SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

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

96 / 100
ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 4% 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%
VS
GPU
95%
PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

66,855 Benchmark Score
Top 4% Market Ranking
View Full Specs →
GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

40,377 Benchmark Score
Top 5% 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

# CPU Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is an 18-core, 18-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 3 nm process node. This is a notable design choice: every core is a full performance core with no hyper-threading, which means the thread count equals the core count rather than doubling it. The chip operates with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it carries a 125 W TDP. The multiplier is unlocked, so overclocking is a legitimate option for builders who want to extract additional performance beyond stock settings.

The cache hierarchy is substantial. Each core gets 192 KB of L1 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache, while 30 MB of shared L3 cache sits across the chip. This large per-core L2 allocation is particularly beneficial for workloads that exhibit high locality of reference, such as database operations or certain scientific simulations. The 3 nm process node, with 17,800 million transistors packed into a 243 mm² die, places this processor among the most densely integrated desktop parts available. The integrated graphics solution is Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, which provides a functional fallback for basic display output and light graphics tasks without requiring a discrete GPU.

Benchmark data shows a processor that punches well above its core-count positioning. In Cinebench R23, the multicore score reaches 30,867 points, while the single-core score hits 2,261 points. The R20 results are 18,442 multicore and 2,603 single-core, and the older R15 test yields 4,640 multicore and 328 single-core. These numbers indicate strong scaling across all core counts, with the single-core performance being particularly impressive for a non-flagship Ultra 5 part.

The PassMark suite provides a more granular view of real-world capabilities. The multithread score of 51,596 is backed by a single-thread score of 4,757. Data compression performance is exceptional at 568,721, while data encryption reaches 42,144. Extended instruction sets score 44,565, and floating-point math achieves 162,692. Integer math completes at 125,091, and the physics test scores 3,494. Random string sorting, a proxy for memory-bound sorting workloads, finishes at 69,090, while the prime number finding test scores 486. These figures collectively suggest a processor that excels in math-heavy, multi-threaded, and data-intensive tasks.

The 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs places this chip comfortably in the upper tier of desktop processors. Its average benchmark score of 66,855 puts it in direct competition with server-grade parts. The nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4465P, scores 66,925 — just 0.1% higher. The Intel Xeon 6515P is 0.2% ahead at 67,006, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX leads by 0.9% with 67,469. Interestingly, the Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus (the non-integrated-graphics variant) trails by 1.1% at 66,159. This means the Plus version with iGPU is actually the faster part.

# Benchmark Performance

The CPU's average benchmark score of 66,855 places it at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, which means it outperforms roughly 93% of processors in the database. The delta against its nearest rivals is razor-thin — within 1% in either direction — which indicates that system-level factors like memory configuration and cooling will have more impact on real-world results than the chip itself.

The GPU side is equally compelling. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB205 chip, delivers a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,077. In Geekbench compute tests, it scores 172,660 in OpenCL and 178,923 in Vulkan. The PassMark suite shows a G3D score of 29,137, a GPU compute score of 15,787, and DirectX 11 performance at 277. The older DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 tests score 180 and 320, respectively, while the G2D score is 1,305.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 82nd among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40,377. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40,318 — a 0.1% difference. The Radeon Pro WX 7100 trails by 0.8% at 40,063, while the Radeon Pro 5300 leads by 1.2% at 40,870. The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile is 2% behind at 39,568. These are not gaming-class rivals; they are professional workstation cards, which suggests the RTX 5070's compute capabilities align more closely with prosumer workloads than with pure gaming silicon.

The combined percentile for this CPU+GPU pairing is 88, which is a strong indicator of balanced overall performance. The CPU is in the 93rd percentile while the GPU sits at the 82nd percentile, so the processor has a slight edge over the graphics card in relative terms. This means the CPU is less likely to be the limiting factor in most workloads.

No measured FPS data exists for this exact CPU+GPU combination. The FACT PACK contains no measuredFps rows, so all frame rate discussions below are estimates derived from the benchmark scores and percentile positions, not from direct testing.

# Gaming Performance

Since no measured FPS rows exist for this Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus + RTX 5070 combination, the following frame rate expectations are estimates based on the benchmark scores and the relative performance tiers of both components.

