SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 9 285 + Intel Arc A380

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

Build Configuration

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PROCESSOR (CPU)

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GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

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91 Score

Top 9% Ranking

91 / 100

ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 9% 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

97%

GPU

86%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 9 285

75,488 Benchmark Score

Top 3% Market Ranking

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GRAPHICS CARD

Intel Arc A380

8,558 Benchmark Score

Top 14% Market Ranking

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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

# GPU Analysis — VRAM, bandwidth, clocks, RT/tensor hardware, what the benchmark scores mean for rendering

The Intel Arc A380 represents Intel's entry point into the discrete GPU market, built on the Xe-HPG architecture with the DG2-128 chip fabricated on TSMC's 6 nm process. The GPU packs 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines, with a base clock of 2000 MHz and a boost clock of 2050 MHz. Memory configuration consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 across a 96-bit bus, yielding 186.0 GB/s of bandwidth — a modest figure that places the card firmly in the entry-level segment. The 8 ray tracing cores provide hardware-accelerated RT support, though the absence of dedicated tensor cores means AI-accelerated workloads rely on general-purpose compute paths.

The benchmark data reveals a GPU that performs best in legacy DirectX 9 scenarios, scoring 73 in passmark_directx_9, while DirectX 10, 11, and 12 scores cluster tightly at 37, 38, and 35 respectively. This pattern suggests the architecture handles older render paths more efficiently, with newer API overhead eating into performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 808 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 38,224 reflect the card's compute capabilities, while the Vulkan score of 36,736 shows comparable performance to OpenCL. The passmark_g3d score of 6,252 places the GPU at the 44th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it sits below the median in overall graphics performance.

For rendering workloads, the FP32 throughput of 4.198 TFLOPS and FP16 of 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) provide raw compute headroom, but the 186.0 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor in texture-heavy scenes. The pixel rate of 65.60 GPixel/s and texture rate of 131.2 GTexel/s suggest the card can handle 1080p rendering at moderate settings, but high-resolution or high-detail work will strain the memory subsystem. The passmark_gpu_compute score of 2,762 indicates that compute-intensive tasks like physics simulation or post-processing filters will be noticeably slower than the polygon-pushing capabilities. The 44th percentile ranking means roughly 56% of GPUs outperform it, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the performance distribution.

# Benchmark Performance — exact CPU and GPU scores, percentile positions, and what the combined picture is

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 delivers exceptional CPU performance, with an average benchmark score of 75,488 placing it at the 95th percentile of all CPUs. This places it in the top 5% of processors, a position reinforced by its nearest rivals: the AMD EPYC 8224P scores 75,582 (0.1% ahead), the AMD EPYC 4545P scores 75,373 (0.2% behind), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D scores 75,716 (0.3% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 scores 75,738 (0.3% ahead). The deltas are razor-thin, indicating the Ultra 9 285 trades blows with enterprise-grade EPYC processors and top-tier Ryzen PRO chips.

Multi-threaded performance is stellar: Cinebench R23 multicore hits 48,945, while R20 multicore reaches 20,556 and R15 multicore achieves 4,933. Single-thread scores are equally impressive, with R23 single-core at 6,909, R20 at 2,901, and R15 at 696. The Passmark suite reinforces this picture — multithread score of 56,602, integer math at 164,869, floating-point math at 194,988, and data compression at 602,121. These numbers indicate a processor that excels in both heavily threaded productivity workloads and lightly threaded interactive tasks.

The GPU side presents a stark contrast. The Arc A380's average benchmark score of 8,558 places it at the 44th percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD FirePro W5170M (8,595, 0.4% ahead), AMD Radeon HD 8870M (8,462, 1.1% behind), NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, 1.2% behind), and AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, 1.4% behind). The GPU's performance level is comparable to older mobile parts, which contextualizes its position as an entry-level desktop option.

The combined percentile for this CPU+GPU pairing sits at 70, reflecting the massive asymmetry between the 95th-percentile CPU and the 44th-percentile GPU. This pairing creates a system where CPU-bound workloads will see outstanding performance, but GPU-bound tasks will be constrained by the Arc A380's modest capabilities. The data suggests a compute platform with enormous headroom for future GPU upgrades, but the current graphics performance anchors the system to entry-level gaming and light content creation.

