Revolution Idle

Revolution Idle presents an unusual case for hardware analysis: it is an idle game, yet the measured frame rates reveal a dramatic dependence on both the CPU and GPU. The data shows a system pairing an Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with an Intel Arc B390 integrated GPU, and the performance profile is heavily constrained by the graphics solution. The most striking observation is the steep performance cliff as resolution increases, indicating that the integrated GPU is the primary bottleneck in this configuration, despite the CPU's substantial processing power.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a severe and consistent drop in performance as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K, pointing directly at the Intel Arc B390 as the limiting component. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 62 FPS, which is the highest score recorded across all tested configurations. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset, the average falls to 39 FPS, a reduction of 23 FPS or roughly 37% from the 1080p result. The trend continues at 3840x2160, where the average FPS drops further to 21, representing another 18 FPS decline from the 1440p figure. This pattern is not linear but exponential in its degradation, suggesting that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are exhausted quickly.

The scaling behavior is consistent across all settings presets. For High settings, the average FPS goes from 45 at 1080p to 28 at 1440p, and finally to 15 at 4K. Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 47 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 30 FPS at 1440p, and then to 16 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, starts at 29 FPS at 1080p, falls to 18 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 9 FPS at 4K. The fact that even the Low preset cannot maintain playable framerates at 4K, with a 21 FPS average, underscores that the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel count.

What does this imply about the system's balance? The Intel Core Ultra 5 245, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, is a capable desktop processor that scores in the 90th percentile among all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate substantial headroom for gaming workloads. However, the Intel Arc B390, as an integrated GPU (IGP) with 1536 shading units and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, is fundamentally limited. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 and GT 625 OEM, which are entry-level discrete parts from years ago. The resolution scaling data confirms that the CPU is not the bottleneck; even at 1080p Low, the system only reaches 62 FPS, which is far below what the Core Ultra 5 245 could drive with a more powerful GPU. The GPU is the clear limiting factor, and the performance collapse at higher resolutions is the expected behavior for an IGP with shared system memory.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Revolution Idle?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average FPS remains above 45 for most settings, with Low hitting 62 FPS and Medium/High reaching 47 and 45 FPS respectively. At 2560x1440, all presets drop below 40 FPS, and at 3840x2160, the highest average is just 21 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 29 FPS, which is a significant 16 FPS drop from the High preset's 45 FPS average. This represents a 35% performance penalty for moving from High to Ultra, suggesting that Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily tax the Intel Arc B390.

Q: Is there a playable configuration at 1440p?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 39 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 30 FPS with a minimum of 25 FPS. While these are technically above 30 FPS for Low, the minimum frame rates for Medium suggest potential stutter. The High preset at 28 FPS and Ultra at 18 FPS are likely not smooth experiences.

Q: Why does the 4K performance degrade so severely?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 ranges from 9 on Ultra to 21 on Low. This severe degradation is due to the Intel Arc B390's limited pixel fill rate (60.00 GPixel/s) and its reliance on system-shared memory for VRAM, which has system-dependent bandwidth. The GPU simply cannot process the four times the pixel count of 1080p efficiently.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2629 out of 2986 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems tested for Revolution Idle. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU's 9th percentile standing among all GPUs.

Q: Does the CPU's performance help in this game?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a powerful processor with a 90th percentile ranking among CPUs, but the benchmark results indicate that it does not compensate for the GPU's weakness. The frame rates are consistently low across all settings, which implies that the game's rendering is heavily GPU-bound for this particular combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2629 out of 2986 tested combinations in Revolution Idle, placing it in the lower tier of systems. This rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's limitations, as the integrated Arc B390 is a significant drag on the overall experience. To contextualize this, the CPU alone is a strong performer, with an average benchmark score of 48995 and a percentile ranking of 90 among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, which scores 49196 (a delta of -0.4%), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228 (a delta of -0.5%). The Intel Core i5-14600K is also close, with a score of 48618 (a delta of 0.8%). These margins are tiny, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 245 is on par with some of the best mid-range and high-end desktop CPUs.