The RTX 5070's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5,077 places it in the upper-middle tier of GPUs. The 82nd percentile ranking means it outperforms the majority of graphics cards in the database. For 1080p gaming, this GPU should handle most titles at high refresh rates, likely exceeding 100 FPS in competitive shooters and esports titles. The 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth provides ample headroom for modern game assets at this resolution.

At 1440p, the 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 482.3 GTexel/s texture rate suggest strong performance in visually demanding games. The 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores give this GPU dedicated hardware for ray-traced effects and DLSS-style upscaling, which can significantly boost frame rates in supported titles. The 201.0 GPixel/s pixel rate indicates solid fill-rate performance for high-resolution rendering.

The CPU side is more than capable of feeding the GPU. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 2,261 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,757 are strong indicators of good frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios. The 18 physical cores with no hyper-threading provide consistent performance across all threads, which helps in modern games that increasingly use more than 8 threads. The 30 MB of L3 cache reduces memory latency in game logic and physics calculations.

At 4K resolution, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The 82nd percentile GPU ranking means it will handle 4K gaming but may require settings adjustments or upscaling in the most demanding titles. The RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM could become a constraint in some ultra-texture 4K scenarios, but for the majority of games, this pairing should deliver playable frame rates at high settings.

# Who Should Build It

This Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus + RTX 5070 combination targets users who need strong multi-threaded CPU performance without sacrificing gaming capability. The 93rd percentile CPU ranking makes this an excellent choice for content creators who work with video editing, 3D rendering, or software compilation. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30,867 and PassMark multithread score of 51,596 indicate that this CPU can handle long render times and complex simulations with relative ease.

Gamers at 1440p and 1080p will find this pairing well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (4,757 PassMark single-thread) ensures that even esports titles at high frame rates won't be CPU-limited, while the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking provides the graphical horsepower for AAA titles at high settings.

Software developers will appreciate the 18 physical cores for parallel compilation and the ECC memory support, which is a rare feature in desktop processors. The dual-channel DDR5 memory with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for most development workloads, and the PCIe Gen 5 with 20 CPU lanes allows for fast NVMe storage and future GPU upgrades.

Students and small business users who run a mix of productivity, light content creation, and occasional gaming will find this build more powerful than they need but future-proof. The 3 nm process node from TSMC ensures reasonable power efficiency for a 125 W TDP CPU, and the integrated Arc Xe-LPG graphics provide a fallback if the discrete GPU is removed for troubleshooting.

# Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus uses the Intel Socket 1851 platform, which is the current generation for Core Ultra Series 2 processors. The chip supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, and ECC memory is supported — a feature that appeals to workstation builders who need error correction for critical computations.

The CPU provides 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, which is sufficient for a single high-end GPU and one or two fast NVMe drives. The RTX 5070 uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, so it will run at full bandwidth with this CPU. The GPU's 250 W TDP, combined with the CPU's 125 W TDP, means a 600 W power supply is suggested as the minimum. This leaves headroom for additional drives and peripherals but doesn't allow for extreme overclocking of both components simultaneously.

A sensible next upgrade path would be to add more DDR5 memory if the system is configured with less than the capacity needed for specific workloads. The CPU and GPU combination is well-balanced at the 88th combined percentile, so upgrading one without the other would create a bottleneck. If more CPU performance is needed, the unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking the 250K Plus to boost clocks beyond the stock 5.30 GHz. If more GPU performance is needed, the PCIe 5.0 slot and 600 W PSU headroom can accommodate a higher-tier Blackwell card, though the 82nd percentile GPU is already a strong performer.

# FAQ

Q: How many cores and threads does the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus have?

A: The processor has 18 cores and 18 threads. There is no hyper-threading, so the thread count equals the core count.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of this CPU+GPU combination?

A: The CPU supports dual-channel DDR5 with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. The GPU has its own dedicated memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s via 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus.

Q: Does the CPU support ECC memory?

A: Yes, the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus supports ECC memory, which is unusual for a desktop processor and useful for workstations that require error correction.

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

A: The combined percentile is 88, which means this pairing outperforms 88% of all CPU+GPU combinations in the database.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the stronger component?

A: The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs. The CPU is relatively stronger.

Q: What power supply is suggested for this build?

A: The suggested PSU is 600 W, based on the GPU's 250 W TDP and the CPU's 125 W TDP.

