Pc Building Simulator

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 in Pc Building Simulator produces a system that is clearly capable of high refresh rate gaming at mainstream resolutions, but it runs into a hard performance ceiling at 4K Ultra settings. The measured data shows a processor that sits in the 90th percentile against all CPUs, paired with a graphics card that lands in the 59th percentile against all GPUs, which makes the GPU the consistent bottleneck as resolution climbs. The benchmark results indicate that the i5-14600K has more than enough headroom to feed the RX 9060, as evidenced by the massive FPS jumps when settings are lowered at the same resolution. This is a combination that rewards users who are willing to adjust graphical presets, as the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is over double the frame rate, while the delta at 4K is similarly dramatic but lands on the wrong side of playability. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows, explains how the combo ranks against other tested pairings, and provides practical settings recommendations based solely on the data in the FACT PACK.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Pc Building Simulator shows that the Ultra preset is the most demanding, but it also reveals that Medium settings provide the best overall experience when balancing visual quality and frame rate stability. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 118 FPS, while Medium reaches 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS. The jump from Ultra to Medium is a 57 FPS increase, which is a 48% improvement, and the minimum FPS of 149 ensures that even the most complex scenes in the simulation maintain a smooth experience on high refresh rate monitors. High settings at 1080p land at 124 FPS, which is only 6 FPS faster than Ultra, indicating that the transition from High to Ultra is not particularly punishing at this resolution, but Medium still offers the largest safety margin for frame time consistency.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average of 111 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS. This is the sweet spot for 1440p gaming, as it keeps the average above the 100 FPS mark while the minimum stays above 90 FPS, which is critical for avoiding stutter in a game where you are constantly building and managing components. The High preset at 1440p delivers 78 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably lower, and the Ultra preset drops to 74 FPS, which pushes the system closer to the edge of what is comfortable for fast camera movements in a dense PC case. Low settings at 1440p hit 156 FPS, but the visual penalty is severe for a simulation game where you need to read small text on component labels and motherboard headers.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that Medium is the only viable preset for a decent experience, with an average of 58 FPS, a minimum of 49 FPS, and a maximum of 66 FPS. The High preset drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS threshold and will feel sluggish during gameplay. Low settings at 4K reach 82 FPS, but the graphical downgrade is substantial enough that it undermines the purpose of playing at 4K resolution. The recommendation is clear: use Medium settings as the default for this combo, because it provides the best trade-off between visual fidelity and performance across all three resolutions, and it is the only preset that keeps the minimum FPS above 49 at 4K, which is the lowest minimum recorded in the entire data set.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 9060 in Pc Building Simulator is 1710 out of 3002 tested combinations. This places the system in the 57th percentile of all tested combos, which is a solid mid-pack result but not a top-tier configuration. The data indicates that there are 1292 combos that perform better, which suggests that while this pairing is competent, it is not optimized for maximum FPS in this particular simulation game. The ranking reflects the fact that the RX 9060, despite being a modern RDNA 4.0 GPU, only achieves a 59th percentile ranking against all GPUs, which limits the overall combo performance even with a strong CPU like the i5-14600K.

Looking at the individual component benchmarks provides context for this rank. The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48618, which places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, and it sits within a tight competitive group in the nearestRivals data. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698, which is 0.2% higher, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995, which is 0.8% higher. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48470, which is 0.3% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48287, which is 0.7% lower. All of these rivals are within a 1% delta of the i5-14600K, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo’s rank.

On the GPU side, the RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129, a 0.7% advantage, and the AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862, which is 1% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 15852, also 1% lower, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679, which is 2.1% lower. The RX 9060 is competitive with the RTX 3060 Ti, but it does not have the raw GPU horsepower to push the combo into a higher rank bracket. The combo rank of 1710 out of 3002 reflects this balance, where the CPU is strong but the GPU holds the system back in a game that scales significantly with resolution and settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 plays the decisive role in determining the FPS in Pc Building Simulator, particularly as the resolution increases. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, which provides a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz with an effective speed of 18 Gbps, and the GPU has a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. These clock speeds are relevant because the data shows that the FPS drops are directly tied to the GPU’s ability to render at higher resolutions, and the 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this simulation game, which does not appear to be heavily VRAM dependent based on the measured performance.

The GPU’s peak performance is defined by its 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, which together produce a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 21.43 TFLOPS, and the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. In terms of benchmark scores, the RX 9060 achieves a Passmark G3D score of 17631, which is its strongest result, while the DirectX 12 score is only 44, indicating that the GPU’s performance varies significantly across different API workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3322, and the Geekbench OpenCL score is 88183, which provides additional context for its compute capabilities.

