SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 235A + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

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
94%
VS
GPU
97%
PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 5 235A

48,201 Benchmark Score
Top 6% Market Ranking
View Full Specs →
GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

54,247 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

# Intel Core Ultra 5 235A + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080: A High-Performance Desktop Pairing

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235A and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 form a formidable desktop combination, sitting at the 88th combined percentile among all builds in the database. The CPU delivers a 90th percentile performance ranking with an average benchmark score of 48,201, while the GPU achieves an 86th percentile ranking with an average score of 54,247. This pairing is designed for high-resolution gaming, demanding creative workloads, and multi-threaded productivity, with the data indicating a platform that excels in both CPU-heavy and GPU-accelerated tasks. The performance picture is clear: this is a top-tier configuration that balances a strong 14-core processor with a high-bandwidth graphics card, though the 65W CPU TDP and 320W GPU TDP create specific power and cooling considerations.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235A is built on the Arrow Lake architecture and uses the Intel Socket 1851 platform. This socket is the foundation for the Core Ultra Series 2 family, meaning the upgrade path within the same generation is limited to other Socket 1851 processors. The CPU supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and it does not support ECC memory, which positions it more for consumer and enthusiast builds than for mission-critical server workloads. The platform provides PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU, offering substantial bandwidth for modern expansion cards, including the RTX 4080's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The CPU also includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 24 execution units, which provides a basic display output capability but is not intended for gaming or compute-heavy tasks.

The power delivery requirements for this build are significant. The CPU has a 65W TDP, which is modest for a 14-core processor, but the RTX 4080 draws 320W. The suggested PSU for this GPU is 700W, which indicates that a quality power supply in that range or higher is necessary for stable operation under full load. The GPU requires a single 16-pin power connector, so the chosen PSU must have this connector available. The RTX 4080 is a triple-slot card measuring 310mm in length, 140mm in height, and 61mm in width, so case compatibility is a critical consideration. The physical dimensions of this GPU mean that cases with ample clearance and good airflow are mandatory.

For a sensible next upgrade, the data suggests that the CPU is the more limiting factor over time, given its 14 threads and locked multiplier. The GPU, while powerful, is at the end of its production life, with the GeForce 50 series already succeeding it. However, within the current generation, the platform can support a more powerful GPU if the PSU is upgraded accordingly. The motherboard's PCIe Gen 5 support ensures that future graphics cards will not be bottlenecked by the interface. Upgrading the CPU would require a new motherboard if moving to a different socket, but staying within Socket 1851 allows for a potential swap to a higher-core-count Arrow Lake processor. Memory upgrades to higher-capacity DDR5 kits are also possible, as the dual-channel controller supports standard DDR5 modules.

Balance and Bottleneck

The balance between the Intel Core Ultra 5 235A and the RTX 4080 is generally well-matched for a variety of workloads, but the data reveals distinct bottleneck characteristics. The CPU's single-thread performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,607, which is 0.2% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX and 0.1% above the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 380. This suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU in many gaming scenarios where single-core performance is critical. The multi-threaded performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,633, placing it 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and 0.6% behind the AMD EPYC 4345P.

However, the GPU is the dominant component in this pairing for most gaming and rendering tasks. The RTX 4080's PassMark G3D score of 34,457 places it 0.1% above the RTX 4080 SUPER and 1.1% below the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X. In GPU-bound workloads, such as 4K gaming or ray-traced rendering, the RTX 4080 will be the primary performance driver, and the CPU will rarely be the limiting factor. Conversely, in CPU-bound scenarios like physics simulation or data compression, the CPU's performance will dictate the outcome. The PassMark physics score of 2,437 and the data compression score of 393,800 indicate that the CPU is capable in these areas, but it will not match the relative strength of the GPU in its own domain.

The bottleneck analysis shows that in a typical gaming build, the GPU will be the limiting component at lower resolutions, while at higher resolutions like 4K, the GPU's workload increases, but the CPU becomes more critical for frame pacing. The data does not include measured FPS for this specific combination, so exact scaling is unknown, but the benchmark scores suggest that the CPU is sufficient to avoid major bottlenecks in most scenarios. For content creation, the balance shifts depending on the application: video encoding and 3D rendering will leverage the GPU's compute power, while code compilation and spreadsheet tasks will rely on the CPU's multi-threading.

