SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core i5-13600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

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

95 / 100
ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 5% 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
93%
VS
GPU
97%
PROCESSOR

Intel Core i5-13600

44,240 Benchmark Score
Top 7% 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
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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 i5-13600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a desktop combination that occupies the 88th percentile for both components, yet the pairing is defined by an extreme asymmetry in raw capability. The CPU delivers strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26,620, while the GPU posts a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 and a Passmark G3D score of 38,194. However, benchmark results indicate that in most gaming scenarios, the RTX 4090 will be severely constrained by the i5-13600’s mid-range positioning, making this a system where the GPU is the clear dominant force.

Usage Scenarios

For high-refresh gaming at 1080p or 1440p, the data shows this pairing is heavily CPU-bound. The i5-13600 has a Passmark single-thread score of 4,049 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,758, which places it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, but the RTX 4090’s immense fill rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s far outpace what the CPU can feed in frame-time-sensitive titles. The GPU’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance is effectively wasted at lower resolutions where the CPU’s 14 cores and 20 threads become the limiting factor. At 4K, the balance shifts toward the GPU, but the absence of measured FPS data for this exact combination means all frame rate estimates are derived from these benchmark scores.

Streaming is a mixed scenario. The i5-13600’s 20 threads and Passmark multi-thread score of 31,725 provide enough headroom for software encoding while gaming, but the RTX 4090’s 512 tensor cores and 128 RT cores offer dedicated hardware for encoding and AI-enhanced features. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 11,180 suggests the CPU can handle encoding workloads, yet the GPU’s superior compute throughput (Passmark GPU compute score of 26,613) makes it the preferred encoder for high-bitrate streams. The 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures no memory bottlenecks for encoding buffers, but the CPU’s 24 MB shared L3 cache may cause occasional hitches in CPU-intensive streaming overlays.

Video editing workloads benefit from both components, but the GPU dominates. The RTX 4090’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 255,416 and Vulkan score of 271,631 indicate massive acceleration for effects, color grading, and rendering in GPU-accelerated timelines. The i5-13600’s Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 2,683 and R20 score of 11,180 handle timeline scrubbing and export encoding, but the 10 nm process node and 65 W TDP mean sustained all-core loads will thermally throttle before reaching the GPU’s full potential. The Passmark data compression score of 383,972 shows strong codec handling for intermediate formats, though the CPU’s 2.70 GHz base clock is low for real-time preview of heavily layered edits.

3D rendering is where the RTX 4090 completely overwhelms the CPU. The GPU’s FP32 throughput of 82.58 TFLOPS and 76,300 million transistors deliver render times that dwarf the i5-13600’s 26,620 Cinebench R23 multi-core score. For GPU-based renderers like Octane or V-Ray RT, the 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores provide hardware-accelerated ray tracing and denoising, while the 24 GB VRAM holds massive scenes without spilling to system memory. The CPU’s Passmark integer math score of 111,044 and floating point math score of 81,892 handle scene preparation and geometry processing, but they are secondary to the GPU’s raw compute in final-frame rendering.

Software development workloads see a balanced but underwhelming performance from the CPU side. The i5-13600’s Passmark single-thread score of 4,049 and extended instructions score of 23,045 support fast compilation of single-file changes, while the 20 threads and 24 MB L3 cache handle parallel builds. The RTX 4090 offers no direct benefit for code compilation, but its 1.01 TB/s bandwidth and 24 GB VRAM allow for large virtual machines and container workloads. The CPU’s ECC memory support (true) is a notable feature for stability in long-running build servers, though the 65 W TDP limits sustained all-core boost clocks during heavy compilation.

