Overpower

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER in Overpower produces a combination where the graphics card is the primary performance ceiling, but the CPU’s strength ensures that frame pacing remains consistent even at lower resolutions. The data shows a system that is capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p and solid 60+ FPS experiences at 4K, though the scaling between presets reveals the GPU’s Turing architecture limitations under the game’s highest load settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend: as resolution increases, the performance gap between settings narrows, indicating a shift from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior. At 1920x1080, the delta between Low and Ultra settings is 70.4 FPS (140.4 vs 70.0), which is a 50% drop. This substantial gap suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 9 7900X with its 12 cores and 24 threads has enough headroom to feed the RTX 2070 SUPER efficiently, allowing the GPU’s workload to be the differentiator between presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the spread between Low (127.4 FPS) and Ultra (63.8 FPS) compresses to 63.6 FPS, a 50% reduction. The absolute numbers drop, but the relative scaling remains similar, indicating that the GPU is now the limiting factor. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed more heavily, yet the CPU is no longer a bottleneck, as evidenced by the still-strong Low preset performance.

At 3840x2160, the scaling pattern becomes more compressed. The difference between Low (106.2 FPS) and Ultra (52.9 FPS) is 53.3 FPS, a 50% drop. Interestingly, the High and Medium presets both average 65.3 FPS at 4K, which is identical. This convergence suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s compute throughput (9.062 TFLOPS FP32) and memory subsystem are saturated, and the game’s settings have diminishing returns beyond a certain point. The fact that Medium does not outperform High at 4K, while it does at 1440p (77.1 vs 72.0) and 1080p (88.7 vs 82.9), indicates that the GPU is hitting a memory bandwidth or fill-rate wall.

The data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component across all resolutions. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 43695 and a Passmark multithread score of 51406, place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, but these capabilities are only fully utilized at 1080p Low where the FPS reaches 140.4. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 52.9 FPS, which is a 62% reduction from the 1080p Low figure, highlighting that the GPU’s pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are the operative constraints.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming with this combo?

A: The 1920x1080 Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 140.4, making it the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 140 FPS. For a more balanced experience, 1080p Medium at 88.7 FPS or 1080p High at 82.9 FPS are the next viable options.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 52.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive action. The Low preset at 4K achieves 106.2 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough raw power for 4K if settings are reduced.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X has an average benchmark score of 50556. Its closest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, scores 50598, which is a delta of -0.1%. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT scores 50738 (-0.4%), and the Intel Core i7-13850HX scores 50827 (-0.5%). The data shows the 7900X is effectively tied with these parts, trailing the Intel Core i9-13980HX by -0.8%.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance percentile and how does it compare to its rivals?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores 22307 (-0.5%). It outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006, +0.9%) and AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670, +2.5%), but trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, -2.3%).

Q: Why are the High and Medium presets identical at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, both the High and Medium settings produce an average FPS of 65.3. This convergence indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) and shading units (2560) are fully saturated, and the additional graphical features in High over Medium do not impact performance at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1076 out of 1744 tested combinations in Overpower, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems. This rank reflects the GPU’s age (released in 2019) relative to the CPU’s modern architecture (Zen 4).

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this specific CPU-GPU pairing at 1076 out of 1744 tested combinations. This ranking, which is in the 38th percentile of all tested combos, is a direct consequence of the mismatch between the CPU’s high-end capabilities and the GPU’s mid-range positioning. The Ryzen 9 7900X is a top-tier desktop processor, with a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and a Passmark multithread score of 51406 that puts it on par with the Intel Core i9-13980HX (50944, -0.8% delta). However, the RTX 2070 SUPER, while still capable, sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 18169.

The data suggests that this combination is CPU-heavy, meaning the processor is capable of driving far more graphical performance than the GPU can deliver. In Overpower, this manifests as a system that is never CPU-bound, even at 1080p Low where the FPS reaches 140.4. The ranking of 1076 out of 1744 indicates that there are 668 other combos that perform better, likely featuring newer GPUs. However, the rank is not a measure of playability; the measured FPS data shows that this combo can achieve 70 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is a smooth experience for the Action genre. The rank is more indicative of raw throughput potential compared to other pairings, and the data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck, as upgrading the GPU would yield a significantly higher rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance envelope. The Low preset averages 140.4 FPS, which is the only setting in the entire dataset to break the 140 FPS barrier. Medium produces 88.7 FPS, High yields 82.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 70.0 FPS. The progression from Medium to Ultra shows a 21% decrease (88.7 to 70.0), indicating that the highest settings are taxing the GPU more heavily.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low averages 127.4 FPS, which is still highly playable for fast-paced action. Medium produces 77.1 FPS, High averages 72.0 FPS, and Ultra is 63.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 50%, similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower, confirming the GPU’s role as the primary limiter.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the most interesting pattern. Low averages 106.2 FPS, which is still above 100 FPS, but Medium and High both converge at 65.3 FPS. Ultra is the lowest at 52.9 FPS. The identical performance of Medium and High at 4K suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline at this resolution is constrained by the GPU’s fill rate or memory bandwidth, rather than the specific settings. The 52.9 FPS at 4K Ultra is the lowest measured average in the entire dataset.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing maximum frame rate, the 1920x1080 Low preset is the clear choice, delivering 140.4 FPS. This configuration leverages the CPU’s massive multi-threading capability (24 threads) to feed the GPU at its maximum rate, and the 1080p resolution ensures the GPU’s 8 GB memory is not a limiting factor.

For a balanced experience at 1080p, the Medium preset at 88.7 FPS offers a 27% improvement over High (82.9 FPS) while presumably retaining better visual fidelity than Low. The data shows that the jump from Medium to High costs 5.8 FPS (88.7 to 82.9), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 12.9 FPS (82.9 to 70.0), suggesting that Medium provides the best performance-per-visual fidelity ratio.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 72.0 FPS is the recommended choice for a smooth experience, as it is above the 60 FPS threshold and only 8.2 FPS below Medium (77.1). The Ultra preset at 63.8 FPS is still playable but represents a 11% drop from High.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 106.2 FPS is the only way to achieve high refresh rates, but it defeats the purpose of 4K resolution. The Medium or High presets at 65.3 FPS are the best options for 4K gaming, as they deliver a smooth 60+ FPS experience without the significant visual downgrade of Low. The Ultra preset at 52.9 FPS should be avoided for action gameplay, as it dips below the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows that for this combo, the GPU’s architectural limits (Turing, 12 nm process) mean that 4K gaming requires accepting Medium/High settings to maintain playable frame rates.