Minecraft

# Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 216 FPS, which drops to 136 FPS at 1440p and further to 71 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K when using Low settings. The scaling is not linear, indicating that the rendering workload grows faster than pixel count alone would suggest.

At Medium settings, the same trend emerges: 171 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 48%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions points to the graphics pipeline becoming the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

High settings show 136 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% and 48% respectively, mirroring the Medium settings pattern. Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario: 85 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop here is 48%, consistent with the other presets.

The consistent 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and 48% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings presets strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B390's rendering capabilities are the bottleneck. The CPU has ample headroom, as evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Low, the system does not exceed 216 FPS — a figure that could likely be higher with a more powerful GPU.

The largest absolute jump occurs between Low and Medium at 1080p, where frame rates drop from 216 to 171 FPS — a 21% reduction. This indicates that the additional visual effects in Medium settings impose a significant cost relative to the performance headroom available at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B390 achieves a rank of 984 out of 1176 tested combos in Minecraft. This places the combo in the bottom 16% of all tested configurations. The percentile position reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities.

The Intel Arc B390's average benchmark score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, 1.3% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (score 1460, 1.5% slower), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, 2.5% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (score 1443, 2.7% slower). All of these are entry-level or legacy mobile/desktop GPUs, indicating that the Arc B390 competes at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum.

In contrast, the CPU's average benchmark score of 57498 places it at the 92nd percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 (score 57555, 0.1% faster), AMD EPYC 7313 (score 57399, 0.2% slower), Intel Core i9-14900 (score 58115, 1.1% faster), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (score 58323, 1.4% faster). This places the Ryzen 9 9900X in the top tier of desktop processors.

The massive disparity between the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking and the GPU's 9th percentile ranking explains the combo's modest overall position. The CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration; the GPU's performance ceiling constrains the entire system. This is a classic case of a high-end processor paired with a low-end graphics solution, resulting in a combo rank that reflects the weakest link rather than the average of the two components.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minecraft?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 216, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, which is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% faster than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% faster than the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% faster than the GT 710.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded?

A: The lowest average FPS is 28, measured at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 9900X have integrated graphics?

A: Yes, the CPU includes Radeon Graphics as its integrated GPU, though the benchmark data uses the discrete Intel Arc B390.

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

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X scores 1286 in the 3DMark single-thread test, 353 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 3010 in Geekbench single-core.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 984th out of 1176 tested combos in Minecraft, placing it in the bottom 16% of all configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 216 FPS, Medium settings produce 171 FPS with a minimum of 146 and maximum of 197, High settings produce 136 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 85 FPS. The 1080p resolution shows the largest performance headroom, with Low settings more than doubling the Ultra settings frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease substantially. Low settings average 136 FPS, Medium settings average 108 FPS with a range of 92 to 124, High settings average 86 FPS, and Ultra settings average 54 FPS. The Medium settings frame range indicates relatively consistent frame pacing, with the minimum being 85% of the average.

At 3840x2160, the system approaches its limits. Low settings average 71 FPS, Medium settings average 56 FPS with a range of 48 to 65, High settings average 45 FPS, and Ultra settings average 28 FPS. The 4K Medium settings frame range shows the minimum at 86% of the average, suggesting some frame time variance under load.

The complete data set shows a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions: Low produces the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being the most demanding. The gaps between presets remain proportional across resolutions, with Low to Medium typically showing a 20-25% reduction, Medium to High showing a 20-25% reduction, and High to Ultra showing a 37-48% reduction depending on resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the most balanced experience appears to be Medium settings at 1920x1080, where the system achieves 171 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS. This provides a smooth frame rate while still offering improved visual quality over Low settings. The 146 FPS minimum ensures that even demanding scenes maintain comfortable frame pacing.

For 2560x1440, Medium settings at 108 FPS (minimum 92) offer the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance. The 92 FPS minimum stays above the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay, and the 124 FPS maximum shows the system has some headroom for less demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, Low settings at 71 FPS are the only preset that maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS. Medium settings at 56 FPS dip below this threshold, though the 48 FPS minimum may still be acceptable for some users. Ultra settings at 28 FPS are not recommended for playable frame rates.

High settings at 1080p produce 136 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play, while Ultra at 1080p produces 85 FPS — a playable but less fluid experience. Given the data, the optimal experience at each resolution prioritizes Medium at 1080p and 1440p, and Low at 4K, to maintain frame rates above 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache.

Benchmark results indicate strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 32172, Cinebench R15 multicore scores 5008, Geekbench multicore scores 22174, and PassMark multithread scores 54643. Single-thread results are also robust: Cinebench R23 single-core scores 2253, Geekbench single-core scores 3010, and PassMark single-thread scores 4672.

In Minecraft, this processor provides substantial headroom. The game's rendering workload is primarily handled by the GPU, and the CPU's role involves world simulation, entity updates, and chunk loading. With 12 cores and 24 threads, the Ryzen 9 9900X can handle these tasks without becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the frame rates being limited by resolution and settings rather than CPU capability.

The CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all processors confirms its high-end positioning. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 and EPYC 7313 server processors, as well as the Intel Core i9-14900. The delta percentages are all within 1.4%, indicating that the Ryzen 9 9900X performs competitively with these top-tier alternatives.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake), manufactured on a 3 nm process at Intel. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores.

The memory configuration is system shared, meaning the GPU uses the same DDR5 memory as the CPU rather than having dedicated VRAM. The bus width and bandwidth are listed as "System Shared" and "System Dependent," respectively, indicating that memory performance is tied to the system's memory configuration.

In terms of raw compute, the Arc B390 delivers 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all ancient or entry-level parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710. The delta percentages range from 1.3% to 2.7%, meaning the Arc B390 is only marginally faster than these legacy components.

In Minecraft, the GPU's limitations become apparent at higher resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra preset produces only 28 FPS, and even 1440p Ultra drops to 54 FPS. The GPU's system shared memory architecture likely contributes to these constraints, as there is no dedicated VRAM to buffer texture data and geometry. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 reflects the GPU's modest overall performance capability, which aligns with the measured Minecraft frame rates across all tested configurations.