Undisputed

# Undisputed with Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Undisputed, with the data showing this combo ranks 555th out of 2,813 tested configurations. The pairing sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs and the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, yet the measured frame rates tell a story of a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher settings and increasingly CPU-bound at lower settings. The 14-core, 14-thread Arrow Lake processor with a 5.00 GHz boost clock provides ample headroom, while the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth handle the game's demands across all resolutions tested.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts in this pairing. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 400 FPS at 1920x1080 to 289 FPS at 2560x1440, a 27.75% reduction, and then to 183 FPS at 3840x2160, another 36.68% drop from 1440p. This steep scaling curve at Low settings indicates the RTX 5070 is not the limiting factor at 1080p; the CPU is doing the heavy lifting, and as resolution climbs, the GPU begins to take over more of the workload.

At Medium settings, the pattern shifts noticeably. The average FPS goes from 288 at 1080p to 208 at 1440p (a 27.78% drop) and then to 132 at 4K (a 36.54% drop from 1440p). The min FPS at Medium settings shows similar scaling: 245 at 1080p, 177 at 1440p, and 112 at 4K. This represents a 54.29% reduction in minimum frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which suggests that while the average frame rate remains playable, the lows become more pronounced at higher resolutions.

High settings present a different story. At 1080p, the average is 238 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 172 FPS (a 27.73% reduction); at 4K, it falls to 109 FPS (a 36.63% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across settings — roughly 27-28% from 1080p to 1440p and 36-37% from 1440p to 4K — indicate that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. This is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 5070's performance envelope is being stretched uniformly.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. The average FPS at 1080p is 153, dropping to 111 at 1440p (a 27.45% reduction) and then to 70 at 4K (a 36.94% drop). The 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS is the only sub-100 FPS average in the entire dataset, and it represents a 54.25% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure. This suggests that at Ultra 4K, the RTX 5070 is being pushed to its limits, and the 12 GB VRAM buffer is likely becoming a factor alongside raw compute throughput.

The data indicates that the RTX 5070 maintains playable frame rates at 4K across all settings, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K — 183 FPS versus 70 FPS — shows a 61.75% performance penalty for maxing out settings. At 1080p, the same Low-to-Ultra gap is 247 FPS (from 400 to 153), a 61.75% penalty as well. This consistency suggests the game's settings scaling is proportional regardless of resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock. Its Cinebench R23 scores of 14,769 multi-core and 2,085 single-core place it in a competitive position, with the average benchmark score of 46,062 putting it within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,516 and multithread score of 37,816 indicate strong per-core performance that matters for a sports title like Undisputed, which typically relies on a few heavily utilized threads for game logic and physics.

The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth provide the memory subsystem with enough headroom to feed the RTX 5070 without creating a CPU-side bottleneck in most scenarios. The PassMark physics score of 2,570 suggests that the CPU handles the game's physics calculations competently, though this is not a standout figure. The data encryption score of 29,293 and floating-point math score of 117,951 highlight the CPU's general compute capabilities, which are relevant for background tasks while gaming.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 among all CPUs indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market, and the nearest rival data shows it trading blows with high-end mobile and server parts. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46,030 (0.1% behind), while the i9-13900HX scores 46,098 (0.1% ahead), and the EPYC 4364P scores 45,970 (0.2% behind). This tight clustering means the Ultra 5 235 is not leaving performance on the table relative to its immediate competition.

In Undisputed specifically, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the Low settings results. At 1080p Low, the system hits 400 FPS average, which is likely near the ceiling imposed by the game engine or the CPU's single-thread performance. The fact that this figure does not scale proportionally with GPU power at higher resolutions — the 1440p Low result of 289 FPS is only 27.75% lower, matching the scaling seen at other settings — suggests the CPU is not the primary limiter even at Low. The 14 threads provide enough parallelism for the game's workload, and the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures responsive frame pacing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience. At 4K, Medium settings deliver 132 FPS average with a min of 112 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for dips. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 23 FPS (from 132 to 109), a 17.42% reduction, while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 39 FPS (from 109 to 70), a 35.78% reduction. The Ultra preset at 4K dips into territory where frame pacing could become noticeable on high-refresh-rate displays.

At 1440p, Medium settings provide 208 FPS average with a min of 177 FPS, which is an excellent experience for competitive play. High settings reduce the average to 172 FPS, still smooth, but the gap between Medium and High (36 FPS, a 17.31% reduction) is more significant than the visual difference typically justifies in sports titles. Ultra at 1440p drops to 111 FPS, which is playable but represents a 46.63% reduction from Medium.

At 1080p, the situation is different. Medium settings hit 288 FPS average with a min of 245 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. High settings at 238 FPS are nearly as good, and even Ultra at 153 FPS is more than sufficient. The data suggests that at 1080p, the user can afford to run Ultra settings without sacrificing smoothness, as the 153 FPS average is still well above typical display refresh rates.

