SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

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

Build Configuration

Select your components

PROCESSOR (CPU)

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GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

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93 Score

Top 7% Ranking

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

96%

GPU

90%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

66,855 Benchmark Score

Top 4% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

17,208 Benchmark Score

Top 10% 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 Ultra 5 250K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is a desktop combination that leans on a very strong modern CPU to support a previous-generation GPU. The data indicates a significant performance gap between the two components, with the processor operating in the top tier of all CPUs while the graphics card sits closer to the mid-range of the GPU field. This pairing is best understood as a platform with substantial headroom for future GPU upgrades, rather than a balanced pair of equals.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is a desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC. It packs 18 cores and 18 threads, a configuration that prioritizes parallel throughput over simultaneous multithreading. The base clock sits at 4.20 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The processor has a TDP of 125 W and is unlocked, meaning the multiplier can be adjusted for overclocking. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, offering a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, and includes ECC memory support.

The cache hierarchy is notable for its per-core allocation: 192 KB of L1 and 3 MB of L2 per core, with a shared 30 MB L3 cache. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU itself. It also includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, providing a basic display output capability without a discrete GPU.

Benchmark data shows this CPU is a heavyweight in multi-threaded workloads. In Cinebench R23, it scores 30,867 in multi-core and 2,261 in single-core. The R20 results are 18,442 multi-core and 2,603 single-core, while the older R15 test yields 4,640 multi-core and 328 single-core. These figures indicate strong scaling across all cores, with the multi-core scores being roughly 13 to 14 times the single-core scores, which is expected for an 18-thread part without SMT.

PassMark results reinforce this profile. The multi-thread score is 51,596, and the single-thread score is 4,757. In specific workloads, the CPU excels at data compression with a score of 568,721, and floating-point math at 162,692. Integer math comes in at 125,091, and random string sorting at 69,090. The extended instructions score is 44,565, and data encryption is 42,144. The physics test scores 3,494, while finding prime numbers is a relatively low 486, suggesting that this core design is better suited to broad parallel tasks than to highly specialized integer-heavy algorithms.

The average benchmark score for this CPU is 66,855, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. This is a top-tier result. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4465P with an average score of 66,925 (0.1% higher), the Intel Xeon 6515P at 67,006 (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX at 67,469 (0.9% higher). Notably, the almost identical Intel Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus scores 66,159, which is 1.1% lower, meaning the "K Plus" variant with integrated graphics holds a slight edge in these aggregate metrics. The data shows this CPU is essentially on par with server and high-end mobile parts, making it an exceptional foundation for a workstation or high-performance desktop.

Benchmark Performance

For this specific CPU and GPU pairing, there are no measured FPS rows in the dataset. All discussion of frame rates must be considered estimated from the individual benchmark scores, not direct measurements. The data clearly indicates that the CPU will not be the limiting factor in most gaming scenarios, while the GPU will define the performance ceiling.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking means it outperforms 93% of all CPUs in the database. In contrast, the GPU's 61st percentile is respectable but not elite. The combined percentile for this build is 77, reflecting the average of these two disparate performance tiers. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 66,855 is nearly four times the GPU's average score of 17,208, which quantifies the performance gap between the two components.

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 3070 scores 3,162 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is a modern DirectX 12 test. In Geekbench, it scores 112,821 in OpenCL and 21,022 in Vulkan. PassMark results show a G3D score of 22,214, a G2D score of 1,001, and a GPU compute score of 11,195. The DirectX 10, 11, 12, and 9 scores are 150, 182, 85, and 247, respectively.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with an average score of 17,083 (0.7% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 at 17,037 (1% higher), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M at 17,019 (1.1% higher). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17,468, which is 1.5% higher. This places the RTX 3070 in a cluster of older and mid-range cards, showing that while it is not a top-tier performer in 2026, it is far from obsolete. The combined picture is a system where the CPU can handle any modern game or application without breaking a sweat, but the GPU will deliver playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with compromises needed at 4K.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is based on the Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm Samsung process. The chip is the GA104, containing 17,400 million transistors on a die size of 392 mm². The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, or 14 Gbps effective.

The core configuration includes 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines. It features 46 RT cores for ray tracing and 184 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1725 MHz. The pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 20.31 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 20.31 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). The GPU has a TDP of 220 W and requires a 550 W power supply. It is a dual-slot card, 242 mm long, with a single 12-pin power connector. Display outputs include one HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort 1.4a. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In rendering and compute tasks, the 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a solid baseline for 3D rendering and GPU-accelerated workloads. The 8 GB VRAM is the most limiting factor, as modern games and high-resolution textures can exceed this capacity. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but may become a bottleneck in 4K or with heavy texture streaming. The 46 RT cores provide hardware ray tracing capability, but the 61st percentile ranking suggests it will struggle with ray tracing at high settings in newer titles. The 184 tensor cores enable DLSS, which can help offset the raw performance deficit by rendering at a lower resolution and upscaling.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 22,214 is its strongest metric, indicating solid traditional rasterization performance. The compute score of 11,195 is lower relative to its gaming score, suggesting that pure compute tasks like machine learning inference are not its primary strength. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3,162 is a modern DX12 test, and this result places it well below current high-end cards but still in the playable range for many games.

Balance and Bottleneck

The data presents a clear imbalance in this pairing. The CPU is in the 93rd percentile, while the GPU is in the 61st percentile. This means the CPU is roughly 32 percentile points higher than the GPU, which translates to the CPU being able to feed the GPU far more data than the GPU can process. In CPU-bound scenarios, such as simulation-heavy games or productivity tasks, the processor will not be the constraint. In GPU-bound scenarios, which includes most modern games at high resolutions, the RTX 3070 will be the limiting factor.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 66,855 is 3.88 times the GPU's average score of 17,208. This ratio is significant. In gaming, this means that at 1080p, the GPU will be the bottleneck in almost every title. At 1440p, the gap narrows slightly, but the GPU remains the primary constraint. At 4K, the GPU will be severely limiting, and the CPU will be waiting for the GPU to finish rendering frames.