Student and office work is massively over-served by this configuration. The i5-13600’s Passmark singlethread score of 4,049 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,758 deliver snappy responsiveness for productivity suites, while the UHD Graphics 770 integrated GPU provides a fallback display output. However, the RTX 4090’s 304 mm length and triple-slot width (61 mm) make this an impractical office machine, and the 450 W TDP with 850 W suggested PSU is grossly excessive for document editing or spreadsheet work. The Passmark DirectX 9 score of 397 and DirectX 10 score of 224 show the GPU’s dominance even in legacy 2D workloads, but these are irrelevant for typical office tasks.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm TSMC process with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. The memory subsystem features 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, with a memory clock of 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU has 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with base and boost clocks of 2,235 MHz and 2,520 MHz respectively. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s place this card in the absolute top tier of rasterization performance.

The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are the defining features for modern rendering workloads. The RT cores accelerate ray-traced lighting and shadows with hardware BVH traversal, while the tensor cores enable DLSS and AI-based denoising. The FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS and FP16 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS (1:1) indicate that the card does not halve throughput for half-precision, making it exceptionally fast for AI inference and scientific compute. The Passmark G3D score of 38,194 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 confirm its position at the 88th percentile of all GPUs.

In rendering contexts, the RTX 4090’s benchmark scores translate to near-instantaneous viewport updates and final-frame renders that are orders of magnitude faster than the i5-13600’s CPU-only capabilities. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 255,416 and Vulkan score of 271,631 are among the highest recorded, indicating that compute-heavy workloads such as physics simulations, fluid dynamics, and machine learning training will see massive acceleration. However, the Passmark DirectX 11 score of 326 and DirectX 12 score of 150 are surprisingly low relative to other scores, suggesting driver overhead or benchmark methodology issues rather than actual performance deficiencies.

The GPU’s 450 W TDP and 1x 16-pin power connector require an 850 W suggested PSU, and the triple-slot design (304 mm length, 137 mm height, 61 mm width) demands a full-tower chassis with excellent airflow. The display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, supporting high-refresh 4K and multi-monitor setups. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16, which is fully compatible with the i5-13600’s PCIe Gen 5, 16 Lanes (CPU only) configuration, though the GPU will run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.

Benchmark Performance

The CPU benchmarks show a consistent mid-to-high-tier performer. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26,620 places the i5-13600 in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44,240. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, scores 44,309, a delta of -0.2%, meaning the i5-13600 is essentially tied with that processor. The Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 44,342 (-0.2%), the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H scores 44,466 (-0.5%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D scores 44,573 (-0.7%). These deltas indicate that the i5-13600 is statistically indistinguishable from these rivals in aggregate performance.

The Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 2,683 and R20 multi-core score of 11,180 show strong scaling from 14 cores and 20 threads, while the single-core scores of 378 (R15) and 1,578 (R20) confirm a 5.00 GHz boost clock is effective for lightly threaded tasks. The Passmark suite reveals specific strengths: data compression at 383,972, data encryption at 22,182, extended instructions at 23,045, floating point math at 81,892, integer math at 111,044, and random string sorting at 42,040. The Passmark physics score of 1,782 and find prime numbers score of 109 are lower, indicating weaker performance in certain algorithm types.

The GPU benchmarks are exceptional across the board. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 and Passmark G3D score of 38,194 put the RTX 4090 in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347. The nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60,326 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60,140 (+0.3%), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 61,896 (-2.5%), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 at 58,657 (+2.9%). The RTX 4090’s closest competitor, the W6600M, is 2.5% faster in aggregate, but the 4090 outperforms the V710 by 2.9%.

The combined picture is one of extreme GPU dominance. The CPU’s 88th percentile is respectable, but the GPU’s raw scores are in a different universe. The Passmark GPU compute score of 26,613 and Geekbench scores of 255,416 (OpenCL) and 271,631 (Vulkan) are roughly 6-7 times higher than what the CPU’s Passmark multi-thread score of 31,725 can achieve in compute tasks. This indicates that the system is built for GPU-accelerated workloads first, with the CPU serving as a supporting actor rather than a co-star.

