Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator is a simulation title where the bottleneck dynamics differ from typical action games. The data for the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, but the relationship between CPU and GPU loads is unusual for this genre. The benchmark results indicate that while the GPU is a dominant force, the processor's unique architecture plays a critical role in maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but the pattern reveals where the system limit shifts. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 370 FPS, but at 4K Low it falls to 122 FPS — a 67% reduction. This indicates that at 1080p, the system is not fully GPU-bound; the CPU has headroom to push frames far beyond typical display refresh rates. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more moderate: 370 FPS to 233 FPS at Low settings, a 37% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, the drop continues to 122 FPS, another 48% reduction.

Looking at High settings, the progression is 185 FPS (1080p) → 117 FPS (1440p) → 61 FPS (4K). The 4K High result is particularly telling — it barely exceeds 60 FPS, suggesting that the RTX 4090 is being pushed to its limits at that resolution with higher quality presets. The Ultra settings tell a similar story: 176 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only one that falls below 60 FPS.

The limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the GPU has so much headroom that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes relevant, as evidenced by the 370 FPS Low result. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with all settings producing results that are a fraction of their 1080p counterparts. The Medium settings show the most balanced scaling: 262 FPS (1080p) → 165 FPS (1440p) → 86 FPS (4K), which is a consistent drop pattern of roughly 37% and 48% respectively.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 is a massive piece of hardware — 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is likely why the 4K results remain playable, as Pc Building Simulator can be memory-hungry with many components rendered simultaneously. The GPU's 16384 shading units and 512 TMUs provide immense pixel throughput, but the data shows that even this power is taxed at 4K Ultra.

The boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz are high for a GPU of this class, but the performance in Pc Building Simulator is more closely tied to raw compute than clock speed. The FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is substantial, yet the 4K Ultra result of 58 FPS suggests that the simulation's engine has specific rendering paths that don't fully utilize this compute potential. The RTX 4090's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present, but Pc Building Simulator does not appear to leverage ray tracing heavily based on the measured data.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 88 among all GPUs is respectable, but its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are professional workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M and Intel Arc Pro A60. The deltaPct values are small — 0% to 2.9% — which means the RTX 4090's position is not dominant in this particular benchmark suite. However, in Pc Building Simulator specifically, the GPU's 24 GB VRAM is likely a key factor, as the game can render numerous high-resolution textures for components.

The 450 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate this is a power-hungry card, but the measured FPS shows that power translates to performance in this title. The GPU's launch MSRP was 1,599 USD, and its production status is end-of-life, but the data indicates it remains a capable choice for this simulation game. The 21 Gbps effective memory clock is high, and the 384-bit bus width provides the bandwidth needed for 4K textures without stuttering.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a mobile processor with 16 cores and 16 threads, which is unusual — no hyperthreading. This means each core handles one thread, and the base clock of 2.10 GHz boosts to 5.10 GHz. The benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18911 and a single-core score of 2200.5. These scores place the CPU in the 88th percentile, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (avg score 44573, deltaPct -0.2%).

The CPU's architecture is Panther Lake, built on Intel's 3 nm process. The L3 cache is 18 MB shared, and each core has 192 KB of L1 and 3 MB of L2 cache. This cache configuration is likely beneficial for Pc Building Simulator, which involves managing many small objects. The PassMark single-thread score of 4280 is strong, and this is what drives the high 1080p FPS results. At 1080p Low, the 370 FPS result indicates that the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them, which reflects the single-core boost clock.

However, the multi-threaded performance is where this CPU shows its character. The PassMark multi-thread score of 36811 and the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18911 are solid but not spectacular. The 16 threads without hyperthreading mean that heavily threaded workloads might not scale as well as competing CPUs. In Pc Building Simulator, where the simulation logic is likely single-threaded, this is not a limitation. The data shows that at 4K, the CPU is not the bottleneck — the GPU is. At 1080p, the CPU's single-core performance is sufficient to exceed 300 FPS, which is beyond what most displays can show.

The TDP of 25 W is remarkably low for a CPU with 16 cores, and the memory support is LPDDR5X with dual-channel bandwidth of 153.6 GB/s. This memory bandwidth is ample for the game's needs, and the PCIe Gen 5 interface (4 lanes from CPU) provides sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4090, although the GPU runs on PCIe 4.0 x16. The CPU's integrated graphics are Arc B390, but they are not used in this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 598 out of 3002 tested combos in Pc Building Simulator. This places it in the top 20% of all configurations, which is a strong showing but not elite. The rank of 598 indicates that there are 597 combos that perform better in this specific game, which is surprising given the powerful components involved.

The rank suggests that Pc Building Simulator does not heavily favor the RTX 4090's strengths. The GPU's percentile of 88 among all GPUs means it is better than 88% of GPUs, but the combo rank of 598 out of 3002 (top 19.9%) is slightly worse than the GPU's individual percentile. This implies that the CPU is holding the combo back slightly, or that the game's engine does not scale well with the combination of this specific CPU and GPU.

Compared to other combos, this system is likely beat by configurations with faster single-core CPUs or GPUs that have higher memory bandwidth. The RTX 4090's nearest rival in the database, the AMD Radeon PRO V710, has a deltaPct of 2.9%, meaning the RTX 4090 is 2.9% slower in average benchmark score. This small margin suggests that in some games, the RTX 4090's advantage is thin. In Pc Building Simulator, the combo rank of 598 reflects that the system is well above average but not the top performer.

The fact that the data is measured (not estimated) adds credibility to the rank. The combo's position in the 598th spot out of 3002 means it outperforms 2404 other configurations, which is a strong result. However, the top 597 combos likely include setups with higher-clocked desktop CPUs or GPUs with more specialized performance in simulation games.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view across three resolutions and four quality settings.

1080p:

• Low: 370 FPS average. This is the highest result in the entire dataset, indicating no bottleneck.
• Medium: 262 FPS average, with min FPS of 222 and max FPS of 301. The variance of 79 FPS suggests some scenes are more demanding.
• High: 185 FPS average. This is a significant drop from Low, showing that the GPU starts to work harder.
• Ultra: 176 FPS average. The gap between High and Ultra is only 9 FPS, which is surprising — it suggests Ultra settings are not dramatically more demanding than High at this resolution.

1440p:

• Low: 233 FPS average. This is 63% of the 1080p Low result, showing the GPU is becoming more involved.
• Medium: 165 FPS average, with min FPS of 140 and max FPS of 190. The min FPS of 140 is still very playable.
• High: 117 FPS average. This is a 37% drop from 1080p High, which is consistent with the resolution scaling.
• Ultra: 111 FPS average. The difference between High and Ultra is only 6 FPS here, similar to the 1080p pattern.

4K:

• Low: 122 FPS average. This is a strong result for 4K, showing the GPU can handle lower settings at this resolution.
• Medium: 86 FPS average, with min FPS of 73 and max FPS of 99. The min FPS of 73 is still above 60, which is good for 4K.
• High: 61 FPS average. This is right at the edge of playability, and the data shows the GPU is nearly maxed out.
• Ultra: 58 FPS average. This is the only result below 60 FPS, and it indicates that Ultra settings at 4K require more than this combo can deliver consistently.

The Medium settings provide the most balanced experience across all resolutions, with the min FPS at 4K (73) still being above the 60 FPS threshold. The Low settings at 4K (122 FPS) show that the GPU has headroom when textures and effects are reduced. The Ultra settings at 4K (58 FPS) are the only configuration where the system dips below 60 FPS, meaning players seeking a locked 60 FPS at 4K should use High settings or lower.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a smooth 60+ FPS experience?

A: The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that fails to reach 60 FPS, with an average of 58 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS, 4K High (61 FPS) is borderline, but 4K Medium (86 FPS) provides comfortable headroom. At 1440p, all settings including Ultra (111 FPS) exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p compared to 4K?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 370 FPS, which suggests the CPU's single-core performance (boost clock of 5.10 GHz) is sufficient to feed the GPU without bottlenecking. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the 122 FPS Low result at 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM necessary for this game?

A: The data shows 4K Medium produces a min FPS of 73, which is playable. While the 24 GB VRAM is not fully utilized in Pc Building Simulator based on the measured results, the memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s contributes to the smooth performance at 4K High (61 FPS average).

Q: How does this combo compare to systems with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D?

A: The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score that is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (44573 vs 44466). This small deltaPct indicates that the two CPUs are nearly identical in general performance, so differences in Pc Building Simulator would likely come from other system components.

Q: Why is the FPS drop from 1440p to 4K larger than from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The data shows the drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is 185 to 117 FPS (a 37% decrease), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 117 to 61 FPS (a 48% decrease). This larger drop at 4K indicates the GPU is reaching its rendering limits, as the pixel count increases more substantially at that resolution.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: No, the average FPS at 4K Ultra is 58, which is below 60. The data shows that to achieve 60+ FPS at 4K, players should use High settings (61 FPS average) or Medium settings (86 FPS average) for more headroom.