Fortnite

# Fortnite Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc B580

This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B580 in Fortnite, based on benchmark data collected across three resolutions and four quality presets. The CPU, a 24-core, 24-thread Arrow Lake Refresh part clocking up to 5.80 GHz, sits in the 96th percentile among all tested CPUs, while the Arc B580 GPU, built on the Xe2-HPG Battlemage architecture with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, ranks in the 68th percentile among GPUs. Together, this combo achieves a rank of 2032 out of 2740 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core processor with 24 threads, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosting up to 5.80 GHz. It draws 125 W TDP and uses the Intel Socket 1851 platform. This CPU is built on a 3 nm TSMC process with 17,800 million transistors and a 243 mm² die. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The PassMark multi-thread score is 60860, while single-thread performance registers at 4823. Data compression and encryption workloads yield scores of 698346 and 52563, respectively. Floating-point math scores 214760, integer math scores 166194, and extended instructions score 52338. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 84003, which places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (average score 83807), 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090), and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%, which scores 85072. These deltas are small, indicating that the 290K Plus is competitively positioned among high-end desktop and server processors.

In Fortnite, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p, where frame rates are highest. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 200 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate in the entire measured dataset, suggesting that at this resolution and preset, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach very high frame rates. The 24-core configuration with high single-core boost clocks likely handles Fortnite’s game logic and physics without bottlenecking, though the data cannot directly confirm per-core utilization. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance, indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303, likely contributes to maintaining high frame rates when the CPU is the primary constraint.

As resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes relative to the GPU. At 2560x1440 Low, the combo still manages 127 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it drops to 67 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU can sustain high throughput, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking suggests it is unlikely to be the bottleneck in most gaming scenarios, and the measured Fortnite data corroborates this interpretation.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is a Battlemage-generation GPU with the BMG-G21 chip, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 19,600 million transistors and a 272 mm² die. It operates at a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its compute resources include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, 80 render output units, and 20 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 213.6 GPixel/s, texture rate is 427.2 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 13.67 TFLOPS. The GPU draws 190 W and requires a 450 W power supply.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Arc B580 scores 3068 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 92821 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 109672 in Geekbench Vulkan. PassMark G3D score is 15748, with GPU compute at 7729. The average benchmark score is 23021, placing the GPU in the 68th percentile of all GPUs.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Arc B580 is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061), 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895), 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172), and 1.0% behind the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249). These small deltas indicate that the Arc B580 performs in a similar tier to these older high-end and mid-range GPUs, despite being a newer architecture.

In Fortnite, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings increase. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 200 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 72 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the measured presets, as no VRAM-related stutters are evident in the data, although min FPS values are only available for Medium settings. At 4K Ultra, the GPU manages just 24 FPS average, indicating that the Arc B580 is heavily stressed by the combination of high resolution and maximum quality settings. The GPU’s 68th percentile ranking is modest, and the Fortnite data reflects this: the card can handle competitive settings well but struggles with maxed-out quality at high resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the combo delivers 200 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47.2% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, with the 4K penalty being more severe relative to the pixel count increase.

At Medium settings, the FPS values are 141 at 1080p, 89 at 1440p, and 47 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36.9%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47.2%. Interestingly, the percentage drops are nearly identical to Low settings, suggesting that the resolution scaling factor is consistent regardless of quality preset, at least for these two settings.

At High settings, FPS falls from 109 at 1080p to 69 at 1440p (a 36.7% drop) and then to 37 at 4K (a 46.4% drop). At Ultra settings, the numbers are 72 at 1080p, 46 at 1440p (36.1% drop), and 24 at 4K (47.8% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets strongly indicates that resolution scaling is governed primarily by the GPU’s rendering throughput, with the CPU playing a secondary role.

The fact that 1080p Low achieves 200 FPS while 4K Low achieves only 67 FPS points to the GPU as the limiting component at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect similar FPS values across resolutions at the same settings, which is not the case. The data suggests that at 1080p, the combo is reasonably balanced, but at 1440p and especially 4K, the Arc B580 becomes the dominant constraint. The 12 GB VRAM and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the workloads, but the raw compute throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS limits pixel shader performance at high resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 200 FPS average, which is ideal for competitive play where high refresh rates matter. Medium settings reduce FPS to 141, still smooth for most displays, while High drops to 109 FPS. Ultra at 1080p yields 72 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced Battle Royale action.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 127 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh 1440p monitors. Medium gives 89 FPS, acceptable for most players, while High drops to 69 FPS and Ultra to 46 FPS. For 1440p gaming, Low or Medium presets provide the best balance between visual quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low settings yield 67 FPS, which is playable but not high-refresh. Medium achieves 47 FPS, High drops to 37 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24 FPS, which is below the generally accepted playability threshold. For 4K, only Low settings provide a smooth experience, while Medium is borderline.

The data indicates that the Low preset offers the best experience across all resolutions in terms of raw FPS. However, players seeking better visual fidelity should consider Medium at 1080p (141 FPS) or 1440p (89 FPS), as these provide a reasonable compromise. Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, where 72 FPS is above the 60 FPS baseline. The min FPS values, available only for Medium settings, show 120 at 1080p, 76 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K, indicating that frame time consistency is maintained even at lower average FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Fortnite?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 200, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K’s score of 83807.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B580 ranks in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: At 4K with Low settings, the combo achieves 67 FPS average, which is playable. Medium settings drop to 47 FPS, High to 37 FPS, and Ultra to 24 FPS, making Low the only recommended preset for 4K.

Q: What are the min FPS values for Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At Medium settings, the min FPS is 120 at 1080p, 76 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K. These values indicate acceptable frame time consistency.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Fortnite?

A: This combo ranks 2032 out of 2740 tested combinations in Fortnite, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 200 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 141 FPS with a min of 120 and max of 162. High settings achieve 109 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 72 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 128 FPS, indicating a significant performance cost for higher quality presets.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down noticeably. Low settings average 127 FPS, Medium averages 89 FPS with a min of 76 and max of 103, High averages 69 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 81 FPS, reflecting the increased pixel load on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles with higher presets. Low settings average 67 FPS, Medium averages 47 FPS with a min of 40 and max of 54, High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 43 FPS, the smallest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is saturated at 4K regardless of settings.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the min of 120 FPS is 85% of the average, indicating stable frame delivery. At 1440p, the min of 76 FPS is 85% of the average, showing similar consistency. At 4K, the min of 40 FPS is also 85% of the average, suggesting that frame pacing remains consistent even at lower FPS levels.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2032 out of 2740 tested combos in Fortnite, placing it in the 74th percentile of combos from the bottom. This ranking is modest, especially given the CPU’s high standing in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The disparity between CPU and GPU rankings explains the combo’s overall position: the 290K Plus is a top-tier processor, but the Arc B580, at the 68th GPU percentile, holds the combo back.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database — the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, and NVIDIA P106-100 — all have average scores within 1% of the Arc B580. This clustering suggests that the Arc B580’s performance tier is well-established, and the combo’s ranking reflects this mid-range GPU capability. In Fortnite specifically, the measured FPS data shows that the combo is capable of high frame rates at 1080p Low, but falls short of what more powerful GPUs would achieve at higher settings.

The combo’s rank of 2032 indicates that 708 tested combinations perform worse in this game. This placement is consistent with a balanced pairing of an exceptionally strong CPU with a mid-tier GPU. For players prioritizing competitive play at 1080p, the combo delivers excellent frame rates. For those seeking 4K Ultra experiences, the GPU limits performance, and the CPU’s power cannot compensate. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the Arc B580 can leverage the 290K Plus’s computational headroom, rather than 4K, where the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor.