Overpower

# Overpower — Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + Intel Arc B390

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the Intel Arc B390 integrated graphics presents a fascinating case study in CPU-bound gaming scenarios. This combo ranks 2638th out of 2980 tested combinations in Overpower, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems, yet the benchmark results reveal a consistent pattern where the integrated GPU becomes the decisive limiting factor across every resolution and settings tier. The data shows a system that can deliver playable frame rates at lower settings but struggles to maintain smooth performance at higher quality presets, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves in Overpower?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 72 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 64 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 54 FPS, demonstrating a clear resolution-based performance curve.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in Overpower?

A: It ranks 2638th out of 2980 total combinations, placing it in the bottom 11.5% of all tested configurations. This rank reflects the integrated GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded?

A: The lowest measured average is 26 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is below standard playability thresholds. The 2560x1440 Ultra preset averages 31 FPS, and 1920x1080 Ultra averages 35 FPS.

Q: Is there a settings preset with consistent frame times?

A: Only the Medium preset includes min and max FPS data. At 1920x1080 Medium, the range is 38 to 52 FPS (average 45); at 2560x1440 Medium, it is 34 to 46 FPS (average 40); at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 29 to 39 FPS (average 34).

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030), 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098), and 0.2% higher than both the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960).

Q: What GPU benchmark score does the Intel Arc B390 achieve?

A: The Intel Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant bottleneck in this configuration, and the benchmark data makes this unmistakably clear. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, meaning 91% of tested graphics solutions perform better. The nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7% slower). This places the Arc B390 in extremely modest company, yet it still manages to produce playable frame rates in Overpower at lower settings.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, featuring 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output pipelines. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning the GPU draws from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU, with bandwidth described as "system dependent." This shared memory architecture explains why the GPU's performance scales so predictably with resolution — there is no dedicated VRAM to buffer the increased pixel workload. The 12 ray tracing cores and 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are present on paper, but the 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 120.0 GTexel/s texture rate reveal the practical limits.

At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo averages 26 FPS, which is 27.8% below the 36 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for smooth gameplay. The GPU's 24 ROPs are simply insufficient for the pixel fill demands of 4K resolution at high quality settings. However, the data shows that dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 54 FPS, a 107.7% improvement. This dramatic swing indicates that Overpower's quality presets dramatically alter the GPU workload, and the Arc B390 responds predictably to those changes. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking relative to all GPUs suggests that users should expect integrated-level performance, and the measured FPS confirms this expectation.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution and the user's tolerance for visual compromises. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 72 FPS average, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that exceeds 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 45 FPS with a range of 38 to 52 FPS, which is playable but with noticeable frame time variance. The High preset at 1080p averages 42 FPS, while Ultra drops to 35 FPS. For 1080p users, Low is the clear recommendation for competitive play, while Medium offers a balanced visual upgrade at the cost of 37.5% fewer frames.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 64 FPS, which remains smooth, but the Medium preset drops to 40 FPS, and High falls to 37 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 31 FPS, which is marginal at best. The data suggests that 1440p users should stick to Low settings to maintain frame rates above 60 FPS, as the jump to Medium sacrifices 37.5% of the average frame rate. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (54 FPS) achieves playable frame rates, with Medium at 34 FPS, High at 32 FPS, and Ultra at 26 FPS. The 4K data indicates that this combo is not well-suited for high-quality 4K gaming, and even Low settings require a compromise.

The Medium preset is the only tier that provides min and max FPS measurements, making it the most predictable option. At 1080p Medium, the 38 to 52 FPS range suggests occasional dips below 40 FPS, while at 1440p Medium, the 34 to 46 FPS range indicates more frequent frame drops. At 4K Medium, the 29 to 39 FPS range confirms that this preset is borderline unplayable at that resolution. For users seeking the best balance of visual quality and performance, 1080p Medium appears to be the sweet spot, offering 45 FPS average with a manageable frame time distribution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset reveals a consistent pattern across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the performance hierarchy is: Low 72 FPS, Medium 45 FPS (min 38, max 52), High 42 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 37 FPS, representing a 51.4% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset. At 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges: Low 64 FPS, Medium 40 FPS (min 34, max 46), High 37 FPS, and Ultra 31 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap here is 33 FPS, a 51.6% reduction. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 54 FPS, Medium 34 FPS (min 29, max 39), High 32 FPS, and Ultra 26 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 28 FPS, a 51.9% reduction.

The consistency of the percentage reduction across resolutions is striking. Moving from Low to Ultra always reduces the average FPS by approximately 51-52%, regardless of the absolute frame rate. This suggests that Overpower's quality presets impose a relatively uniform GPU workload increase at each tier, and the Arc B390's performance scales in a predictable linear fashion. The Medium preset's min FPS values are also instructive: at 1080p, the min is 38 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 34 FPS; at 4K, it falls to 29 FPS. The max FPS values follow a similar pattern: 52 at 1080p, 46 at 1440p, and 39 at 4K.

