SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 235A + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4010

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

Build Configuration

Select your components

PROCESSOR (CPU)

▼

GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

▼

87 Score

Top 13% Ranking

87 / 100

HIGH-END

Power Build

Top 13% of systems. Excellent for 1440p Ultra or 4K High gaming.

1440p Ultra4K High

System Balance Analysis

CPU vs GPU performance ratio

Well Balanced

CPU

94%

GPU

79%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 5 235A

48,201 Benchmark Score

Top 6% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4010

2,893 Benchmark Score

Top 21% 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

Strong Performance

Excellent for 1440p gaming. Most games will run at high/ultra settings smoothly.

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 Ultra 5 235A paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4010 forms a desktop combination defined by a striking asymmetry: a processor sitting in the 90th percentile of all CPUs attached to a graphics card in the 18th percentile. That gap — 72 percentile points — is the single most important fact about this build, and it shapes everything from upgrade sequencing to realistic gaming expectations. Notably, the database contains no measured frame-rate rows for this exact pairing, so all FPS discussion below is estimated from benchmark scores rather than recorded playtesting.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Core Ultra 5 235A sits on Intel Socket 1851, which means the platform conversation starts with future CPU headroom rather than the current chip. The processor is a 14-core, 14-thread part (no hyperthreading-style doubling is present in the thread count) with a 65 W TDP, built on TSMC's 3 nm process under the Arrow Lake-S codename. Because the multiplier is locked, tuning-based longevity is off the table; any future uplift must come from a socket-compatible replacement chip.

Memory support is DDR5 only, dual-channel, delivering 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth — a healthy figure that will not bottleneck the CPU's memory-hungry workloads. ECC is not supported, which is worth noting for anyone eyeing this platform for a small-business file server or error-sensitive computation. PCIe connectivity is Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU, which is generous, though there is a mismatch worth flagging: the RTX 4010 connects via PCIe 4.0 x8, meaning the GPU cannot exploit the platform's newest link speed or full lane count. A future GPU upgrade would, however, benefit directly.

Power headroom is generous. The GPU is a 50 W part with no auxiliary power connectors, drawing entirely from the slot, and the suggested PSU for the graphics card is 250 W. Combined with the 65 W CPU TDP, the total system draw is low by modern desktop standards, so a sensible upgrade path — a far more powerful GPU — has substantial PSU margin baked in, assuming the installed unit meets or exceeds the suggestion. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 24EU also provides a fallback display output if the discrete card is ever removed between upgrades.

Benchmark Performance

The CPU's benchmark record is consistent and strong. Cinebench R23 returns 32,633 multi-core and 4,607 single-core; R20 shows 13,705 and 1,934; R15 shows 3,289 and 464. PassMark's multithread score is 38,392, with single-thread at 4,557. The single-core figures are particularly telling — 4,607 in R23 places the chip's per-thread responsiveness among the upper tier, which matters for latency-sensitive work like game logic and interactive compiles.

The average benchmark score of 48,201 lands the CPU at the 90th percentile versus all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 380 trails by just 0.1%, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX leads by 0.2%, the AMD EPYC 4345P leads by 0.6%, and the AMD Ryzen 9 3900 trails by 0.6%. In other words, this chip is statistically indistinguishable from a tightly bunched cluster of competitors — a dead heat, not a runaway win.

The GPU tells a different story. Its single recorded benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), scores 2,893, placing it in the 18th percentile of all GPUs. Curiously, its listed nearest rivals on that score — the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB (-0.5%), the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell SFF (-0.6%), the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB (-0.7%), and the Quadro P600 (-1%) — sit within a percentage point on aggregate score, yet the hardware itself (4 GB VRAM, 64-bit bus, 768 shading units, 2.706 TFLOPS FP32) describes a far lighter card than those names imply. This is a data pattern worth questioning rather than taking at face value: the database's aggregate scoring may weight this card's single benchmark oddly against rivals with broader test coverage.

The combined percentile for the pairing is 54 — almost exactly median, dragged down from the CPU's 90th by the GPU's 18th.

Usage Scenarios

High-refresh gaming: The CPU's 4,607 single-core R23 score and 90th percentile ranking are more than capable of feeding high frame rates, but the GPU's 18th percentile position and 96 GB/s of memory bandwidth will be the ceiling in nearly every title. High-refresh play at 1080p is realistic only in lighter or older engines; expect to lower settings well below "ultra" in modern AAA releases.

Streaming: Dual PC-style encoding load is not in play here, but single-PC streaming asks the CPU to run the game and the encoder simultaneously. With 14 threads, a 32,633 R23 multi-core score, and dedicated tensor cores on the GPU (24 of them) available for NVENC-style assisted encoding, the raw compute exists. The GPU-side gaming headroom, not the CPU, is the constraint.

