Ready Or Not

Ready Or Not, a tactical shooter built around methodical room-clearing and AI-driven suspect encounters, presents a demanding workload that shifts between CPU and GPU depending on resolution. The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 produces a consistent frame-rate curve that clearly identifies where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, but as resolution climbs to 4K, the GPU takes over as the primary limiter. This analysis breaks down the measured data to explain the performance characteristics of this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook shift in system balance. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 196 FPS, which drops to 124 FPS at 1440p and further to 65 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66.8% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a steep decline that suggests the graphics card is being saturated at the higher resolutions. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 72 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 59 FPS, showing that the scaling is not linear and that the GPU's limitations become more pronounced as pixel count increases.

Looking at the Low preset, the pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The system achieves 247 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 67.2%, nearly identical to the High preset. This consistency across settings indicates that the resolution scaling is dominated by the GPU's raw pixel throughput rather than by shading complexity. The Radeon RX 9060's 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth appear to be the limiting factors at 4K, as the card's 8 GB of VRAM and 64 ROPs struggle with the increased pixel workload.

The Medium preset shows the only measured minimum and maximum frame rates, with 4K producing a 60 FPS minimum and 82 FPS maximum against an average of 71 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 136 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS. The 1080p Medium preset averages 215 FPS with a 183 FPS minimum and 248 FPS maximum. These ranges indicate that the frame pacing is relatively stable, with the variance between minimum and maximum staying within a 22-33 FPS window across all resolutions.

The Ultra preset is where the GPU's limits become most apparent. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay. The 1440p Ultra average of 87 FPS and 1080p Ultra average of 138 FPS show that the Ultra preset is only viable at lower resolutions. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is a 67.4% reduction, aligning closely with the other presets and confirming that the resolution scaling curve is consistent regardless of graphics quality settings. The data suggests that players targeting 4K will need to use Low or Medium settings, while 1440p allows for High or Medium, and 1080p can comfortably handle Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1695 out of 2947 combos for Ready Or Not. This places it in the 57.5th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 57% of combinations perform better and 43% perform worse. The ranking reflects a mid-pack position, which is consistent with the component selection: a high-end CPU paired with a mid-range GPU.

The CPU's individual percentile versus all CPUs is 90, indicating that the i5-14600K is in the top 10% of processors. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 59, placing it just above the median. The combination of a top-decile CPU with a slightly-above-median GPU results in a system that is heavily skewed toward CPU performance. This skew is evident in the ranking, as the combo sits near the middle of the pack despite having a very strong processor, because the GPU holds the system back in this particular game.

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context for its performance tier. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698, a -0.2% delta from the i5-14600K's 48618 average benchmark score. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48470 with a +0.3% delta, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48287 with a +0.7% delta. These rivals are all within a 1% performance band, showing that the i5-14600K is competitively positioned among processors in its class. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 with a -0.8% delta, which is the closest competitor in terms of raw average score.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129 with a -0.7% delta from the RX 9060's 16014 average. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862 with a +1% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 15852 with a +1% delta. These rivals are all within 2.1% of the RX 9060's performance, indicating that the GPU sits in a tightly contested performance tier. The combo ranking of 1695 out of 2947 suggests that when paired with this specific CPU, the overall system performance for Ready Or Not is solidly mid-pack, neither exceptional nor disappointing given the component mix.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 44 chip manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. The chip contains 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 149.2 million per square millimeter. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1700 MHz, a boost clock of 2990 MHz, and a game clock of 2400 MHz. These clock speeds, particularly the high boost clock, indicate that the card is designed to push high frame rates when not constrained by other factors.

The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, running at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed. This yields a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, which is a modest figure for a modern GPU. The 128-bit bus width is the key limitation here, as it restricts the amount of data that can be transferred between the GPU core and memory. In Ready Or Not, this becomes evident at 4K resolution, where the 45 FPS Ultra average suggests the card simply cannot feed the rendering pipeline fast enough.