The High preset at 4K (32 FPS) performs only slightly better than the Medium preset (34 FPS), indicating diminishing returns at higher resolutions. Similarly, the High preset at 1440p (37 FPS) is only 3 FPS below Medium (40 FPS). This clustering suggests that the GPU becomes the limiting factor above Medium settings at higher resolutions, and the additional visual features in High and Ultra presets provide minimal frame rate headroom. The Low preset, in contrast, consistently delivers frame rates that are 60-100% higher than the next tier up, making it the only settings tier where the combo approaches or exceeds 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2638 out of 2980 tested combinations places it in the bottom 11.5% of all systems tested in Overpower. This ranking is consistent with the GPU's 9th percentile standing among all GPUs, confirming that the Arc B390's integrated nature is the primary factor dragging the combo down. The CPU, by contrast, sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. This creates a significant mismatch: a top-11% processor paired with a bottom-9% graphics solution.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within 0.2% of its performance: the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% lower), Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, 0.1% higher), AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, 0.2% lower), and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960, 0.2% lower). These rival CPUs span mobile, desktop, and server segments, yet they all produce nearly identical average benchmark scores. This indicates that the Ultra 5 235's 14 cores and 14 threads, running at 3.40 GHz base and 5.00 GHz boost, deliver competitive compute performance across a wide range of workloads.

The combo's 2638th rank out of 2980 means that 342 combinations perform worse, but 2637 perform better. Given that the GPU ranks in the 9th percentile, the fact that this combo isn't in the absolute bottom percentile suggests that the CPU's strong single-thread and multi-thread performance helps in CPU-bound scenarios within Overpower. The measured FPS data, however, shows that the GPU bottleneck dominates in most settings and resolutions, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS drops when increasing quality presets. The ranking reflects the overall gaming experience, and the data indicates that users should expect performance comparable to entry-level discrete GPUs from nearly a decade ago, based on the GPU's rival list.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. It runs at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts to 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel access and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085. PassMark results include a multi-thread score of 37816, single-thread score of 4516, and physics score of 2570.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms 89% of tested processors. Its average benchmark score of 46062 places it in a virtual tie with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% lower) and Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, 0.1% higher), while also matching the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, 0.2% lower) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960, 0.2% lower). This consistency across competing architectures indicates that the Ultra 5 235 provides competitive compute performance for its class. In the context of Overpower, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, physics calculations, and game logic updates, and the data suggests it does so without bottlenecking the system.

The measured FPS pattern across resolutions provides indirect evidence of the CPU's capability. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU workload doesn't scale with pixel count. However, the data shows significant FPS drops from 1080p to 4K at every settings tier, which indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 72 at 1080p to 54 at 4K, a 25% reduction. At Ultra settings, it drops from 35 to 26, a 25.7% reduction. This consistent 25% reduction across settings tiers strongly suggests the CPU is not the limiting component, as the GPU workload is scaling with resolution while CPU workload remains relatively constant.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals the nature of the bottleneck in this combo. At Low settings, the frame rates are 72 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. This represents an 11.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 15.6% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 45, 40, and 34 FPS, representing an 11.1% drop to 1440p and a 15% drop to 4K. At High settings, the numbers are 42, 37, and 32 FPS, with drops of 11.9% and 13.5%. At Ultra settings, the values are 35, 31, and 26 FPS, with drops of 11.4% and 16.1%.

The resolution scaling pattern is remarkably consistent across all settings tiers. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is always between 11.1% and 11.9%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop ranges from 13.5% to 16.1%. This consistency suggests that the GPU is handling the increased pixel count in a predictable manner, with the 4K resolution imposing roughly 4 times the pixel workload of 1080p. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain more stable across resolutions, as the CPU workload doesn't increase with pixel count. The fact that FPS drops by roughly 25% from 1080p to 4K at every settings tier indicates that the GPU is the limiting component.

The data also shows that the absolute FPS at 4K Low (54 FPS) is higher than the 1080p Ultra (35 FPS), which suggests that the GPU has more headroom at lower quality presets, even at higher resolutions. This implies that users could potentially increase resolution while decreasing quality settings to maintain similar frame rates. For instance, 1080p High (42 FPS) is comparable to 1440p Medium (40 FPS) and 4K Low (54 FPS), meaning users can trade resolution for quality settings to achieve similar performance. The bottleneck analysis points clearly to the GPU as the limiting factor, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the Arc B390 to operate at its full potential.