Overpower

# Overpower — Intel Core Ultra 7 155H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

This combination of Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H mobile processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5050 laptop GPU delivers a measured performance profile in Overpower that places it in the lower-middle tier of tested configurations. The combo ranks 2361 out of 2980 tested CPU-GPU pairings, meaning roughly 79% of all tested combos outperform it in this specific action title. While the individual components show respectable synthetic benchmark standings, their combined gaming result reveals a system that is capable but not exceptional, with the GPU emerging as the primary constraint at higher resolutions and quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2361 out of 2980 tested setups places it in the 21st percentile of all configurations evaluated in Overpower. This is a modest standing, reflecting a system that handles the game at playable frame rates but falls well behind higher-tier pairings. The CPU itself, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, sits at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs in the database, indicating strong general-purpose compute performance. The GPU, however, is at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, which drags the overall gaming result down. The discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles is telling: the processor has headroom, but the graphics card holds the combo back from climbing higher in the rankings.

When examining the nearest rivals, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 32697 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, deltaPct 0), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, deltaPct 0.1), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F (32750, deltaPct -0.2). The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H posts 32812 (deltaPct -0.4). These deltas are all within one percentage point, meaning the Core Ultra 7 155H is statistically indistinguishable from its closest rivals in raw compute. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 21035 similarly sits close to the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, deltaPct -0.6), AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, deltaPct -1), AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713, deltaPct 1.6), and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379, deltaPct -1.6). These are tight margins, but the RTX 5050’s slight underperformance relative to two of those rivals contributes to the combo’s middling in-game rank.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using the GB207 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with memory clocked at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications yield a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s, and an FP32 throughput of 13.17 TFLOPS.

In Overpower, the GPU’s role is decisive. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 113 FPS average, but dropping to Ultra at the same resolution reduces that to 54 FPS — a 52% reduction. This sensitivity to settings is characteristic of a GPU that is being pushed hard by higher visual quality. The RTX 5050’s 8 GB VRAM is adequate for the game’s demands at 1080p and 1440p, but the bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s appears to be a limiting factor at 4K, where even Low settings yield only 85 FPS average. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 17326 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 place it in a performance tier where it can handle 1080p gaming comfortably but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with higher presets. The 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores are present, but Overpower is not shown to leverage ray tracing in the measured data, so their impact is indirect at best.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a 28 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 on a dual-channel bus with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. The chip includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG 128EU graphics, though the discrete RTX 5050 does the heavy lifting in gaming.

The CPU’s benchmark results are strong for a mobile part. Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 15028, while single-core reaches 1743. PassMark multi-thread is 24873, and single-thread is 3468. These numbers indicate a processor that can feed the GPU effectively in most gaming scenarios. In Overpower, the CPU’s influence is most visible at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates are higher. At 1080p Low, the 113 FPS average suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU’s output. However, the gap between Low and Medium settings at 1080p (113 vs 70 FPS) is substantial, indicating that the game becomes more GPU-bound as quality increases. The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking versus the GPU’s 66th percentile suggests that in this pairing, the processor is not the bottleneck at standard gaming resolutions. The 22 threads handle the game’s workload without issue, and the 24 MB L3 cache provides adequate data locality for the action-oriented title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) across four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the combo achieves 113 FPS average on Low, 70 FPS on Medium (with min 60 and max 81), 65 FPS on High, and 54 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has the only reported min/max range at this resolution, showing a 60-81 FPS window. At 1440p, performance drops to 100 FPS on Low, 63 FPS on Medium (min 53, max 72), 58 FPS on High, and 48 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the numbers fall further: 85 FPS on Low, 53 FPS on Medium (min 45, max 61), 50 FPS on High, and 41 FPS on Ultra.

The pattern is consistent: each step up in settings costs roughly 10-15% performance, and each resolution increase costs a similar amount. The only preset with full min/max data is Medium, which shows the frame time variance widens as resolution increases — from a 21 FPS spread at 1080p to a 16 FPS spread at 4K. The Low and High presets at 1080p show a 48 FPS gap between them, which narrows to 35 FPS at 4K, indicating the GPU saturates at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset at all resolutions stays below 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for high-refresh displays.

FAQ

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

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves 60+ FPS on Low, Medium, and High presets (113, 70, and 65 FPS respectively). At 1440p, only Low (100 FPS) and Medium (63 FPS) cross the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with Low being the highest at 85 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050’s average benchmark score of 21035 is within 1.6% of its nearest rivals. It trails the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, deltaPct -1) and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379, deltaPct -1.6), matches the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, deltaPct -0.6), and beats the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713, deltaPct 1.6).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU sits at the 83rd percentile while the GPU is at the 66th percentile. Frame rates drop significantly with higher settings and resolutions, consistent with GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p Low, the CPU sustains 113 FPS, but the GPU cannot maintain that at higher presets.

Q: What is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, the drop from 1080p (113 FPS) to 4K (85 FPS) is 28 FPS, a 25% reduction. At Medium, it goes from 70 to 53 FPS (24% drop). At High, it drops from 65 to 50 FPS (23% drop). At Ultra, it falls from 54 to 41 FPS (24% drop). The consistent ~24% reduction across settings indicates a resolution-bound scenario.

Q: Can the combo handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 54 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 48 FPS; at 4K Ultra, it falls to 41 FPS. All are below 60 FPS, and the 4K result is below 45 FPS, which may feel sluggish in an action title.

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

A: The Core Ultra 7 155H’s average benchmark score of 32697 is effectively tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, deltaPct 0) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, deltaPct 0.1). It slightly trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F (32750, deltaPct -0.2) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812, deltaPct -0.4), but all deltas are under half a percent.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 70 FPS average with a 60-81 FPS range, which is smooth for an action game. At 1440p, Medium drops to 63 FPS with a 53-72 FPS range, still playable but with more noticeable dips. The Low preset is the only option that maintains high frame rates at 4K (85 FPS), but the visual sacrifice is substantial. High settings provide only marginal gains over Medium — 65 vs 70 FPS at 1080p, 58 vs 63 at 1440p, and 50 vs 53 at 4K — making High a poor value in terms of frame rate per visual increment. Ultra should be avoided entirely, as it yields sub-60 FPS at all resolutions and drops to 41 FPS at 4K. For players prioritizing frame rate, Low at 1440p (100 FPS) or 1080p (113 FPS) is the clear choice. The data suggests Medium at 1080p is the sweet spot, with Medium at 1440p as a viable alternative for those with 1440p displays who can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent pattern of degradation that points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the combo delivers 113 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p (an 11.5% drop), and 85 FPS at 4K (a 15% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 28 FPS, or 24.8%. At Medium, the numbers are 70, 63, and 53 FPS, with drops of 10% and 15.9% respectively, totaling 24.3%. High settings show 65, 58, and 50 FPS, with drops of 10.8% and 13.8%, totaling 23.1%. Ultra yields 54, 48, and 41 FPS, with drops of 11.1% and 14.6%, totaling 24.1%.

The near-constant ~24% total drop across all settings is a hallmark of GPU-bound scaling. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the percentage drop would increase as resolution rises (since the CPU’s workload stays relatively constant while the GPU’s increases). Instead, the uniform reduction indicates the RTX 5050’s render throughput is the constraining element. The 8 GB VRAM and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the higher memory pressure and fill rate requirements push the GPU to its limits. The 4K results, ranging from 41 to 85 FPS depending on settings, show that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Overpower beyond Low presets. The 1440p results are more reasonable, with Medium achieving 63 FPS, while 1080p remains the resolution where this pairing can fully stretch its legs, hitting 113 FPS on Low and 70 FPS on Medium.