Overpower

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Overpower reveals a predictable but informative scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 101.6 FPS, which drops to 89.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 74.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 12.2% decline from 1080p to 1440p, and a 26.7% decline from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is relatively gentle, suggesting that the GPU is not being pushed to its absolute limit at lower resolutions.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern shifts. The 1080p result of 63.7 FPS drops to 54.2 FPS at 1440p (a 14.9% reduction) and then to 47.3 FPS at 4K (a 25.7% reduction from 1080p). The smaller absolute differences at higher settings indicate that the graphics card is becoming the primary constraint as visual fidelity increases.

High settings tell a similar story: 57.6 FPS at 1080p, 53.8 FPS at 1440p, and 46.7 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p narrows to just 6.6%, while the 4K result trails 1080p by 18.9%. This compression of frame rates at higher settings is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling. The 49.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 43.9 FPS at 1440p (a 10.9% drop) and then to 34.6 FPS at 4K (a 29.8% drop from 1080p). The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, confirming that this configuration struggles to maintain playable frame rates at maximum settings and 4K resolution.

The data suggests that at Low settings, the Intel Core i7-14700KF has enough headroom to keep the GTX 1660 SUPER fed, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS penalties when moving up in resolution. However, as settings increase, the GPU's 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width become limiting factors. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears adequate for 1080p gaming but shows strain at higher resolutions where texture data demands more bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Overpower?

A: The data shows that 1080p provides the highest frame rates across all settings, with Low achieving 101.6 FPS and even Ultra maintaining 49.3 FPS. For 60 FPS gameplay, 1080p Medium (63.7 FPS) or High (57.6 FPS) are the only options that get close.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER perform relative to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 14286 places it slightly below the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314, -0.2%), Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315, -0.2%), and AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352, -0.5%). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389) by 0.7%.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF has a percentile rank of 96 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70104. Given that the GPU scores in the 55th percentile (12699 in Passmark G3D), the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor. The FPS scaling patterns confirm the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Overpower?

A: 4K gaming is possible but limited. Low settings yield 74.5 FPS, while Medium and High produce 47.3 and 46.7 FPS respectively. Ultra settings drop to 34.6 FPS. For smooth 4K gameplay, Low settings are the only viable option.

Q: What settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The data indicates 1080p High at 57.6 FPS offers a strong balance, while 1440p Medium at 54.2 FPS is also reasonable. Both stay above 50 FPS while providing enhanced visuals compared to Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-core performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i7-14700KF scores 44557 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. Its average benchmark score of 70104 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-14700K (70074, 0% delta), slightly above the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, 0.3% delta), and below the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, -0.4% delta) and Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (71056, -1.3% delta).

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1520 out of 1744 tested combos in Overpower, placing it in the 87th percentile of all configurations. This relatively low ranking reflects the significant mismatch between the high-end CPU and the mid-range GPU.

The CPU itself ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 70104. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, scores 70074 with a 0% delta, indicating essentially identical performance. The AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, 0.3% delta) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, -0.4% delta) are also extremely close, while the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (71056) leads by 1.3%.

The GPU ranks in the 55th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 14286. Its closest competitors are tightly clustered: the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314, -0.2%), Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315, -0.2%), AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352, -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389, -0.7%). This places the GTX 1660 SUPER at the bottom of this group.

The rank of 1520 out of 1744 indicates that most other combinations tested in Overpower achieve better performance. This is expected given the GPU's age — it was released on 2019-10-28 and is now end-of-life — while the CPU is a current-generation part released on 2023-10-16. The combination's performance is constrained almost entirely by the graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's refresh rate and resolution preferences. For 1080p displays with 60 Hz refresh rates, Medium settings (63.7 FPS) provide a comfortable margin above the refresh threshold. High settings (57.6 FPS) are also viable, though they dip slightly below 60 FPS. Ultra settings (49.3 FPS) may be acceptable for those prioritizing visual fidelity over smoothness.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more constrained. Medium settings (54.2 FPS) and High settings (53.8 FPS) produce nearly identical results, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the settings themselves. Low settings (89.2 FPS) offer the best performance but sacrifice visual quality. Ultra (43.9 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stuttering on fast-moving scenes.

For 4K displays, Low settings (74.5 FPS) are the only option that maintains smooth gameplay. Medium (47.3 FPS) and High (46.7 FPS) are nearly identical, while Ultra (34.6 FPS) is likely too choppy for action-oriented gameplay. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromises.

The best overall experience appears to be 1080p High settings, which delivers 57.6 FPS with enhanced visuals. This represents a 9.6% improvement over Ultra (49.3 FPS) while providing better image quality than Medium (63.7 FPS). For users with 144 Hz displays, 1080p Low (101.6 FPS) or 1440p Low (89.2 FPS) are the only options that approach high refresh rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Overpower reveals consistent patterns across all resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the four settings produce the following average frame rates: Low 101.6 FPS, Medium 63.7 FPS, High 57.6 FPS, and Ultra 49.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial at 37.9 FPS, indicating a significant performance cost for the first step up in visual quality. Subsequent steps show smaller decrements: 6.1 FPS from Medium to High, and 8.3 FPS from High to Ultra.

At 1440p, the results are: Low 89.2 FPS, Medium 54.2 FPS, High 53.8 FPS, and Ultra 43.9 FPS. The Medium and High settings produce nearly identical results, differing by only 0.4 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is saturated at this resolution, and additional settings changes have minimal impact until Ultra is selected.

The 4K results show: Low 74.5 FPS, Medium 47.3 FPS, High 46.7 FPS, and Ultra 34.6 FPS. Again, Medium and High are nearly identical with a 0.6 FPS difference. The drop from High to Ultra is substantial at 12.1 FPS, representing a 25.9% reduction. This indicates that Ultra settings introduce rendering demands that the GPU cannot handle at 4K.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low settings provide the highest frame rates, Medium and High cluster together, and Ultra exacts a significant penalty. The data confirms that the GTX 1660 SUPER's 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory are adequate for Low settings at any resolution but struggle with higher presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. This substantial cache and high thread count make it well-suited for modern games that can utilize multiple cores.

In Overpower, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The benchmark results show that the i7-14700KF scores 44557 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6290 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The Geekbench scores of 19287 (multi-core) and 2972 (single-core) further confirm its strong performance.

The Passmark results illustrate the CPU's capabilities across various workloads: integer math 183056, floating point math 134393, extended instructions 40660, data compression 694963, and data encryption 40046. The multithread score of 52425 and single thread score of 4480 indicate balanced performance.

Given that the GTX 1660 SUPER ranks in only the 55th percentile (Passmark G3D score of 12699), the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The measured FPS data confirms this: the relatively small differences between Medium and High settings at 1440p and 4K suggest the GPU is saturated, while the CPU has ample headroom. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth of the GPU are more likely limiting factors at higher resolutions.

The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads provide excellent multi-threaded performance for games that scale well with core counts, but Overpower's frame rates are ultimately constrained by the graphics card. Users upgrading their GPU would see significant FPS improvements without needing to replace the CPU, as the i7-14700KF's 96th percentile ranking ensures it can feed even faster graphics cards.