Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a commanding performance profile in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The combination of a 24-core Arrow Lake Refresh processor and a Blackwell 2.0 graphics card produces frame rates that are exceptionally high across all tested configurations. The measured data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions and settings, while the CPU’s substantial headroom becomes evident only at the most demanding low-resolution, high-refresh-rate scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shifting bottleneck within this system. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 297 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 192 FPS, a reduction of 105 FPS, and further to 4K Low yields 103 FPS. This steep decline shows that even with a powerful GPU like the RTX 5070, the rendering workload at lower resolutions is not fully taxing the graphics card, allowing the CPU to push frame rates to extreme levels before the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The scaling pattern changes significantly at higher settings. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 191 FPS at 1080p to 123 FPS at 1440p (a 68 FPS drop) and then to 66 FPS at 4K (a further 57 FPS drop). The transition from Medium to Ultra settings at each resolution shows a similar pattern. At 4K, the Ultra preset produces just 51 FPS, which is less than half of the 103 FPS achieved at Low settings. The data indicates that the RTX 5070 is the primary constraint at 4K, particularly with the Ultra preset, where the pixel throughput demands of the Blackwell 2.0 architecture are fully saturated.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 151 FPS (297 vs 146). At 1440p, the gap is 98 FPS (192 vs 94). At 4K, the gap narrows to 52 FPS (103 vs 51). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU, with its 5.80 GHz boost clock and 24 threads, appears to have ample headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the RTX 5070’s 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 192-bit bus become the decisive factor as the pixel count increases.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 holds a combo rank of 558 out of 2939 combos. This places it in the top 19% of all tested configurations for Minimum. The rank reflects the overall capability of this pairing, which is strong but not at the absolute top tier, likely due to the GPU’s mid-range positioning relative to other tested graphics cards.

The CPU itself is a high performer, ranking in the 96th percentile against all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 84003 places it slightly above the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83807, a delta of 0.2%. It also outperforms the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090, +1.1%) and the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980, +1.2%), while trailing the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072, -1.3%). This indicates that the processor is not a bottleneck in this combo, providing performance that is competitive with the best desktop silicon available.

The GPU, while capable, is less dominant in its respective field. The RTX 5070 ranks in the 82nd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318, +0.1%) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, +0.8%), showing that its raw compute performance is closely matched by older workstation cards. The combo’s overall rank of 558 is therefore a product of a top-tier CPU paired with a solidly mid-range GPU, resulting in a system that excels in CPU-light scenarios but is ultimately restrained by graphics processing power at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 297 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the Ultra preset at 4K compare to the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces an average of 51 FPS, which is significantly lower than the 1440p Medium preset’s average of 147 FPS. The difference is 96 FPS, showing a substantial performance penalty for the higher resolution and settings combination.

Q: Does this system support high refresh rate gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 123 FPS and the Medium preset delivers 147 FPS. These frame rates are well above the 100 FPS threshold, making the combo suitable for high refresh rate monitors at this resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 297 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 146 FPS. This represents a 151 FPS difference, or roughly a 51% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

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 outperforms the AMD EPYC 4584PX by 1.1% and the AMD EPYC 9135 by 1.2%.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the measured data?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 51 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide spread of performance across the four settings presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 297 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded for this combo. The Medium preset delivers 228 FPS, with a minimum of 193 FPS and a maximum of 262 FPS. The High preset produces 191 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 146 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is capable of extremely high frame rates, even with demanding settings, and the CPU’s 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock are sufficient to avoid creating a bottleneck.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease across the board. The Low preset still manages a strong 192 FPS. The Medium preset produces 147 FPS, with a min-max range of 125 to 169 FPS. The High preset averages 123 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 94 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with the Low preset losing 105 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 52 FPS. This suggests that the RTX 5070’s 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are being utilized more effectively as the pixel count grows.

At 3840x2160, the performance curves flatten considerably. The Low preset averages 103 FPS, which is still playable for a competitive shooter. The Medium preset delivers 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. The High preset averages 66 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces just 51 FPS. The 4K results show a clear GPU limitation, as the frame rate differences between presets shrink compared to lower resolutions. The Ultra preset’s 51 FPS is the only configuration in the dataset that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark results are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. PassMark tests show a multi-thread score of 60860 and a single-thread score of 4823, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor at any tested setting. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work to do, the system achieves 297 FPS, indicating that the CPU can handle the game’s single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads with ease. The high boost clock of 5.80 GHz is likely critical for this performance, as it ensures low latency in the game’s main thread.

The 24 threads provide ample parallel processing capability, but the game’s age (released in 2014) means it likely cannot fully utilize all of them. However, the processor’s high per-core performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303, ensures that even older game engines that rely on a few fast cores will run smoothly. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking and its performance relative to the Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% higher average score) confirm that it provides a solid foundation for this GPU, with no evidence of the processor holding back the RTX 5070 in this title.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the clear choice, delivering an average of 297 FPS. This is ideal for competitive play on high refresh rate monitors, as the frame rate is more than double the 144 Hz standard. At 2560x1440, the Low preset still provides 192 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate QHD displays.

For a balance between visual quality and performance, the High preset at 2560x1440 is a strong recommendation. It produces an average of 123 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios, while offering significantly better visual fidelity than Low. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves 191 FPS, making it a superior choice to Medium or Ultra for those who want high frame rates without the extreme settings’ performance cost.

The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it averages 146 FPS, and at 1440p, where it averages 94 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 51 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a third-person shooter. The Medium preset at 4K is the best option for 4K displays, providing 79 FPS, which is acceptable. The data suggests that the optimal experience is achieved at 1440p with High settings, as it offers a strong balance of image quality and frame rate, utilizing the RTX 5070’s capabilities without overtaxing the system.