# FAQ

Q: How does the Core Ultra 9 285 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ultra 9 285's average benchmark score of 75,488 places it within 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 8224P (75,582), AMD EPYC 4545P (75,373), AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D (75,716), and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 (75,738). The performance deltas are negligible, ranging from 0.1% ahead to 0.3% behind, indicating near-parity with these enterprise and prosumer processors.

Q: What is the Arc A380's performance percentile and who are its closest competitors?

A: The Arc A380 sits at the 44th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 8,558. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5170M (8,595, 0.4% ahead), AMD Radeon HD 8870M (8,462, 1.1% behind), NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, 1.2% behind), and AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, 1.4% behind). This places it in the lower-middle tier of graphics performance.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the Arc A380 provide, and how does it affect performance?

A: The Arc A380 has 186.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth from 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus with memory clocked at 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective). This bandwidth figure is relatively low, which limits performance in memory-intensive workloads like high-resolution textures and large scene rendering.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 9 285 support ECC memory?

A: Yes, the Core Ultra 9 285 supports ECC memory, along with dual-channel DDR5 memory support providing 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This makes it suitable for workstation and server-style applications where data integrity is critical.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance relative to its multi-threaded performance?

A: The CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,909 and multicore score of 48,945, giving a multicore-to-single-core ratio of approximately 7.1x. Passmark single-thread scores 4,881 while multithread scores 56,602, a ratio of about 11.6x, reflecting the 24-core/24-thread configuration scaling well across parallel workloads.

Q: What ray tracing and compute capabilities does the Arc A380 offer?

A: The Arc A380 includes 8 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its FP32 throughput is 4.198 TFLOPS with FP16 at 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), and the passmark_gpu_compute score of 2,762 indicates modest compute performance for GPU-accelerated tasks.

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

A: The combined percentile for the Core Ultra 9 285 and Arc A380 pairing is 70, reflecting the high CPU percentile (95) weighted against the lower GPU percentile (44). This indicates a system that is significantly stronger in processor-bound tasks than graphics-bound tasks.

# Balance and Bottleneck — which component limits which workload, using percentiles and FPS scaling as evidence

The performance asymmetry between the Core Ultra 9 285 and Arc A380 creates a clear bottleneck profile. The CPU's 95th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 44th percentile means that in graphics-intensive workloads, the GPU will be the limiting factor. The combined percentile of 70 sits between these extremes, visually representing the system's overall capability when both components are stressed simultaneously.

In gaming scenarios, the GPU's modest specifications — 6 GB VRAM, 186.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 4.198 TFLOPS FP32 — will constrain frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions where memory capacity and bandwidth become critical. The CPU's massive multi-threaded headroom (Cinebench R23 multicore of 48,945) will remain largely underutilized in most games, which typically scale well beyond single-thread performance but rarely saturate 24 cores. The Passmark physics score of 3,598 and integer math score of 164,869 indicate the CPU can handle game logic, physics simulations, and AI pathfinding without breaking a sweat, but the GPU will struggle to convert this computational advantage into visible frame rate gains.

For productivity workloads, the bottleneck shifts. Video editing, 3D rendering, and data processing tasks that leverage the CPU's 24 cores will see exceptional performance — data compression at 602,121 and floating-point math at 194,988 are top-tier results. However, GPU-accelerated tasks like GPU rendering, machine learning inference, or effects that use the Arc A380's compute capabilities will be limited by the GPU's passmark_gpu_compute score of 2,762 and its 44th percentile standing. The GPU's DirectX 12 score of 35 compared to DirectX 9's 73 suggests that modern API workloads suffer disproportionately, exacerbating the bottleneck in current-generation games and applications.

The FPS scaling picture, while not measured directly for this pairing, can be inferred from the component benchmarks. The CPU's 95th percentile ensures it will not be the limiting factor in any gaming scenario; the GPU's 44th percentile and sub-10,000 average benchmark score indicate that frame rates will be entry-level at best. This imbalance suggests that users prioritizing gaming should consider a stronger GPU, while those focused on CPU-heavy productivity can leverage the system's strengths as-is.

# Upgrade Path and Platform — socket, memory support, PCIe, PSU headroom from suggestedPsu/tdp, what a sensible next upgrade looks like

The Core Ultra 9 285 uses the Intel Socket 1851 platform with the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The platform supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth and includes 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the CPU, providing substantial headroom for high-bandwidth peripherals and future GPU upgrades. The CPU's 65 W TDP is remarkably efficient for a 24-core processor, which leaves significant thermal and power headroom in most systems.