The RX 9060 has 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The pixel rate is 191.4 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 334.9 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 21.43 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 21.43 TFLOPS due to a 1:1 ratio. The card includes 28 ray tracing cores, which support DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface provides ample bandwidth for the GPU to communicate with the CPU.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 17631 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 88183 and Vulkan score of 39476 show decent compute performance. The measured frame rates in Ready Or Not demonstrate that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, where even Low settings only produce 81 FPS. At 1080p, the GPU is less constrained, allowing the CPU to push frame rates higher. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at the tested settings, as no out-of-memory issues are indicated in the data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. The Low preset averages 247 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 215 FPS with a minimum of 183 FPS and maximum of 248 FPS. High settings produce 196 FPS, while Ultra drops to 138 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 109 FPS, showing that the graphics settings have a significant impact on performance even at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across the board. Low settings average 156 FPS, Medium averages 136 FPS with a 115 FPS minimum and 156 FPS maximum, High averages 124 FPS, and Ultra drops to 87 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 69 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become a limiting factor. The 1440p Medium minimum of 115 FPS suggests that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains playable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations are fully exposed. Low settings average 81 FPS, Medium averages 71 FPS with a 60 FPS minimum and 82 FPS maximum, High averages 65 FPS, and Ultra drops to 45 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 36 FPS, the smallest of any resolution, showing that the GPU is saturated regardless of settings. The 4K Ultra average of 45 FPS is the only measured result below 60 FPS, indicating that this preset is not suitable for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

The data reveals a clear pattern: at 1080p, the CPU is the primary driver of performance, with the frame rates varying significantly between presets. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the frame rates cluster within a narrower range. The 1440p results represent a balance point where both components contribute to the overall performance. The Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame pacing, as evidenced by the only measured minimum and maximum values, with tight ranges across all resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K features 14 cores and 20 threads, combining 6 performance cores with 8 efficiency cores. The base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and the CPU operates with a 125 W TDP. Built on the Raptor Lake architecture using a 10 nm process, the chip has a die size of 257 mm². The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 24491 multi-core and 2064 single-core. Geekbench results show 16673 multi-core and 2491 single-core. The PassMark multithread score is 38682, with a single-thread score of 4270. These results place the CPU in the 90th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 48618.

In Ready Or Not, the CPU's role is most prominent at 1080p, where the frame rates are high enough that the GPU is not the limiting factor. The 247 FPS Low preset result at 1080p indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates when the graphics load is light. The 138 FPS Ultra result at 1080p shows that even with maximum settings, the CPU is not the bottleneck at this resolution.

At 1440p, the CPU and GPU share the workload more evenly. The 156 FPS Low preset result suggests the CPU is still capable of pushing high frame rates, but the 87 FPS Ultra result indicates the GPU is starting to become a constraint. The CPU's 20 threads and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide sufficient processing power for the game's AI and simulation systems, which are typically more demanding in tactical shooters like Ready Or Not.

The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 1% of its average benchmark score, with the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at -0.2%, the AMD EPYC 4345P at +0.3%, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX at +0.7%. This clustering suggests that the i5-14600K's performance is well-matched to its peers, and in Ready Or Not, the CPU is unlikely to be the primary limitation except at very high frame rates. The 24 MB of L3 cache is beneficial for the game's level data and AI routines, helping maintain consistent frame pacing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 138 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 196 FPS and Medium at 215 FPS offer even higher frame rates, but the visual fidelity difference between High and Ultra in Ready Or Not is noticeable given the game's focus on detailed environments and lighting. For 1080p users with high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 215 FPS with a 183 FPS minimum provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the minimum frame rate remains well above 144 Hz.

At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 136 FPS with a 115 FPS minimum and 156 FPS maximum. This is the sweet spot for this resolution, offering a smooth experience on 120 Hz and 144 Hz displays. The High preset at 124 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset's tighter minimum-to-maximum range suggests more consistent frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 87 FPS is playable but may experience noticeable dips in demanding scenes, while the Low preset at 156 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for the marginal frame rate gain over Medium.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 81 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, while the Medium preset at 71 FPS with a 60 FPS minimum is borderline. The High preset at 65 FPS is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold, and the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 4K users, the Medium preset offers the best visual experience while maintaining an average above 60 FPS, but the 60 FPS minimum means there will be occasional dips below the threshold. The Low preset provides the most headroom with 81 FPS average, making it the safest choice for competitive play.

The data indicates that the Medium preset provides the most balanced experience across all resolutions, with the only measured minimum and maximum values showing stable frame delivery. For users prioritizing visual fidelity, the High preset at 1080p or 1440p offers a significant improvement over Medium without a substantial frame rate penalty. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where the 138 FPS average keeps gameplay smooth despite the reduced headroom. At 4K, users should stick to Low or Medium settings to maintain playable frame rates, with the understanding that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit the system's ability to handle maximum settings at this resolution.