Minecraft

Minecraft with an Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT produces remarkably high frame rates across all tested configurations, with the data suggesting a system that is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions and increasingly GPU-bound as resolution climbs. The combination ranks 275th out of 1176 tested combos, placing it in the top quarter of all systems tested for this title.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 592, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 374 at 2560x1440 and 195 at 3840x2160 under the same Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in overall benchmark scores?

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 (83807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072) by 1.3%.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48477. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile at 47743, which is 1.5% lower.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium settings produce an average of 155 FPS with a minimum of 131 and maximum of 178, while Ultra settings drop to 77 average FPS. This represents a 78 FPS difference between the two presets.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra preset still delivers an average of 77 FPS, which remains above common 60 FPS thresholds. However, this is significantly lower than the 123 FPS average seen at 4K High settings.

Q: How many cores and threads does the CPU have, and what is its boost clock?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. It has a TDP of 125 W and uses the Intel Socket 1851.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 21 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process. It carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 1825 MHz, with a game clock of 2015 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz. Memory operates at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed.

The GPU's shading resources include 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 raster operations pipelines. It also features 72 ray tracing cores, which is notable for a game like Minecraft that can utilize ray tracing in certain versions. The pixel rate is listed at 288.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate reaches 648.0 GTexel/s. Floating point performance is rated at 20.74 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

In Minecraft specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 77, which is the lowest recorded in the measured results. This suggests that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is being pushed to its limits. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is substantial, and while Minecraft's texture requirements can vary with mods and resource packs, the available memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s appears sufficient to maintain the observed performance levels.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 48477. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, scores 47743, which is 1.5% lower. The Intel Arc A550M comes in at 49737, 2.5% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti reaches 49957, 3% higher. These comparisons indicate the RX 6800 XT is positioned competitively within its performance tier.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound to GPU-bound territory. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 592 average FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops this to 374 FPS, a reduction of 218 FPS or approximately 37%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 195 FPS, which is roughly 33% of the 1080p figure.

The scaling pattern is consistent across settings. With High settings, the progression goes from 372 FPS at 1080p, to 235 FPS at 1440p, to 123 FPS at 4K. Medium settings show 469 FPS at 1080p, 296 FPS at 1440p, and 155 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings demonstrate 233 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K.

The percentage drops between 1080p and 4K are substantial. For Low settings, the 4K result is 67% lower than 1080p. High settings see a 67% reduction as well. Medium settings drop by 67%, and Ultra settings drop by 67%. This consistency suggests that the scaling factor is relatively uniform regardless of quality preset.

The fact that 1080p Low produces nearly 600 FPS indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock, is feeding the GPU as fast as possible, but the sheer frame rate ceiling appears to be CPU-bound. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more engaged, and the frame rate drops accordingly. The 4K results, particularly at Ultra settings with 77 FPS, suggest the GPU is now the primary bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 275th out of 1176 tested combos in Minecraft. This places the system in the top 23% of all configurations tested for this game, which is a strong result given the game's reputation for being heavily single-threaded and CPU-dependent.

The CPU alone sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K at 83807 (0.2% lower), the AMD EPYC 4584PX at 83090 (1.1% lower), and the AMD EPYC 9135 at 82980 (1.2% lower). The AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85072, which is 1.3% higher than the 290K Plus.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 85 places it slightly lower than the CPU's 96th percentile, suggesting the CPU is the stronger component in this pairing relative to their respective markets. The GPU's average benchmark score of 48477 is competitive with its nearest rivals, as previously noted.

The combo rank of 275 out of 1176 indicates that while this system performs exceptionally well, there are 274 other combinations that achieve higher results in Minecraft. This is likely due to the game's specific optimization patterns and the fact that some combinations may pair even stronger single-threaded CPUs with the same or better GPUs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename using a 3 nm process from TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The 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 dual-channel configuration and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. Passmark results show a multi-thread score of 60860 and a single-thread score of 4823. The processor achieves a 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003.

In Minecraft, the CPU's role is critical due to the game's single-threaded rendering engine. The high boost clock of 5.80 GHz is particularly beneficial for the game's primary thread. The data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 592 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that indicates the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far beyond typical display refresh rates.

The 24 cores and 24 threads provide substantial headroom for background processes and any Minecraft mods that may use additional threads. The L3 cache of 36 MB shared across all cores helps with data locality, which is important for the game's chunk-based world loading. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking suggests it is among the top processors available, and its performance in Minecraft reflects this.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 592 FPS. Medium settings average 469 FPS, with a minimum of 399 and maximum of 539. High settings average 372 FPS. Ultra settings average 233 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 359 FPS, demonstrating a significant performance cost for higher quality presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show noticeable scaling. Low settings average 374 FPS. Medium settings average 296 FPS, with a minimum of 252 and maximum of 340. High settings average 235 FPS. Ultra settings average 147 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 227 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system is pushed harder, but still delivers strong results. Low settings average 195 FPS. Medium settings average 155 FPS, with a minimum of 131 and maximum of 178. High settings average 123 FPS. Ultra settings average 77 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 118 FPS.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with min and max FPS data, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range from 399 to 539 represents a 140 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is from 252 to 340, an 88 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is from 131 to 178, a 47 FPS spread. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests more consistent frame pacing as the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 592 FPS, which is far beyond any display's refresh rate capability. Even at 4K, Low settings produce 195 FPS, which remains exceptionally high. However, the visual quality trade-off may not be necessary given the system's performance headroom.

The Medium preset offers a compelling balance. At 1080p, it delivers 469 FPS, which is still well above the highest refresh rates commonly available. At 1440p, Medium produces 296 FPS, and at 4K, it maintains 155 FPS. The Medium preset also provides the only min/max data in the measurements, showing frame times ranging from 131 to 178 at 4K, which indicates smooth performance without significant dips.

The High preset at 4K produces 123 FPS, which is excellent for a game like Minecraft that can benefit from higher quality settings. At 1440p, High delivers 235 FPS, and at 1080p, it reaches 372 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 233 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result remains playable, but the drop from High to Ultra at 4K is 46 FPS, which is a substantial decrease.

Given the data, the High preset at 1440p or 4K appears to offer the best experience. At 1440p High, the system produces 235 FPS, which exceeds all but the most extreme display refresh rates. At 4K High, the 123 FPS average provides a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. For players with high refresh rate displays at 1080p, the Medium preset at 469 FPS ensures the system never becomes a bottleneck. The Ultra preset is only recommended for those who prioritize maximum visual quality over frame rate, as it still maintains 77 FPS at 4K, which is above typical 60 FPS targets.