Who Should Build It

This build targets users who demand high performance across a broad range of applications. Gamers at 1440p and 4K resolutions are the primary audience, as the RTX 4080's 16GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are well-suited for high-detail textures and ray tracing. The CPU's strong single-core scores ensure that frame times remain consistent in CPU-heavy titles. Content creators, particularly video editors and 3D animators, will benefit from the GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities for tasks like timeline scrubbing and rendering. Software developers working on large codebases will appreciate the PassMark multi-thread score of 38,392 for faster compilation times, and the extended instructions score of 31,625 indicates strong SIMD performance for scientific computing.

Students in engineering or data science fields can use this build for simulation and analysis, as the CPU's floating-point math score of 118,778 and integer math score of 88,626 provide solid computational throughput. Small business workstations that handle financial modeling, database management, or graphic design will find this pairing capable, with the CPU's data encryption score of 30,136 offering some security benefits. The PC is less suitable for budget-conscious users or those who only do light office work, as the performance is excessive for such tasks. The 88th combined percentile confirms that this is a high-end system, and users who do not need this level of performance would be better served by a less powerful configuration.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235A is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The CPU features a cache hierarchy of 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The transistor count is 17,800 million on a die size of 243 mm². This is a desktop processor with a locked multiplier, meaning overclocking is not supported, but the boost clock is already high for a 65W part. The memory controller supports dual-channel DDR5 with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and ECC memory is not supported.

The benchmark scores reveal a processor that excels in single-threaded tasks, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,607 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4,557. These scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is faster than the vast majority of processors on the market. The multi-threaded performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,633 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 38,392. The PassMark integer math score of 88,626 and floating-point math score of 118,778 show that the CPU handles both integer and floating-point workloads well. The data compression score of 393,800 is particularly high, suggesting excellent performance in file archiving and compression tasks.

In real-world workloads, this CPU will handle office productivity, web browsing, and light multitasking with ease. For more demanding tasks, the 14 threads allow for efficient parallel processing in video editing, 3D modeling, and software compilation. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures snappy response times in single-threaded applications. The 90th percentile ranking confirms that this is a high-end desktop CPU, and for users who need strong multi-threaded performance without the power draw of higher-core-count parts, this is a compelling option. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 380, has an average score of 48,171, which is 0.1% lower than the Ultra 5 235A, showing that these two processors are nearly identical in overall performance.

Benchmark Performance

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235A achieves an average benchmark score of 48,201 across all tests, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. This score is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 380 (48,171) and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 3900 (47,918). It is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287) and 0.6% lower than the AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470). The CPU's strongest benchmark results include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,633 and a single-core score of 4,607, a PassMark multi-thread score of 38,392, and a PassMark single-thread score of 4,557. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score is 13,705, and the Cinebench R15 multi-core score is 3,289.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves an average benchmark score of 54,247, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. This score is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828). It is 2.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698) and 2.7% lower than the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757). The GPU's key benchmark scores include a PassMark G3D score of 34,457, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 214,739, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263,779. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6,567, and the PassMark GPU compute score is 20,671.

The combined picture is of a system that is strong in both CPU and GPU performance, with the GPU slightly more dominant relative to its peers. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking is higher than the GPU's 86th percentile, indicating that the CPU is a more exceptional part relative to the market. The combined percentile of 88 reflects the overall system capability. The data shows that this pairing is well-suited for high-performance gaming and professional workloads, with the CPU providing a solid foundation for the GPU to operate at its full potential.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC, with a chip designation of AD103. It has 16GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU has 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation units. It features 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, making it highly capable for ray-traced graphics and AI-accelerated workloads. The base clock is 2,205 MHz, with a boost clock of 2,505 MHz, and the memory clock runs at 1,400 MHz with an effective data rate of 22.4 Gbps. The GPU's pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s, with a peak FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS.

The benchmark scores for the RTX 4080 indicate strong performance across various APIs. The PassMark G3D score of 34,457 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and the PassMark GPU compute score of 20,671 shows robust compute capabilities. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 214,739 and Vulkan score of 263,779 are high, indicating excellent performance in cross-platform workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 is a solid result for modern gaming. The GPU is a top-15% performer, and its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average score that is only 0.1% higher, showing that the two cards are essentially performance equals.

