Overpower

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a top-tier experience in Overpower, placing the combo at rank 61 out of 2980 tested configurations. This puts the pairing in the top 2% of all tested systems, a position driven overwhelmingly by the GPU’s raw throughput. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at every resolution tested, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck, though the margin between the two components narrows at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 61 out of 2980 represents an elite tier of performance, but it is not the absolute peak. This suggests that while the RTX 4090 is near the top of the GPU hierarchy, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, while competent, is not the fastest processor available for this task. The CPU’s percentile of 89 against all CPUs indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors, yet it sits below the very top tier of desktop parts. Consequently, the data implies that this combination is likely limited by the CPU in certain scenarios, even though the overall frame rates are exceptional.

Benchmark results for the CPU show an average score of 46062, placing it in a dead heat with its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46030, a delta of just 0.1% above this chip, while the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46098, a delta of -0.1% (meaning the Core Ultra 5 235 is effectively tied). The AMD EPYC 4364P and EPYC 7303 are also within 0.2% of this score. This cluster of results indicates that in synthetic multi-threaded workloads, the Core Ultra 5 235 is indistinguishable from these competitors, suggesting that any performance differences in Overpower would come from architectural efficiencies or clock behavior rather than raw compute throughput.

The GPU, by contrast, shows a percentile of 88 against all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 60347 places it just 0.0% ahead of the Intel Arc Pro A60 and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48. This is a strange grouping, as the RTX 4090 is clearly a consumer flagship, yet the benchmark database places it alongside professional workstation cards. The data suggests that the average score is skewed by the specific test suite, but in Overpower, the RTX 4090’s performance is unequivocally dominant, as evidenced by the measured FPS figures. The rank of 61 is therefore a function of the CPU’s mid-tier standing combined with the GPU’s top-tier capability; a faster CPU would likely push this combo into the top 20.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed star of this configuration. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Overpower’s textures and geometry at any resolution. The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with 16384 shading units, provides the raw compute power needed to push frame rates to the levels seen in the measured data. The architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die.

In Overpower, the GPU’s role is clear from the scaling of FPS with resolution. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 144 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 109 FPS. This 24% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K is relatively modest, indicating that the GPU is not being fully saturated at 1080p. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is a staggering figure, and the data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU is not struggling; it is the CPU that is likely holding back higher frame rates. The GPU’s 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores are present but are not heavily utilized in this action title, as the frame rates are consistently high across all settings.

The measured FPS at 4K Low is 227 FPS, which is a 59% jump over 4K Ultra. This suggests that the GPU is capable of far more than the CPU can feed it at lower settings. The GPU’s memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) is another indicator of its bandwidth advantage, which becomes critical at 4K where memory bandwidth is often a limiting factor. However, the data shows that this is not the case here; the bottleneck is elsewhere.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a compelling story about where the system’s limits lie. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 299 at 1080p to 267 at 1440p and then to 227 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 10.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is an additional 15.0%. This scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at lower settings, where the CPU is able to keep up with the GPU’s demands. However, the absolute frame rates are so high that even at 4K Low, the system is producing 227 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is different. The average FPS at 1080p is 144, at 1440p it is 128, and at 4K it is 109. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 11.1%, and from 1440p to 4K is 14.8%. This is a more linear degradation, suggesting that the workload is becoming more balanced between the CPU and GPU. The fact that the 1080p Ultra score of 144 FPS is only 35 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra score of 109 FPS indicates that the GPU is not the sole limiting factor. If the GPU were the only constraint, we would expect a much larger gap between 1080p and 4K, given the 4x pixel count difference.

The medium settings show a similar trend. At 1080p, the average is 187 FPS, at 1440p it is 167 FPS, and at 4K it is 142 FPS. The minimum FPS values for Medium settings are also recorded: 159 at 1080p, 142 at 1440p, and 120 at 4K. These minimums are remarkably close to the averages, suggesting a stable frame pacing with no significant drops. The data implies that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates (as seen at Low settings), but the CPU cannot issue draw calls fast enough. As resolution increases, the GPU’s workload increases, and the system becomes more balanced, but it never becomes fully GPU-bound until perhaps beyond 4K.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Overpower?*

A: The data suggests yes, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 299 FPS, while at 4K Low it produces 227 FPS. This 24% drop is smaller than the 4x pixel increase would warrant, indicating that at 1080p, the CPU is limiting the frame rate. At 4K Ultra, the 109 FPS result is closer to what the GPU can deliver, but the CPU still appears to hold back performance, as the GPU is capable of 227 FPS at 4K Low.

Q: How does this combo compare to the nearest rival CPUs?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, which is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, +0.1%), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, -0.1%), and the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, +0.2%). This indicates that in synthetic multi-threaded tests, there is no meaningful performance difference between these processors, so in Overpower, the choice between them would have a negligible impact on frame rates.