In stark contrast, the Intel Arc B390's performance is abysmal. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, delta 1.3%) and the GeForce 800M (score 1460, delta 1.5%). The GPU's average benchmark score of 1482 is a fraction of what modern discrete GPUs achieve. The data implies that this combo's rank is almost entirely determined by the GPU, and the CPU's strength is wasted in this pairing. The 2629th rank out of 2986 means that 357 other tested combos performed worse, which is a small minority, and it suggests that most systems in the database are either using discrete GPUs or more balanced integrated solutions. For an idle game, this ranking is surprisingly low, indicating that Revolution Idle's rendering requirements are not trivial for an IGP.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how this combo performs across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system delivers its best results. The Low preset averages 62 FPS, which is the only configuration to exceed 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS, indicating some frame time variance. The High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 33 FPS, which is substantial and shows that the GPU is sensitive to graphical fidelity changes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. The Low preset averages 39 FPS, which is a 23 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 30 FPS, with a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The High preset averages 28 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 18 FPS. At this resolution, no preset achieves 60 FPS, and the Low preset is the only one that stays above 30 FPS average. The data suggests that 1440p is only playable on Low, and even then, it may not be a consistently smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the results are poor across the board. The Low preset averages 21 FPS, which is a further 18 FPS drop from the 1440p Low result. The Medium preset averages 16 FPS, with a minimum of 13 FPS and a maximum of 18 FPS, which is a slideshow by any standard. The High preset averages 15 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 9 FPS. The 4K resolution is effectively unplayable for this combo, with even the lowest settings failing to reach 30 FPS. The gradient of performance from 1080p to 4K is steep, and the lack of any playable configuration at 4K reinforces the GPU bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo in Revolution Idle is at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which yields an average of 62 FPS. This is the only settings combination that provides a frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold, which is generally considered smooth for most users. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 47 FPS, which is still playable but with a minimum of 40 FPS that could be noticeable in fast-moving scenes. The High preset at 45 FPS is similar, but the Ultra preset at 29 FPS is below the 30 FPS mark, which is likely to be perceived as stuttering.

For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is a reasonable compromise, as it offers a 47 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum. The High preset is within a similar range, but the incremental visual gains may not justify the lower minimum frame rates. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option, averaging 39 FPS, but the minimum frame rates are not recorded for this preset, which introduces uncertainty. The Medium preset at 1440p, with a 25 FPS minimum, is likely to cause noticeable judder. At 4K, no settings are recommended, as all presets fall below 22 FPS, which is not a satisfactory gaming experience.

The data suggests that the best experience per the measured rows is at 1080p Low, with 1080p Medium as a secondary option for those who can tolerate a 15 FPS drop from the peak. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer, and its 29 FPS average at 1080p indicates that the Arc B390 lacks the raw throughput to handle the highest settings. Users should stick to 1080p and avoid Ultra to maintain a smooth frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications make it a robust desktop processor, and its benchmark scores confirm its strength. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 are high, and the Passmark multi-thread score of 38706 and single-thread score of 4394 further validate its performance. The CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, which is a strong showing.

In the context of Revolution Idle, the CPU's role is likely to be minimal, as the game is an idle title that may not be heavily threaded. However, the CPU's high single-core performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, should be more than sufficient for game logic and physics. The data shows that the combo's frame rates are not CPU-limited, as the performance scales poorly with resolution, which is a GPU-bound behavior. The CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads are likely underutilized in this game, and the bottleneck is clearly the GPU. The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provides ample memory bandwidth for the system, but the GPU's shared memory is system-dependent, which may be a limiting factor.

The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and AMD Ryzen 9 7900, have similar average scores, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 245 is competitive with these parts. However, in this combo, the CPU's potential is untapped due to the GPU's weakness. The data implies that if the Arc B390 were replaced with a more capable GPU, the CPU could likely sustain much higher frame rates, but as tested, the CPU is not the limiting component.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, using the Panther Lake chip, and it is fabricated on a 3 nm process by Intel. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The GPU also includes 12 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its memory is system-shared, meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory, and the bandwidth is system-dependent. The GPU's pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with an FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. These specs are modest for a modern GPU, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which is very low.

In Revolution Idle, the GPU is the dominant factor in the measured FPS. The performance degradation from 1080p to 4K is a classic sign of a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count. The GPU's 24 ROPs and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for high-resolution rendering, and the shared memory bandwidth is a further constraint. The nearest rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, are ancient parts, and the Arc B390's performance is comparable to them, which explains the low FPS. The GPU's 80 W TDP is low, but this is an IGP, so it does not have dedicated memory or a high-power budget.

The data shows that the GPU's clock speed of 2500 MHz is not enough to compensate for the low shading unit count and ROP count. The 9 FPS average at 4K Ultra is a clear indication that the GPU is severely underpowered for this game at high settings. The GPU's percentile ranking of 9 means that 91% of GPUs in the database are faster, and this is reflected in the combo's 2629th rank out of 2986. The GPU is the sole bottleneck, and its limitations dictate that the system is only viable at 1080p with low to medium settings.