Q: What is the process node for each component?

A: The CPU is built on TSMC's 3 nm process, while the GPU uses TSMC's 5 nm process.

# Usage Scenarios

High-Refresh Gaming: At 1080p and 1440p, this pairing is well-suited for high-refresh-rate displays. The CPU's 4,757 PassMark single-thread score ensures low latency in CPU-bound game logic, while the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking provides sufficient frame throughput. The 12 GB GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth handle high-resolution textures without stuttering.

Streaming: The 18 physical cores provide ample headroom for game capture and encoding while maintaining game performance. The CPU's strong multithread score of 51,596 means that software encoding is viable, though the GPU's NVENC-capable tensor cores offer an alternative. The 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores can handle real-time ray tracing and DLSS during streamed gameplay.

Video Editing: The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30,867 indicates strong performance in render-heavy timelines. The 18 cores handle multi-track edits and effects processing efficiently, and the 30 MB L3 cache speeds up access to frequently used footage. The GPU's 15787 PassMark compute score accelerates effects rendering and export.

3D Rendering: The CPU's PassMark floating-point math score of 162,692 and integer math score of 125,091 indicate robust geometry and physics calculations. The GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 compute accelerates ray-traced renders. This combination is viable for small-scale production work where render times matter.

Software Development: The 18 cores accelerate parallel builds, while the ECC memory support adds reliability for long compilation sessions. The PCIe Gen 5 lanes and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth reduce I/O bottlenecks during large codebase compilations. The 4,757 single-thread score ensures snappy IDE responsiveness.

Student and Office Work: This build is significantly more powerful than needed for typical office tasks, but it handles multitasking with ease. The 93rd percentile CPU ranking means that even heavy spreadsheet calculations, data analysis, and virtual machines run smoothly. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG graphics provide a backup if the discrete GPU is not needed.

# Build Overview

This is a desktop-class build pairing the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070. The CPU is a 125 W part with 18 cores and 18 threads, built on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture at 3 nm. The GPU is a 250 W Blackwell 2.0 part with 6,144 shading units, 48 ray tracing cores, and 12 GB of GDDR7 memory.

The combined percentile of 88 places this build in the upper tier of desktop configurations. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking is notably higher than the GPU's 82nd percentile, suggesting that the processor is the stronger component in this pairing. The average benchmark scores confirm this: the CPU scores 66,855 while the GPU scores 40,377.

This is a balanced mid-to-high-end desktop build that can handle a wide range of workloads from gaming to content creation. The 3 nm CPU and 5 nm GPU process nodes represent current-generation manufacturing technology from TSMC. The build class is explicitly desktop, meaning it is intended for a full-sized tower case with a dual-slot GPU that measures 245 mm in length, 115 mm in height, and 40 mm in width.

# Balance and Bottleneck

The performance distribution between CPU and GPU is slightly skewed toward the processor. The CPU sits at the 93rd percentile while the GPU sits at the 82nd percentile, a gap of 11 percentile points. In practical terms, this means the GPU will be the limiting factor in most graphics-intensive workloads, while the CPU will have headroom to spare.

In gaming scenarios, this imbalance manifests at different resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (4,757 PassMark) may allow the GPU to become the bottleneck even at lower graphical settings, since the CPU can generate frames faster than the GPU can render them. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU's rendering load increases, and the 82nd percentile ranking becomes the primary constraint. The FPS scaling across resolutions will show diminishing returns as the GPU saturates.

In CPU-bound workloads like video encoding, 3D rendering, and software compilation, the 93rd percentile CPU is the dominant component. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30,867 and PassMark multithread score of 51,596 indicate that the CPU can push through these tasks quickly, while the GPU contributes to acceleration in compute-heavy aspects like effects rendering or GPU-accelerated encoding.

The nearest rival comparison is informative. The CPU's closest competitor is the AMD EPYC 4465P, which scores just 0.1% higher — this is a server processor, yet the desktop Ultra 5 250K Plus trades blows with it. The GPU's closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 0.1% higher, which is a professional workstation card. This suggests that both components punch above their class in compute-heavy scenarios, but the GPU's relative weakness compared to the CPU means builders should prioritize GPU upgrades if they want to improve overall system balance.