Fortnite

Fortnite is a battle royale title that has been live since its 2017 release, and it scales across a very wide range of hardware. The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the Intel Arc B390 is an unusual one: the CPU is a 24-core, 24-thread desktop flagship on Socket 1851, while the GPU is an integrated-class part using system shared memory. The measured frame rates confirm that this combination is severely limited by the graphics side at every resolution and preset. The data shows a processor that is capable of massive throughput, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a percentile rank of 96 among all CPUs, paired with a GPU that sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The practical result is that Fortnite’s frame rate is dictated almost entirely by the Arc B390’s output, and the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is effectively idle waiting on graphics work.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop reveals just how much the GPU is the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo averages 115 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 73 FPS, a 36.5% reduction from the 1080p result. At 4K Low, the average falls to 39 FPS, which is just 33.9% of the 1080p Low score. This pattern is consistent across all presets. For High settings, the averages are 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. That is a 66.7% loss from 1080p to 4K. The Medium preset shows 81 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 41 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K.

These numbers indicate a classic GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would stay relatively flat as resolution increases because the CPU work per frame is roughly constant. Instead, the FPS nearly halves each time the pixel count roughly doubles. From 1080p to 1440p, the pixel count increases by 1.78 times, and the Low preset FPS drops from 115 to 73, which is a ratio of 1.58. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 2.25 times, and the Low FPS drops from 73 to 39, a ratio of 1.87. These ratios are close to the pixel count ratios, which is the signature of a GPU that is saturated at all resolutions. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and boost clock of 5.80 GHz, is far beyond what Fortnite needs at these frame rates. The data suggests that even at 1080p Low, the GPU is already the primary constraint, and lowering the resolution further would not yield meaningful gains because the Arc B390 is simply not fast enough to push more frames.

The Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 81 FPS with a min of 69 and max of 93. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 51 FPS with a min of 44 and max of 59. At 4K Medium, the average is 27 FPS with a min of 23 and max of 31. The spread between min and max is roughly 20-25 FPS at each resolution, which indicates some frame time variance but not catastrophic stuttering. However, the average at 4K Medium is 27 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play in a fast-paced battle royale. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium is a 66.7% reduction in average FPS, mirroring the High preset’s drop. This consistency across presets reinforces that the GPU’s fixed performance ceiling is the sole determinant of frame rate, and the CPU’s role is negligible in this context.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the only preset that approaches playable frame rates at standard monitor resolutions is Low. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 115 FPS on average, which is smooth for competitive play. At 1440p Low, the average is 73 FPS, which is acceptable for most players, though it leaves little headroom for intense build fights or large player counts. At 4K Low, the average falls to 39 FPS, which is not smooth enough for a game where quick reactions matter. The Low preset is the clear choice for any resolution if the goal is to maximize frame rate, because the step up to Medium costs a significant amount of performance. From 1080p Low to 1080p Medium, the average FPS drops from 115 to 81, a 29.6% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 73 to 51, a 30.1% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 39 to 27, a 30.8% reduction. The relative cost of Medium over Low is consistent, roughly 30% fewer frames, which suggests that the GPU is equally stressed by the extra settings regardless of resolution.

High settings are not recommended for this combo. At 1080p High, the average is 63 FPS, which is borderline for a competitive title, but the drop from Low is 45.2%. At 1440p High, the average is 40 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target that most players expect. At 4K High, the average is 21 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. Ultra settings are worse still: 41 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. The data shows that Ultra at 4K produces an average frame rate that is exactly one-third of the 1080p Low result. There is no scenario where High or Ultra provides a better experience than Low, because the visual quality improvements are not worth cutting the frame rate in half or worse. For players using this specific CPU and GPU combination, the recommendation is to run Low settings at 1080p or 1440p. At 1080p Low, the 115 FPS average is sufficient for a responsive experience. At 1440p Low, the 73 FPS average is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 1080p, with an 81 FPS average, could be considered if visual fidelity is more important than frame rate, but the min FPS of 69 shows that dips below 70 FPS can occur. The measured data does not support any use of High or Ultra, as those presets produce averages below 60 FPS even at 1080p.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. The boost clock is listed at 2500 MHz, with a base clock of 300 MHz. Its memory is system shared, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM; the bandwidth is system dependent and the bus width is system shared. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scored 1482, which places it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in benchmark scores are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463, and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, which scores 1460. The Arc B390 is 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX and 1.5% faster than the GeForce 800M in that test. These are very low-end mobile-class parts from years ago, which contextualizes the Arc B390’s performance level.

