Undisputed

Undisputed is a sports title that scales heavily with resolution on this hardware. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a clear transition from CPU-bound at lower resolutions to GPU-bound at 4K. The data indicates that this combo ranks in the 1704th position out of 2813 tested combinations for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the overall dataset.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent and predictable drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 144 FPS at 1920x1080 to 104 FPS at 2560x1440, a 27.8% reduction, and then to 66 FPS at 3840x2160, another 36.5% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that the RTX 4060 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demand outpaces what the GPU can deliver.

Low settings tell a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 242 FPS average, which drops to 175 FPS at 1440p and 111 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p here is 67 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 64 FPS. This near-linear scaling suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck even at the lowest settings; the GPU still governs the frame rate across all resolutions, though the headroom at 1080p Low is substantial.

The Medium settings data includes min and max FPS values, which provide additional insight into scaling behavior. At 1080p Medium, the average is 174 FPS with a range from 148 to 200 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 126 FPS with a range of 107 to 145 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92 FPS. The consistency of the frame pacing, as indicated by the narrow min-max spread relative to the average, holds up well even at 4K, suggesting that the hardware does not suffer from severe stuttering in this title.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest degradation. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 93 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 67 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 42 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measurement below the 60 FPS threshold in the entire dataset, which makes it a critical data point for understanding the limits of this configuration. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p Ultra is a 28% reduction, while the scaling from 1440p to 4K Ultra is a 37% reduction, indicating that the GPU workload grows disproportionately at the highest settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. It features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The chip includes 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores, which are relevant for modern game features, though the benchmark data does not specify whether ray tracing or DLSS is active in the measured results.

The GPU operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz. The memory runs at 2125 MHz with 17 Gbps effective speed. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory sits on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. This bandwidth figure is a likely contributor to the performance drop at 4K Ultra, where texture and geometry data demands can exceed what the memory subsystem can feed to the processing units.

The RTX 4060 achieves a 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals in the composite scoring are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 with a delta of -0.2%, the AMD Radeon 780M with a delta of 0.3%, the AMD Radeon Pro 560 with a delta of 0.5%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 with a delta of 0.7%. These deltas are all within one percent, meaning the RTX 4060 is statistically tied with these older or integrated solutions in aggregate performance, despite being significantly newer and featuring more advanced architecture.

In specific benchmark tests, the GPU scores 2302 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 95057 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 48643 in Geekbench Vulkan. The Passmark suite shows scores of 19545 in G3D and 9213 in GPU Compute. These numbers align with the measured FPS results, indicating that the GPU is capable of solid 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this laptop configuration run Undisputed at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only with settings adjustments. The data shows 66 FPS average at 4K High and 80 FPS at 4K Medium. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 42 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target. For 4K playability, Medium or High settings are required.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The benchmark data does not include rival GPU scores for Undisputed specifically. However, in aggregate benchmark scores, the RTX 4060 is within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro 460, which is its closest competitor. This suggests that in synthetic tests, the performance difference is negligible, though the measured FPS in Undisputed shows this GPU handles the game well at most settings.

Q: What is the best resolution to use for a 144 Hz display?

A: At 1080p, all settings except Ultra exceed 144 FPS: Low averages 242 FPS, Medium averages 174 FPS, and High averages 144 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings reach above 144 FPS with 175 FPS average. For a 144 Hz display, 1080p High or Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data does not directly indicate CPU bottlenecking. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes, which typically points to GPU limitation. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has 16 cores and 22 threads, which is ample for a sports title, so the GPU is the more likely constraint at higher resolutions.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 93 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This is above the 60 FPS threshold but below the 144 FPS high-refresh target. The drop from High to Ultra at 1080p is 51 FPS, which is significant, so Ultra may not be worth the visual gain.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for Undisputed at 4K?

