Ready Or Not

# Ready Or Not with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + Intel Arc B390

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and the Intel Arc B390 lands at rank 2611 out of 2947 tested combos in Ready Or Not, placing it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems. The pairing is heavily lopsided: the CPU ranks in the 92nd percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 9th percentile among all graphics cards. Benchmark results indicate that the Arc B390 is the decisive bottleneck, with the Ryzen 9 9900X's substantial compute resources largely idle in this tactical shooter.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2611 out of 2947 tested configurations (roughly the 11th percentile) tells a clear story: this is a severely GPU-limited system for Ready Or Not. The data shows that the Intel Arc B390's average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the company of much older, low-end discrete GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% slower). The deltas here are small — within 2.7% — meaning the Arc B390 is clustered with entry-level graphics solutions from over a decade ago.

The CPU, by contrast, sits in a completely different performance tier. The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57,498, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD EPYC 9015 (57,555, 0.1% faster), the AMD EPYC 7313 (57,399, 0.2% slower), the Intel Core i9-14900 (58,115, 1.1% faster), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58,323, 1.4% faster). These deltas are all under 1.5%, indicating the Ryzen 9 9900X is competitively positioned against high-end server and desktop parts.

The imbalance is stark. A CPU that competes with server-grade EPYC and Xeon processors is paired with a GPU that competes with the GT 710. In Ready Or Not, this results in a system that can barely maintain playable frame rates at 1080p, and drops below 30 FPS at 4K Ultra. The combo rank reflects this mismatch perfectly — it's not a system that fails because both components are weak, but rather one where the GPU cannot possibly feed the CPU's capabilities.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X provides 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on TSMC's 4 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, with a theoretical bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and ECC support enabled. The CPU uses the AMD Socket AM5 platform and supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9900X shows strong scaling from single-thread to multi-thread workloads. Its single-thread scores include 1286 in 3DMark single-thread, 353 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 3010 in Geekbench single-core, and 4672 in PassMark single-thread. Multi-thread results scale aggressively: 12,552 in 3DMark 16-thread, 13,929 in 3DMark max-thread, 5008 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 32,172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 22,174 in Geekbench multi-core, and 54,643 in PassMark multi-thread. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2519 and 4-thread score of 4886 indicate that even light-threaded workloads get substantial performance.

For Ready Or Not, a tactical shooter that typically relies on a few heavily utilized threads for game logic and AI, the Ryzen 9 9900X's single-thread and lightly-threaded performance is more than adequate. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 9114 suggests that even if the game engine scales to eight threads, the CPU can handle it with ease. However, the measured frame rates in this game show that the CPU is never the limiting factor — the GPU is. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 125 FPS average, which is the highest measured result, but even that is far below what this CPU could drive with a more capable GPU.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip), built on Intel's 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 raster output units, and 12 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Memory is system-shared with a type of "System Shared" and bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." The GPU has a TDP of 80 W and uses no power connectors, being an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a slot width of "IGP."

The GPU's compute specifications are modest: 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate, 120.0 GTexel/s texture rate, 7.680 TFLOPS FP32, and 15.36 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its only benchmark result is a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

In Ready Or Not, the Arc B390's limitations are immediately visible. The highest average FPS measured is 125 at 1080p Low, and this drops to 23 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are severely constrained for modern game rendering, and the system-shared memory means bandwidth depends entirely on the CPU's DDR5 implementation. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth of the Ryzen 9 9900X's dual-channel DDR5 is shared with the GPU, which is a far cry from what dedicated graphics memory would provide. The boost clock of 2500 MHz is reasonable, but the architecture simply lacks the raw throughput needed for a game like Ready Or Not at higher resolutions and settings.

FAQ

Q: Why does this combo rank so low despite having a high-end CPU?

A: The combo ranks 2611 out of 2947 tested combos because the Intel Arc B390 GPU is the limiting factor. The GPU's average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 92nd percentile. The GPU cannot keep pace with the CPU's capabilities, capping frame rates well below what the Ryzen 9 9900X could otherwise support.

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo can achieve in Ready Or Not?

A: The best measured average FPS is 125 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the same resolution, Medium settings yield 109 FPS, High yields 99 FPS, and Ultra yields 69 FPS. The frame rate drops significantly as settings increase, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only at certain settings. At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 79 FPS average, Medium produces 69 FPS, and High produces 62 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 1440p seems to be the sweet spot for playability.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is just 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443). These are all very close scores, indicating the Arc B390 is in the same performance class as these older, low-end GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X competitive with other high-end CPUs?

A: Yes. Its average benchmark score of 57,498 is within 1.4% of the Intel Core i9-14900 (58,115), 1.4% of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58,323), and 0.1% of the AMD EPYC 9015 (57,555). It is 0.2% faster than the AMD EPYC 7313 (57,399). These deltas are all minimal, showing the Ryzen 9 9900X is squarely in the high-end tier.

