SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core i5-13490F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

Get a comprehensive performance analysis of your gaming rig with detailed benchmarks, bottleneck detection, and upgrade recommendations

93 / 100
ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 7% of systems. Capable of 4K Ultra gaming and advanced rendering.

4K 60+ FPSVR ReadyRay Tracing

System Balance Analysis

CPU vs GPU performance ratio
Well Balanced
CPU
88%
VS
GPU
97%
PROCESSOR

Intel Core i5-13490F

28,185 Benchmark Score
Top 12% Market Ranking
View Full Specs →
GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

60,347 Benchmark Score
Top 3% Market Ranking
View Full Specs →

Market Position

How your build compares to others
Budget
0-30
Mid-Range
30-60
High-End
60-85
Enthusiast
85-100
Your Build

Game Performance Benchmarks

Real-world 4K FPS in popular titles
View All Games →

Performance Insights

Tips to maximize your system

Optimal Performance

Your system is in the top tier. You can run any modern game at maximum settings.

4K Gaming Ready

Consider a 4K 144Hz monitor to fully utilize your hardware capabilities.

Compatible Games See what you can play Compare CPUs Find upgrades Compare GPUs Find upgrades

Performance Tiers Explained

90-100

Ultimate

4K Ultra gaming, VR ready, ray tracing enabled, professional workloads

4K 60+ FPS VR Ready
70-89

High-End

1440p Ultra or 4K High settings, excellent for modern AAA titles

1440p Ultra 4K High
50-69

Mid-Range

1080p Ultra or 1440p Medium, great value for most gamers

1080p Ultra 1440p Med
30-49

Entry Level

1080p Medium settings, suitable for eSports and older titles

1080p Med eSports
0-29

Legacy

Basic gaming, older titles, consider upgrading for modern games

720p-1080p Low Older Games

The Intel Core i5-13490F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 pairing is a study in extremes, combining a mid-range, power-efficient 10-core processor with the most powerful consumer GPU of its generation. The data reveals a system where the GPU is the undisputed performance monarch, while the CPU serves as a capable, though clearly subordinate, workhorse. This configuration is defined not by balance, but by the massive headroom of the RTX 4090, which will be constrained in many scenarios by the processor's limits. The benchmark results indicate a desktop system built for raw graphical output, where the processor's 80th percentile standing is dwarfed by the GPU's 88th percentile and the combined system's 84th percentile placement.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core i5-13490F is a Raptor Lake-S architecture processor built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It presents a hybrid configuration of 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. This is a locked multiplier part, indicated by `multiplierUnlocked: false`, meaning its clock speeds are fixed by Intel's specifications. The processor's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a substantial 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which is crucial for feeding data to the cores efficiently. With a 65 W TDP, it is clearly designed for power efficiency rather than extreme overclocking headroom.

Benchmark scores paint a picture of a strong mid-range performer. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22747 is a robust result for productivity tasks, indicating that the 10 cores can handle heavy parallel workloads like video encoding or 3D rendering. The single-core score of 3211 in the same test is equally important, as it suggests strong responsiveness in everyday tasks and lightly-threaded applications. The PassMark multithread score of 26569 and the 3DMark max threads score of 7550 corroborate this, showing that the processor scales well with additional threads. Its single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single thread score of 1002 and a PassMark single thread score of 3828, is respectable and will not feel sluggish in general use.

The percentileVsAllCpus of 80 means the i5-13490F outperforms 80% of all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 28185 puts it in close competition with the AMD Ryzen AI 5 435, which is just 0.2% behind. It is also statistically tied with the Intel Core i5-14500T (0.4% ahead) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 8500GE (0.5% ahead). Interestingly, the Intel Core i9-11950H, a previous-gen mobile flagship, is 0.5% ahead, showing that this desktop i5 is competitive with high-end laptop parts from the prior generation. This data suggests a processor that is a solid foundation for a modern system, but it is not a halo-tier product; its role is to provide balanced performance for a wide range of tasks without the power draw or cost of higher-end chips.