The fact that this GPU has no dedicated VRAM and relies on system shared memory is a critical factor in Fortnite’s results. The data shows that the 4K Medium preset has a min FPS of 23 and a max of 31, with an average of 27. At 4K, the memory bandwidth demands are high, and the system dependent bandwidth of the shared memory setup likely contributes to the low frame rates. The GPU’s pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. At 4K, the number of pixels to fill is 8.3 million per frame. At 60.00 GPixel/s, the theoretical fill rate would allow 7.2 frames per second if fill rate were the only limit, but the measured 4K Low average is 39 FPS, which is higher than that. This suggests that the GPU is not purely fill-rate bound, but rather limited by a combination of shader throughput and memory bandwidth. The FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS is low by modern discrete GPU standards, and Fortnite’s rendering workload at higher presets pushes that limit quickly.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2500 MHz is reasonable, but the low shading unit count of 1536 limits its parallel processing capability. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Arc B390 is only marginally faster than the GT 520MX, which is a GPU from the early 2010s. This means that in Fortnite, the GPU is the absolute bottleneck, and the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s capabilities are irrelevant to the frame rates achieved. The data shows that the GPU’s 3DMark score of 1482 is in the 9th percentile, meaning that 91% of GPUs tested are faster. For Fortnite, a game that can run on low-end hardware, the Arc B390 manages playable frame rates only at Low settings and lower resolutions. The system shared memory also means that the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which can exacerbate frame drops in scenes with many players or complex geometry.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Fortnite at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p with Low settings, where the measured average is 115 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 73 FPS, which is above 60. At 1080p Medium, the average is 81 FPS, so 60 FPS is achievable there too, but the min FPS of 69 shows that dips below 70 can occur. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS; the best 4K result is 39 FPS on Low.

Q: What is the best preset for this combo at 1080p?

A: Low settings give the highest average frame rate at 115 FPS. Medium settings drop to 81 FPS, High to 63 FPS, and Ultra to 41 FPS. If frame rate is the priority, Low is the best choice. If visual quality matters more, Medium at 81 FPS is the only other preset that stays above 60 FPS on average.

Q: Why is the frame rate so low at 4K even on Low settings?

A: The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU with system shared memory and only 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. At 4K, the pixel workload is 8.3 million pixels per frame, and the GPU’s rendering capacity is insufficient. The measured 4K Low average is 39 FPS, which is less than half of the 1080p Low average of 115 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the Arc B390 scores 1482. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, making the Arc B390 1.3% faster. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, and the Arc B390 is 1.5% faster. These are all very low-end GPUs, and the Arc B390’s 9th percentile rank reflects that.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus holding back the GPU?

A: No. The CPU has 24 cores and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, and its benchmark scores are in the 96th percentile. The data shows that frame rates drop consistently with resolution, which is a sign of GPU limitation. The CPU is not the bottleneck in this combination.

Q: What is the highest quality preset that stays above 30 FPS at 1440p?

A: Low settings at 1440p produce an average of 73 FPS. Medium settings drop to 51 FPS, which is above 30. High settings at 1440p average 40 FPS, also above 30. Ultra at 1440p averages 26 FPS, which is below 30. So High is the highest preset that stays above 30 FPS at 1440p, though Low is recommended for smoother gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this pairing in Fortnite is 2417 out of 2740 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 11.8% of all combos. The rank reflects the GPU’s severe limitation, as the CPU is highly capable but the frame rates are low across the board. The data shows that this combo is outperformed by a vast majority of tested systems, which is expected given that the Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among GPUs. The nearest GPU rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, are similarly low-end, and this combo’s Fortnite performance is consistent with those parts. The rank of 2417 out of 2740 means that only 323 tested combos are slower in this game. Given that Fortnite is designed to run on a wide range of hardware, this combo is at the lower end of playable, and only the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p provides a reasonable experience. The CPU’s high benchmark scores do not improve the rank because the game’s frame rate is entirely GPU-bound. For comparison, the CPU alone has an average benchmark score of 84003, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K at 83807 and the AMD EPYC 4584PX at 83090. The CPU is 0.2% faster than the 285K and 1.1% faster than the EPYC 4584PX, but these differences have no impact on Fortnite’s measured FPS because the GPU is the limiting factor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, codenamed Arrow Lake Refresh. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The L3 cache is 36 MB shared, and the L2 cache is 3 MB per core. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU is a powerhouse: it scores 51731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 21727 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, and 5214 in Cinebench R15 multi-core. Its single-core scores are also strong, with 7303 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3067 in Cinebench R20 single-core. The PassMark multithread score is 60860, and the single-thread score is 4823. The CPU’s percentile rank among all CPUs is 96, meaning it is faster than 96% of tested processors. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with an average score of 83807, which is 0.2% slower, and the AMD EPYC 4584PX with an average score of 83090, which is 1.1% slower.

In Fortnite, however, this CPU’s capabilities are barely utilized. The measured frame rates show that the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions and presets. Fortnite is not a heavily multithreaded game, and the 24 cores of the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus are far more than needed. The game’s performance is limited by the Arc B390’s ability to render frames, not by the CPU’s ability to prepare them. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 115 FPS, which is a frame time of about 8.7 milliseconds. A CPU with this much single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 7303 Cinebench R23 single-core score, can easily feed a GPU at that rate. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.80 GHz and 24 threads are irrelevant when the GPU can only produce 115 frames per second at best. Even at 4K Low, where the average drops to 39 FPS, the CPU is not the constraint; the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are. The CPU’s role in this combination is to provide a solid foundation that never holds back the GPU, but the GPU’s low performance means the CPU’s headroom is never used. In practical terms, this CPU would be better paired with a discrete graphics card to unlock Fortnite’s higher frame rates, but within the measured data, its contribution to the game’s FPS is negligible. The 24 cores and 36 MB of L3 cache are wasted on a game that is GPU-bound at every setting, and the CPU’s strong benchmark scores do not translate into better Fortnite performance because the Arc B390 cannot take advantage of them.