Balance and Bottleneck

The data clearly shows that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor in no scenario — the CPU is the bottleneck in nearly every gaming and many professional workloads. The i5-13600’s Passmark single-thread score of 4,049 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,758 are sufficient for 60 FPS gaming, but the RTX 4090’s 443.5 GPixel/s fill rate can push well beyond 200 FPS in esports titles, where the CPU’s 2.70 GHz base clock and 24 MB L3 cache will struggle to issue draw calls fast enough. The percentile difference between the CPU (88th) and GPU (88th) is equal, but the absolute performance gap is enormous — the GPU’s average benchmark score of 60,347 is 36% higher than the CPU’s 44,240.

In GPU-bound workloads like 4K gaming or 3D rendering, the i5-13600 can keep up with the RTX 4090’s demands. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26,620 ensures that the CPU can prepare frames and geometry data faster than the GPU can render them at 4K, where pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck. However, at 1080p or 1440p with high refresh rates, the CPU’s 14 cores and 20 threads are often idle while the GPU waits for data, resulting in wasted GPU potential. The Passmark integer math score of 111,044 and data compression score of 383,972 indicate that the CPU is fast at processing game logic and physics, but not fast enough to feed the GPU’s 1.01 TB/s bandwidth.

The FPS scaling, estimated from benchmark scores rather than measured data, shows that this system will deliver playable frame rates at all resolutions but will not achieve the full potential of the RTX 4090 until the CPU is upgraded. For productivity, the bottleneck shifts: the CPU’s 65 W TDP and 10 nm process node limit sustained all-core boost, while the GPU’s 450 W TDP and 82.58 TFLOPS dominate compute tasks. The Passmark physics score of 1,782 is particularly low, suggesting that CPU physics calculations in games will be a bottleneck even at high resolutions.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core i5-13600 is a Raptor Lake-S architecture processor with 14 cores (6 performance + 8 efficiency) and 20 threads, built on Intel’s 10 nm process with a 215 mm² die size. The base clock is 2.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and the TDP is 65 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, with ECC memory support enabled. It uses the Intel Socket 1700 and features PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes (CPU only), plus integrated UHD Graphics 770.

The benchmark scores reveal a processor that excels in multi-threaded productivity but is not designed for extreme single-thread dominance. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26,620 is strong for a 65 W part, while the single-core score of 3,758 is good but not class-leading. The Passmark data encryption score of 22,182 and extended instructions score of 23,045 show solid AES-NI and AVX-512 performance, making this CPU suitable for security workloads. The find prime numbers score of 109 is notably low, indicating that the efficiency cores do not handle certain integer-heavy algorithms well.

The 20 threads provide excellent parallel throughput for compilation, video encoding, and scientific computing, as evidenced by the Passmark multi-thread score of 31,725 and integer math score of 111,044. The 24 MB L3 cache is sufficient for most workloads but may cause cache misses in large dataset scenarios. The 5.00 GHz boost clock is available for single-core tasks, but the 2.70 GHz base clock means sustained all-core loads will drop below 4 GHz under heavy AVX workloads. The release date of 2023-01-03 and active production status indicate a mature platform, and the launch MSRP of $255 (stated once here) positions it as a mid-range desktop processor.

Who Should Build It

Gamers targeting 4K ultra settings with ray tracing will benefit most from this pairing. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM and 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance handle 4K textures and ray-traced lighting without compromise, and the i5-13600’s 20 threads are sufficient for modern game engines. However, those playing competitive shooters at 1080p or 1440p with 240 Hz+ monitors will be disappointed by the CPU bottleneck, which limits FPS to what the 4,049 single-thread score can deliver.

Content creators working with GPU-accelerated renderers, video editors using hardware encoding, and AI researchers requiring massive tensor core throughput are the ideal users. The RTX 4090’s 512 tensor cores and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth make it a workstation-class compute engine, while the i5-13600’s 20 threads handle asset management and scene preparation. The Passmark GPU compute score of 26,613 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 255,416 confirm that this system is a rendering and compute monster.

