Overpower

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a strong 4K experience in Overpower, but the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy that shifts depending on the resolution and settings preset. This analysis examines the measured FPS across three resolutions and four quality settings, interpreting what the numbers imply about the system's balance and bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals how the combination scales from 1080p to 4K, with the most telling data point being the performance drop at the highest resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 235 FPS, which drops to 210 FPS at 1440p and 178 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24% decrease from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that even at the lowest quality preset, the GPU is still the primary scaling factor.

However, the scaling pattern changes dramatically with higher settings. At Ultra settings, the combo produces 113 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 86 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 23.9%, nearly identical to the Low setting percentage. This consistency suggests the GPU is the limiting component across all settings, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom even at lower resolutions.

The Medium settings row provides the only min/max FPS data, showing frametime variance at 4K (95-128 FPS), 1440p (111-151 FPS), and 1080p (125-169 FPS). The spread widens as resolution decreases, from 33 FPS at 4K to 44 FPS at 1080p. This increasing variance at lower resolutions hints that the CPU begins to exert more influence as pixel count drops, though the average FPS continues to scale upward.

The most significant resolution jump is between 1440p and 4K at Low settings, where FPS drops from 210 to 178, a 15.2% reduction. At Ultra settings, the same resolution change only reduces FPS by 14.9%, from 101 to 86. This pattern indicates that while 4K is demanding, the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain playable framerates even at the highest preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 422nd out of 2980 tested combinations in Overpower, placing it in the top 14.2% of all systems evaluated. This percentile positioning suggests the pairing is well above average for this game, though not in the elite tier. The rank reflects the balanced nature of the components, as neither the CPU nor GPU is dramatically over- or under-powered for the other.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's individual benchmark scores help contextualize this ranking. Its PassMark G3D score of 29995 places it in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (delta -0.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (delta -1%). The RTX 4070 SUPER trails the RTX 4090 Mobile by 1% in average benchmark score, a surprisingly small margin given the latter's higher tier positioning.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235's PassMark multithread score of 37816 and single-thread score of 4516 position it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (delta -0.1%). The CPU's average benchmark score of 46062 sits within 0.2% of all four listed rivals, indicating a highly competitive mid-range to upper-mid-range processor.

The combination of an 83rd percentile GPU and 89th percentile CPU explains the 422nd rank out of 2980 combos. The system is neither CPU-bound nor GPU-bound in general benchmarks, but the game's specific demands may shift this balance. The measured FPS data suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K, while the CPU becomes more relevant at 1080p where framerates exceed 200 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 235 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 210 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, followed by 178 FPS at 3840x2160 with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 86 FPS. This is 24.8% lower than the 4K High setting's 103 FPS and 35.8% lower than the 4K Low setting's 178 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance of quality and performance?

A: The High preset at 1440p delivers 122 FPS, while the Ultra preset at the same resolution drops to 101 FPS. The 17.2% performance cost of Ultra over High may not justify the visual improvement for competitive play.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck?

A: The resolution scaling data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor, as FPS consistently drops when moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K. The CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads provide enough throughput for high framerates, with the 89th percentile CPU ranking supporting this interpretation.

Q: How does this combo's ranking compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 422nd out of 2980 tested combinations, placing it in the top 14.2%. This is consistent with the GPU's 83rd percentile and CPU's 89th percentile individual rankings.

Q: What is the frametime variance at different resolutions?

A: The Medium settings data shows a 33 FPS spread at 4K (95-128 FPS), a 40 FPS spread at 1440p (111-151 FPS), and a 44 FPS spread at 1080p (125-169 FPS). The variance increases as resolution decreases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the Overpower experience. At 4K, the High preset delivers 103 FPS average, which is 19.8% higher than Ultra's 86 FPS but only 8.7% lower than Medium's 112 FPS. The High preset appears to offer the best quality-to-performance ratio at 4K, providing a smooth experience without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

For 1440p, the High preset achieves 122 FPS, which is above the 120 FPS threshold often considered ideal for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 101 FPS still provides a playable experience, but the 17.2% performance drop may not be worth the visual gains. The Low preset at 210 FPS is excessive for most displays and suggests the CPU is capable of pushing far beyond what the GPU can render at higher quality settings.

At 1080p, the High preset delivers 137 FPS, while Ultra drops to 113 FPS. The Medium preset at 147 FPS offers a 7.3% improvement over High, making it the best choice for players prioritizing framerate over visual quality. The Low preset's 235 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors, indicating the combo is heavily GPU-bound at this resolution.

The data suggests a pattern: the High preset consistently provides the best balance across all resolutions, with FPS ranging from 103 at 4K to 137 at 1080p. Players with high-refresh displays at 1080p or 1440p may prefer Medium for the additional framerate headroom, while 4K users should stick with High to maintain a stable 100+ FPS experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the combo produces its lowest framerates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 178 FPS, Medium averages 112 FPS with a range of 95-128 FPS, High averages 103 FPS, and Ultra averages 86 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium represents a 37.1% performance drop, while the jump from Medium to High is only 8.0%, and from High to Ultra is 16.5%.

The 2560x1440 results show a similar pattern with higher absolute numbers. Low settings produce 210 FPS, Medium averages 131 FPS with a range of 111-151 FPS, High averages 122 FPS, and Ultra averages 101 FPS. The Low-to-Medium drop is 37.6%, while Medium-to-High is 6.9% and High-to-Ultra is 17.2%.

At 1920x1080, the combo reaches its peak performance. Low settings hit 235 FPS, Medium averages 147 FPS with a range of 125-169 FPS, High averages 137 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is 37.4%, Medium to High is 6.8%, and High to Ultra is 17.5%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across resolutions is notable. The Low-to-Medium penalty ranges from 37.1% at 4K to 37.6% at 1440p, while the High-to-Ultra penalty ranges from 16.5% at 4K to 17.5% at 1080p. This uniformity suggests the GPU's rendering pipeline handles resolution scaling efficiently, with no unexpected bottlenecks emerging at any pixel count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235's specifications suggest it is well-matched to the RTX 4070 SUPER for Overpower. With 14 cores and 14 threads, the CPU provides substantial parallel processing capability, though the lack of hyperthreading means each core handles a single thread. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz offer strong single-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and frame pacing.

The CPU's benchmark results support its suitability for gaming. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085 indicate balanced performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. The PassMark single-thread score of 4516 places the CPU in the 89th percentile, suggesting it can keep up with high-FPS gaming scenarios without becoming a bottleneck.

The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core provide ample data storage for game assets and instructions. The DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without starving it, particularly at lower resolutions where framerates exceed 200 FPS.

The data shows the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the combo achieves 235 FPS. This high framerate requires the CPU to process game logic and issue draw calls rapidly. The CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock enables this performance, though the 14-thread limitation may prevent even higher framerates in CPU-intensive scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary driver of Overpower's visual performance, and its specifications directly explain the measured FPS results. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 4K textures and effects without causing memory-related stutters.

The GPU's 7168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs deliver the raw compute power needed for high-quality rendering. The boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1980 MHz indicate a well-binned chip that maintains high performance under load. The 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance places the GPU in a strong position for modern game rendering.

The Ada Lovelace architecture's 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for ray tracing and DLSS, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether these features were enabled. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and PassMark G3D score of 29995 place the GPU in the 83rd percentile, confirming its strong overall gaming performance.

The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it can sustain high clock speeds during extended gaming sessions. The memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) provides the bandwidth necessary for high-resolution textures, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra preset still achieving 86 FPS. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is adequate for current games, and the data shows no signs of memory-related performance degradation at 4K.