Video editing: Timeline scrubbing and timeline responsiveness will feel quick thanks to the strong single-core numbers, but 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus is a hard limitation for 4K multi-cam work. 1080p editing is the realistic envelope; beyond that, VRAM exhaustion rather than compute will bite first.

3D rendering: CPU rendering is genuinely viable — 32,633 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, plus strong PassMark floating point (118,778) and integer (88,626) results. GPU rendering is not this build's strength: 2.706 TFLOPS FP32, 16 ROPs, and a 28.19 GPixel/s pixel rate describe a viewport card, not a final-frame renderer.

Software development: This is arguably the build's sweet spot outside of office use. Code compilation scales with multi-core throughput, and the 38,392 PassMark multithread score with 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth handles large builds comfortably. Containerized workloads and local test suites fit within 14 threads without strain.

Student and office work: Browsing, documents, and light photo work are trivially covered. The 90th-percentile CPU means the system will feel fast in everyday tasks for years, and the 50 W GPU keeps the machine quiet and cool while doing so.

Balance and Bottleneck

The bottleneck analysis here is unusually clean-cut. In any graphically demanding workload, the RTX 4010 limits the experience: an 18th-percentile GPU cannot be rescued by a 90th-percentile CPU. The GPU's memory subsystem — 4 GB of GDDR6 across a 64-bit bus at 96 GB/s — will saturate first at higher resolutions and texture settings, and its PCIe 4.0 x8 link compounds the issue when VRAM spills.

Conversely, in CPU-bound scenarios the picture inverts. The Core Ultra 5 235A's rivals cluster within 0.6% of its average score, so simulation-heavy games, spreadsheet recalculation, compression (393,800 in PassMark data compression), encryption (30,136), and sorting (49,489) will all run near the top of the desktop field. The practical implication: frame-rate scaling with resolution will flatten quickly — moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K will cost proportionally more performance than on a balanced build, because the GPU is already at its limit at the lowest resolution tested in most modern titles.

Since no measured FPS rows exist for this pairing, the scaling expectation above is an estimate derived from the benchmark scores and percentile split, not from recorded playtests.

CPU Analysis

The Core Ultra 5 235A is a 14-core, 14-thread Arrow Lake-S processor manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm node, packing 17,800 million transistors into a 243 mm² die. Base clock is 3.40 GHz with a 5.00 GHz boost — a wide range that, combined with the modest 65 W TDP, suggests aggressive clock throttling under all-core load relative to its peak single-core frequency.

The cache hierarchy is generous: 192 KB of L1 and 3 MB of L2 per core, with 24 MB of shared L3. That per-core L2 allotment benefits workload isolation — each core keeps its working set close, which shows up in the strong single-thread numbers (4,557 PassMark, 4,607 Cinebench R23).

What do the scores mean in practice? The R23 multi-core result of 32,633 indicates sustained all-core throughput well suited to rendering, compiling, and batch processing. The near-parity with the Ryzen AI Max PRO 380 (0.1% gap) and the Core Ultra 5 245HX (0.2%) indicates the chip trades blows with parts positioned as premium mobile and workstation solutions. Physics (2,437) and find-prime-numbers (392) PassMark results are mid-field respectable for a 65 W envelope. The locked multiplier means the chip runs as Intel binned it, full stop — 5.00 GHz boost is the ceiling.

Who Should Build It

The data points to three clear user groups. First, developers and students: the CPU's percentile ranking and benchmark breadth make it an excellent compilation and multitasking machine, and the low-power GPU keeps total system draw minimal. Second, small-business workstation users: the 14 threads, 24 MB of L3, and strong encryption and compression scores support office multitasking, light content work, and data processing — though the lack of ECC rules out error-correcting deployments. Third, gamers who play at 1080p with reduced settings, esports titles, or older libraries, where the CPU's responsiveness shines and the GPU's limits matter less.

Content creators should think twice. Video editors working beyond 1080p will hit the 4 GB VRAM wall, and 3D artists wanting GPU-accelerated final rendering will find 2.706 TFLOPS insufficient. For those users, this CPU deserves a stronger GPU partner. The launch MSRP of the CPU is listed at $269; no GPU pricing data exists in the pack.

Gaming Performance

To restate clearly: the FACT PACK contains no measured FPS data for this combination, so the figures discussed here are estimates inferred from benchmark scores, not recorded results.

The evidence available — a Steel Nomad score of 2,893, an 18th percentile GPU ranking, 768 shading units, a 42.29 GTexel/s texture rate, and 96 GB/s of memory bandwidth — supports the following qualitative expectations. At 1080p with ultra settings, lighter and older titles should remain playable, but modern AAA games will likely require settings reductions to reach smooth frame rates. At 1440p and 4K, the 4 GB frame buffer becomes the dominant constraint; texture-heavy scenes will exceed VRAM and force stutter or asset streaming artifacts. Ray tracing is technically supported via 6 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate, but enabling it on hardware at this tier would compound an already-tight budget of rasterization headroom. Frame-generation-style upscaling may extend playability, given the 24 tensor cores, but the base frame rate must be adequate first.