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p Ultra provides an average of 128 FPS, which is a high refresh rate experience. 4K Ultra at 109 FPS is also playable, but 1440p offers a better balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. The 1080p Ultra score of 144 FPS is higher, but the CPU bottleneck is more apparent at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is far more than Overpower requires at any tested setting. The data shows no signs of VRAM limitation, as the frame rates are high even at 4K Ultra. The memory bandwidth is likely sufficient to handle the game’s textures without any stuttering or texture pop-in.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings?

A: The measured data includes min FPS for Medium settings only. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS is 159, at 1440p Medium it is 142, and at 4K Medium it is 120. These figures are very close to the average FPS, indicating stable performance with minimal frame drops.

Q: Does this combo rank highly among all tested systems?

A: Yes, the combo ranks 61 out of 2980 tested configurations. This places it in the top 2.05% of all tested combos, which is an exceptional result. The high rank is primarily due to the RTX 4090’s dominance, but the CPU’s performance is sufficient to avoid dragging the rank down significantly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 299 at Low to 144 at Ultra. The Low setting produces 299 FPS, which is the highest of any configuration. High settings yield 173 FPS, Medium yields 187 FPS, and Ultra yields 144 FPS. The Medium setting has a minimum FPS of 159 and a maximum of 215. The spread between Low (299) and Ultra (144) is 155 FPS, indicating that the GPU is heavily underutilized at Low settings, while the CPU is the limit.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS is lower across the board. Low settings produce 267 FPS, High produces 155 FPS, Medium produces 167 FPS, and Ultra produces 128 FPS. The Medium setting records a min of 142 and a max of 192. The gap between Low and Ultra is 139 FPS, which is slightly less than at 1080p, suggesting a more balanced workload.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops further. Low settings yield 227 FPS, High yields 131 FPS, Medium yields 142 FPS, and Ultra yields 109 FPS. The Medium setting has a min of 120 and a max of 163. The difference between Low (227) and Ultra (109) is 118 FPS. This is the smallest gap, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at 4K, but the CPU still has some influence.

The data shows a consistent pattern: at every resolution, the Low setting produces roughly twice the FPS of the Ultra setting. This indicates that the game’s Ultra preset includes effects that are computationally expensive, but the RTX 4090 handles them well. The Medium preset offers a good balance, with 4K Medium producing 142 FPS, which is higher than 1440p Ultra (128 FPS), showing that resolution is less impactful than the settings preset at this tier of hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. This is a capable mid-range desktop processor, but it is not a flagship.

In Overpower, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo produces 299 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame rate capability. The fact that the 4K Low score is 227 FPS, which is only 24% lower, while the pixel count is 4x higher, confirms that the CPU is the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The CPU’s single-thread performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085, is strong, but it is not the absolute fastest.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769, is also solid, but it is not the limiting factor in this game. The benchmark results show the CPU’s average score of 46062 is tied with several rivals, indicating that the processor is well-balanced. However, in Overpower, the game appears to be more sensitive to single-thread performance, which is why the CPU is a bottleneck at 1080p. The CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s multi-threaded tasks, but the single-thread speed is what governs the maximum FPS.

The CPU’s 24 MB of L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for the game’s data requirements. The data shows that the system does not exhibit any memory-related stuttering, as the min FPS figures for Medium settings are close to the averages. The CPU’s integrated graphics are irrelevant here, as the RTX 4090 handles all rendering. Overall, the CPU is a solid partner for the RTX 4090, but it is the reason the combo does not rank higher than 61st.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this combo depends on the user’s priority for frame rate versus visual quality. The data shows that the Ultra preset is playable at all resolutions, with 4K Ultra producing 109 FPS, 1440p Ultra producing 128 FPS, and 1080p Ultra producing 144 FPS. These are all above 60 FPS, making Ultra a viable option for a high-refresh-rate monitor, but the frame rates are not exceptionally high.

For users with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor, the High preset is a better choice. At 1440p High, the combo produces 155 FPS, and at 1080p High, it produces 173 FPS. These are above 144 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience. At 4K High, the 131 FPS average is still excellent, though it is slightly below 144 Hz. The Medium preset offers even higher frame rates, with 4K Medium at 142 FPS, 1440p Medium at 167 FPS, and 1080p Medium at 187 FPS. The Medium preset also has recorded min FPS values, showing stability: 120 at 4K, 142 at 1440p, and 159 at 1080p.

The Low preset produces extremely high frame rates, with 4K Low at 227 FPS, 1440p Low at 267 FPS, and 1080p Low at 299 FPS. However, the visual quality trade-off is significant, and the data suggests that the CPU is the bottleneck at this preset, meaning that the GPU is underutilized.

The best experience, balancing visual fidelity and frame rate, is the High preset at 1440p. This produces 155 FPS, which is high enough for a 144 Hz monitor, while the graphical quality is substantially better than Medium. The 4K High preset at 131 FPS is also excellent for users with a 120 Hz 4K display. For users who prioritize maximum visual quality, 4K Ultra at 109 FPS is playable, but the min FPS is not recorded, so stability is less certain. The Medium preset offers the best insurance against frame drops, as the data shows a min FPS of 120 at 4K, which is still very smooth. Ultimately, the data recommends the High preset as the default choice, with Medium as a safe alternative for competitive play.