Undisputed

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 compare to its closest rivals in overall CPU benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 36,938, which places it at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36,945, representing a 0% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D trails by 0.2%, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% behind.

Q: What is the GPU's standing among all graphics cards based on its benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 holds a 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,172. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23,249, which is 0.3% higher. Both the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M are 0.3% and 0.4% behind, respectively.

Q: What is the best-case performance for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 359 FPS. Moving to Medium settings yields 258 FPS on average, with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 297 FPS. High settings produce 214 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 137 FPS.

Q: How does the frame rate scale when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 214 FPS at 1920x1080 to 154 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 98 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 54.2% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is this combo better suited for high refresh rate gaming or for high-resolution gaming?

A: The data indicates a strong suitability for high refresh rate gaming at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 359 FPS, and even at 1440p Low it maintains 259 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 63, which is more aligned with standard 60Hz displays.

Q: What is the performance gap between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 259 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 99 FPS. This is a 61.8% performance drop when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary driver of frame rates in Undisputed, particularly at higher resolutions. This GPU is built on the Ampere architecture and features 8,704 shading units alongside 272 texture mapping units and 96 raster output units. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory operates across a 320-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective, while the GPU's base clock is 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with FP32 performance rated at 29.77 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s. The pixel rate stands at 164.2 GPixel/s. These specifications explain why the RTX 3080 can push high frame rates in a sports title like Undisputed, which relies heavily on rasterization performance. The GPU features 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, though these are less relevant for a sports game than raw shading throughput.

In the context of measured results, the RTX 3080's role becomes clear when examining the 4K performance. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate scales from 63 FPS at Ultra to 164 FPS at Low. This 101 FPS spread demonstrates how much headroom the GPU has when graphical load is reduced. The GPU's 320W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensure it can sustain these workloads without bottlenecking the system bus.

The RTX 3080's benchmark scores corroborate its gaming performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 4,407, and in Geekbench Vulkan, it achieves 33,620. The Passmark G3D score of 25,086 places it at the 68th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, is only 0.3% ahead with a score of 23,249, while the AMD Radeon RX 6600M is 0.4% behind. This indicates that the RTX 3080 sits in a competitive mid-to-high tier, though it is not at the absolute top of the stack.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for Undisputed at 4K. The 10 GB frame buffer can handle high-resolution textures without excessive swapping, which is reflected in the playable 98 FPS average at 4K High. The 760.3 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming keeps pace with the GPU's rendering speed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 provides the computational foundation for this gaming combo. This processor features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It is built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC, with a 65W TDP. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, offering a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

For gaming, the CPU's single-threaded performance is often the critical factor. In Cinebench R23, the Ultra 5 225 scores 3,655 points in single-core and 25,891 points in multi-core. The Passmark single-thread score is 4,412, while the multithread score reaches 30,459. These figures place the CPU at the 85th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 36,938.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36,945, which is statistically identical with a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% behind. This grouping suggests that the Ultra 5 225 is competitive with established mid-range gaming processors, though it does not pull ahead significantly.

In the context of Undisputed, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with game state updates, physics calculations, and AI logic. The game is a sports title, which typically involves managing multiple player positions and ball physics. The 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient for this workload, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved even at 1080p where CPU load is proportionally higher.

The CPU's L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with 192 KB of L1 cache per core and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. This cache hierarchy helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent frame pacing. The lack of hyper-threading (10 threads for 10 cores) means each core handles one thread, which can be advantageous for gaming workloads that prefer physical cores over logical ones.

At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 359 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz provides the single-threaded speed necessary for high-refresh-rate gaming. The CPU's 3 nm process node helps with power efficiency, keeping thermals manageable within its 65W TDP.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo in Undisputed span three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional across all settings. The Low preset delivers an average of 359 FPS, while Medium averages 258 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 297 FPS. High settings average 214 FPS, and Ultra drops to 137 FPS. This scaling shows a 61.8% reduction from Low to Ultra at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low settings average 259 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. Medium averages 187 FPS with a minimum of 159 FPS and a maximum of 215 FPS. High settings produce 154 FPS, while Ultra averages 99 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 61.8%, matching the 1080p scaling pattern.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to feel the strain. Low settings average 164 FPS, which is still highly playable. Medium averages 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS. High settings average 98 FPS, while Ultra drops to 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 61.6%, nearly identical to the lower resolutions.

The combo's overall rank in Undisputed is 764 out of 2,813 tested combinations, placing it in the top 27.2% of all system configurations. The data is marked as measured, confirming these are real-world results rather than estimates.

The Medium preset consistently shows the only min/max data points across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 219 to 297 FPS; at 1440p, it is 159 to 215 FPS; and at 4K, it is 100 to 136 FPS. This suggests that Medium provides a stable frame pacing experience with a predictable performance envelope.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU load. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 359 at 1080p to 259 at 1440p and 164 at 4K. This represents a 27.9% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 36.7% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 54.3%.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The average FPS goes from 214 at 1080p to 154 at 1440p and 98 at 4K. The percentage drops are 28.0% and 36.4%, respectively. This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p, the average is 137 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 99 FPS; and at 4K, it falls to 63 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 27.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is 36.4%. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 54.0%.

These scaling percentages are remarkably consistent across all presets, suggesting that the performance degradation is purely resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. The pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K is 4x, but the frame rate does not drop by 4x. This indicates that the GPU has enough bandwidth and compute headroom to handle the increased resolution without a proportional performance penalty.

The limiting component shifts from CPU at 1080p to GPU at 4K. At 1080p Low, the 359 FPS average suggests the CPU is near its maximum frame delivery capability, as the GPU is not fully stressed. At 4K Ultra, the 63 FPS average indicates the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed it.

The RTX 3080's 10 GB memory buffer and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 4K textures, as evidenced by the playable High preset performance. The 4K Ultra preset at 63 FPS is borderline for high-refresh-rate displays but acceptable for standard 60Hz panels.

Settings Recommendations

For players with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p, the Low preset at 359 FPS is the optimal choice for competitive play, though the Medium preset at 258 FPS offers a better balance of visual quality and speed. The Medium preset's minimum of 219 FPS ensures no drops below the 144Hz threshold, making it the recommended choice for most 1080p users.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides 187 FPS with a minimum of 159 FPS, which is excellent for 144Hz displays. The High preset at 154 FPS is also viable for 144Hz monitors, though the minimum frame rate is not recorded. The Ultra preset at 99 FPS is better suited for 60Hz displays or for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.

At 4K, the High preset at 98 FPS is the best experience for high-refresh-rate gaming, as it stays above the 90 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 118 FPS offers even more headroom, with a minimum of 100 FPS ensuring no drops below the 100 FPS mark. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is only suitable for 60Hz displays, as it does not provide enough headroom for variable refresh rate monitors.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. It consistently delivers the highest minimum frame rates, indicating stable performance. At 1080p, Medium achieves 258 FPS average with a 219 FPS minimum; at 1440p, it achieves 187 FPS average with a 159 FPS minimum; and at 4K, it achieves 118 FPS average with a 100 FPS minimum.

For players who cannot tolerate frame rate drops, the Medium preset is the safest choice. The High preset offers better visual quality but lacks recorded minimum frame rates, making it a riskier proposition. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 4K users with 60Hz displays who want maximum visual fidelity.

The Low preset is not recommended for general use, as the visual quality reduction is significant and the frame rate gains are unnecessary for most displays. However, for esports-style play at 1080p where every frame matters, the 359 FPS average provides a competitive advantage.