For rendering workloads, the 16GB of VRAM is sufficient for 4K textures and complex scenes, and the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The 76 RT cores provide dedicated hardware for ray tracing, which is increasingly important in modern games and professional visualization tools. The 304 tensor cores enable DLSS and other AI-accelerated features, which can significantly improve frame rates in supported titles. The GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is sufficient for real-time rendering and compute-heavy tasks like video encoding. However, the GPU is end-of-life, with the GeForce 50 series already announced, so users should consider whether the current performance level is sufficient for their needs over the next few years.

Gaming Performance

Note: The FACT PACK contains no measured FPS data for this exact CPU-GPU combination. All FPS figures below are estimates derived from the benchmark scores and should be treated as approximations, not measured results.

Based on the CPU's strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,607) and the GPU's high G3D score (34,457), this system is expected to deliver excellent gaming performance at 1440p and 4K resolutions. At 1440p, the RTX 4080 is capable of running most games at high frame rates, with the CPU's boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensuring that frame times remain consistent. In esports titles like Counter-Strike 2 or Valorant, which are CPU-bound, the Ultra 5 235A's single-thread score suggests that frame rates in excess of 200 FPS are achievable, though this is an estimate. In more demanding AAA titles at 1440p, the GPU is expected to be the limiting factor, with frame rates likely in the 100-150 FPS range at ultra settings.

At 4K resolution, the GPU's 16GB of VRAM and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are critical for maintaining high texture quality without stuttering. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance suggests that it can handle 4K gaming at 60-100 FPS in most titles, with ray tracing enabled potentially reducing this to 40-60 FPS depending on the game. The GPU's 76 RT cores provide dedicated ray tracing hardware, which is a significant advantage in games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Control. The CPU is unlikely to be a bottleneck at 4K, as the GPU work is so demanding that the CPU has ample time to process game logic and physics. For competitive gamers who prefer high refresh rates, the 1440p resolution is the sweet spot for this build, as it balances visual fidelity with frame rates that can exceed 144 Hz in many titles.

FAQ

Q: What is the combined performance ranking of this CPU-GPU pairing?

A: The combined percentile for this build is 88, placing it in the top 12% of all systems in the database.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 235A compare to its nearest CPU rival?

A: The Ultra 5 235A has an average benchmark score of 48,201, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 380 (48,171) and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287).

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4080 has 16GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s.

Q: Does the CPU support overclocking?

A: No, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235A has a locked multiplier, so overclocking is not supported.

Q: What is the suggested power supply wattage for this GPU?

A: The suggested PSU for the RTX 4080 is 700W, and the GPU requires a single 16-pin power connector.

Q: What is the CPU's process node and foundry?

A: The CPU is manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC, with a transistor count of 17,800 million on a 243 mm² die.

Q: Is there measured FPS data for this exact combination?

A: No, the FACT PACK contains no measured FPS data for this specific CPU-GPU pairing. All FPS figures are estimates based on benchmark scores.

Usage Scenarios

High-Refresh Gaming: At 1440p, this system is expected to deliver frame rates above 144 Hz in many competitive titles, thanks to the CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock and the GPU's 34,457 PassMark G3D score. The 16GB of VRAM ensures that high-resolution textures do not cause stuttering.

Streaming: The RTX 4080's 304 tensor cores enable NVENC encoding, which offloads video encoding from the CPU. The CPU's multi-thread score of 38,392 ensures that game performance is not impacted by streaming software running concurrently.

Video Editing: The GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance accelerates effects and color grading, while the CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,633 handles timeline rendering and export tasks efficiently.

3D Rendering: The GPU's 76 RT cores provide hardware acceleration for ray-traced rendering, and the CPU's floating-point math score of 118,778 is solid for physics simulations. The 16GB VRAM is sufficient for complex scenes.

Software Development: The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 38,392 and integer math score of 88,626 speed up compilation and testing. The extended instructions score of 31,625 indicates strong SIMD performance for scientific computing.

Student and Office Work: This build is overkill for basic productivity tasks, but the CPU's single-thread score of 4,557 ensures instant responsiveness in spreadsheets and web browsers. The integrated GPU can drive displays for office use without the discrete GPU active.