High On Life

# FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in High On Life?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the Intel Arc B570 ranks 2356 out of 2958 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower portion of the tested pool.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5900X compare to its closest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X posts an average benchmark score of 41376. It sits 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (41263) and 0.4% ahead of both the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (41215) and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 (41208). It trails the Intel Core i7-14650HX (41576) by 0.5%.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The Intel Arc B570's average benchmark score is 20556. It is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480). It sits 0.1% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662).

Q: What is the best average framerate achieved at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 119 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset reaches 93 FPS average, while High and Ultra deliver 77 and 58 FPS respectively.

Q: Does the combo deliver playable framerates at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 25 on Ultra to 51 on Low. The Medium preset provides a 40 FPS average with a minimum of 34 FPS, indicating that only Low or Medium settings are viable for 4K gaming.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread and multi-thread performance profile?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X scores 941 in 3DMark single-thread and 10075 in 3DMark max-threads. In Cinebench R23, it achieves 1527 single-core and 16262 multi-core. PassMark shows 3469 for single-thread and 39002 for multithread.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor built on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer). It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, backed by a 64 MB L3 cache. This configuration provides substantial multi-threaded throughput, as reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16262 and Geekbench multi-core score of 14118. The CPU's percentile rank of 87 among all processors indicates it outperforms the vast majority of desktop chips, though its single-thread scores — 941 in 3DMark single-thread and 1527 in Cinebench R23 single-core — are comparatively modest.

In High On Life, the CPU's role is significant but secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 119 FPS average, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at this resolution. However, the frame rate drops to 77 FPS at High settings and 58 FPS at Ultra, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as visual fidelity increases. The 12-core configuration ensures that background tasks and game logic do not bottleneck the frame pipeline, but the game's performance scaling with resolution points to GPU-bound behavior beyond 1080p.

The Ryzen 9 5900X's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4 may constrain performance in memory-intensive scenes, but the benchmark data does not isolate this effect. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 9075 and max-thread score of 10075 show strong scaling across cores, meaning the processor can handle multi-threaded workloads without significant drop-off. This is relevant for High On Life, which can utilize multiple cores for physics, AI, and streaming, though the game's frame rate ceiling at 1440p and 4K is dictated more by the Arc B570's rendering capabilities.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage) and manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, delivering 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. Memory consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the B570 at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556.

In High On Life, the Arc B570's performance varies significantly with settings. At 3840x2160, the GPU delivers a 33 FPS average on High, 40 FPS on Medium, and 51 FPS on Low — the latter being the only 4K setting approaching smooth playability. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 25 FPS, which is below acceptable thresholds for most players. At 2560x1440, the B570 manages 54 FPS on High and 84 FPS on Low, while 1920x1080 sees 77 FPS on High and 119 FPS on Low. These numbers show a consistent pattern: the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the 10 GB VRAM likely sufficient for this game's textures at all tested presets.

The B570's nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, is 0.1% faster in average benchmark scores, and the NVIDIA RTX 3070 Mobile is 0.1% slower. This places the B570 in a competitive mid-range segment. The GPU's 380.0 GB/s bandwidth and 2500 MHz clock are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results indicate that the card is not designed for ultra-high-resolution gaming. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (25 FPS) versus 4K Low (51 FPS) shows a 26 FPS swing, demonstrating that settings adjustments are crucial for playability at this resolution.

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2356 out of 2958 tested combos in High On Life, placing it in the 20th percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects a pairing where the CPU is significantly more capable than the GPU — the Ryzen 9 5900X sits at the 87th percentile among CPUs, while the Arc B570 sits at the 65th percentile among GPUs. The disparity suggests that the combo is GPU-limited in most scenarios, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing larger performance drops from resolution increases than from CPU-bound settings changes.

In the context of the full combo pool, this rank means that roughly 79.6% of tested combinations deliver higher average framerates in High On Life. This is not surprising given the GPU's mid-range positioning. The combo's performance is constrained by the Arc B570's 11.52 TFLOPS and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, which are adequate for 1080p high-refresh gaming but struggle at higher resolutions. The CPU's headroom — evidenced by its 16262 Cinebench R23 multi-core score — is not fully utilized, as the game's frame rate is limited by the GPU's rendering throughput.

