Overpower

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a study in extremes: a mid-range, high-frequency CPU from the Raptor Lake Refresh generation paired with NVIDIA’s flagship Blackwell 2.0 GPU, built on a 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors. In Overpower, an Action title released on 2023-08-14, this combination ranks 6th out of 1,744 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of systems. The benchmark data, which is measured, reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but exhibits classic CPU-limitation characteristics at 1080p, especially when settings are lowered. The RTX 5090’s raw throughput, including 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth, ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains a playable 112.9 FPS average. However, the i5-14600K’s 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficient) and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, become the bottleneck when the GPU is underutilized, capping frame rates just below 300 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in Overpower?*

A: The combination ranks 6th out of 1,744 tested configurations, placing it in the top 1% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its closest competitor in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 84,306. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, scores 84,241, meaning the 5090 is 0.1% faster. The gap is larger against the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, which the 5090 leads by 1.3%.

Q: What is the performance delta between the i5-14600K and its closest rival?

A: The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49,166, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (score of 49,062). It trails the Intel Core i5-14600KF by 0.4%, as that chip scores 49,367.

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this system in Overpower?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 284.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low graphics settings.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 112.9 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is still comfortably above 60 FPS.

Q: Does the data suggest the CPU or GPU is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K Ultra. The frame rate drops significantly from 150.4 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 112.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 25% reduction that correlates with the increased pixel rendering load on the RTX 5090.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed workhorse of this configuration, and its specifications dictate the performance ceiling in Overpower. Built on the GB202 chip using a 5 nm process, the GPU features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. The memory subsystem is equally formidable: 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This allows the card to feed its 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power without stalling, a critical factor for high-resolution textures and effects in a modern Action title.

The clock speeds of 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost are relatively modest compared to the architectural scale, but the sheer number of execution units compensates. In Overpower, the RTX 5090's dominance is evident in the scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1440p High, the system produces 162.7 FPS, while at 4K High it produces 136.8 FPS. This 15.9% drop is significant but not catastrophic, highlighting the GPU's ability to handle the increased pixel count. The card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, ensuring full feature compatibility.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 94th versus all GPUs confirms its elite status. Its average benchmark score of 84,306 is nearly identical to the RTX 5090 D (84,241, deltaPct 0.1%), showing that the standard 5090 is the reference point for performance. Interestingly, the data shows the RTX 5090 is 1.3% faster than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, a workstation card, and 1.6% slower than the NVIDIA CMP 40HX, a mining-specific chip. This suggests that in Overpower, the gaming-optimized drivers and architecture of the 5090 provide a balanced advantage. The 575 W TDP and single 16-pin power connector are the physical costs of this performance, but the measured FPS data confirms the GPU is rarely the sole bottleneck except at the highest resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K serves as the command center, and its role is to feed the RTX 5090 with enough data to keep it busy. With 14 cores (a hybrid mix of performance and efficient cores) and 20 threads, the CPU is designed for high throughput in multithreaded scenarios. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz are the highest in the Core 14th Gen lineup for this segment, allowing for rapid single-threaded responses. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is crucial for game logic and physics calculations.

In Overpower, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p resolution, where the GPU is not fully taxed. At 1080p Low, the system hits 284.8 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 150.4 FPS. The 134.4 FPS gap between these settings is primarily a GPU workload difference, but the CPU must still process the same number of draw calls. The fact that the system cannot exceed 284.8 FPS at 1080p Low suggests a CPU-imposed limit, as the RTX 5090 is capable of far higher frame rates in lighter scenes. This is typical of a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores provide context. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32,881 and single-core score of 4,642 indicate strong all-around processing power. The PassMark multithread score of 38,682 and single-thread score of 4,270 further confirm its capabilities. However, compared to its rivals, the i5-14600K is only 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in average benchmark score (49,166 vs 49,062), and it is 0.4% slower than the i5-14600KF. This places it in a narrow performance band where the GPU is the primary differentiator in gaming. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible platform, but its 10 nm process node is older than the GPU's 5 nm node, explaining why it becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Overpower covers four resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive view of system behavior. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 284.8 FPS on Low, 195.6 FPS on Medium, 179.6 FPS on High, and 150.4 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent drop of roughly 30-50 FPS per tier, with the largest single step being from Low to Medium (89.2 FPS drop). This indicates that Medium settings introduce a significant increase in GPU workload, such as higher-resolution textures or more complex shaders.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates are 274.9 FPS on Low, 173.2 FPS on Medium, 162.7 FPS on High, and 134.3 FPS on Ultra. The Low setting at 1440p is only 9.9 FPS slower than at 1080p, showing that the CPU is still the bottleneck at this resolution with minimal graphical load. However, the gap widens at Ultra, where 1440p is 16.1 FPS slower than 1080p, signaling the GPU's increasing role. At 3840x2160, the frame rates are 235.7 FPS on Low, 148.2 FPS on Medium, 136.8 FPS on High, and 112.9 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low result is impressive, but the 122.8 FPS drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution demonstrates the GPU's heavy lifting.

The data reveals that the system is always playable, with the lowest average being 112.9 FPS at 4K Ultra. The most significant performance delta between adjacent settings is at 1080p, where Low to Medium drops by 89.2 FPS, whereas at 4K, the same setting change drops by 87.5 FPS. This similarity suggests that the Medium setting adds a consistent GPU workload regardless of resolution, while the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at Low settings is the differentiator.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K illustrates the shifting bottleneck between the CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the frame rates are 284.8 FPS at 1080p, 274.9 FPS at 1440p, and 235.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 3.5%, indicating a CPU limit, as the GPU is not being stressed enough to reduce performance significantly. However, the drop from 1440p to 4K is 14.3%, showing the GPU beginning to take over as the pixel count increases.

At Ultra settings, the pattern reverses. The frame rates are 150.4 FPS at 1080p, 134.3 FPS at 1440p, and 112.9 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 10.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is 15.9%. This shows a more uniform scaling, indicating that the GPU is the dominant limiter across all resolutions when settings are maxed out. The total drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 37.5 FPS, or 25%, which is substantial but expected for a 4x increase in pixel count.

The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p with low to medium settings, the i5-14600K's 14 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock are sufficient to drive the RTX 5090 to high frame rates, but they cap performance around 280 FPS. At higher resolutions and settings, the RTX 5090's compute power and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth become the limiting factor. This is a classic example of a balanced system where the CPU is adequate for most gaming scenarios, but the GPU is the star performer, especially in a demanding Action title like Overpower. The system's 6th place ranking out of 1,744 combos confirms the RTX 5090's dominance, even when paired with a mid-range CPU.