Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a performance profile in Minimum that is heavily dictated by resolution. At 1080p, the combo produces exceptionally high frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 256 FPS and Ultra still managing 125 FPS. As resolution climbs to 1440p, those figures scale down proportionally: Low drops to 165 FPS and Ultra to 81 FPS. Moving to 4K reveals the most significant impact, where the Ultra preset falls to 43 FPS, and even High settings only reach 57 FPS. This scaling pattern—from 256 FPS at 1080p Low down to 43 FPS at 4K Ultra—indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases, while the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions to feed the graphics card.

The frame rate deltas between resolutions are telling. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 91 FPS (256 to 165), and from 1440p to 4K is another 76 FPS (165 to 89). These are steep declines that point directly at the RTX 4080’s workload. At Ultra settings, the pattern is similar: 125 FPS at 1080p falls to 81 FPS at 1440p, then to 43 FPS at 4K—a 34% and 47% reduction respectively. The fact that 4K Ultra produces sub-60 FPS average (43 FPS) suggests that the GPU’s 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the game’s demands at that resolution. The data shows that for smooth 4K gameplay, users must sacrifice quality settings, as even High preset only yields 57 FPS average. At 1080p and 1440p, however, the combo provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS across all tested presets, making higher refresh-rate monitors viable.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and playable frame rates, the Medium preset stands out as the sweet spot across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 196 FPS average with a minimum of 166 FPS, ensuring consistent performance even in demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium yields 126 FPS average with a minimum of 107 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium result of 68 FPS average, with a minimum of 58 FPS, is the only Medium setting that dips near the 60 FPS line, but it still provides a playable experience. The data shows that Ultra settings offer diminishing returns: at 1440p, Ultra produces 81 FPS compared to Medium’s 126 FPS—a 45 FPS gap—while at 4K, Ultra’s 43 FPS average makes it unsuitable for consistent play, whereas Medium’s 68 FPS is far more practical.

High settings present a middle ground worth considering. At 1080p, High achieves 164 FPS, which is only 32 FPS less than Medium but still far above any refresh-rate concerns. At 1440p, High’s 106 FPS is respectable, though it sacrifices 20 FPS compared to Medium. The 4K High result of 57 FPS is borderline—technically below 60 FPS average but close enough that variable refresh rate displays could make it acceptable. Low settings, while offering the highest frame rates (256 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, 89 FPS at 4K), likely degrade visual quality too significantly for a third-person shooter where environmental detail matters. Given the measured rows, Medium is the recommended preset for most users, as it provides the largest performance buffer at every resolution while still maintaining reasonable graphical fidelity. For competitive play at 1080p, Low’s 256 FPS could edge out Medium for maximum responsiveness, but the 60 FPS difference (256 vs 196) is less critical than the visual trade-off.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 918th out of 2,939 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the 69th percentile of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects a solidly above-average configuration, though not an elite one. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 88 and GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 86 both indicate strong individual components, yet the combined ranking suggests that the game’s optimization or the specific pairing yields results slightly below what the sum of parts might imply. The RTX 4080’s nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, shows a 0.1% average score delta, meaning the two are effectively performance peers in general benchmarks. However, in Minimum specifically, the measured FPS data reveals that the combo’s 4K Ultra performance (43 FPS) is the weakest area, dragging down the overall ranking.

When compared to other tested combos, the 918th position out of 2,939 is respectable but leaves room for improvement. The CPU’s nearest rivals—AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, Intel Core i9-13950HX, AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and Intel Core i5-13600—all sit within a tight 0.7% average score band, indicating that swapping the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H for any of these would produce negligible CPU-bound differences. The GPU’s nearest rivals similarly cluster closely, with the RTX 4080 SUPER being essentially identical, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and RX 6750 GRE 12 GB being 1.1% and 2.6% slower on average, respectively. The data suggests that the combo’s ranking is more a function of the game’s demands than any single component weakness; the RTX 4080’s 16 GB VRAM and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance are clearly capable, but Minimum’s engine appears to scale heavily with raw GPU throughput at high resolutions. For a 2026-era mobile CPU paired with a 2022-era desktop GPU, the 918th rank is a reasonable outcome, indicating the combination handles the game well but isn’t optimized for the absolute highest tier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the measured FPS shows a clear progression across presets. Low settings produce an average of 256 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded for this combo. Medium settings drop to 196 FPS average, with a minimum of 166 FPS and a maximum of 225 FPS, indicating tight frame pacing. High settings yield 164 FPS average, while Ultra settings fall to 125 FPS. These numbers demonstrate that even at Ultra, the combo maintains frame rates far above standard 60 Hz displays, making 1080p a resolution where the CPU and GPU have abundant headroom. The gap between Low and Ultra is 131 FPS (256 vs 125), showing that preset choice has a substantial impact on performance even at this resolution.