Q: What is the lowest measured FPS in the data?

A: The lowest average FPS is 23 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The only min FPS values recorded are for Medium settings: 30 FPS at 4K, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 92 FPS at 1080p. The 4K Ultra average of 23 FPS is the lowest of all measured configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear trend of decreasing performance as resolution increases, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 125 at 1080p to 79 at 1440p (a 36.8% decrease) and then to 41 at 4K (a 48.1% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 84 FPS, or 67.2%.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 99 FPS at 1080p, 62 FPS at 1440p (a 37.4% decrease), and 33 FPS at 4K (a 46.8% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 66 FPS, or 66.7%. At Medium settings, the averages are 109 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p (a 36.7% decrease), and 36 FPS at 4K (a 47.8% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 73 FPS, or 67.0%.

At Ultra settings, the numbers are: 69 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p (a 36.2% decrease), and 23 FPS at 4K (a 47.7% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 46 FPS, or 66.7%. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings — roughly 36-37% from 1080p to 1440p and 47-48% from 1440p to 4K — strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the drop from 1080p to 4K would be much smaller, because higher resolutions would not significantly increase CPU load.

The fact that the Ryzen 9 9900X maintains nearly identical relative performance drops at all settings suggests the Arc B390 is completely saturated even at 1080p Low. The GPU's system-shared memory and limited ROP count (24) and TMUs (48) mean that increasing resolution directly multiplies the pixel and texture workload, which this GPU cannot handle.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all settings produce playable average frame rates, but the Medium preset offers a strong balance: 109 FPS average with a min FPS of 92 and a max of 125. This is 16 FPS faster than High (99 FPS) and only 16 FPS slower than Low (125 FPS), while providing better visual quality than Low. Ultra at 1080p drops to 69 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant 36.7% decrease from Medium.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again provides the best balance: 69 FPS average with a min of 58 and max of 79. This is the only 1440p setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS with headroom above the minimum. Low produces 79 FPS and High produces 62 FPS, but High's average is close to the 60 FPS threshold, making it riskier for frame time consistency. Ultra at 1440p drops to 44 FPS, which is below acceptable playability for a tactical shooter.

At 3840x2160, no setting achieves 60 FPS. The best average is 41 FPS at Low, followed by 36 FPS at Medium (with a min of 30 and max of 41), 33 FPS at High, and 23 FPS at Ultra. For 4K play, Low is the only setting that stays above 40 FPS on average, but even that may be borderline for a game requiring quick reactions. The Medium preset at 4K, with a min FPS of 30, would likely suffer noticeable stutters.

The data suggests that Medium is the optimal preset for 1080p and 1440p, providing the best compromise between visual quality and frame rate stability. For 4K, users would need to accept Low settings and frame rates in the low 40s, which is marginal for this genre.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a complete breakdown of all measured FPS data for Ready Or Not with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B390:

1920x1080:

• Low: 125 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 109 FPS average, min 92, max 125
• High: 99 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 69 FPS average (no min/max recorded)

2560x1440:

• Low: 79 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 69 FPS average, min 58, max 79
• High: 62 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 44 FPS average (no min/max recorded)

3840x2160:

• Low: 41 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 36 FPS average, min 30, max 41
• High: 33 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 23 FPS average (no min/max recorded)

The data reveals a consistent pattern: at each resolution, the difference between Low and Medium is modest (16 FPS at 1080p, 10 FPS at 1440p, 5 FPS at 4K), while the difference between Medium and High is also moderate (10 FPS at 1080p, 7 FPS at 1440p, 3 FPS at 4K). The largest jump is from High to Ultra: 30 FPS at 1080p, 18 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the Ultra preset imposes a disproportionately heavy load on the Arc B390, likely due to advanced rendering features that stress the GPU's limited shader and ROP resources.

The min FPS values, recorded only for Medium settings, show that the frame time consistency degrades with resolution: 92 FPS minimum at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The spread between min and max FPS also widens at higher resolutions, indicating less stable performance. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 33 FPS (92 to 125), at 1440p Medium it's 21 FPS (58 to 79), and at 4K Medium it's 11 FPS (30 to 41). Interestingly, the absolute spread narrows at higher resolutions because the average FPS is lower, but the relative instability (min as a percentage of average) worsens: at 1080p, min is 84.4% of average; at 1440p, it's 84.1%; at 4K, it's 83.3%. This indicates slightly worse frame pacing at 4K, though the differences are small.

Overall, the measured data confirms that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component across all resolutions and settings. The Ryzen 9 9900X's powerful 12-core/24-thread configuration with 5.60 GHz boost clock is never given the opportunity to demonstrate its full potential in this game, as the GPU caps performance at levels comparable to decade-old discrete graphics solutions.