Pc Building Simulator

# Pc Building Simulator with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

This combination sits in the lower-middle portion of tested configurations for Pc Building Simulator, ranking 1577th out of 3002 combos. The pairing of a flagship 24-core CPU with a mainstream 8 GB GPU creates an interesting imbalance, and the measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal where each component carries the load. The data shows a system that can deliver smooth gameplay at 1080p, but the demands of higher resolutions expose the GPU's limitations, while the CPU's massive headroom remains largely untapped in this simulation title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1577 out of 3002 tested combinations places it just past the median, suggesting that roughly half of all tested pairings perform better in this game. This is a notable result given the hardware involved. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is an exceptionally strong processor, sitting at the 96th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 84003. However, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, while respectable, occupies only the 61st percentile among GPUs with an average score of 17639. The ranking indicates that Pc Building Simulator's performance is heavily influenced by the GPU, and the RTX 4060's mid-tier positioning drags the overall combo down despite the CPU's top-tier capabilities.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ultra 9 290K Plus edges out the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K by a mere 0.2% in average score, and it leads the AMD EPYC 4584PX by 1.1% and the AMD EPYC 9135 by 1.2%. Interestingly, it trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%. These are extremely tight margins, indicating that the 290K Plus is firmly in the upper echelon of processor performance, but the differences between top chips are minimal. For the GPU, the RTX 4060's nearest rivals are all older or integrated solutions—the AMD Radeon HD 7790 is 0.2% faster, while the AMD Radeon 780M, Radeon Pro 560, and Radeon Pro 460 trail by 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.7% respectively. This clustering suggests the RTX 4060's performance is well-known and that it sits in a crowded mid-range segment where small margins separate competitors.

The rank of 1577 becomes more understandable when considering that Pc Building Simulator is a simulation title that may not fully utilize the CPU's 24 cores or its 5.80 GHz boost clock. The game's rendering demands likely scale more with GPU throughput, and the RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance places a ceiling on what this combo can achieve. In a game where the CPU is not the bottleneck, the GPU's mid-pack standing becomes the determining factor.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. Its base clock runs at 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and the memory operates at 2125 MHz with 17 Gbps effective speed. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a modest figure for modern gaming. In Pc Building Simulator, the GPU's role becomes apparent when examining the frame rates across settings at each resolution.

At 1080p, the RTX 4060 delivers 266 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 189 FPS on Medium, 133 FPS on High, and 127 FPS on Ultra. The relatively small gap between High and Ultra (133 vs 127 FPS) suggests that Ultra settings introduce effects that the GPU can still handle without severe penalties, but the jump from Low to Medium (266 to 189 FPS) represents a 29% reduction, indicating that medium-level effects significantly increase the GPU's workload. Moving to 1440p, the pattern continues with 168 FPS on Low, 119 FPS on Medium, 84 FPS on High, and 80 FPS on Ultra. Finally, at 4K, the RTX 4060 manages 88 FPS on Low, 62 FPS on Medium, 44 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra.

The RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor at higher resolutions. While the measured data does not include VRAM usage, the substantial frame rate drops at 4K—particularly the fall from 88 FPS at Low to 44 FPS at High—suggest that memory bandwidth and capacity constraints become more pronounced as resolution increases. The 128-bit bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are relatively narrow for 4K workloads, and the data implies that the GPU is the limiting component in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At Low settings, the RTX 4060 achieves 266 FPS at 1080p, 168 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36.8%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 47.6%. This accelerating decline is classic GPU-limited behavior, where the number of pixels being rendered quadruples from 1080p to 4K, overwhelming the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

At Medium settings, the scaling shows 189 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 37.0% and 47.9% respectively. High settings follow a similar trajectory: 133 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K—drops of 36.8% and 47.6%. Ultra settings produce 127 FPS at 1080p, 80 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, with the same pattern of roughly 37% and 48% reductions. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is striking and indicates that resolution scaling is independent of the graphics preset—the GPU's throughput scales proportionally with pixel count.

This uniform scaling pattern suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution. If the CPU were constraining performance, we would expect to see smaller frame rate differences at lower resolutions where the GPU can render frames quickly, but the CPU must keep up. Instead, the consistent drops point to the GPU as the sole bottleneck, with the Ultra 9 290K Plus providing more than enough processing power to feed the RTX 4060 at all settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The data indicates strong performance at both resolutions. At 1080p, the combo achieves 266 FPS on Low and 127 FPS on Ultra, while at 1440p it delivers 168 FPS on Low and 80 FPS on Ultra. For smooth gameplay at high settings, 1080p is clearly the safer choice, but 1440p with Medium or High settings remains playable.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7790, scores 17666—a delta of -0.2%, meaning the 4060 is marginally slower. The AMD Radeon 780M trails by 0.3%, and the Radeon Pro 560 and Pro 460 trail by 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.

