Pc Building Simulator

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks at #598 out of 3,002 tested combinations in Pc Building Simulator. This places the combo in the top 20% of all systems tested, which is a strong result for a simulation title that typically taxes single-thread performance more than raw multi-core throughput. The 265HX, a 20-core Arrow Lake-HX mobile processor, combined with the AD102-based RTX 4090, demonstrates that even a high-end mobile CPU can feed a flagship desktop GPU in this workload.

What stands out immediately is the scaling pattern: the combo delivers playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra, but the real headroom lies in how the system responds to settings changes rather than resolution changes. The data shows a CPU that is more than adequate for this game, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck only at the highest settings and resolution. The 265HX’s 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and the RTX 4090’s 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirm that this is a top-tier pairing, but the game’s engine appears to favor the GPU’s raw fill rate over the CPU’s thread count.

How This Combo Ranks

The #598 position out of 3,002 combos is a solid placement, representing roughly the 80th percentile of all tested systems. This is not a record-breaking result, but it is well above the median and indicates that the hardware combination is well-balanced for this specific title. The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score of 60,347 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the 265HX’s average score of 63,173 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. In Pc Building Simulator, the bottleneck analysis is clear: the GPU’s performance ceiling is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the combo manages only 58 FPS, but at 1080p Low, the system reaches 370 FPS, showing that the CPU can drive the GPU to very high frame rates.

Compared to its nearest rivals in the database, the 265HX sits in a tight cluster. The Intel Core i7-13790F scores 63,080, which is 0.1% higher than the 265HX’s 63,173 — a negligible difference. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G scores 63,331, putting it 0.2% ahead, while the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 scores 62,839, 0.5% behind. The closest Intel sibling, the Core Ultra 7 255HX, scores 62,738, 0.7% lower. These deltas are within the margin of error for synthetic benchmarks, meaning the 265HX is effectively tied with its immediate competition in CPU-centric workloads. The game’s measured FPS, however, shows that this CPU headroom is rarely used; the system is consistently GPU-limited in this simulation.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience balancing visual quality and performance, the Medium preset is the clear winner across all resolutions. At 4K, Medium delivers 86 FPS average with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the lowest setting that guarantees smooth gameplay on a 60Hz display. The High preset at 4K drops to 61 FPS average, which is borderline, while Ultra falls to 58 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold. Low at 4K hits 122 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity unnecessarily.

At 1440p, Medium again provides the best balance: 165 FPS average with a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 190 FPS. This is more than enough for high-refresh-rate monitors, and the jump from High (117 FPS) to Medium (165 FPS) is a 41% improvement. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 111 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns over Medium. At 1080p, Medium reaches 262 FPS average with a minimum of 222 FPS, which is ideal for 240Hz displays. High at 1080p offers 185 FPS, while Ultra drops to 176 FPS. Low at 1080p hits 370 FPS, but the visual downgrade is not worth the extra frame rate when Medium already exceeds 200 FPS minimum.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot because it provides a minimum frame rate that is more than double the refresh rate of typical 144Hz monitors at 1080p and 1440p, while maintaining a 73 FPS minimum at 4K. The step from Medium to High costs roughly 30% performance at every resolution, while the step from High to Ultra costs only about 5% more. This indicates that Medium is the most efficient setting for this combo.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but consistent, revealing the GPU-bound nature of the workload. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 262 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, and 86 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 48% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 67%, which is roughly in line with the increase in pixel count (4x), but not perfectly linear because the GPU’s memory bandwidth and fill rate become increasingly taxed at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 185 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is barely playable, confirming that the RTX 4090’s 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are the limiting factors. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is not the constraint, as Pc Building Simulator does not appear to be VRAM-hungry at these settings. Instead, the GPU’s compute throughput, measured at 82.58 TFLOPS FP32, is being saturated at 4K Ultra, where the system drops to 58 FPS.