The practical recommendation based on the measured rows is to use Medium settings at 4K, where the 132 FPS average and 112 FPS min provide a balanced experience without the steep performance penalty of Ultra. At 1440p, Medium or High both work, but Medium's 208 FPS with a 177 FPS min offers the best margin for demanding scenes. At 1080p, the user can push to Ultra with 153 FPS and still have plenty of headroom, though the diminishing returns from Medium to Ultra (a 46.88% FPS reduction from 288 to 153) suggest that High settings at 238 FPS may be the sweet spot for most players.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Undisputed at 4K?

A: Yes. The measured data shows 4K averages of 183 FPS at Low, 132 FPS at Medium, 109 FPS at High, and 70 FPS at Ultra. All four presets are above 60 FPS, with Medium and High providing the most comfortable margins.

Q: What is the best settings preset for competitive play?

A: At 1080p, Medium delivers 288 FPS average with a 245 FPS minimum, which is the highest min FPS in the dataset. At 1440p, Medium's 208 FPS average and 177 FPS min offer the best combination of frame rate and visual fidelity for competitive scenarios.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46,062, putting it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46,030), 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46,098), and 0.2% ahead of both the AMD EPYC 4364P (45,970) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45,960).

Q: Is the RTX 5070 the bottleneck in this system?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions. The consistent 27-28% FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and 36-37% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings suggests GPU-bound scaling, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates at Medium settings?

A: The measured min FPS values at Medium are 245 at 1080p, 177 at 1440p, and 112 at 4K. These represent the lowest recorded frame rates and show that even the most demanding moments remain smooth.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5070 have, and is it sufficient?

A: The RTX 5070 has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory with a 192-bit bus and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured results show no VRAM-related stuttering or performance collapse at any resolution or settings preset tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 2,325 MHz base clock and 2,512 MHz boost clock. Its 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines deliver a pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS places this GPU firmly in the high-end segment, and its PassMark G3D score of 29,137 ranks it at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 40,377 puts it in close competition with several AMD professional cards. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 40,318 (0.1% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40,063 (0.8% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40,870 (1.2% ahead). The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile trails at 39,568 (2.0% behind). These deltas are small, but the RTX 5070's gaming-oriented feature set and driver optimization for titles like Undisputed give it an edge in real-world gaming scenarios.

In Undisputed, the RTX 5070's role is defined by the resolution scaling data. The GPU delivers 400 FPS at 1080p Low, which is likely approaching the game's engine limit, and scales down to 183 FPS at 4K Low. The 12 GB of GDDR7 memory with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and memory bandwidth are not bottlenecks, even at 4K Ultra where the game demands the most from the memory subsystem.

The 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present on this GPU, though the measured FPS data does not include ray tracing-specific benchmarks for Undisputed. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility mean the GPU is future-proof for API-level features. The 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU indicate this is a power-hungry card, but the dual-slot design at 245 mm length makes it compatible with most mid-tower cases.

The GPU's performance in Undisputed shows a clear pattern: it is capable of delivering high frame rates at all resolutions, but the Ultra preset at 4K (70 FPS) is the only configuration that approaches the limits of smoothness. The 5 nm process node with 31,100 million transistors and 263 mm² die size represents a dense, efficient design that sustains boost clocks well under sustained gaming loads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 400 FPS at Low, 288 FPS at Medium, 238 FPS at High, and 153 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 245 FPS and a maximum of 331 FPS, indicating tight frame pacing. The spread from Low to Ultra is 247 FPS, with Ultra representing a 61.75% reduction from Low. This resolution is clearly CPU-limited at Low settings, as the 400 FPS figure is likely near the engine's ceiling.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 289 FPS at Low, 208 FPS at Medium, 172 FPS at High, and 111 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 177 FPS and a maximum of 239 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 178 FPS, with Ultra representing a 61.59% reduction from Low. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level is consistent at approximately 27-28% reduction, confirming GPU-bound behavior.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 183 FPS at Low, 132 FPS at Medium, 109 FPS at High, and 70 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 113 FPS, with Ultra representing a 61.75% reduction from Low. The 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS is the only average below 100 FPS across the entire dataset, and it still clears the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The Medium preset is the only settings level with recorded min and max FPS values across all three resolutions, providing the most complete picture of frame variability. The min FPS values of 245 (1080p), 177 (1440p), and 112 (4K) show that even the worst-case frame dips remain playable. The max FPS values of 331 (1080p), 239 (1440p), and 151 (4K) indicate that the system has occasional headroom beyond the averages, which is typical for a sports title with variable scene complexity.

The overall combo rank of 555 out of 2,813 tested configurations places this system in the top 20% of all tested hardware combinations for Undisputed. The data shows no anomalous results or outlier frame rates, indicating a stable and well-matched pairing. The consistency of the performance scaling across all settings and resolutions is the defining characteristic of this configuration, making it a predictable and reliable choice for Undisputed.