Overpower

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Overpower. The benchmark data shows a clear pattern: performance scales heavily with both resolution and preset, indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary constraint in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how sharply performance drops as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 59.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 54.7 FPS, a reduction of 4.5 FPS. At 4K High, the average falls further to 45.9 FPS. This trend shows that the GPU struggles to maintain frame rates as pixel count rises, with the 4K High result being 13.3 FPS lower than the 1080p High result.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all presets. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is 21.1 FPS (97.6 down to 76.5). At Medium, the drop is 9.6 FPS (59.5 to 49.9). At Ultra, the drop is 10.2 FPS (45.9 to 35.7). The larger absolute drop at Low settings suggests that when the GPU is less loaded by graphical effects, the resolution increase still imposes a significant cost, confirming the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing limits.

Interestingly, the 1440p to 4K transition is less punishing than the 1080p to 1440p step at Medium and Ultra presets. At Medium, 1440p yields 56.2 FPS and 4K yields 49.9 FPS, a 6.3 FPS difference. At Ultra, the difference is 7.0 FPS (42.7 to 35.7). This suggests that at higher presets, the GPU is already saturated at 1440p, so the additional resolution hit is relatively smaller in absolute terms. The data indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component at every resolution, as the i7-13700K's processing power is far above what this game demands at these frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this CPU-GPU combination holds a combo rank of 1539 out of 1744 tested combos in Overpower. This places it in the lower 12% of all tested configurations. The rank reflects the GPU's position in the overall performance hierarchy; the GTX 1660 SUPER sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, while the i7-13700K is at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs.

The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank is telling. The GPU's average benchmark score of 14286 is close to its nearest rivals, with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 scoring 14314 (0.2% higher) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics scoring 14315 (0.2% higher). The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is 0.7% ahead with a score of 14389. This clustering shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER is performing at the expected level for its class, but that class is simply not competitive with higher-tier GPUs in this database.

The combo rank indicates that while the CPU is overqualified for the GPU, the pairing does not unlock any special performance advantage. The system behaves as the GPU dictates, making the i7-13700K's capabilities largely irrelevant for frame rate output in this specific game. For context, the CPU's own benchmark scores are strong—its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000 and single-core score of 5505 place it well above most desktop processors—but these do not translate to higher FPS when the GPU is the bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The CPU features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core, along with 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory via a dual-channel memory bus.

In Overpower, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with frames. Given the measured FPS values, the i7-13700K is never the bottleneck. The highest average FPS recorded is 97.6 at 1080p Low, which is well within the CPU's capability to generate. The CPU's benchmark scores support this: its 3DMark max-thread score is 12412, and its Passmark multithread score is 45887. These numbers indicate a processor that can handle far more demanding workloads than a GTX 1660 SUPER can render.

The CPU's single-thread performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5505 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2850. This matters for gameplay logic and physics, but in Overpower, the frame rate is determined by the GPU's pixel throughput. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes mean it has ample bandwidth for the GPU, but the GTX 1660 SUPER uses PCIe 3.0 x16, which is not a limiting factor at these performance levels. The data shows that upgrading the CPU would yield no measurable FPS improvement in this game; the 16 cores and 24 threads are simply idling relative to the GPU's output.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of playing Overpower at 1080p with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes. The data shows an average of 59.2 FPS at 1080p High, 59.5 FPS at Medium, and 97.6 FPS at Low. Only the Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS, averaging 45.9 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 scores 14314 (0.2% higher), the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics scores 14315 (0.2% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT scores 14389 (0.7% higher). The AMD Radeon Vega 11 scores 14352 (0.5% higher).

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a consistent 60 FPS?

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the only resolution where High and Medium presets stay near 60 FPS (59.2 and 59.5, respectively). At 1440p, the High preset drops to 54.7 FPS, and at 4K, the High preset drops to 45.9 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU hold back the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i7-13700K's benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multicore: 39000, single-core: 5505) are far above what is needed for the frame rates observed. The GPU's 55th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 93rd percentile confirms the GPU is the limiting factor.

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

A: The average FPS drops from 59.5 at 1080p to 56.2 at 1440p, then to 49.9 at 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 9.6 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). This bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p but becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions, as shown by the FPS drops.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU116 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 12 nm process with 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. It features 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. The GPU has a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at an effective 14 Gbps, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth over a 192-bit bus.

In Overpower, the GPU's role is dominant across all measured scenarios. The data shows that the GPU's capabilities dictate the frame rate, not the CPU. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 35.7 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. At 1080p Ultra, the average climbs to 45.9 FPS, still below 60. The GPU's compute performance, rated at 5.027 TFLOPS FP32, is modest by modern standards, and this is reflected in the frame rates.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 55 places it in the lower half of all tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 14286 is only slightly above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314, 0.2% higher) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315, 0.2% higher). The closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, which scores 14389 (0.7% higher). These small deltas indicate that the GTX 1660 SUPER is not significantly outperforming its direct rivals, and all of them sit in the same performance tier.

The GPU's 125 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU are modest, but its end-of-life production status suggests it is a legacy part. The lack of ray tracing cores and tensor cores means it relies on traditional rasterization, which is why the Ultra preset in Overpower causes such a steep FPS drop. The GPU's texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s are adequate for 1080p but struggle at 4K, where the pixel count quadruples.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which preset offers the best experience. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 59.5 FPS, which is nearly identical to the High preset's 59.2 FPS. Since Medium and High produce virtually the same frame rate, the High preset is the better choice for 1080p, offering improved visual quality without a measurable FPS penalty.

For 1440p, the High preset yields 54.7 FPS, which is below 60 but still playable for many users. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 56.2 FPS, a marginal 1.5 FPS improvement over High. Given the small difference, the High preset at 1440p is preferable for visual fidelity, as the frame rate difference is minimal. The Low preset at 1440p gives 88.6 FPS, which is well above 60, but sacrifices significant visual quality.

At 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The Low preset averages 76.5 FPS, which is the only playable option at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 49.9 FPS, and High falls to 45.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as the 35.7 FPS average is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. For the best balance of visuals and performance, the data suggests using High at 1080p or 1440p, and Low at 4K if the higher resolution is mandatory.

The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer across all resolutions, with 45.9 FPS at 1080p, 42.7 FPS at 1440p, and 35.7 FPS at 4K. The performance gap between High and Ultra is 13.3 FPS at 1080p, 12.0 FPS at 1440p, and 10.2 FPS at 4K. These differences indicate that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy load on the GPU without providing a commensurate visual benefit for this hardware. The practical recommendation is to stick with High settings and accept the resolution limitations imposed by the GTX 1660 SUPER.