The CPU’s role in this scaling is minimal. The 265HX’s boost clock of 5.30 GHz and 20 threads ensure that frame pacing remains stable even when the GPU is heavily loaded. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings (73 FPS at 4K, 140 FPS at 1440p, 222 FPS at 1080p) are all well above the average FPS of lower-tier systems, indicating that the CPU is not causing stutter or frame drops. The bottleneck is almost entirely on the GPU side, which is typical for a simulation game that emphasizes rendering detail over complex physics.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p:

• Low: 370 FPS average
• Medium: 262 FPS average (222 min, 301 max)
• High: 185 FPS average
• Ultra: 176 FPS average

At 1080p, the system is heavily GPU-limited, but the CPU still has headroom. The jump from Low to Medium costs 29% performance, while Medium to High costs 29% again. High to Ultra costs only 5%, suggesting that Ultra is a minor visual upgrade over High. The 370 FPS at Low is the highest score in the entire dataset, showing that the RTX 4090 can be pushed to extreme frame rates when the CPU is not the constraint.

1440p:

• Low: 233 FPS average
• Medium: 165 FPS average (140 min, 190 max)
• High: 117 FPS average
• Ultra: 111 FPS average

The 1440p results show a similar pattern. Low delivers 233 FPS, which is still extremely high. Medium provides a 140 FPS minimum, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate gaming. The drop from Medium to High is 29%, and the drop from High to Ultra is 5%. The minimum FPS at Medium (140) is higher than the average FPS at High (117), reinforcing that Medium is the performance sweet spot.

4K:

• Low: 122 FPS average
• Medium: 86 FPS average (73 min, 99 max)
• High: 61 FPS average
• Ultra: 58 FPS average

At 4K, the GPU’s limits become apparent. Low still delivers 122 FPS, which is playable on high-refresh displays. Medium maintains a 73 FPS minimum, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High and Ultra both fall below 61 FPS, meaning they are only suitable for 60Hz displays with V-sync. The gap between Medium and High is 29%, while the gap between High and Ultra is 5%, consistent with lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Pc Building Simulator at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, but barely. At 4K High, the system averages 61 FPS, which is exactly at the 60 FPS threshold. For a more comfortable margin, the Medium preset at 4K delivers 86 FPS average with a 73 FPS minimum.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice. It delivers 165 FPS average with a 140 FPS minimum, ensuring the frame rate never drops below the 144Hz refresh rate. The High preset at 117 FPS average would fall below 144 FPS in demanding scenes.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The 265HX scores 63,173 in the average benchmark, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i7-13790F (63,080), 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (63,331), 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (62,839), and 0.7% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (62,738). These differences are negligible.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the bottleneck at any resolution?

A: Yes, the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the combo drops to 58 FPS. At 1080p and 1440p, the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU has enough headroom to avoid frame drops, as evidenced by the high minimum FPS values at Medium settings.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this setup?

A: The highest measured average is 370 FPS at 1080p Low settings. This is the only setting that exceeds 300 FPS, and it demonstrates that the 265HX can drive the RTX 4090 to extreme frame rates when the graphical load is minimal.

Q: Does the CPU’s 20-core configuration matter for this game?

A: The data suggests that core count is not a major factor in Pc Building Simulator. The 265HX’s 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient, as the game appears to be GPU-bound. The CPU’s 5.30 GHz boost clock and 30 MB of L3 cache likely contribute more to stable frame pacing than the raw thread count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread mobile processor based on the Arrow Lake-HX architecture, built on a 3 nm TSMC process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 55 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic, which is not particularly demanding. The benchmark results show that the 265HX’s multi-threaded performance is strong — it scores 40,642 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,737 in single-core. However, the game’s frame rates are consistently GPU-limited, as shown by the 58 FPS at 4K Ultra versus 370 FPS at 1080p Low. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is well above average, but the game does not appear to stress it heavily.

The 265HX’s nearest rivals in the database are all within 0.7% of its average benchmark score, which means any of these CPUs would deliver near-identical performance in this game. The real differentiator is the GPU, and the RTX 4090’s 88th percentile ranking shows that it is a top-tier card. The combination of a high-end mobile CPU and a flagship desktop GPU results in a system that is overkill for Pc Building Simulator at lower resolutions, but necessary to achieve 60+ FPS at 4K with high settings. The CPU’s 20 threads and high boost clock ensure that there is no CPU-induced stutter, even when the GPU is at its limit.