck, a conclusion supported by the fact that the FPS drops are proportional to the increase in pixel count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. Its specifications are formidable: a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 42,216 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,960 in single-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 4464P and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, have average benchmark scores within a fraction of a percent, indicating that this is a high-performing processor in general compute tasks. However, in Fortnite, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU’s limitations.

The game’s results show that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the CPU typically has the most influence on frame rates, the system only reaches 104 FPS. This is not a low score for a modern processor, but it is far from the processor’s potential ceiling. The CPU is capable of far higher frame rates in less graphically intensive scenarios, but the Arc B370 cannot deliver the frames to match. The core count and high boost clock are largely irrelevant to the final FPS numbers because the rendering pipeline is stalled waiting for the GPU. The measured data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor; if it were, we would see similar FPS across different resolutions, as the CPU’s workload is essentially resolution-independent.

Instead, the CPU’s performance is an unused reserve. The high single-thread score of 5,960 in Cinebench R23 suggests the processor can handle the game’s primary game thread with ease, but the frame rate is capped by the GPU. The 20 cores and 20 threads are overkill for a game like Fortnite, which typically scales across a handful of cores. The processor’s 65W TDP and dual-channel memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth are more than adequate for the game’s needs. In this specific combo, the CPU is a bystander, its capabilities far exceeding what the integrated graphics can utilize. The data shows a system where the CPU is not a contributor to the low FPS; it’s a spectator to the GPU’s struggles.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured FPS data, the only viable settings for a playable experience are at the Low preset, and even then, only at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 104 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. This is the clear recommendation for any user seeking a playable experience. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 73 FPS, which is playable but with a noticeable reduction in smoothness compared to Low. The High preset at 1080p drops to 57 FPS, which is borderline for a fast-paced Battle Royale, while Ultra at 1080p falls to 37 FPS, which is too low for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only option that provides a playable frame rate, with an average of 66 FPS. Medium at 1440p drops to 46 FPS, and High to 36 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for a smooth experience. Ultra at 1440p is not viable at 24 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset is playable. The Low preset achieves only 35 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, High 19 FPS, and Ultra 13 FPS. These numbers are all far below the minimum for a fluid game.

The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally the Low preset at 1920x1080. It is the only combination that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, which is often considered the sweet spot for competitive shooters. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a slight visual upgrade but comes at a 30% performance cost, reducing the average from 104 to 73 FPS. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, Medium at 1080p might be acceptable, but it is a compromise. The data suggests that the visual quality improvements from Low to Medium are not worth the significant FPS loss, given the hardware’s limitations. The Ultra preset is a non-starter at any resolution, as its lowest average is 37 FPS at 1080p. In summary, the settings recommendation is to play at Low settings with a resolution of 1920x1080 for the best balance of performance and playability.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2517 out of 2740 tested combos in Fortnite. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested, a poor showing that is directly attributable to the GPU. The combo rank is a holistic measure of the system’s gaming performance, and this position reflects the severe bottleneck imposed by the integrated graphics. The CPU’s high percentile ranking of 93rd among all CPUs is completely negated by the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking. The Arc B370 is in the bottom 5% of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals, such as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, are over a decade old, which puts the performance level into stark perspective.

The rank of 2517 out of 2740 means that 223 combos are slower, but 2516 are faster. This is not a system for gaming, and the data reinforces that. The combination’s performance is so low that it falls behind the vast majority of other hardware pairings. The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD EPYC 4464P, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, the AMD EPYC 7343, and the AMD EPYC 9124—all have similar CPU scores, but their in-game performance would be dictated by their respective GPUs. In this case, the GPU drags the entire combo down to the bottom tier. The data shows that the combo rank is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability, but rather a signal of the GPU’s unsuitability for modern gaming. A user with this CPU could achieve a much higher rank by pairing it with a discrete graphics card, but as configured, the system is severely handicapped.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU, based on the Xe3-LPG architecture and codenamed Panther Lake. It is built on a 3 nm process and features 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. Its clock speeds are a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz. The memory is system-shared, with bandwidth that is system dependent, which is a critical limitation for gaming. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s. In a single benchmark test, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are ancient parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M, which have scores within 1.4% of the Arc B370.

The GPU’s role in this combo is to be the sole bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is unable to handle Fortnite’s rendering demands at any resolution above 1080p with low settings. The low shading unit count and the shared memory bandwidth are the primary causes. The GPU’s boost clock of 2400 MHz is not enough to compensate for the lack of dedicated memory bandwidth. The system-shared memory means the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access, which introduces latency and reduces effective bandwidth. This is evident in the significant FPS drops at higher resolutions, where the memory bandwidth requirement increases exponentially. The GPU’s 6.144 TFLOPS compute is insufficient for the pixel shading and geometry processing required at 1440p and 4K.

The GPU’s performance in Fortnite is consistent with its synthetic benchmark score. The 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad places it in the bottom tier, and the in-game results reflect that. The 5th percentile ranking is a clear indicator that this is not a gaming GPU. The data shows that the GPU’s VRAM (system shared) and its low ROP count are severe limitations. The 20 ROPs are responsible for pixel output, and they are overwhelmed at higher resolutions. The GPU’s role is to limit the entire system’s performance, and it does so effectively, capping the average FPS at 104 even in the most favorable scenario. The Arc B370 is simply not designed for gaming workloads, and the Fortnite results are a direct consequence of its hardware specifications.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo is detailed across three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of performance.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: with Low settings, the average FPS is 104, with no minimum or maximum values recorded. This is the best result in the entire dataset. With Medium settings, the average FPS is 73, with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 84 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 57 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to an average of 37 FPS. There is a 67 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution, showing the massive impact of settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades: Low settings provide an average of 66 FPS. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 and a maximum of 53 FPS. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra settings average 24 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42 FPS. Notably, the Low preset at 1440p performs almost identically to the High preset at 1080p, with 66 FPS versus 57 FPS, respectively, which highlights the resolution penalty.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates: Low settings average 35 FPS. Medium settings average 25 FPS, with a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 28 FPS. High settings average 19 FPS, and Ultra settings average 13 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 22 FPS, but all values are below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a clear pattern: the average FPS scales almost linearly with the resolution’s pixel count when holding settings constant. For instance, going from 1080p to 1440p (a 1.78x increase in pixels) reduces the Low preset average from 104 to 66 FPS, a 1.58x decrease. Going from 1440p to 4K (a 2.25x increase in pixels) reduces the Low preset average from 66 to 35 FPS, a 1.89x decrease. This suggests that the GPU is consistently the limiting factor, as the FPS drops in proportion to the render load. The only preset with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values is Medium, which shows a frame time variance of 7 FPS at 1080p (62-84), 14 FPS at 1440p (39-53), and 7 FPS at 4K (21-28). This indicates that the Medium preset has some frame pacing variance but is generally stable. The data is comprehensive and leaves no doubt about the system’s capabilities: it is a 1080p-Low-settings machine for Fortnite, and nothing more.