The GPU’s role in this combo is best understood through the measured FPS data. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 247 FPS, which is a CPU-limited scenario where the i5-14600K’s single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064, keeps the frame rate high. However, at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 39, which is a GPU-limited scenario where the RX 9060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become a constraint. The GPU’s 59th percentile ranking against all GPUs, combined with its nearest rival being the RTX 3060 Ti, suggests that it is a mainstream card that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but struggles at 4K with high settings. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary determinant of the FPS scaling from Low to Ultra, and users should expect to adjust settings based on their target resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows a wide range across the four settings presets. The Low preset achieves the highest average at 247 FPS, which is more than double the Ultra preset’s 118 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS, providing the most consistent frame pacing. The High preset reaches 124 FPS, which is only 6 FPS higher than Ultra, suggesting that the difference between High and Ultra is minor at this resolution. The Ultra preset’s 118 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, so users with 1080p monitors can comfortably run any settings, but Medium offers the best balance for high refresh rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the FPS numbers scale down proportionally. The Low preset hits 156 FPS, which is a 37% drop from the 1080p Low score. The Medium preset averages 111 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS, which keeps the experience smooth for most gameplay scenarios. The High preset drops to 78 FPS, which is a 37% reduction from the 1080p High score, and the Ultra preset falls to 74 FPS, which is a 37% reduction as well. The consistency of these percentage drops indicates that the scaling is predictable, with each resolution step reducing the FPS by roughly 37% for the same settings. The Medium preset at 1440p is the recommended choice because it maintains a minimum FPS above 90, which is important for avoiding any perceived stutter in a game with frequent UI updates.

At 3840x2160, the FPS numbers become the limiting factor for this combo. The Low preset achieves 82 FPS, which is a 47% drop from the 1080p Low score, indicating that even at Low settings, the GPU is struggling with the 4K resolution. The Medium preset delivers 58 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, which is borderline playable but will have noticeable frame drops in complex scenes. The High preset drops to 41 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 39 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS threshold and will result in a suboptimal experience. The data shows that the RX 9060 is not capable of maintaining high FPS at 4K with this CPU, and users targeting 4K should stick to Medium settings or consider lowering the resolution.

The complete FPS breakdown shows that the combo performs best at 1080p and 1440p with Medium settings, where the minimum FPS stays above 94 and the average FPS exceeds 111. The 4K results are the weakest, with only the Low preset exceeding 60 FPS, but the visual quality at Low is poor for a simulation game. The data suggests that this is a 1080p and 1440p gaming combo, with 4K being only feasible at Low settings or with significant compromises.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation. At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 175 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p, which is a 37% reduction, and then to 58 at 4K, which is an additional 48% reduction from the 1440p score. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings is 117 FPS, or a 67% reduction. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU has enough headroom to handle the increased resolution without bottlenecking.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The FPS drops from 247 at 1080p to 156 at 1440p, a 37% reduction, and then to 82 at 4K, a 47% reduction from the 1440p score. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 165 FPS, or a 67% reduction. The fact that the percentage drops are similar across Medium and Low settings confirms that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck, and the CPU’s performance is not affecting the scaling pattern.

At High settings, the FPS drops from 124 at 1080p to 78 at 1440p, a 37% reduction, and then to 41 at 4K, a 47% reduction from the 1440p score. The total drop is 83 FPS, or a 67% reduction. At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 118 at 1080p to 74 at 1440p, a 37% reduction, and then to 39 at 4K, a 47% reduction from the 1440p score. The total drop is 79 FPS, or a 67% reduction. The consistent 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all settings indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, as the RX 9060’s 288.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the increased pixel count.

The resolution scaling also shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution. The i5-14600K’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064 and Passmark single-thread score of 4270, ensures that it can feed the GPU at all settings. The fact that the FPS drops are so consistent across different settings presets suggests that the GPU is the sole bottleneck, and users should not expect any CPU overclocking or upgrade to improve the 4K performance. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K only being viable at Low settings or with a significant GPU upgrade.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset provides the best experience at 2560x1440, with an average of 111 FPS, a minimum of 94 FPS, and a maximum of 127 FPS. This keeps the frame rate above 90 FPS at all times, which is important for smooth gameplay in a simulation title. The High preset drops to 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 74 FPS, both of which are lower and less consistent.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 3840x2160, the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS is Low, which achieves 82 FPS. The Medium preset averages 58 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS, which is borderline playable but will experience frame drops. High and Ultra settings produce 41 FPS and 39 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold and not recommended for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s score of 16129. The RX 9060 is also 1% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 370X and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, and 2.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. This places the RX 9060 in the 59th percentile of all GPUs.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The FPS drops by 37% from 1080p to 1440p across all settings, and then by an additional 47% from 1440p to 4K. The i5-14600K is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618, which is within 1% of its nearest rivals, indicating that it has sufficient performance to avoid bottlenecking the RX 9060.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 118 FPS. This is the lowest FPS at 1080p, but it is still above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience. The Medium preset is significantly higher at 175 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 247 FPS, so users have plenty of headroom at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested combinations?

A: The combo rank for this pairing is 1710 out of 3002 tested combinations, which places it in the 57th percentile. This is a mid-pack result, reflecting the RX 9060’s 59th percentile GPU ranking, which limits the overall performance despite the i5-14600K’s 90th percentile CPU ranking. There are 1292 combos that perform better, indicating that a stronger GPU would improve the rank significantly.