Minimum

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 in Minimum presents a stark contrast in capabilities. The processor is a 24-core flagship with a 96th percentile standing among all CPUs, while the graphics card is a Pascal-era part that sits at the 47th percentile of all GPUs. Benchmark results reveal a system where the GTX 1070 is the clear performance ceiling, but the data also shows surprising consistency in how this combination handles the game's demands across different resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a predictable, yet steep, decline as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces 140 FPS average. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops that figure to 90 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K, the Low preset yields just 49 FPS, which is a 65% drop from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is the classic signature of a GPU-bound configuration; the CPU’s immense headroom is not the limiting factor, as the frame rate plummets with the number of pixels being rendered.

The data implies that the GTX 1070 is working at its absolute maximum from 1440p upward. The gap between 1440p High (58 FPS) and 4K High (31 FPS) represents a 47% performance loss, which is consistent with the raw pixel count increase. The relationship is not perfectly linear, indicating that the game’s engine and memory bandwidth are also being stressed, but the overall trend is unambiguous. The Core Ultra 9 290K is simply waiting for the GPU to deliver frames, a common scenario when pairing a top-tier modern processor with a mid-range card from a previous generation.

Interestingly, the scaling between the Medium and High presets at each resolution shows a consistent step. At 4K, the jump from Medium (37 FPS) to High (31 FPS) is a 16% loss, while the jump from High to Ultra (24 FPS) is a 23% loss. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive for the GTX 1070’s 6.463 TFLOPS of compute power. The data points to a system where resolution is the primary lever for performance, and settings adjustments become increasingly costly as pixel count rises.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Minimum?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 140, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this combination capable of maintaining a 60 FPS average at 1440p?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 90 FPS, and the High preset achieves 58 FPS. The Medium preset also exceeds 60 FPS with an average of 69 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rival?

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. It also leads the AMD EPYC 4584PX by 1.1% and the AMD EPYC 9135 by 1.2%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 sits at the 47th percentile, indicating that it performs better than roughly half of all GPUs in the benchmark database.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo dip below 30 FPS on average?

A: The only measured scenario with an average below 30 FPS is at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset, where the average FPS drops to 24.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the 1080p Medium preset?

A: The minimum FPS for the 1920x1080 Medium preset is 91 FPS, with a maximum of 123 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The performance of this specific CPU-GPU pairing in Minimum places it at rank 2412 out of 2939 tested combinations. This puts it in the bottom 18% of all combos, which is a surprisingly low position given the CPU's raw strength. The ranking suggests that while the processor is a top-tier part, the GTX 1070's age and capabilities drag the overall combination down significantly in this particular title.

When interpreting this rank, it's crucial to consider the composition of the benchmark database. The 2939 combos likely include pairings of modern high-end GPUs with mid-range CPUs, which would naturally score higher in a GPU-bound scenario like this one. The Core Ultra 9 290K is not the bottleneck, so the system's rank is almost entirely a function of the GTX 1070's performance. The data implies that any GPU from the same era or newer would likely push this combo much higher in the rankings, while the CPU offers no advantage in Minimum over a much cheaper processor.

The rank of 2412 serves as a cautionary tale about balanced system building. The CPU’s 96th percentile standing is neutralized by the GPU’s 47th percentile standing, resulting in a combined rank that is far lower than either component's individual percentile. The measured FPS figures show that the system is playable at 1080p and 1440p, but it is not a high-performance configuration by the standards of the database. The data suggests that this pairing is a legacy system or a placeholder build that is awaiting a GPU upgrade.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a complete matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low at 140 FPS average, Medium at 107 FPS average (with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 123), High at 90 FPS average, and Ultra at 68 FPS average. This shows a clear step-down in performance as visual fidelity increases, with Low being nearly double the FPS of Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop considerably. The Low preset averages 90 FPS, Medium averages 69 FPS (with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 79), and High averages 58 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages 44 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a roughly 35-40% reduction in FPS across all settings, which is consistent with the 77% increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1070 is clearly overwhelmed. The Low preset averages 49 FPS, Medium averages 37 FPS (with a minimum of 32 and maximum of 43), and High averages just 31 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only scenario where the combo fails to reach 30 FPS, averaging only 24 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this pairing beyond the Low preset, and even that is borderline for smooth gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. Its benchmark scores are formidable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. In PassMark, it achieves a multi-thread score of 60860 and a single-thread score of 4823.

Despite this immense processing power, the measured FPS in Minimum does not appear to be constrained by the CPU. The consistent frame rate drops with resolution increases point to a GPU bottleneck. For example, the 1080p Low preset (140 FPS) and 1440p Low preset (90 FPS) show a 36% difference, which is a pure pixel-pushing penalty. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the 1080p and 1440p results to be much closer, as the CPU workload does not scale linearly with resolution.

The data suggests that the CPU is vastly overqualified for this task. Its 24 cores and 36 MB of L3 cache are likely sitting idle while the GTX 1070 struggles to fill frames. However, the high single-thread score of 4823 in PassMark and 736 in Cinebench R15 ensures that even the most demanding game logic or physics calculations in Minimum will not cause hitches. The CPU’s role here is to provide a flawless frame delivery pipeline, leaving the GPU as the sole determinant of FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the data shows that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. With an average of 107 FPS and a minimum of 91 FPS, it provides a smooth experience that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 90 FPS is also acceptable, but the 16% performance drop from Medium may not be worth the visual gains for most players. Ultra at 68 FPS is still playable, but it is the first setting that starts to approach the lower limits of high refresh-rate monitors.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is again the sweet spot, with an average of 69 FPS and a minimum of 59 FPS. This keeps frame times mostly within a comfortable range. The High preset at 58 FPS is borderline, and players might experience occasional dips below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 90 FPS is the only option that provides a consistently high frame rate at this resolution, but it sacrifices significant visual fidelity. The data suggests that for a 60 Hz monitor, Medium is the recommended choice at 1440p.

For 4K, the data is far less encouraging. The Low preset averages 49 FPS, which is the only setting that comes close to playability. The Medium preset at 37 FPS and High at 31 FPS are too choppy for a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 24 FPS is essentially a slideshow. The recommendation is to stick to 1440p or 1080p for this game, or to heavily lower internal rendering resolution if 4K output is required. The GTX 1070 simply does not have the bandwidth or compute power to handle Minimum at 4K with acceptable frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal-architecture card with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, delivering 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power. The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its average benchmark score is 9780, placing it just 0.2% below the AMD FirePro W5000 and 0.5% below the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M.

In Minimum, the GTX 1070 is the definitive bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that the card is running out of pixel throughput at higher resolutions. The 4K results are particularly telling, as the card cannot sustain even 50 FPS on the lowest settings. The 8 GB VRAM appears sufficient for this game, as the frame drops are more attributable to compute and fill-rate limits than memory capacity.

The GPU’s performance is consistent with its 47th percentile ranking. It is a solid mid-range card that excels at 1080p and handles 1440p with some compromises, but it is not built for 4K gaming. The data shows that the card's 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate is the key limitation at 4K, as the sheer number of pixels required exceeds what the card can process. The 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate also becomes a factor at higher settings, where the Ultra preset's visual effects likely demand more texture throughput than the card can provide. The GTX 1070 is a capable card for its generation, but its age is clearly evident in the benchmark results for this title.