High On Life

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a strictly entry-level experience in High On Life, as measured by the benchmark data. The combo ranks 2608th out of 2958 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of systems. The Arc B390, which relies on system shared memory and has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, becomes the definitive performance ceiling, with average frame rates ranging from 16 FPS at 4K Ultra to 78 FPS at 1080p Low. The CPU, by contrast, is a high-end 20-core part that shows no signs of bottlenecking, as evidenced by its strong synthetic scores and percentile ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in High On Life?

A: The combo ranks 2608th out of 2958 tested combinations in this game. This places it in the lower percentile of all systems tested, indicating that while it can run the game, it is not positioned for high-refresh-rate or high-resolution gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (scoring 1463, a 1.3% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (scoring 1460, a 1.5% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (scoring 1446, a 2.5% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (scoring 1443, a 2.7% delta). The data shows the Arc B390 is only marginally ahead of these older, low-end parts.

Q: What is the best average frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 78 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At Medium settings, the average drops to 61 FPS, and at High settings it falls to 50 FPS. The lowest average at 1080p is 38 FPS on Ultra settings.

Q: Does this combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the performance is severely limited. The highest average frame rate at 4K is 33 FPS on Low settings. Medium settings yield 26 FPS, High settings yield 21 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 16 FPS. None of these averages reach the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-14700F's synthetic performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6505P (scoring 53701, a -0.2% delta), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (scoring 53469, a 0.3% delta), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (scoring 53288, a 0.6% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7313P (scoring 53206, a 0.8% delta). The data shows the i7-14700F is essentially on par with these processors, with performance differences of less than one percent.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F ranks in the 91st percentile of all CPUs tested. This indicates that it is a top-tier processor in terms of synthetic benchmark performance, sitting well above the majority of other chips.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured data places this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B390 at rank 2608 out of 2958 tested combos in High On Life. This is a very low ranking, placing the system in the bottom 11.8% of all configurations tested. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capability; the i7-14700F is a powerful processor with a 91st percentile ranking against all CPUs. Instead, the low combo rank is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU performance is stark. The CPU's average benchmark score of 53620 places it in the same league as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which scores 53288 and is a 0.6% delta from the i7-14700F. The GPU, however, with its average score of 1482, is in the same league as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, which scores 1443 and is a 2.7% delta from the Arc B390. This pairing creates a massive imbalance where the processor is capable of far more than the graphics card can deliver. In game, this results in the GPU being the sole limiting factor, capping frame rates at levels that are more typical of integrated graphics or decade-old discrete GPUs.

The combo's ranking of 2608 suggests that most other systems, even those with much weaker CPUs, will outperform it in High On Life if they have a more capable graphics solution. The data indicates that this is not a gaming combination in any conventional sense. It is a configuration where the CPU's potential is entirely untapped, and the gaming experience is dictated by the Arc B390's low compute throughput. For context, the GPU's 3DMark score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX, a GPU from a much older era, which underscores the performance tier this combo occupies.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive component in this pairing. Its architecture, Xe3-LPG, and process node of 3 nm are modern, but its specifications are those of a low-power, integrated-class part. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units. It also includes 12 ray tracing cores. The clock speeds are set with a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz. Crucially, the memory configuration is listed as "System Shared," meaning it has no dedicated VRAM of its own. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all "System Shared" or "System Dependent," which ties its performance directly to the system's main memory bandwidth and latency.

This lack of dedicated VRAM is a significant factor in High On Life. The game's texture and geometry data must be stored in and accessed from the system RAM, which is shared with the CPU. This creates a bottleneck that is separate from raw compute power. The measured FPS data reflects this limitation. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 78 FPS. This is the only setting where the average exceeds 60 FPS. Moving to Medium settings drops the average to 61 FPS, and High settings drop it further to 50 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p only manages 38 FPS.