A: The measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K Medium (80 FPS) and 4K High (66 FPS), so 8 GB appears sufficient for this game at these settings. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 42 FPS, but the data does not specify whether this is due to VRAM capacity or raw compute limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 242 FPS, which is the maximum measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 174 FPS average with a range of 148 to 200 FPS. High settings average 144 FPS, matching the refresh rate of many gaming monitors. Ultra settings drop to 93 FPS average, which is still playable but represents a significant step down from High.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 175 FPS, which remains above 144 Hz. Medium settings average 126 FPS with a range of 107 to 145 FPS. High settings average 104 FPS, which is suitable for 100 Hz displays. Ultra settings average 67 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold but not smooth enough for high-refresh gaming.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 111 FPS, which is respectable for 4K. Medium settings average 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92 FPS, providing a playable experience with some headroom. High settings average 66 FPS, which is right at the edge of the 60 FPS target. Ultra settings average 42 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users and should be avoided.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with complete min and max FPS data. At 1080p, the spread is 52 FPS (148 to 200). At 1440p, the spread is 38 FPS (107 to 145). At 4K, the spread narrows to 24 FPS (68 to 92). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions suggests that frame time consistency improves when the GPU is fully loaded, which reduces the impact of CPU-induced frame spikes.

Settings Recommendations

For a 1080p display, High settings at 144 FPS average is the recommended starting point. This provides a smooth experience on standard 144 Hz monitors while maintaining visual fidelity. Medium settings at 174 FPS average offers additional headroom for displays with higher refresh rates, though the visual difference between Medium and High is typically noticeable in sports titles that rely on detailed textures. Low settings at 242 FPS are unnecessary for most displays and sacrifice too much visual quality for frame rates that exceed what most monitors can display.

For a 1440p display, High settings at 104 FPS average is the optimal choice. This delivers smooth gameplay on 100 Hz monitors and looks significantly better than Medium settings. Medium settings at 126 FPS average is the better option for users with 144 Hz 1440p monitors, as it stays above the refresh rate threshold. Low settings at 175 FPS average provides maximum smoothness but degrades visual quality considerably. Ultra settings at 67 FPS average is playable but not recommended, as the performance cost from High to Ultra is steep relative to the visual improvement.

For a 4K display, Medium settings at 80 FPS average is the clear recommendation. This is the only 4K setting that provides both a comfortable frame rate and reasonable visual quality. High settings at 66 FPS average is viable for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate stability, but the margin above 60 FPS is slim. Low settings at 111 FPS average is the choice for competitive play or for users with 4K displays running at 120 Hz. Ultra settings at 42 FPS average should be avoided entirely, as the experience is not smooth enough for a sports game that requires responsive controls.

The data suggests a general rule: drop to Medium settings when the resolution increases, and reserve High settings for 1080p and 1440p. Ultra settings are only marginally better than High in most cases but cost a significant amount of frame rate, making them a poor trade-off for this hardware combination.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 17984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1810.5 in single-core. Geekbench results show 11657 in multi-core and 1794 in single-core. Passmark scores include 29376 in multithread and 3697 in single-thread. These figures place the CPU at the 85th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35670.

The nearest rivals in aggregate CPU performance are all within 0.7% of the Ultra 9 185H. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 has an average score of 35719, which is -0.1% relative to this chip. The Intel Core 7 250H scores 35728, a -0.2% delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 scores 35802, a -0.4% delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X scores 35909, a -0.7% delta. These tiny deltas indicate that the Ultra 9 185H is effectively tied with these processors in overall performance, despite differences in core counts and architectures.

For Undisputed, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The frame rates at 1080p Low (242 FPS) are high enough that the CPU must be keeping up with the GPU's output, but the consistent scaling across resolutions suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at any setting. The 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's physics and AI calculations, and the 5.10 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance for the main game loop. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient to feed the GPU without creating a bottleneck, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU is more likely to be challenged.

The processor's 45 W TDP and mobile BGA 2049 socket indicate this is a laptop part, which means thermal constraints could affect sustained performance in a thin chassis. However, the measured FPS data shows no signs of thermal throttling, as the frame rates remain consistent across the Medium settings rows with their min and max values. The CPU's percentile ranking at 85% and its close competition with desktop parts like the Ryzen 7 7700X suggest that it is more than capable for this game, leaving the RTX 4060 as the definitive performance limiter at 4K resolutions.