Ready Or Not

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a highly capable Ready Or Not experience, with the data showing that the Medium preset is the optimal choice for balancing visual fidelity and frame rate stability across all tested resolutions. This combination ranks in the 1282nd position out of 2947 tested combos, placing it in the upper half of all systems evaluated, and the benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher settings, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data strongly supports Medium settings as the best experience for this hardware configuration. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 247 FPS with a minimum of 210 FPS and a maximum of 285 FPS, which is only 37 FPS below the Low preset's 284 FPS average but offers a significant visual upgrade. The High preset at the same resolution drops to 225 FPS, while Ultra falls to 158 FPS, showing a steep performance cliff that makes Ultra less desirable given the diminishing returns in visual quality for a tactical shooter where clarity and response time matter.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again proves superior, delivering 156 FPS average with a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS. This is a substantial 44 FPS improvement over High's 142 FPS and a 56 FPS advantage over Ultra's 100 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 179 FPS, but the difference between Low and Medium is only 23 FPS, while the visual improvement from Medium is more noticeable in a game where spotting enemies in dark environments is critical.

The 3840x2160 resolution tells a similar story, with Medium producing 82 FPS average, a minimum of 69 FPS, and a maximum of 94 FPS. This is the only resolution where Medium dips below the 100 FPS threshold, but it remains playable. High at 4K achieves 74 FPS, Low reaches 94 FPS, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS. The data suggests that Medium provides the most consistent frame pacing, as it is the only preset at 4K with a recorded minimum FPS, indicating more predictable performance under load.

Benchmark results indicate that choosing Ultra is rarely justified, as the average FPS drops by 36% from Medium to Ultra at 1080p, by 36% at 1440p, and by 37% at 4K. These consistent percentage drops suggest that Ultra taxes the GPU in ways that do not translate to proportional visual gains in this title. The Medium preset, in contrast, maintains a frame rate that is high enough for competitive play while preserving the graphical details that aid in situational awareness, such as lighting and shadow quality in the game's indoor environments.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB206 chip fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz for an effective 28 Gbps. The card features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. These specifications place the GPU in the 72nd percentile among all tested graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 26331.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor in Ready Or Not's performance at higher settings. The data shows that the Ultra preset causes significant frame rate drops across all resolutions, and this is consistent with the GPU's memory limitations when handling the game's texture-heavy environments. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 52, which is a 37% reduction from 4K Medium's 82 FPS. This pattern suggests that the GPU is hitting memory capacity limits, forcing the system to swap textures and causing the observed performance degradation.

The GPU's pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for the game's rendering demands. The FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS indicates that the card has sufficient compute power for the DirectX 12 workload, and the 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores support the game's advanced lighting features. However, the 48 ROPs may be a limiting factor at 4K resolution, where the pixel fill rate requirements are highest.

The closest rivals in the GPU benchmark data include the AMD Radeon 860M with a deltaPct of -0.3, the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 also at -0.3, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at -0.8, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT at 1.2. These small deltas indicate that the RTX 5060 sits in a competitive performance band, but the measured FPS data in Ready Or Not shows that the card's real-world gaming performance is influenced heavily by the 8 GB memory capacity and the 128-bit memory bus, which limits bandwidth for high-resolution textures.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 247 at 1920x1080 to 156 at 2560x1440, a 37% reduction, and then to 82 at 3840x2160, a further 47% reduction. This scaling factor is consistent with the GPU becoming the limiting component as resolution increases, since the CPU has sufficient headroom to feed the graphics card at all resolutions.

The Low preset shows a similar trend, with 284 FPS at 1080p dropping to 179 FPS at 1440p (37% decrease) and then to 94 FPS at 4K (47% decrease). The High preset follows the same pattern, with 225 FPS at 1080p, 142 FPS at 1440p (37% decrease), and 74 FPS at 4K (48% decrease). The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest decline, going from 158 FPS at 1080p to 100 FPS at 1440p (37% decrease) and then to 52 FPS at 4K (48% decrease).

These consistent percentage drops across all presets indicate that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the increase in pixel count. At 1080p, the system achieves frame rates well above 200 FPS even at High settings, which would not be possible if the CPU were limiting performance. The Ultra 9 290K's 24 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, provide more than enough processing power for the game's AI and physics calculations.