The CPU, by contrast, will almost never be the limiting factor — its single-core scores sit at the 90th percentile, and its rival cluster confirms top-quartile responsiveness.

FAQ

Q: What socket and memory does the Core Ultra 5 235A require?

A: Intel Socket 1851, DDR5 in dual-channel configuration, delivering 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. ECC is not supported.

Q: Can the CPU be overclocked?

A: No. The multiplier is unlocked equals false — the 5.00 GHz boost clock is the maximum.

Q: Does the RTX 4010 need a separate power connector?

A: No. It draws its 50 W entirely through the PCIe slot, with no auxiliary connectors; the suggested PSU is 250 W.

Q: Is this build good for gaming?

A: The CPU is excellent for gaming logic (90th percentile, single-core R23 of 4,607), but the GPU sits in the 18th percentile with 4 GB of VRAM, limiting modern titles. Note that no measured FPS data exists for this pairing; expectations are estimates.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its rivals?

A: Extremely closely. The Ryzen AI Max PRO 380 is 0.1% behind on average score, the Core Ultra 5 245HX is 0.2% ahead, the EPYC 4345P is 0.6% ahead, and the Ryzen 9 3900 is 0.6% behind.

Q: Does the GPU support ray tracing?

A: Yes, with 6 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support — though its overall 18th percentile ranking means ray-traced effects will carry a heavy performance cost.

Q: What is the combined percentile of this pairing?

A: 54 — near the median of all builds, reflecting the average of a very strong CPU and a low-tier GPU.

GPU Analysis

The RTX 4010 is an unusual entry in the 40-series lineup. Despite its GeForce 40 generation label, it is built on the GA107 chip — Ampere architecture — manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process, with 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die at 43.5M transistors per mm². Its predecessor generation is GeForce 30 and successor is GeForce 50, positioning it as a transitional, entry-level part.

The core counts define its character: 768 shading units, 24 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 6 RT cores, and 24 tensor cores. Clocks run from a 1,417 MHz base to a 1,762 MHz boost, with memory at 1,500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). Raw throughput is 2.706 TFLOPS FP32 with FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, a pixel rate of 28.19 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 42.29 GTexel/s.

For rendering workloads, these numbers describe a display and light-compute card. The 64-bit memory bus and 96 GB/s bandwidth restrict texture streaming and high-resolution output; the 4 GB GDDR6 buffer caps scene complexity. The Steel Nomad score of 2,893 anchors its 18th percentile placement. The curious rival data — nominal parity with the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB and 16 GB at sub-1% deltas — should be treated cautiously, since those cards' hardware is far heavier on paper; the likely explanation is differing benchmark coverage skewing aggregate comparisons. Physically, the card is compact: single-slot, 163 mm long and 69 mm tall, with four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, and it speaks Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6.

Build Overview

This is a desktop-class build whose identity is defined by imbalance. The Core Ultra 5 235A is a 90th-percentile processor — 14 cores at up to 5.00 GHz on 3 nm silicon, matching rivals like the Ryzen AI Max PRO 380 and EPYC 4345P to within a fraction of a percent. The RTX 4010 is an 18th-percentile graphics card with entry-level memory and throughput. Together they land at a combined percentile of 54.

The interesting question the data raises is intent. A build like this makes sense as a compute-first system — a development box, an office workstation, a compact low-power desktop — where the GPU exists to drive four mini-DisplayPort monitors and little else. It makes much less sense as a gaming build, where the CPU's capability is largely stranded behind the graphics card's limits. For anyone choosing this pairing, the upgrade path is equally clear: the platform's Gen 5 lanes, generous PSU headroom, and Socket 1851 compatibility all point toward keeping the excellent CPU and replacing the GPU first.

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 235A + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4010

Power Build

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core Ultra 5 235A

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4010

Market Position

Game Performance Benchmarks

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

Performance Insights

Strong Performance

Performance Tiers Explained

Ultimate

High-End

Mid-Range

Entry Level

Legacy

Upgrade Path and Platform

Benchmark Performance

Usage Scenarios

Balance and Bottleneck

CPU Analysis

Who Should Build It

Gaming Performance

FAQ

GPU Analysis

Build Overview

4K Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

1440p Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

1080p Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

Related Processors

Related Graphics Cards

Compare Your CPU

Compare Your GPU

Related PC Builds

Same CPU with Different GPUs

Same GPU with Different CPUs

Other Popular Builds