Overpower

The pairing of a flagship 24-core Intel Core i9-14900K with the end-of-life NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER presents a stark imbalance in Overpower. The benchmark data reveals a system where the CPU’s immense processing headroom is consistently capped by a GPU that ranks in the 63rd percentile among all tested graphics cards. This analysis examines how the measured frame rates shift across resolutions and settings, identifying the bottleneck and the practical implications for gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU as the primary constraint. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 126.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 113.0 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 13.6 FPS, and then plunges to 99.3 at 3840x2160. This represents a total decline of 27.3 FPS, or roughly 21.6%, when moving from Full HD to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all quality presets, but the magnitude of the drop is telling.

At Ultra settings, the 1080p average of 64.7 FPS drops to 55.9 at 1440p (a loss of 8.8 FPS) and then to 48.4 at 4K (a further loss of 7.5 FPS). The scaling is not linear; the gap between 1080p and 1440p is larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K in absolute terms for High and Ultra presets. This suggests that as pixel count increases, the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth become saturated, causing diminishing returns on the resolution increase. The i9-14900K’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 6.00 GHz boost clock are irrelevant here; the data shows the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance are the limiting factors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a computational powerhouse, sitting in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. Its 24 cores and 32 threads, combined with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost of 6.00 GHz, provide a theoretical ceiling that this game’s workloads rarely approach. The measured FPS data, however, shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the 126.6 FPS average is likely near the engine’s own limits, but the GPU is still keeping pace at that level.

The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 49872 and single-core score of 7040 indicate raw capability that far exceeds the demands of Overpower’s action sequences. The Passmark single-thread score of 4697 further confirms strong per-core performance, which is crucial for game logic. Yet, the fact that FPS scales downward so predictably with resolution—not with CPU load—proves that the i9-14900K is waiting on the GPU. The nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7413, scores a 80041 avgBenchmarkScore (a -0.3% deltaPct), but that comparison is academic; in-game, the CPU’s role is to feed frames, and it is doing so with ample headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the i9-14900K and RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1264th out of 1744 tested combos in Overpower. This places it in the bottom 27.6% of all pairings, which is a surprisingly low position for a CPU that is among the best available. The ranking underscores the GPU’s dominance in determining gameplay performance. A combo with a weaker CPU but a stronger GPU would almost certainly rank higher, as the data indicates the graphics card is the sole limiting factor.

This rank of 1264 is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability; rather, it is a direct consequence of pairing a 97th-percentile CPU with a 63rd-percentile GPU. The deltaPct between the RTX 2060 SUPER and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, is just 0.3%, showing that even small GPU differences can shift the ranking. The i9-14900K’s nearest rival, the Core i9-14900KF, has a 0.7% deltaPct, but that difference is irrelevant when the GPU is the constraint. The data suggests that this combo is severely GPU-limited, and its rank reflects that imbalance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers playable results across all presets. Low settings average 126.6 FPS, Medium drops to 81.9, High settles at 73.2, and Ultra maintains 64.7 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a significant 44.7 FPS loss, indicating that Medium introduces substantial visual effects that tax the GPU heavily. The gap between Medium and High is smaller (8.7 FPS), while High to Ultra is 8.5 FPS, showing a more gradual scaling at higher presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 113.0 FPS (Low), 72.4 (Medium), 69.2 (High), and 55.9 (Ultra). The 1440p Low result remains high, but the Ultra preset dips below 60 FPS, entering a territory where fast-paced action might feel less smooth. At 3840x2160, the picture worsens: Low averages 99.3 FPS, Medium 61.7, High 54.4, and Ultra 48.4. Only Low settings at 4K provide a clearly comfortable frame rate. The 4K Ultra result of 48.4 FPS is 16.3 FPS lower than the 1080p Ultra result, showing the GPU’s struggle with 4K’s pixel count.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the 12 nm Turing architecture with 10,800 million transistors, is the definitive bottleneck. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p but becomes strained at 4K. The 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs are tasked with rendering Overpower’s action scenes, and the data shows they run out of headroom quickly. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 and Passmark G3D score of 16462 place it in the 63rd percentile, confirming its mid-range status.

The GPU’s boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz are modest compared to modern cards, and its 175 W TDP is the only power figure available. The performance gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution, from 61.9 FPS at 1080p to 50.9 FPS at 4K, illustrating how the GPU’s shader and texture units are overwhelmed by higher quality assets. The nearest rival, the RTX 2070, has a 0.5% deltaPct, but that small margin does not change the fundamental conclusion: this GPU is the limiting component.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER’s GPU resources become saturated as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the average is 126.6 FPS, but at 4K Low it falls to 99.3 FPS, showing a 27.3 FPS decline. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K holding back performance?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 97th percentile and has 24 cores, but the FPS scaling is entirely tied to resolution changes, which is a GPU characteristic. The data indicates the CPU is not the bottleneck.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings average 72.4 FPS and High settings average 69.2 FPS, both above 60. At 3840x2160, only Low settings (99.3 FPS) and Medium settings (61.7 FPS) clear the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to others?

A: It ranks 1264th out of 1744 tested combos in Overpower. This low ranking is due to the GPU’s 63rd-percentile performance, not the CPU’s 97th-percentile capability.

Q: Does the GPU’s VRAM capacity affect the results?

A: The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is a likely factor at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 48.4 FPS. The memory bus width of 256 bits provides 448.0 GB/s, which is not enough to handle the high-resolution textures without performance loss.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is 61.9 FPS, with Low averaging 126.6 FPS and Ultra averaging 64.7 FPS. This large gap shows the GPU’s sensitivity to graphical preset changes.

Settings Recommendations

For a consistent 60+ FPS experience, the data points to 2560x1440 with Medium or High settings as the sweet spot. At 1440p Medium, the average is 72.4 FPS, which provides a comfortable buffer above the 60 FPS line. High settings at 1440p yield 69.2 FPS, also acceptable, but the margin is thinner. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings average 64.7 FPS, making 1080p Ultra a viable option for those prioritizing visual quality over resolution.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Low settings average 99.3 FPS, which is excellent, but sacrifices visual fidelity. Medium at 4K averages 61.7 FPS, just above 60, but any demanding scene could push it lower. The 4K High and Ultra presets, at 54.4 and 48.4 FPS respectively, are not recommended for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that 1440p Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability, while 1080p Ultra is the best choice for maximum visual detail without dropping below 60 FPS. The 4K resolution is playable only on Low settings, as the GPU’s performance ceiling is reached quickly.