The Arc A380's 75 W TDP and suggested PSU of 250 W means the current power requirements are modest. The GPU requires a single 8-pin power connector and occupies a dual-slot form factor at 222 mm length, 114 mm height, and 42 mm width. Given the CPU's low power draw, the system's total power consumption is well within the capabilities of most mid-range power supplies, leaving ample room for a more powerful GPU upgrade.

A sensible next upgrade path would prioritize replacing the Arc A380 with a higher-performance GPU. The CPU's 95th percentile performance and 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes can fully feed any current-generation graphics card, and the 250 W suggested PSU for the current GPU indicates the system likely has the power delivery headroom for a significantly more powerful card — though users should verify their specific PSU's capacity. The platform's DDR5 memory support and PCIe Gen 5 connectivity future-proof the system for several more upgrade cycles. The CPU's 65 W TDP also means that a larger GPU with higher power requirements can be accommodated without exceeding typical desktop power budgets. The motherboard's Socket 1851 compatibility limits CPU upgrades to the Core Ultra Series 2 family, but the 285 sits near the top of that lineup already, so the primary upgrade path is graphical rather than computational.

# Who Should Build It — target users and industries tied strictly to measured performance

The Core Ultra 9 285's 95th percentile CPU performance and 24-core/24-thread configuration make this system an excellent fit for professionals and enthusiasts whose workloads are primarily CPU-bound. Software developers compiling large codebases will benefit from the Passmark integer math score of 164,869 and multithread score of 56,602, which translate directly to faster build times and more responsive parallel compilation. Data scientists and researchers running simulation or analysis workloads will appreciate the floating-point math score of 194,988 and data compression score of 602,121, which indicate strong performance in numerical computing and data handling.

Content creators working with video editing or 3D rendering will find the CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 48,945 valuable for CPU-based rendering, though the Arc A380's 44th percentile GPU performance means GPU-accelerated effects and rendering will be limited. Students and small business users running office productivity, web development, or light programming will find the system overqualified in CPU terms, but the GPU's entry-level performance keeps costs down for users who don't need gaming or GPU compute. The ECC memory support and 65 W TDP also make the platform attractive for small-scale server or workstation builds where stability and efficiency are prioritized over raw graphics performance.

Gamers are the least ideal target for this pairing. The Arc A380's 44th percentile ranking and 6 GB VRAM limit gaming to 1080p with modest settings, which will frustrate gamers expecting the CPU's top-tier performance to translate to high frame rates. The system is better suited to users who need exceptional compute performance and are willing to accept entry-level graphics, or those who plan to upgrade the GPU shortly after initial build.

# Usage Scenarios — grounded in the scores

High-refresh gaming: The Arc A380's 44th percentile GPU performance and 6 GB VRAM will not sustain high-refresh gaming at 1080p. The GPU's DirectX 12 score of 35 indicates poor modern API performance, and the 186.0 GB/s bandwidth limits texture throughput. Users targeting 144 Hz or higher refresh rates will need a substantially more powerful GPU to pair with the 95th-percentile CPU.

Streaming: The CPU's 24 cores provide abundant headroom for software encoding while gaming, with the Passmark multithread score of 56,602 ensuring smooth stream encoding alongside game processing. However, the GPU's limited performance means games will run at lower settings and frame rates, reducing the quality of the gameplay being streamed. The Arc A380's 8 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support enable hardware-accelerated encoding features, though the overall experience will be constrained by graphics performance.

Video editing: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 48,945 and Passmark data compression score of 602,121 accelerate video encoding, decoding, and file operations. The Arc A380's 4.198 TFLOPS FP32 and 2,762 GPU compute score provide modest GPU acceleration for effects and transitions. Editing 1080p footage will be smooth, while 4K projects may strain the GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 186.0 GB/s bandwidth.

3D rendering: CPU-based rendering will excel with the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 48,945 and floating-point math of 194,988. GPU-based renderers will be limited by the Arc A380's 44th percentile standing and 8 ray tracing cores, which provide RT support but at performance levels well below dedicated rendering GPUs. The 6 GB VRAM also limits scene complexity for GPU rendering.

Software development: The CPU's 24 threads, integer math score of 164,869, and random string sorting score of 73,651 accelerate compilation, code analysis, and automated testing. The 95th percentile CPU ranking ensures snappy IDE responsiveness and fast build pipelines, while the GPU's modest performance is irrelevant for most development tasks. ECC memory support adds reliability for long-running build servers.

