Overpower

Overpower, an Action title released on 2023-08-14, presents a demanding workload that heavily taxes the graphics subsystem. The measured data for the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance across all tested resolutions and settings. The RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at 4K Ultra. The Ryzen 5 9600X, a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 5 part with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, delivers single-thread performance that does not bottleneck the GPU in this title, as evidenced by the scaling behavior between resolutions. This analysis walks through the measured frame rates, ranking data, and hardware characteristics to provide a complete picture of how this combination performs in Overpower.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 300 FPS, which represents the absolute ceiling of the tested scenarios. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 279 FPS, a modest 7% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 237.1 FPS, which is still exceptionally high but represents a 21% drop from the 1080p result. This relatively gentle decline at Low settings suggests that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is still able to feed the GPU adequately even as pixel count increases.

The scaling behavior changes more dramatically at higher quality presets. At High settings, the average drops from 179.7 FPS at 1080p to 159.7 FPS at 1440p (an 11% reduction), and then to 133.8 FPS at 4K (a 16% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows the steepest curve: 148.1 FPS at 1080p, 135 FPS at 1440p, and 110.5 FPS at 4K. This translates to a 25% performance penalty when moving from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra. The data indicates that Overpower’s higher settings introduce effects that scale non-linearly with resolution, placing increasing strain on the RTX 5090’s 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs.

At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra is substantial: 237.1 FPS versus 110.5 FPS, a 53% difference. This wide spread suggests that the game’s Ultra preset includes computationally expensive features that are not merely pixel-bound but also shader-bound. The RTX 5090’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput handles these workloads well, but the frame rate deltas show that even this flagship GPU cannot completely flatten the curve. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s performance headroom is demonstrated by the 300 FPS result at 1080p Low, which exceeds what most displays can even refresh.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a combo rank of 4 out of 1744 tested combinations in Overpower. This places the pairing in the top 0.2% of all configurations, indicating that it delivers near-flagship performance for this title. The rank reflects the synergistic balance between the CPU’s strong single-thread capability (a Geekbench single-core score of 3363) and the GPU’s massive rendering throughput (a Passmark G3D score of 39650).

The CPU alone sits at the 85th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 28246. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13490F, scores 28173, a delta of 0.3%, meaning the Ryzen 5 9600X is essentially tied with that part in general compute workloads. The AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS scores 28369, which is 0.4% higher, again a marginal difference. This tight clustering around the 28000-28400 score range indicates that the CPU’s raw multi-threaded performance is not the differentiator for the combo’s high rank.

The GPU, however, is a different story. The RTX 5090 achieves an average benchmark score of 84306, placing it at the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the RTX 5090 D, scores 84241, a mere 0.1% delta. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scores 83209, which is 1.3% lower, while the NVIDIA CMP 40HX scores 85637, putting the RTX 5090 1.6% behind that niche mining card. These figures show that the RTX 5090 is at the very top of the GPU hierarchy, and its combination with a mid-range but efficient CPU results in a top-5 combo ranking because Overpower’s frame rates are so heavily GPU-dependent.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, along with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. Memory is a key differentiator: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is instrumental in maintaining high frame rates at 4K resolution.

In Overpower, the GPU’s role is dominant. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 110.5, which is 25% lower than the 1440p Ultra result of 135 FPS. This drop is consistent with the GPU being the primary bottleneck, as the additional pixel count at 4K (8.3 million pixels versus 3.7 million at 1440p) requires more fill rate and memory bandwidth. The RTX 5090’s pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are sufficient to handle these loads, but the frame rate degradation shows the sheer volume of work.

The 32 GB memory capacity is noteworthy because Overpower, being a 2023 title, likely has large texture packs that can consume VRAM. At 4K Ultra, the ability to hold all textures on-die avoids stuttering and maintains the 110.5 FPS average. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) combined with the 512-bit interface results in the 1.79 TB/s figure, which is more than adequate for this game. The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures full feature compatibility with the game’s rendering pipeline, allowing the Ultra preset to operate without API-level compromises.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target refresh rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 300 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play on high-refresh monitors. However, the Medium preset at 192.9 FPS and High at 179.7 FPS still exceed 144 Hz, making them viable for most displays. The Ultra preset at 148.1 FPS is also above 144 Hz, meaning there is no scenario at 1080p where this combo fails to saturate a 144 Hz panel.

At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 279 FPS, which is again extremely high. Medium produces 173.3 FPS, High 159.7 FPS, and Ultra 135 FPS. For a 144 Hz monitor, Ultra is just below the threshold, but High at 159.7 FPS provides a comfortable margin. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot at 1440p, as it offers a 18% uplift over Ultra while maintaining visual quality. At 4K, the situation changes: Low gives 237.1 FPS, Medium 145.5 FPS, High 133.8 FPS, and Ultra 110.5 FPS. For 4K gaming, Medium at 145.5 FPS is the best balance, as it stays above 144 Hz while High drops below that mark.

The measured rows show that the performance delta between Medium and High is relatively small across resolutions, averaging around 9-10%. The delta between High and Ultra is larger, averaging 17-18%. Therefore, the recommendation is to use High at 1080p and 1440p, and Medium at 4K, unless the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity over frame rate, in which case Ultra at 1080p (148.1 FPS) remains a strong choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for this combo in Overpower is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 300 FPS, Medium 192.9 FPS, High 179.7 FPS, and Ultra 148.1 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 279 FPS for Low, 173.3 FPS for Medium, 159.7 FPS for High, and 135 FPS for Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results are 237.1 FPS for Low, 145.5 FPS for Medium, 133.8 FPS for High, and 110.5 FPS for Ultra.

These numbers reveal a consistent pattern: the drop from Low to Medium is steep, averaging a 36% reduction across all resolutions. The drop from Medium to High is milder, averaging 8%, while the drop from High to Ultra is more pronounced, averaging 17%. This suggests that the Medium preset includes a significant increase in shader complexity, while Ultra adds even more demanding effects. The data also shows that the combo maintains over 100 FPS in every tested configuration, meaning even the most demanding 4K Ultra setting is playable.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across presets, with the average FPS dropping by roughly 45-50% when moving from the lowest resolution to the highest. This is expected for a GPU-bound title, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The RTX 5090’s 32 GB of VRAM ensures that no memory-related frame drops occur, as evidenced by the smooth scaling pattern.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Overpower?

A: The highest measured average is 300 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling for this combination in the tested scenarios.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 148.1 at 1080p to 110.5 at 4K, a reduction of 37.6 FPS or approximately 25%. This indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 9600X bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: No, the data shows no CPU bottleneck. The combo achieves 300 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. The CPU’s single-thread score of 3363 in Geekbench supports this, as Overpower appears to be GPU-bound based on the resolution scaling.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 4th out of 1744 tested combinations in Overpower. This places it in the top 0.2% of all configurations, reflecting the RTX 5090’s high performance and the CPU’s adequate support.

Q: Is the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of VRAM necessary for this game?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which helps maintain consistent frame rates at 4K Ultra (110.5 FPS). While the game may not require all 32 GB, the high bandwidth ensures smooth performance across all settings.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best experience for a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 159.7 FPS, which exceeds 144 Hz. Ultra drops to 135 FPS, so High is the recommended preset for 144 Hz displays at this resolution.