The 4K results are particularly informative. At Medium settings, the 82 FPS average with a 69 FPS minimum shows that the system can handle 4K gaming, but the margin for error is thin. The fact that the difference between Low and Medium at 4K is only 12 FPS (94 vs 82) while the difference between Medium and High is 8 FPS (82 vs 74) suggests that the GPU is nearing its limits, and further increases in settings yield diminishing returns. The Ultra preset's 52 FPS average at 4K is borderline playable but not ideal for a tactical shooter where reaction time matters.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset produces an average of 284 FPS, which is the highest recorded score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset follows with 247 FPS average, a minimum of 210 FPS, and a maximum of 285 FPS. The High preset achieves 225 FPS average, while the Ultra preset drops to 158 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 126 FPS, representing a 44% reduction from the lowest to highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected decrease. The Low preset averages 179 FPS, Medium averages 156 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS, High averages 142 FPS, and Ultra averages 100 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS, which is a 44% reduction, matching the percentage seen at 1080p. The Medium preset's minimum of 133 FPS ensures that even in intense firefights with multiple enemies and dynamic lighting, the frame rate stays above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to show strain. The Low preset averages 94 FPS, Medium averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS, High averages 74 FPS, and Ultra averages 52 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42 FPS, representing a 45% reduction. The Medium preset's minimum of 69 FPS is the lowest recorded minimum in the entire dataset, indicating that even the optimal preset can experience frame drops in demanding scenes, though the average remains playable.

The data shows that the system is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, with even the Ultra preset exceeding 100 FPS at 1440p. At 4K, the system is better suited to Medium settings for a balanced experience, as the 52 FPS average at Ultra is too low for consistent smoothness. The measured FPS values also indicate that the game is well-optimized for this hardware, as the scaling between presets is predictable and the minimum FPS values are relatively close to the averages, suggesting stable performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 1282nd out of 2947 tested combos in Ready Or Not, placing it in the upper half of all systems evaluated. This ranking is notable given that the GPU's individual percentile is 72, while the CPU's percentile is 96, suggesting that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing. The combo rank indicates that there are many systems with more powerful GPUs that outperform this configuration, but also that this setup beats a significant number of alternatives.

The GPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon 860M and NVIDIA GeForce MX550, both with deltaPct values of -0.3, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at -0.8, show that the RTX 5060 is positioned in a competitive segment. However, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT has a deltaPct of 1.2, meaning it scores slightly higher in synthetic benchmarks. The measured FPS data in Ready Or Not suggests that these small benchmark differences translate to meaningful frame rate variations in actual gameplay, with the RTX 5060's 8 GB memory being a potential disadvantage compared to rivals with larger memory pools.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with a deltaPct of 0.2, which is nearly identical in performance, and the AMD EPYC 4584PX at 1.1, which is a server-class processor. The AMD EPYC 9135 at 1.2 and the AMD EPYC 7F72 at -1.3 round out the comparison. These small deltas indicate that the Ultra 9 290K is very close in synthetic performance to its direct predecessor, the 285K, which means that the CPU choice is unlikely to be the deciding factor in game performance.

The combo's rank of 1282 out of 2947 suggests that while this system is not at the top tier for Ready Or Not, it is well above the median. The data shows that the combination is capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, which are the most common resolutions for competitive gaming. The ranking also reflects that the system's performance is balanced, with neither component severely bottlenecking the other at typical gaming resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The processor features a cache hierarchy of 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's memory support includes DDR5 with a dual-channel memory bus and a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

The CPU's benchmark results show exceptional performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The Passmark multi-thread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 further confirm its capabilities. The processor's percentile of 96 among all CPUs indicates that it is in the top 4% of processors tested, and its average benchmark score of 84003 places it just above the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has an average score of 83807.

In Ready Or Not, the CPU's role is to handle the game's AI, physics, and game logic, while the GPU renders the graphics. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution or setting. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 284 FPS, which is a frame rate that would be impossible if the CPU were limiting performance. The 24 cores and 24 threads provide ample parallel processing power for the game's multi-threaded workload, and the high boost clock of 5.80 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance for the game's main thread.

The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 per core help reduce memory latency, which is important for a tactical shooter where quick reactions to enemy movements are critical. The processor's support for DDR5 memory at 115.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without creating a bottleneck. The data shows that the CPU's performance is more than sufficient for this game, as the frame rate scaling is entirely dependent on resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound factors.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with a deltaPct of 0.2, indicating that the 290K Plus is only marginally faster in synthetic benchmarks. This small difference is unlikely to be noticeable in actual gameplay, as both processors provide more than enough performance for Ready Or Not. The AMD EPYC processors listed as rivals are server-class chips that are not relevant for gaming, further emphasizing that the 290K Plus is a top-tier consumer desktop processor. The CPU's high TDP of 125 W and the requirement for an Intel Socket 1851 motherboard are factors to consider for system builders, but the performance data shows that this processor is well-suited for the demands of modern tactical shooters.