There is no measured FPS data to confirm this, but the benchmark scores support the conclusion that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread score of 4,757 in PassMark is high enough to handle game logic and physics without issue. The multi-thread score of 51,596 is more than sufficient for background tasks and streaming. The GPU's performance, however, is capped by its 8 GB VRAM and 20.31 TFLOPS. In practical terms, this system will deliver high frame rates in esports titles at 1080p, good frame rates in AAA games at 1440p with some settings turned down, and will require substantial settings reductions to play at 4K.

Who Should Build It

This combination is for users who prioritize CPU performance and want a capable but not top-tier GPU. It is ideal for a gaming build where the user plans to upgrade the GPU later. The CPU is a future-proof foundation, while the GPU provides a playable experience today.

Gamers at 1080p will find this system excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming, as the CPU will not hold back the GPU. At 1440p, it is a solid pairing for medium to high settings. Content creators who work with video editing or 3D rendering will benefit from the CPU's multi-threaded power, while the GPU accelerates rendering and effects. Software developers compiling large codebases will see significant speedups from the 18 cores. Students and professionals needing a workstation for moderate workloads will find the CPU handles everything thrown at it, with the GPU providing acceleration for CUDA-based tasks. Small business workstations that run parallel workloads, such as data analysis or virtualization, will benefit from the CPU's high core count and ECC memory support.

Usage Scenarios

High-refresh gaming: The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking ensures it can drive high frame rates, but the GPU's 61st percentile limits the ceiling. In esports titles at 1080p, the system can likely push well above 144 FPS, but in AAA games, expect 60-100 FPS depending on settings.

Streaming: The 18-core CPU has ample headroom for encoding and broadcasting while gaming. The multi-thread score of 51,596 means the CPU can handle x264 encoding without impacting game performance, though using the GPU's NVENC encoder would be more efficient.

Video editing: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30,867 will make timeline scrubbing and export rendering fast. The GPU's 20.31 TFLOPS will accelerate effects and color grading, but the 8 GB VRAM may limit work with 4K timelines and complex effects.

3D rendering: The CPU will handle viewport and simulation tasks well, while the GPU's FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS provides a decent render engine. However, the 8 GB VRAM is a limitation for large scenes or high-resolution textures.

Software development: The 18 cores and 18 threads provide excellent parallel compilation performance. The PassMark multi-thread score of 51,596 indicates that build times will be significantly reduced compared to lower-core-count CPUs.

Student and office work: This system is massively overqualified for document processing, spreadsheets, and web browsing. The CPU's single-thread score of 4,757 ensures snappy response, and the integrated Arc Xe-LPG graphics can handle basic display output if the discrete GPU is not needed.

FAQ

Q: Does this CPU support overclocking?

A: Yes, the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has an unlocked multiplier, allowing for overclocking.

Q: What type of memory does this build support?

A: The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a maximum bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 3070 have?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 good for ray tracing?

A: It has 46 RT cores, but its 61st percentile ranking indicates it will struggle with ray tracing at high settings in newer titles.

Q: What PCIe version does this system use?

A: The CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes, while the GPU uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface.

Q: What is the TDP of the CPU and GPU?

A: The CPU has a TDP of 125 W, and the GPU has a TDP of 220 W.

Q: Does the CPU have integrated graphics?

A: Yes, it includes Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, which can be used for basic display output.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The platform is built on Intel Socket 1851, which is the socket for the Core Ultra Series 2 processors. The CPU supports DDR5 memory, and the dual-channel configuration is the current standard. The CPU provides 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, which is more than enough for a single high-end GPU and an NVMe SSD.

The suggested PSU for this GPU is 550 W, which covers the combined 345 W TDP of the CPU and GPU plus other system components. This leaves some headroom for overclocking the CPU, but a more powerful PSU would be advisable if a future GPU upgrade is planned. The GPU also uses a single 12-pin power connector, which may require an adapter for some power supplies.

The most sensible next upgrade is the GPU. The CPU is in the 93rd percentile and is unlikely to be a bottleneck for any current or near-future graphics card. Upgrading to a GPU with more VRAM and higher performance would unlock the CPU's full potential. The motherboard and memory are also modern, so no platform upgrade is necessary. A future GPU with a higher average benchmark score would bring the system closer to balance, as the current 61st percentile GPU is the weak link.

Build Overview

This is a desktop build that pairs a top-tier modern CPU with a mid-range previous-generation GPU. The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, making it a high-end processor. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, placing it in the upper-mid range. The combined percentile for the build is 77, which reflects the average of the two components.

The CPU is the star of this system, with a 3 nm process, 18 cores, and a 5.30 GHz boost clock that deliver exceptional multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. The GPU is a capable but aging part, with 8 GB of VRAM and 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This pairing is ideal for users who need massive CPU power for productivity or creative work but only need moderate gaming performance. The system has significant headroom for a future GPU upgrade, which would transform it into a high-end gaming or rendering machine. The data shows that the CPU is the component to build around, and the GPU is a temporary placeholder that can be swapped out when the budget allows.

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

Apex Performer

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

Market Position

Game Performance Benchmarks

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

Performance Insights

Optimal Performance

4K Gaming Ready

Performance Tiers Explained

Ultimate

High-End

Mid-Range

Entry Level

Legacy

CPU Analysis

Benchmark Performance

GPU Analysis

Balance and Bottleneck

Who Should Build It

Usage Scenarios

FAQ

Upgrade Path and Platform

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

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