At 1440p, the pattern continues but with a noticeable shift. Low settings average 165 FPS, Medium delivers 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS, High achieves 106 FPS, and Ultra drops to 81 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 84 FPS (165 vs 81), which is smaller than at 1080p but still significant. The Medium preset’s minimum of 107 FPS ensures that even in demanding sequences, the frame rate stays above 100 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. High settings at 106 FPS are nearly identical to Medium’s average, suggesting that the visual difference between these presets is small in performance terms. Ultra at 81 FPS remains playable but begins to show the GPU’s workload increasing.

At 4K, the performance drops are most pronounced. Low settings average 89 FPS, which is still respectable, but Medium falls to 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS. High settings produce 57 FPS average, while Ultra bottoms out at 43 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 4K represents a 11 FPS drop (68 to 57), pushing the combo below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra’s 43 FPS is a 25 FPS reduction from Medium, making it the only preset-resolutions combination where the average dips below 45 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming with this combo requires either Low or Medium settings to maintain playable frame rates, with High being borderline and Ultra being unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium minimum of 58 FPS is particularly important—it shows that even on Medium, there are moments where the frame rate dips below 60, so users should be prepared for occasional stutter on displays without adaptive sync.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, but only on lower presets. At 4K, Low settings average 89 FPS, Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS, High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. For consistent 60 FPS gameplay, Medium is the highest preset that comes close, though its minimum of 58 FPS means occasional dips below the threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: Medium settings provide the best experience at 1440p, with an average of 126 FPS and a minimum of 107 FPS. This leaves a 46 FPS buffer above 60 FPS and is only 39 FPS slower than Low’s 165 FPS average, while offering improved visuals over Low. Ultra at 81 FPS is also viable but cuts performance by 45 FPS compared to Medium.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest competitor in this setup?

A: The RTX 4080’s nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 0.1% higher on average in general benchmarks. In Minimum specifically, the measured FPS data shows the RTX 4080 achieving 256 FPS at 1080p Low and 43 FPS at 4K Ultra, but no direct comparison data is available for the SUPER in this game. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% slower on average, and the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% slower.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. The combo reaches 256 FPS at Low settings and 125 FPS at Ultra, with the CPU’s 16 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock providing sufficient throughput. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 44,466 sits near rivals like the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (44,573) and Intel Core i9-13950HX (44,342), suggesting it holds its own in gaming workloads.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 125 FPS. This is 131 FPS lower than Low settings’ 256 FPS, but still well above 60 FPS. The lack of minimum FPS data for Ultra means the worst-case performance is unknown, but the average suggests smooth gameplay on most displays.

*Q: How does the combo’s ranking in Minimum compare to its overall component performance?*

A: The combo ranks 918th out of 2,939 tested combinations, which is in the 69th percentile. The CPU sits in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The lower combo ranking relative to individual component percentiles indicates that Minimum’s demands, particularly at 4K, prevent the hardware from achieving its full potential.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor based on the Panther Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and boosts up to 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 25 W—a notably power-efficient design for a mobile chip. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. In Minimum, the CPU’s role is largely to feed the RTX 4080 with sufficient draw calls and physics calculations, which the benchmark data suggests it does effectively at 1080p and 1440p. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (256 FPS) indicates that the CPU is not limiting performance, as the GPU is still able to produce extremely high frame rates. The CPU’s single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2200.5, is strong enough to handle the game’s main thread without becoming a bottleneck.

However, the CPU’s multithreaded capabilities are more relevant for Minimum’s background tasks and streaming. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18,911 and PassMark multithread score of 36,811 place it slightly below the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (44,573 average) and Intel Core i9-13950HX (44,342 average) in overall benchmark averages, but the 0.3% to 0.5% deltaPct values indicate the differences are minimal. The CPU’s 16 threads are sufficient for modern game engines, and the lack of hyperthreading (16 cores, 16 threads) does not appear to hinder Minimum’s performance, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load rather than CPU limitations. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 153.6 GB/s via LPDDR5X dual-channel support is adequate for feeding the GPU’s 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, though the game’s data streaming could benefit from higher bandwidth in open-world sections, which the measured FPS minimums (e.g., 107 FPS at 1440p Medium) suggest is handled competently.

The CPU’s integrated graphics, Arc B390, are irrelevant for this discrete GPU setup, but the processor’s PCIe Gen 5 support with 4 lanes (CPU only) ensures that the RTX 4080’s PCIe 4.0 x16 interface operates without bandwidth constraints. In terms of gaming performance, the CPU’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz is the key metric, as Minimum likely relies on single-core performance for frame pacing. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 309.5 and R20 single-core of 1,849 show strong per-core throughput, which translates to consistent frame delivery in the measured data. The CPU’s 88th percentile ranking versus all CPUs reinforces that it is a capable gaming processor, and its low 25 W TDP makes it suitable for mobile platforms without thermal throttling concerns. Overall, the CPU provides a solid foundation for the RTX 4080 in Minimum, with the GPU taking over as the primary performance limiter once resolution and settings increase beyond 1080p Medium.