Overpower

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination delivers exceptional performance in the action title Overpower, placing in the top percentile of all tested system configurations. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions, but shows remarkable consistency in frame rates as the resolution increases, suggesting that the RTX 5090's massive memory bandwidth and raw compute power are the primary drivers of this system's success. The measured frame rates across all settings and resolutions are high enough to satisfy the most demanding display configurations, making this a definitive flagship pairing.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Overpower?*

A: The combo ranks 38th out of 2980 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1.3% of all systems. This indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of hardware configurations tested for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79842, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940). It also trails the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80959) by 1.4%.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the system achieves an average of 232 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 112 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 120 FPS difference, or approximately a 51.7% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Does the CPU have a higher single-core or multi-core benchmark score?

A: The CPU scores 7303 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 51731 in multi-core. The multi-core score is roughly 7 times higher than the single-core score, which is typical for a 24-core processor.

Q: What is the GPU's memory capacity and bus width?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This is particularly relevant for high-resolution gaming where large texture datasets are common.

Q: How does the CPU's average score compare to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's score of 83807. This indicates a very marginal performance advantage over its direct predecessor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed performance anchor of this system in Overpower. Its specifications are staggering: 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient to feed its 21760 shading units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and its raw compute capability is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This hardware foundation is reflected in its benchmark scores, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and a Passmark G3D score of 39650.

The data from Overpower clearly demonstrates the GPU's dominance. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 306 FPS, but even at 4K Ultra, it maintains a highly playable 112 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows only a 23.8% drop in frame rate (from 147 to 112 FPS), which is remarkably small. This suggests that the RTX 5090's immense memory bandwidth and processing power are barely taxed by this game, even at the highest resolutions. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs further reinforces its position as a top-tier component, and its nearest rivals in benchmark scores—the Tesla P100 variants—are not gaming-focused products, highlighting the 5090's unique position in the consumer gaming landscape.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides the computational foundation for this system. With 24 cores and 24 threads, it lacks hyper-threading but compensates with high clock speeds: a base of 3.70 GHz and a boost of 5.80 GHz. The processor is built on TSMC's 3 nm process and features 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark results are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of Overpower, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The data shows that frame rates scale more dramatically with resolution changes than with settings changes, which is a hallmark of GPU-limited scenarios. For instance, at 1440p, the difference between Low (273 FPS) and Ultra (131 FPS) is 142 FPS, but the difference between 1080p Ultra (147 FPS) and 4K Ultra (112 FPS) is only 35 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates across all tested resolutions. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.80 GHz likely contributes to this, ensuring that game logic and physics calculations do not become a bottleneck. The 24 threads are more than sufficient for modern game engines, and the processor's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is among the best available for gaming workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 38 out of 2980 tested combos in Overpower. This places the system in the top 1.3% of all configurations tested, a remarkable achievement that underscores the capability of this hardware pairing. The rank is a composite measure that considers the performance of both components, and given the individual strengths of the CPU (96th percentile) and GPU (92nd percentile), this high ranking is expected.

What is particularly interesting about this rank is the consistency across different workloads. The CPU's average benchmark score of 84003 is almost identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807, delta 0.2%), yet the combo still manages to secure a top-tier rank. This suggests that the combination's performance in Overpower is more dependent on the GPU than the CPU, as the RTX 5090's 92nd percentile ranking is slightly lower than the CPU's 96th percentile. The fact that the combo ranks 38th among 2980 systems, while the GPU individually ranks in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, indicates that the CPU is not holding the GPU back in any meaningful way. The system sits in a sweet spot where both components are sufficiently powerful to allow the other to operate at its full potential.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across resolutions provides insight into the system's scaling behavior. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 178 FPS at 1080p to 158 FPS at 1440p and finally to 135 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24.2% total drop from 1080p to 4K. For Low settings, the drop is from 306 FPS at 1080p to 273 FPS at 1440p and 232 FPS at 4K, a 24.2% drop as well. Interestingly, the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical across all settings, hovering around 24-25%.

This uniform scaling pattern is a strong indicator that the system is overwhelmingly GPU-bound. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at lower resolutions, with a significant drop only when transitioning to 4K. Instead, the smooth linear decrease in FPS suggests that the RTX 5090 is consistently the bottleneck, and its performance scales predictably with the number of pixels rendered. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth likely plays a crucial role here, as it prevents memory bandwidth limitations from causing a precipitous drop at 4K. The data suggests that this system will deliver a very consistent experience across all resolutions, with no sudden performance cliffs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 306 FPS, while Medium settings yield 191 FPS (with a minimum of 163 and maximum of 220 FPS). High settings average 178 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 147 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at the highest settings, the system is capable of driving a 144Hz monitor comfortably at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally high. Low settings average 273 FPS, which is a modest 10.8% drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 171 FPS (min 145, max 196), High settings average 158 FPS, and Ultra settings average 131 FPS. The 1440p Ultra figure is still above 120 FPS, suggesting that this resolution is well within the system's comfort zone for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the system remains highly capable. Low settings produce 232 FPS, Medium settings average 145 FPS (min 123, max 167), High settings average 135 FPS, and Ultra settings average 112 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average above 100 FPS, which is a significant achievement. The minimum FPS recorded across all tests is 123 FPS at 4K Medium, indicating that the system rarely dips below 120 FPS in any configuration tested. This consistency is notable and suggests that the hardware combination is exceptionally well-balanced for this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's display and performance priorities. For users with a 4K 120Hz display, Ultra settings at 3840x2160 provide an average of 112 FPS, which is just below the 120Hz refresh rate. Dropping to High settings at 4K increases the average to 135 FPS, ensuring that the display is fully utilized without the need to compromise on visual quality. This makes High settings at 4K the recommended choice for a balance of visual fidelity and performance.

For 1440p users with high-refresh-rate displays (144Hz or 165Hz), Ultra settings at 2560x1440 deliver 131 FPS, which is close to 144Hz. However, High settings at 158 FPS provide a more comfortable margin above 144Hz, making it the better choice for competitive play. At 1080p, even Ultra settings achieve 147 FPS, which is above 144Hz, so users can confidently select Ultra settings for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

The data suggests that the Medium preset offers no significant advantage over High or Ultra in terms of frame rate consistency. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 123 FPS, which is only slightly higher than the 4K Ultra average of 112 FPS. Therefore, the recommended approach is to prioritize either High or Ultra settings, as the performance difference between Medium and High is relatively small (145 vs 135 FPS at 4K, and 171 vs 158 FPS at 1440p). The system is powerful enough to render the game at its highest visual fidelity while maintaining frame rates that satisfy virtually all display configurations.