Undisputed

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor built on Intel's Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The chip pairs 6 performance cores with 8 efficient cores, a configuration that provides substantial multi-threaded throughput while maintaining strong single-thread responsiveness. Cache hierarchy is notable: 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, with ECC support enabled, and uses the Intel Socket 1700 platform. Its integrated UHD Graphics 770 provides basic display output, but in this benchmark context, the discrete GPU handles all rendering tasks.

Benchmark data places this CPU in the 90th percentile versus all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 48,618. In Cinebench R23, the multi-core score reaches 24,491, while the single-core score is 2,064. Geekbench results show a multi-core score of 16,673 and a single-core score of 2,491. Passmark tests reveal strong integer math performance at 125,737, floating-point math at 92,794, and multithreaded score of 38,682. Data compression in Passmark hits 482,020, and encryption reaches 27,533. The single-thread Passmark score is 4,270, underscoring the chip's capability in lightly threaded workloads.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the i5-14600K sits in a tight cluster. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48,698, which is 0.2% higher than the i5-14600K's average. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48,470, 0.3% lower. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48,287, 0.7% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995, which is 0.8% higher. This indicates the i5-14600K is competitively positioned among modern desktop and workstation processors, with deltas under 1% across all four rivals.

For Undisputed, a sports game that typically relies on physics simulation and AI logic for opponent behavior, the CPU's multi-core performance matters for maintaining consistent frame pacing. The Passmark physics score of 2,473 reflects the chip's capability in physics calculations, which are relevant for boxing animations and collision detection. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic — such as input processing and referee decision trees — runs with minimal latency. The 20 threads provide headroom for background tasks, streaming, and voice chat without impacting frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 139 out of 3,718 tested configurations in Undisputed. This places the pairing in the top 3.7% of all tested combos, indicating that the system is exceptionally well-suited for this game. The rank reflects the synergy between the CPU's compute capability and the GPU's rendering power, resulting in frame rates that are among the highest recorded for this title.

Comparing to other combos, the rank of 139 means that 3,579 other pairings produce lower performance in Undisputed. This is a strong showing, particularly given that the RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product with a successor already released. The i5-14600K's position in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, combined with the RTX 4090's 88th percentile ranking among GPUs, creates a balanced high-end system. The data shows that the combo outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, with only 138 configurations achieving higher frame rates.

The delta between the i5-14600K and its nearest CPU rivals is minimal, but the combo rank benefits from the GPU's contribution. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60,347 places it in the 88th percentile, with nearest rivals showing small deviations: the Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60,326 (0.0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60,140 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61,896 (2.5% higher). This indicates that the GPU itself is not the bottleneck in most scenarios, as its performance is consistent with other high-end contenders.

In practical terms, the combo rank of 139 suggests that this system delivers excellent frame rates at all tested settings and resolutions. For a sports title like Undisputed, where smooth animation and responsive controls are critical, the high rank translates to a gameplay experience that is fluid and immersive. The data indicates that users with this combination will not need to compromise on visual quality to achieve playable frame rates, a conclusion reinforced by the measured FPS breakdown.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across three resolutions — 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160 — reveals how the system scales with pixel count and what that implies about the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 530, which is extraordinarily high and suggests that the CPU is the primary driver at this resolution. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 383 FPS, a decrease of 27.7%. At 4K Low, the average is 242 FPS, which is 36.8% lower than 1440p and 54.3% lower than 1080p. These reductions are substantial but not proportional to the pixel count increase, indicating that the GPU begins to take on more load as resolution rises.

At Medium settings, the scaling pattern shifts. At 1080p, the average is 381 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 275 FPS (a 27.8% reduction); and at 4K, it falls to 174 FPS (a 36.7% reduction from 1440p). The min FPS values for Medium settings are 324 at 1080p, 234 at 1440p, and 148 at 4K, with max FPS reaching 438, 317, and 200 respectively. These numbers show tighter frame pacing at lower resolutions, with the gap between min and max FPS widening at 4K — a 26% spread compared to 20% at 1080p.

High settings exhibit a similar trend. At 1080p, the average is 315 FPS; at 1440p, it is 228 FPS (27.6% lower); and at 4K, it is 144 FPS (36.8% lower than 1440p). The resolution scaling here is nearly identical to Low settings in percentage terms, suggesting that the game's engine has consistent load characteristics across these quality levels. Ultra settings show the most pronounced scaling: 203 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p (27.6% lower), and 93 FPS at 4K (36.7% lower than 1440p).