Q: Does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provide enough CPU power for this game?

A: The CPU is vastly overqualified for this title. With 24 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, the 290K Plus sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The resolution scaling data shows consistent frame rate drops, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gameplay?

A: At 3840x2160, the combo averages 88 FPS on Low, 62 FPS on Medium, 44 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra. For a playable experience, Low settings are recommended, as Medium drops below 60 FPS.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4060 have, and does it matter for this game?

A: The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. The substantial frame rate drops at 4K, especially from Low to High settings, suggest that memory capacity and bandwidth play a role in performance at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary driver of frame rates in this game?

A: The data strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, while the RTX 4060 scores 17639. The frame rate scaling across resolutions follows GPU-bound patterns, and the CPU's massive performance headroom is not fully utilized.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 266 FPS, which is the maximum measured for this configuration. Medium settings yield 189 FPS with a minimum of 160 FPS and a maximum of 217 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. High settings average 133 FPS, while Ultra settings average 127 FPS—a surprisingly small gap of only 6 FPS between High and Ultra, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds effects that are not particularly demanding on the GPU.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decline. Low settings average 168 FPS, Medium averages 119 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 137 FPS, High averages 84 FPS, and Ultra averages 80 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows further to 4 FPS, reinforcing that the Ultra preset's additional features have minimal impact on performance at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4060 begins to struggle. Low settings average 88 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 72 FPS. High settings average 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS, both falling below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data shows that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, where the 88 FPS average provides a comfortable experience, but any increase in quality comes at a significant frame rate cost.

The Medium settings at each resolution provide the only rows with min and max FPS data: at 1080p, 160-217 FPS; at 1440p, 101-137 FPS; and at 4K, 53-72 FPS. These ranges indicate that frame pacing is consistent, with no severe stutters or drops, which is a positive sign for the overall stability of this combo.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on TSMC's 3 nm process with a die size of 243 mm² and 17,800 million transistors. It operates at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts to 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth, along with ECC support. The processor also features integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's role appears minimal based on the measured data. The benchmark scores show exceptional multithreaded performance, with Cinebench R23 multicore reaching 51731 and single-core hitting 7303. PassMark multithread score is 60860, and single-thread is 4823. These figures place the 290K Plus at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83807—a 0.2% difference—while the AMD EPYC 4584PX and EPYC 9135 are 1.1% and 1.2% slower respectively. The AMD EPYC 7F72 leads by 1.3% with a score of 85072.

The game's genre as a simulation might suggest CPU sensitivity, but the frame rate data tells a different story. The consistent percentage drops from 1080p to 1440p to 4K across all settings indicate that the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU. The 290K Plus with its 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock provides far more processing power than Pc Building Simulator requires, leaving significant headroom unused. This is evident from the fact that the combo's rank of 1577 out of 3002 is more reflective of the GPU's mid-tier standing than the CPU's top-tier capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the data suggests prioritizing resolution over settings. At 1080p, Ultra settings provide 127 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The small gap between High (133 FPS) and Ultra (127 FPS) means there is little reason to compromise on quality at this resolution—Ultra is the clear choice.

At 1440p, the situation changes. Ultra averages 80 FPS, which remains playable, but High averages 84 FPS. The 4 FPS difference is negligible, so choosing either preset is reasonable. Medium at 119 FPS offers a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making it the safest option for maintaining high frame rates while still enjoying improved visuals over Low.

At 4K, the recommendations are more restrictive. Low settings deliver 88 FPS, which is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS. Medium drops to 62 FPS, which is borderline, while High and Ultra fall to 44 FPS and 42 FPS respectively. For a smooth experience at 4K, Low is the only viable option, and even then, the 88 FPS average is achievable only because the game is not particularly demanding.

The optimal configuration depends on the user's priority. For maximum visual quality at 1080p, Ultra is recommended. For 1440p, Medium provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at 119 FPS. For 4K, Low is the only preset that maintains playable frame rates, and users seeking higher quality should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p instead. The data clearly shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K only viable at the lowest settings.