Student and office work: The system vastly exceeds requirements for document processing, spreadsheets, web browsing, and presentation software. The CPU's single-thread score of 4,881 in Passmark ensures responsive application performance, while the 65 W TDP keeps power consumption and heat low. The Arc A380's 610 G2D score provides adequate 2D acceleration for desktop environments and office applications.

# Build Overview — what this CPU+GPU pairing is, its class, and overall tier

This is a desktop-class build pairing the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 with the Intel Arc A380. The CPU represents the top of Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 lineup, built on Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process, 24 cores, 24 threads, and a 95th percentile performance ranking. The GPU is an entry-level discrete card from Intel's Arc Alchemist generation, built on the Xe-HPG architecture with a 6 nm process, 6 GB GDDR6 memory, and a 44th percentile performance ranking.

The combined percentile of 70 places this system in the upper-midrange tier overall, though the distribution is heavily skewed. The CPU delivers top-5% performance, while the GPU delivers below-median graphics capabilities. This pairing is best characterized as a workstation-oriented platform with entry-level gaming and GPU compute capabilities — a system where the processor is the star and the graphics card serves as a functional placeholder for future upgrades. The 65 W CPU TDP and 75 W GPU TDP keep total power consumption low, making this an efficient build for CPU-intensive workloads that don't require substantial graphics horsepower.

# CPU Analysis — cores, clocks, architecture, what the benchmark scores mean for real workloads

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 is a 24-core, 24-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake architecture (Arrow Lake-S codename) using TSMC's 3 nm process node. The chip contains 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support consists of dual-channel DDR5 with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth and ECC capability, while connectivity includes 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the CPU. The processor also integrates Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units.

The 95th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 75,488 place this CPU among the fastest available. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 48,945 demonstrates exceptional parallel scaling across the 24 cores, while the single-core score of 6,909 shows strong per-thread performance. Passmark scores reinforce this: multithread at 56,602, single-thread at 4,881, integer math at 164,869, floating-point math at 194,988, and data encryption at 46,949. The extended instructions score of 45,357 indicates robust SIMD and vector processing capabilities.

For real workloads, these numbers translate to fast code compilation (integer math), efficient scientific computing (floating-point math), rapid file compression and encryption (data compression at 602,121, encryption at 46,949), and responsive general computing (single-thread score). The 65 W TDP is notably efficient for this performance level, making the CPU suitable for systems where power consumption and heat dissipation are concerns. The ECC memory support and dual-channel DDR5 further position this as a workstation-grade processor, while the 24-core configuration handles heavily threaded workloads like video rendering, data processing, and server-style applications with ease. The near-parity with enterprise EPYC and Ryzen PRO processors in average benchmark scores confirms its high-end positioning.

# Gaming Performance — measured FPS by game and resolution

No measured FPS rows exist for this exact CPU+GPU combination — the data pack contains no measuredFps data, so all frame rate figures discussed below are estimates derived from the component benchmark scores rather than direct measurements.

Based on the Arc A380's 44th percentile GPU ranking, 6 GB VRAM, 186.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 4.198 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, gaming performance will be entry-level. At 1080p with ultra settings, the GPU's DirectX 12 score of 35 and passmark_g3d score of 6,252 suggest playable frame rates in older or less demanding titles, but modern AAA games will likely require reduced settings to maintain playable performance. The 6 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p textures but will be stressed by high-resolution texture packs or future titles with larger memory footprints.

The CPU's 95th percentile performance ensures it will never be the bottleneck in gaming scenarios — the Core Ultra 9 285's single-thread score of 4,881 and 5.60 GHz boost clock provide ample processing power for game logic, physics, and AI. However, the GPU's 44th percentile standing means frame rates will be limited by graphics processing, not CPU throughput. At 1440p or 4K, the GPU's 186.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6 GB VRAM will become increasingly insufficient, likely resulting in sub-30 FPS performance at ultra settings in demanding titles. Users should expect 1080p gaming at medium settings as the realistic ceiling for this configuration, with esports titles and older games performing better due to lower graphics requirements. The Arc A380's 8 ray tracing cores provide hardware RT support, but the overall GPU performance level suggests ray tracing should be disabled for playable frame rates in most titles.

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 9 285 + Intel Arc A380

Apex Performer

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core Ultra 9 285

Intel Arc A380

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

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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