The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K across all settings, as the FPS drops align with the increased pixel count and shading demands. At 1080p, the CPU is more likely to be the constraint, evidenced by the 530 FPS Low result, which is well beyond what most displays can refresh. The transition from 1440p to 4K shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck, with the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth providing ample resources for the game's textures and effects. The scaling percentages are consistent across settings, which implies that Undisputed does not introduce additional CPU overhead at higher resolutions, a common trait in well-optimized sports titles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 530 FPS, which is exceptional for any title. Medium settings average 381 FPS, with a minimum of 324 and a maximum of 438. High settings average 315 FPS, while Ultra settings average 203 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 61.7% reduction in average FPS, from 530 to 203, which is a substantial penalty for higher visual quality. However, even at Ultra, the 203 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, making 1080p Ultra a viable option for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected reduction. Low settings average 383 FPS, which is 72.3% of the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 275 FPS, with a minimum of 234 and a maximum of 317. High settings average 228 FPS, and Ultra settings average 147 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 61.6%, nearly identical to the 1080p percentage, indicating that the GPU's scaling is consistent across resolutions. The 147 FPS Ultra result is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of many gaming monitors, providing a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance drops further but remains impressive. Low settings average 242 FPS, which is 45.7% of the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 174 FPS, with a minimum of 148 and a maximum of 200. High settings average 144 FPS, and Ultra settings average 93 FPS. The Ultra result at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 100 FPS, but 93 FPS is still playable on high-refresh-rate displays. The min FPS of 148 at Medium settings indicates that the system maintains reasonable frame pacing even under load, with no severe spikes or drops observed in the data.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most balanced performance envelope. At 4K Medium, the average of 174 FPS with a min of 148 and max of 200 provides a consistent experience that avoids the extremes of Low (242 FPS) and Ultra (93 FPS). At 1440p Medium, the 275 FPS average with a 234 min and 317 max is similarly balanced. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for players who prioritize both visual quality and smoothness, as it avoids the potential frame time inconsistencies that can occur at the highest settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a triple-slot card based on the AD102 chip, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 76,300 million transistors and a die size of 609 mm². The GPU operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is critical for high-resolution textures and effects in Undisputed. The card features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 Tensor cores. Its compute capabilities are substantial: FP32 performance reaches 82.58 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s.

The RTX 4090's benchmark results place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 60,347. In Passmark, the G3D score is 38,194, while the GPU compute score is 26,613. Geekbench OpenCL reaches 255,416, and Vulkan scores 271,631. The DirectX 12 Passmark score is 150, while DirectX 11 is 326, and DirectX 10 is 224. These numbers indicate that the GPU is well-suited for modern API workloads, which is relevant for a game like Undisputed that likely uses DirectX 12 as its primary rendering path.

The GPU's role in the measured FPS results becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 93 is a 54.2% reduction from 1080p Ultra's 203 FPS, which is close to the pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K (4x). This suggests that the GPU is fully utilized at 4K Ultra, with the game's shading and post-processing effects placing a heavy load on the rendering pipeline. At 1080p Low, the 530 FPS result indicates that the GPU is not the bottleneck; instead, the CPU's single-thread performance and the game's engine overhead limit the frame rate.

The 24 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Undisputed, as the game is unlikely to exceed even 8 GB at 4K Ultra. This headroom means that texture streaming and asset loading will not cause stutters, and the GPU can maintain consistent frame times without memory pressure. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that data can be fetched quickly, which is beneficial for the boxers' detailed character models and arena environments. The RTX 4090's power requirements are high — 450 W TDP with a suggested 850 W PSU — but the performance payoff is evident in the measured FPS across all resolution and settings combinations.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Undisputed?

A: The highest average FPS is 530, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is an exceptional result that far exceeds the refresh rate of any consumer display.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 139th out of 3,718 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.7% of all configurations. This indicates that the i5-14600K and RTX 4090 pairing is among the best-performing systems for Undisputed.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are roughly proportional to the pixel count increase. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 93, compared to 203 at 1080p Ultra.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS at Medium settings is 148, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution. At 2560x1440, the min FPS is 234, and at 1920x1080, it is 324.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60,347, with the Intel Arc Pro A60 scoring 60,326 (0.0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scoring 60,140 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scoring 61,896 (2.5% higher).

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 383 FPS, while Ultra settings average 147 FPS. This represents a 61.6% reduction in average FPS when moving from Low to Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 4K Medium, the average FPS of 174 with a minimum of 148 and maximum of 200 provides a consistently smooth experience that remains well above the 144 Hz threshold for most high-refresh-rate monitors. The frame pacing is tighter than at Ultra, where the 4K average drops to 93 FPS with no recorded min/max values, suggesting potential variability. At 1440p, Medium delivers 275 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for even the fastest displays, while maintaining a min FPS of 234 that prevents noticeable stutters.

For players with 1080p displays, High settings at 315 FPS average are recommended, as the jump to Ultra (203 FPS) yields diminishing visual returns for a 35.6% reduction in frame rate. The Medium preset at 1080p (381 FPS) is also viable but may not justify the visual quality loss when High is available. At 4K, High settings at 144 FPS are acceptable, but the Medium preset's higher min FPS (148 vs. no recorded min for High) suggests better frame time consistency, making Medium the safer choice for maintaining smooth gameplay.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate and have displays that cap at 60 Hz. At 4K Ultra, the 93 FPS average is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes, such as close-up camera angles during knockdown sequences. The data shows that Medium settings at any resolution provide the most consistent performance envelope, with the smallest gap between min and max FPS relative to the average. This consistency is critical in a sports game where animation fluidity directly impacts the player's ability to read opponent movements and time counterpunches.