Gaming Performance

The FACT PACK contains no measured FPS data for this specific CPU+GPU combination, as `dataIsMeasured` is false and `measuredFpsUltraByGame` is an empty object. Therefore, all frame rate expectations are estimates derived from the individual benchmark scores of the components. The RTX 4090 is an absolute powerhouse for gaming, and its PassMark G3D score of 38194 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. This level of performance suggests that in most games, even at 4K resolution with ultra settings, the GPU will be the primary bottleneck, delivering extremely high frame rates.

However, the processor's role cannot be ignored. The i5-13490F's single-thread score of 1002 in 3DMark indicates it is more than capable of feeding the GPU in most titles. At lower resolutions like 1080p or 1440p, where the CPU has to do more work to prepare frames, the processor may become the limiting factor in high-refresh-rate scenarios. In less demanding esports titles, the 4.80 GHz boost clock and strong single-core performance should allow for frame rates well beyond 200 FPS, but the ceiling will be set by the CPU, not the GPU. In graphically intensive AAA titles at 4K, the RTX 4090's raw power will dominate, and the i5-13490F should be sufficient to maintain high frame rates without becoming a major obstacle.

The data implies that this combination is capable of excellent gaming performance across all resolutions, but it is not a perfectly balanced pairing. The gaming experience will be characterized by the GPU's massive headroom. The potential of the RTX 4090 will be somewhat capped by the i5-13490F in CPU-bound scenarios, meaning that the full capabilities of the graphics card may not be realized in every single game. For a user aiming for the highest possible frame rates at 1080p with a 500Hz monitor, this pairing would likely leave performance on the table, but for 4K gaming or high-refresh 1440p, the experience should be stellar.

Balance and Bottleneck

The performance dynamic between the Core i5-13490F and the RTX 4090 is heavily skewed. The GPU's average benchmark score of 60347 is more than double the CPU's average score of 28185. This massive disparity in raw compute power is the central defining factor of this build. The data clearly indicates that the GPU will be the dominant component in most workloads, especially gaming at high resolutions and GPU-accelerated rendering tasks. The CPU is not a weak component, but it is not in the same performance class as the GPU.

The bottleneck analysis points to the CPU as the limiting factor in CPU-bound workloads. The processor's 80th percentile ranking, while respectable, is lower than the GPU's 88th percentile. In tasks that are heavily dependent on single-thread performance, such as certain simulation games or physics calculations, the i5-13490F will be the ceiling. The PassMark physics score of 1915 and the 3dmark_2_threads score of 1959 highlight that while multi-threaded performance is strong, the absolute single-thread ceiling is not at the level of the top-tier processors that would typically be paired with an RTX 4090. This means that in some scenarios, the GPU may not be fully utilized, waiting for the CPU to provide data.

The FPS scaling, while not measured, can be inferred. At 1080p, the CPU is more likely to be the primary bottleneck, potentially limiting the frame rate in CPU-intensive games. As the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the load shifts to the GPU, and the RTX 4090 will be able to stretch its legs. The system is therefore balanced for high-resolution gaming, where the GPU takes over, but unbalanced for sub-1080p or CPU-heavy esports titles where the processor's limits are more apparent. In terms of compute, the RTX 4090's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is so far ahead of the CPU's PassMark integer math score of 83723 that any compute task will be overwhelmingly GPU-bound.

Who Should Build It

This system is designed for a very specific type of user: one who prioritizes graphical fidelity and raw GPU compute power above all else, and who is willing to accept a less powerful CPU to achieve that goal. The target user is a gamer who wants to play the latest AAA titles at 4K resolution with all settings maxed out. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth make it an absolute monster for this workload, ensuring high texture quality and smooth performance for years to come. The i5-13490F, while not ideal, is sufficient to keep up at this resolution.

Content creators and 3D renderers who rely heavily on GPU acceleration would also find this build compelling. The CUDA and RT cores in the RTX 4090 will provide massive speedups in rendering software, far outpacing what the CPU could do alone. Video editors working with high-resolution footage will see excellent performance in effects and encoding tasks that leverage the GPU. However, a developer compiling large codebases or a professional doing heavy CPU-based physics simulations would find the i5-13490F to be a significant bottleneck, and a higher-core-count CPU would be a more appropriate investment. Students and small business users performing office tasks, web browsing, and light productivity would find this system vastly overpowered, but it would handle those tasks with effortless ease.