Software developers compiling large codebases will appreciate the 20 threads and 111,044 integer math score, but the 65 W TDP limits sustained boost. Students and office workers should avoid this build entirely — the triple-slot GPU and 850 W PSU requirement are absurd for document editing, and the integrated UHD Graphics 770 is more than sufficient for productivity tasks. Small business workstations needing ECC memory support (true) and PCIe Gen 5 for NVMe storage can leverage the CPU, but the GPU is overkill unless running CUDA workloads.

FAQ

Q: What is the combined percentile ranking of this CPU+GPU pairing?

A: Both the Intel Core i5-13600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 are in the 88th percentile of their respective categories, with the combined percentile also at 88.

Q: Does this system bottleneck in gaming?

A: Yes, benchmark results indicate the CPU is the bottleneck in lower-resolution gaming. The i5-13600’s Passmark single-thread score of 4,049 cannot fully feed the RTX 4090’s 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate at 1080p or 1440p high-refresh settings.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 4090?

A: The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, with memory clocks at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

Q: How does the i5-13600 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385?

A: The i5-13600 has an average benchmark score of 44,240, which is 0.2% lower than the Ryzen AI Max 385’s score of 44,309, making them statistically equivalent in aggregate performance.

Q: What is the TDP of each component?

A: The i5-13600 has a TDP of 65 W, while the RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450 W, requiring an 850 W suggested PSU.

Q: Does the CPU support ECC memory?

A: Yes, the i5-13600 has ECC memory support (true), and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 in dual-channel configuration.

Q: What are the RT and tensor core counts on the RTX 4090?

A: The RTX 4090 features 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, with FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS and FP16 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS (1:1).

Build Overview

This is a desktop-class build (buildClass: desktop) combining the Intel Core i5-13600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The CPU is a 14-core, 20-thread Raptor Lake-S processor with a 65 W TDP, while the GPU is an Ada Lovelace flagship with a 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler. The combined percentile of 88 places this system in the upper tier of all desktop configurations, but the performance asymmetry is extreme: the GPU’s average benchmark score of 60,347 is 36% higher than the CPU’s 44,240.

The build is best described as a GPU-first workstation with a mid-range CPU. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM, 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, and 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance make it a professional-grade compute device, while the i5-13600 serves as a capable but not exceptional host processor. The data shows no measured FPS rows exist for this exact combination, so all frame rate estimates are derived from benchmark scores. This pairing is tier-appropriate for 4K gaming and GPU rendering, but it is unbalanced for esports or CPU-bound productivity tasks.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core i5-13600 uses the Intel Socket 1700 platform with PCIe Gen 5, providing 16 lanes (CPU only) for expansion. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, with ECC memory support enabled. The memory bus is dual-channel, and the platform is compatible with both memory types, though DDR5 offers higher bandwidth for the RTX 4090’s 1.01 TB/s demands.

The RTX 4090 uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface, which is fully backward compatible with the CPU’s PCIe Gen 5 slots. The GPU’s 450 W TDP and 1x 16-pin power connector require an 850 W suggested PSU, and the triple-slot design (304 mm length, 137 mm height, 61 mm width) necessitates a full-tower chassis. The GPU is marked as end-of-life with a release date of 2022-09-19, and its successor is the GeForce 50 series.

A sensible next upgrade would be a higher-core-count CPU on the same Socket 1700 platform, such as an Intel Core i9-13900K or similar, to better match the RTX 4090’s raw throughput. The current CPU’s 65 W TDP limits sustained all-core boost, so upgrading to a 125 W+ part would unlock more multi-threaded performance in CPU-bound scenarios. Alternatively, adding more DDR5 memory (if using DDR5) would reduce potential memory bandwidth bottlenecks in large dataset workloads. The platform’s PCIe Gen 5 support is future-proof for high-speed NVMe storage, but the GPU’s PCIe 4.0 interface is sufficient for current game and render workloads.