The GPU's performance scaling with resolution is also revealing. At 4K (3840x2160), the average FPS on Low settings is 33. This is less than half of the 1080p Low result, which is a larger drop than what would be expected from pixel count alone. This suggests that the memory subsystem is overwhelmed when the required fill rate and memory traffic increase. The GPU's pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are fixed, but the shared memory interface becomes a larger liability at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear ceiling: the Arc B390 is only capable of providing a smooth experience at 1080p on the lowest settings, and even then, it is not a high headroom result.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are the strongest. The Low preset yields an average of 78 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 61 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. The High preset averages 50 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 38 FPS. None of the 1080p results show a minimum FPS for the Low, High, or Ultra presets, but the Medium preset's minimum of 52 FPS indicates that even at this setting, there are dips below the average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops considerably. The Low preset averages 55 FPS. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS, with a minimum of 36 FPS and a maximum of 49 FPS. The High preset averages 35 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. At this resolution, the Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 50 FPS. The data shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is significant, with the 1440p Low result being 23 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal. The Low preset averages 33 FPS. The Medium preset averages 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS. The High preset averages 21 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 16 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the GPU is simply not capable of providing a playable experience at this resolution, as even the lowest settings fail to reach an average of 35 FPS. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 22 shows that the frame rate can dip into the low 20s, which would be noticeable as stuttering. The data confirms that this combo is strictly for 1080p gaming, and only with significant graphical compromises.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K shows a steep performance curve that is characteristic of a GPU-limited system. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 78. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 55 FPS, a 23 FPS decrease. At 4K Low, the average drops to 33 FPS, a further 22 FPS decrease from the 1440p result. This represents a total drop of 45 FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is a 57.7% reduction in average frame rate. This scaling pattern is much steeper than what would be seen if the CPU were the limiting factor, where the FPS would remain relatively flat as resolution increases.

This behavior indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. As the resolution increases, the number of pixels that need to be shaded and rasterized increases geometrically. The GPU's fixed number of ROPs (24) and TMUs (48) are quickly overwhelmed. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, which is in the 9th percentile, further confirms that the GPU lacks the raw throughput to handle higher resolutions. The data shows that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly linear, with each resolution step costing about 20-23 FPS at the Low preset. This is a classic sign of a pure fill-rate or memory-bandwidth bottleneck.

The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is not contributing to this bottleneck. Its high single-thread and multi-thread scores, such as the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958 and multi-core of 35122, would be more than sufficient to drive higher frame rates if the GPU could keep up. The measured FPS scaling is entirely a function of the GPU's limits. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not drop this significantly with resolution; instead, it would plateau at a certain level regardless of resolution. The data shows no such plateau; the FPS continues to fall with each resolution increase, confirming the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a high-performance desktop processor with 20 cores and 28 threads. Its base clock is 2.10 GHz and its boost clock is 5.40 GHz. It is built on the Raptor Lake architecture and has a 33 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's synthetic benchmarks show it is a powerhouse. It scores 35122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4958 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 19620 multi-core and 2429 single-core. These scores place it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 53620 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which scores 53288 and has a 0.6% delta.

In High On Life, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. Given the GPU's low performance, the CPU is never challenged. The highest average FPS measured is 78 at 1080p Low. A CPU with lower performance could easily achieve this frame rate. The i7-14700F's capability is far beyond what is required. The data shows that the CPU has no impact on the measured FPS differences between settings or resolutions. The frame rate differences are entirely attributable to the GPU's workload.

The CPU's TDP is 65 watts, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its memory bandwidth is not listed, but the GPU's performance is "System Dependent," meaning the system memory speed could have a minor effect on the GPU's performance. However, the primary takeaway is that the CPU is overqualified for this task. The benchmark results indicate that the i7-14700F is not a limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios. It provides a stable platform, and the performance ceiling is entirely defined by the Intel Arc B390. The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 4257, ensures that the game's main thread is not a bottleneck, but this headroom is wasted when the GPU can only deliver 78 FPS at best.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that approaches a smooth experience is 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which averages 78 FPS. This is the only setting across all resolutions that yields an average above 70 FPS. For players who prioritize frame rate, this is the recommended preset. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 61 FPS, which is still playable, but the data shows a minimum FPS of 52, indicating that there are moments of noticeable frame drops. The High preset at 1080p averages 50 FPS, which is on the lower edge of playability for a fast-paced FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 55 FPS. This is a playable frame rate, but it is lower than the 1080p Medium result. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 43 FPS, which is below the preferred 60 FPS target. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p average 35 FPS and 26 FPS, respectively, making them less suitable for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, none of the settings are recommended. The Low preset averages 33 FPS, which is too low for comfortable play, and the Ultra preset averages 16 FPS, which is a slideshow.

The data suggests that the best balance of visual quality and frame rate is achieved at 1080p with the Low or Medium preset. The Low preset provides the highest headroom, while Medium offers a step up in visual fidelity at the cost of 17 FPS on average. Given the GPU's 9th percentile ranking, players should expect to make significant compromises. The measured results show that the Low preset at 1080p is the only reliable way to get close to a 60+ FPS experience. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended, as the highest average it achieves is 38 FPS at 1080p. For a game like High On Life, the data indicates that lowering resolution and settings is necessary to achieve a playable state, and the recommended path is to start at 1080p Low and adjust upward only if the frame rate allows.