Comparing to the nearest GPU rivals, the B570's 0.1% deficit to the Arc A750 and 0.1% advantage over the RTX 3070 Mobile suggest that this combo's rank would be similar with those GPUs, assuming the same CPU. The Ryzen 9 5900X's 0.3% advantage over the Core Ultra 7 366H and 0.4% over the Core Ultra 7 356H means that swapping to those CPUs would produce nearly identical results, as the GPU remains the bottleneck. The rank of 2356 out of 2958 is therefore a reflection of the GPU's tier rather than any CPU deficiency, and users seeking higher ranks would need to pair this CPU with a faster GPU.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers a 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS, providing a smooth experience for most players. The High preset at 77 FPS is also viable, offering better visual quality at the cost of 16 FPS. The Ultra preset at 58 FPS may be acceptable for those prioritizing image quality over smoothness, but the Medium preset represents the best balance of performance and visual fidelity at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields 66 FPS average with a 56 FPS minimum, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The High preset at 54 FPS is borderline, while Low at 84 FPS is the smoothest option. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 1440p, players should use Low settings, as Medium dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 41 FPS is not recommended for action sequences.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (51 FPS average) approaches playability, while Medium (40 FPS average, 34 FPS minimum) and High (33 FPS) fall short of smooth performance. The Ultra preset at 25 FPS is effectively unplayable. Therefore, 4K users should either accept Low settings or reduce the resolution to achieve higher frame rates. The data clearly indicates that the Arc B570 is best utilized at 1080p Medium or High, where it delivers a good balance of quality and performance.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Ultra: 58 FPS average
• High: 77 FPS average
• Medium: 93 FPS average (min 79, max 107)
• Low: 119 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Ultra: 41 FPS average
• High: 54 FPS average
• Medium: 66 FPS average (min 56, max 75)
• Low: 84 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Ultra: 25 FPS average
• High: 33 FPS average
• Medium: 40 FPS average (min 34, max 46)
• Low: 51 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern across all resolutions: each step down in settings yields a roughly 15-20 FPS increase. At 1080p, moving from Ultra to Low doubles the frame rate from 58 to 119 FPS. At 1440p, the same settings change increases FPS from 41 to 84, a 105% improvement. At 4K, the improvement from Ultra to Low is from 25 to 51 FPS, a 104% gain. This linear scaling indicates that the game's rendering workload is well-distributed across the settings tiers, and the GPU's performance is the primary determinant of frame rate at all resolutions.

The Medium preset at each resolution is the only setting with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the 79-107 FPS range represents a spread of 28 FPS, indicating some variability. At 1440p Medium, the 56-75 FPS range shows a 19 FPS spread, while at 4K Medium, the 34-46 FPS range has a 12 FPS spread. This tighter variance at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is more consistently utilized when it is the bottleneck, whereas at 1080p, CPU or driver overhead may introduce frame pacing fluctuations.

# Resolution Scaling

Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by approximately 28-30% across all settings. At Ultra, the drop is from 58 to 41 FPS (29.3% decrease); at High, from 77 to 54 FPS (29.9%); at Medium, from 93 to 66 FPS (29.0%); and at Low, from 119 to 84 FPS (29.4%). This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at both resolutions, as the workload increases proportionally with pixel count (1.78x more pixels at 1440p compared to 1080p).

Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the FPS drops are more severe. At Ultra, the drop is from 41 to 25 FPS (39.0%); at High, from 54 to 33 FPS (38.9%); at Medium, from 66 to 40 FPS (39.4%); and at Low, from 84 to 51 FPS (39.3%). This 2.25x increase in pixel count (from 1440p to 4K) results in a roughly 39% FPS reduction, which is less than the 44% reduction expected from pure pixel scaling. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is more fully utilized, and memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s) or ROP throughput (200.0 GPixel/s) becomes a more significant factor.

The scaling behavior reveals that the limiting component is the GPU at all resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the consistent 29% drop from 1080p to 1440p and the further 39% drop to 4K indicate that the Arc B570's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. The Ryzen 9 5900X's high multi-threaded scores (10075 in 3DMark max-threads) provide ample headroom, but this is unused as the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to saturate the CPU. This is typical for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU, and the measured data confirms that users should focus on GPU upgrades to improve performance in High On Life at higher resolutions.