The data suggests that this build is not for the average user. It is for an enthusiast with a specific vision of a GPU-centric machine. The i5-13490F is a smart choice to keep the platform cost down while still providing a modern, capable processor that won't significantly hamper the GPU in its intended use case of 4K gaming and GPU-accelerated work. This is a machine for those who care about the graphics card more than any other component.

Benchmark Performance

The individual benchmark scores for this pairing are impressive, particularly for the GPU. The RTX 4090 achieves a PassMark G3D score of 38194 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 271631, showcasing its immense compute power. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 is a strong indicator of its DirectX 12 gaming potential. In contrast, the CPU's highest single score is the PassMark data compression at 328397, but its more relevant aggregate scores are the Cinebench R23 multicore at 22747 and the PassMark multithread at 26569.

Looking at the percentile positions, the GPU is in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 80th percentile of all CPUs. The combined percentile for this system is 84. This positions the build as a high-end desktop, but the discrepancy between the two components is stark. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Arc Pro A60, are within 0% to 2.9% of its average score, indicating that the RTX 4090 is at the top of its class. The CPU's rivals, like the AMD Ryzen AI 5 435, are also within a 0.5% delta, showing that the i5-13490F is competitive with other mid-range parts.

The combined picture is one of a system whose overall performance is dragged down by its CPU. While the GPU is a top-tier component, the CPU is a mid-range component. The combined percentile of 84 is lower than the GPU's 88, reflecting this imbalance. This is not a system that would top the charts in CPU-heavy benchmarks, but it would be a leader in GPU-centric tests. The data indicates that the system's potential is gated by the processor, and any user looking for the absolute maximum performance in all areas would need to consider a more powerful CPU.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth of a graphics card, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and the AD102 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It houses an enormous 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. The card features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Crucially, it includes 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, which are dedicated to ray tracing and AI workloads, respectively. Its memory subsystem is a key strength, with 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering a staggering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 2235 MHz, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz.

The benchmark scores confirm its dominance. The PassMark G3D score of 38194 is exceptional, and the Geekbench OpenCL score of 255416 shows its immense compute capability. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 indicates it is more than ready for the latest API. The GPU's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is a raw number that highlights its strength in parallel processing tasks. This makes it not just a gaming powerhouse, but a formidable tool for 3D rendering, video editing, and scientific computing.

For rendering, the 128 RT cores will accelerate ray-traced scenes in supported applications, while the 512 tensor cores can be used for AI-accelerated features like DLSS, which can significantly boost frame rates. The 24 GB of VRAM is a massive buffer, allowing for extremely high-resolution textures and complex 3D scenes that would exceed the memory capacity of most other cards. The data shows a GPU that is a generation ahead of most others, with a performance profile that is still relevant for the most demanding tasks. Its end-of-life status, however, suggests that its successor is on the horizon, but its current performance remains peerless.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The platform is built around the Intel Socket 1700, which supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory and features a PCIe Gen 5 connection with 16 CPU lanes. This provides a modern foundation with fast memory and storage options. The i5-13490F is a 65 W TDP processor, which is very manageable, but the RTX 4090 has a 450 W TDP and requires a suggested power supply of 850 W. This is a critical consideration for any build, as the PSU must be robust enough to handle the GPU's power spikes.

The upgrade path is a key point of analysis. Since the RTX 4090 is already the top-tier GPU in its generation, a GPU upgrade would mean moving to a future generation, which would likely require a new power supply and possibly a new case, given the card's triple-slot width and 304 mm length. The CPU, on the other hand, could theoretically be upgraded to a higher-end 13th-gen or 14th-gen processor on the same socket, provided the motherboard BIOS supports it. This would be a sensible next step to alleviate the CPU bottleneck observed in this pairing. Upgrading to a processor with more cores and higher clocks, like an i7 or i9, would better balance the system and unlock more of the GPU's potential in CPU-bound scenarios.

The memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 is a benefit, allowing builders to choose between a more affordable DDR4 setup or a higher-performance DDR5 setup. The PCIe Gen 5 support is future-proof for NVMe SSDs, though the GPU uses PCIe 4.0. The platform, while not the newest, is still very capable. The most logical upgrade, based on the data, is to replace the i5-13490F with a more powerful CPU to create a more balanced system, rather than upgrading the GPU, which is already at the apex of its generation.

Build Overview

This build is a desktop-class combination that pairs a mid-range, power-efficient processor with the most powerful consumer GPU available. The Intel Core i5-13490F is a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake processor that offers solid multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22747. It is a sensible, cost-effective choice for a system where the GPU is the primary focus. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an end-of-life flagship from the Ada Lovelace generation, but its performance is still top-tier, as shown by its 88th percentile ranking and PassMark G3D score of 38194.

The overall tier of this system, based on the combined percentile of 84, is high-end, but it is a high-end system with a known bottleneck. The pairing is one of a dominant GPU and a supporting CPU. It is a configuration that makes sense for a user who wants the absolute best GPU performance and is willing to compromise on CPU performance to achieve it. The system is not balanced, but it is purpose-built for GPU-intensive workloads. The data suggests that the RTX 4090 will be the star of the show, providing exceptional performance in gaming and compute tasks, while the i5-13490F will handle the background and CPU-side tasks competently, without ever stealing the spotlight. This is a pragmatic pairing for a specific use case: maximum graphics performance on a desktop platform.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance disparity between the CPU and GPU in this build?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 60347, while the CPU's is 28185, showing the GPU is significantly more powerful. The GPU is in the 88th percentile, while the CPU is in the 80th.

Q: Is this system better for 4K gaming or 1080p gaming?

A: It is better for 4K gaming. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, allowing the RTX 4090 to stretch its legs. At 1080p, the CPU is more likely to limit frame rates.

Q: What is the most likely bottleneck for this system?

A: The Intel Core i5-13490F is the most likely bottleneck in CPU-bound tasks and at lower resolutions. The GPU is the dominant component, but the CPU can limit its full potential.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4090 have and what is its bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s.

Q: What is the TDP of the CPU and the suggested PSU for the GPU?

A: The CPU has a TDP of 65 W, and the GPU has a TDP of 450 W. The suggested power supply for the system is 850 W.

Q: Is the CPU overclockable?

A: No, the multiplier is locked (`multiplierUnlocked: false`), so the processor cannot be overclocked.

Q: What is the combined performance percentile of this build?

A: The combined percentile for this CPU+GPU pairing is 84, placing it in the top 16% of all systems in the database.

Usage Scenarios

High-Refresh Gaming: For gamers targeting high refresh rates at 1440p, this system is excellent. The RTX 4090's raw power will push frame rates to very high levels, and the i5-13490F's single-thread performance is sufficient to keep up in most titles, though it may be a limiting factor in the most CPU-intensive e-sports games.

Streaming: This build is well-suited for streaming. The GPU's NVENC encoder (implied by its architecture) offloads the streaming workload from the CPU, and its massive compute power ensures that game performance is not impacted. The CPU's 16 threads are more than enough to handle the game logic and streaming software simultaneously.

Video Editing: Video editors will see massive performance gains in this system. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 power will accelerate effects, color grading, and rendering, while the CPU's 22747 Cinebench R23 multicore score handles timeline scrubbing and project management smoothly.

3D Rendering: This is a prime scenario for this pairing. The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores will handle ray-traced and AI-accelerated rendering tasks with incredible speed, making CPU rendering almost obsolete. The i5-13490F will manage the scene data and physics, but the heavy lifting is done by the GPU.

Software Development: For developers, this system is a mixed bag. The CPU's strong multi-threaded score of 26569 in PassMark is good for compiling code, but it is not at the top tier. The GPU is irrelevant for most development tasks, so a developer would be paying a premium for power they won't use, unless they are developing graphics-intensive applications.

Student and Office Work: This system is vastly overpowered for standard student or office tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, and web browsing. It would handle these tasks with effortless ease, but the cost and power consumption are not justified for such workloads. The data suggests it is a specialist tool for demanding applications, not for everyday general use.