Undisputed

# Undisputed with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a consistently strong showing in Undisputed, landing at rank 651 out of 2,813 tested combinations. This places the combo in the top quarter of all systems tested for this boxing title, with measured frame rates that range from a demanding 66 FPS at 4K Ultra all the way up to 374 FPS at 1080p Low. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions but has enough CPU headroom to push very high frame rates when settings are lowered, making it a versatile choice for both competitive play and visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck sits. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 223 at 1920x1080 to 161 at 2560x1440, then further down to 102 at 3840x2160. That represents a 28% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 54% drop from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, which strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor as resolution increases.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The system produces 374 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 271 FPS at 1440p (a 28% reduction) and then to 171 FPS at 4K (a 54% reduction from 1080p). The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical between High and Low presets suggests that resolution scaling is independent of the quality settings — the GPU is simply being asked to render more pixels, and the performance cost scales linearly with that demand.

Medium settings show the same trend: 269 FPS at 1080p, 195 FPS at 1440p, and 123 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result of 123 FPS is notable because it still clears the 120 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth high-refresh gaming. Ultra settings, however, tell a different story at 4K — the average drops to just 66 FPS, which is a 54% reduction from the 143 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra.

The consistency of these scaling patterns — roughly a 28% loss at 1440p and a 54% loss at 4K regardless of preset — points to a pure pixel-throughput limitation. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at 4K, and the data suggests that players wanting to run Undisputed at 4K will need to make a significant settings compromise to maintain high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It carries a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a 36 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and a single-core score of 7,303, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs tested.

What matters for Undisputed is how this CPU behaves in a game that is primarily GPU-bound at high resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 374 FPS — a frame rate that demands strong single-thread performance. The 5.80 GHz boost clock and the strong single-core Cinebench score of 7,303 provide the headroom needed to feed the GPU at these extreme frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% faster), AMD EPYC 4584PX (1.1% slower), and AMD EPYC 9135 (1.2% slower). The 290K Plus sits just 0.2% behind the 285K in average score, which translates to a negligible real-world difference in gaming. The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in Undisputed — even at 1080p Low with 374 FPS, the processor is delivering frames faster than most displays can show them.

The 24 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for a sports title like Undisputed, which typically doesn't scale beyond a handful of threads. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60,860 and the data compression score of 698,346 indicate a processor that excels at heavily parallel workloads, but those capabilities are largely irrelevant for this game. What matters is the single-thread performance, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4,823 confirms that the 290K Plus is among the best consumer CPUs for that metric.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU built on a 5 nm TSMC process, featuring 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It runs at a base clock of 1,920 MHz with a boost clock of 2,475 MHz, and its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at 21 Gbps effective across a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's FP32 compute is rated at 29.15 TFLOPS, and it carries 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores.

In Undisputed, the RTX 4070's performance envelope is best understood by examining the measured FPS across resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the GPU manages only 66 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS minimum that most players would consider acceptable for a smooth experience. At 4K High, the average rises to 102 FPS — a 55% improvement over Ultra — and at 4K Medium it reaches 123 FPS. The 4K Low result of 171 FPS shows that the GPU has substantial headroom when the visual load is reduced.

The GPU's benchmark percentile sits at 81, with an average benchmark score of 37,648. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% slower), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (1.3% faster). This places the RTX 4070 in a competitive mid-to-high tier, but the data shows that Undisputed at 4K Ultra is simply too demanding for this GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

The 21 Gbps effective memory speed is a critical factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the game is clearly memory-bandwidth limited, as evidenced by the steep drop from 123 FPS at Medium to 66 FPS at Ultra — a 46% performance loss that cannot be explained by shader complexity alone. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game, but the bandwidth constraint becomes apparent when Ultra textures and effects are enabled at 3840x2160.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 4K displays, Medium settings deliver 123 FPS average with a minimum of 105 FPS — this is the sweet spot for smooth play without sacrificing too much visual quality. High settings at 4K still provide 102 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 4K drops to 66 FPS, which is likely too low for competitive play.

At 1440p, the picture changes dramatically. High settings produce 161 FPS, which is excellent for 144 Hz displays. Medium settings reach 195 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS, making this the recommended preset for 165 Hz monitors. Low settings at 1440p hit 271 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most displays and provides maximum responsiveness. Ultra at 1440p delivers 104 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for high-refresh gaming.

For 1080p, the system is almost always GPU-limited but with massive headroom. High settings produce 223 FPS, Medium reaches 269 FPS, and Low hits 374 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance with a minimum of 229 FPS and a maximum of 310 FPS, ensuring no dips below 200 FPS even in the most demanding scenes. Ultra at 1080p yields 143 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a significant drop from the other presets.

The data strongly suggests that Medium settings provide the best overall experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system maintains a minimum of 229 FPS; at 1440p Medium, the minimum is 165 FPS; and at 4K Medium, the minimum is 105 FPS. These minimums are critical for a sports game where frame pacing consistency matters more than peak FPS. High settings are a reasonable alternative for those prioritizing visual quality, but the measured minimums at High are not recorded, making Medium the safer choice based on the available data.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Undisputed at 4K with high refresh rates?

A: At 4K Medium, the system averages 123 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS, which is suitable for 100 Hz displays. 4K High averages 102 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 66 FPS. For 144 Hz 4K displays, you would need to use Low settings, which average 171 FPS.

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

A: At 1080p, Medium settings provide a minimum of 229 FPS and an average of 269 FPS, making it the most consistent preset for competitive play. Low settings average 374 FPS but may introduce visual distractions that affect gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in this system?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37,648 puts it 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile. These differences are minor in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus overkill for Undisputed?

A: The CPU is not the bottleneck in this game. Even at 1080p Low with 374 FPS, the processor delivers more than enough performance. Its 96th percentile ranking and 5.80 GHz boost clock provide headroom that is largely unused in this title.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 195 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 224 FPS. This makes 1440p Medium an excellent choice for 165 Hz monitors, with no dips below the refresh rate.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM on the RTX 4070 cause issues at 4K?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM capacity issues, but the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth appears to be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 66 FPS. Reducing to Medium settings at 4K brings the average up to 123 FPS, suggesting a bandwidth constraint rather than a capacity problem.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 374 FPS average
• Medium: 269 FPS average, 229 FPS minimum, 310 FPS maximum
• High: 223 FPS average
• Ultra: 143 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 271 FPS average
• Medium: 195 FPS average, 165 FPS minimum, 224 FPS maximum
• High: 161 FPS average
• Ultra: 104 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 171 FPS average
• Medium: 123 FPS average, 105 FPS minimum, 142 FPS maximum
• High: 102 FPS average
• Ultra: 66 FPS average

The data shows a clear and consistent pattern: the RTX 4070 is the limiting component at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom for very high frame rates at 1080p. The Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, with recorded minimums that stay well above playable thresholds. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 70 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth play on most displays. This system is best suited for 1440p gaming with Medium or High settings, where it delivers excellent frame rates with plenty of margin.