SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 9 285 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D

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

98 / 100
ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 2% 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%
VS
GPU
99%
PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 9 285

75,488 Benchmark Score
Top 3% Market Ranking
View Full Specs →
GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D

178,050 Benchmark Score
Top 1% 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 9 285 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D to create a desktop configuration that sits near the very top of the performance hierarchy, with the CPU at the 95th percentile and the GPU at the 98th percentile among all components. The combined system percentile is 97, indicating that this pairing is exceptional for demanding workloads, though the data set contains no measured FPS rows for this exact combination, so all gaming frame rate analysis is estimated from the synthetic benchmark scores rather than direct game testing.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 is a 24-core, 24-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake architecture, specifically the Arrow Lake-S silicon. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP that is notably efficient for the performance class. The chip is manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors packed into a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy consists of 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache, which supports the high-throughput workloads the CPU is designed for.

Benchmark results show a processor with exceptional multi-threaded capability. In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 48,945 points in multi-core and 6,909 points in single-core. The multi-core result places it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 8224P (avg score 75,582, delta -0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 (avg score 75,738, delta -0.3%). The single-core score of 6,909 in Cinebench R23 is strong, reflecting the high 5.60 GHz boost clock, but the multi-core performance is where the processor truly shines, delivering results that rival server-class parts.

PassMark tests reinforce this picture. The multithread score is 56,602, with integer math at 164,869 and floating point math at 194,988. Data compression scores 602,121, and data encryption hits 46,949. These numbers indicate that the CPU handles parallel compute tasks such as video encoding, 3D rendering, and scientific simulations with high efficiency. The 24 threads (one per core, with no hyperthreading) are sufficient to saturate modern rendering engines and compilation workloads. The single-thread PassMark score of 4,881 confirms strong per-core performance for lightly threaded applications. The average benchmark score of 75,488 puts the CPU in direct competition with AMD EPYC server processors, suggesting it is overkill for purely consumer workloads but excellent for hybrid workstations.

Usage Scenarios

High-Refresh Gaming: The RTX 4090 D is the dominant factor here, with a 98th percentile GPU score, and the CPU's single-core strength (6,909 in Cinebench R23) ensures that frame pacing at high refresh rates will not be CPU-limited in most titles. The 5.60 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread scores support high FPS at 1080p and 1440p, though the lack of measured FPS data means exact figures are estimated from the 3DMark and Geekbench scores.

Streaming: The 24-core CPU has ample headroom for encoding workloads while gaming, with a multithread score of 56,602 and data compression score of 602,121 that indicate smooth simultaneous capture and encode. The GPU's NVENC hardware (implied by the Ada Lovelace architecture with 456 tensor cores) can offload encoding entirely, leaving the CPU free for game logic and physics.

Video Editing: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 48,945 and floating point math of 194,988 suggest that timeline rendering, color grading, and export tasks will complete quickly. The 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM on the GPU (bandwidth 1.01 TB/s) provides substantial memory for 4K and 8K video timelines, and the combined CPU+GPU performance places this system in the 97th percentile overall.

3D Rendering: The CPU's Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 20,556 and the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,587 indicate a system that can handle both CPU-based and GPU-based renderers. The 114 ray tracing cores and 73.54 TFLOPS FP32 on the GPU accelerate path-traced renders, while the 24 CPU cores handle scene preparation and physics.

Software Development: PassMark integer math of 164,869 and random string sorting of 73,651 show strong performance for code compilation and data processing tasks. The 36 MB L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth support large project builds, and the CPU's ECC memory support (noted in the fact pack) makes it suitable for long-running build servers.

Student and Office Work: This system is massively overqualified for document editing, web browsing, and spreadsheet work, with single-core performance (4,881 PassMark) that handles office suites with ease. The 65 W CPU TDP keeps power draw moderate during light loads, though the GPU's 425 W TDP dominates idle and load power consumption.

Benchmark Performance

The CPU delivers an average benchmark score of 75,488, placing it at the 95th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the AMD EPYC 8224P with an average score of 75,582, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the Ultra 9 285 is essentially tied with that server processor. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 scores 75,738, a delta of -0.3%, again a statistical tie. In Cinebench R23, the multi-core score of 48,945 and single-core score of 6,909 show a balanced design that excels in both parallel and single-threaded tasks, unusual for a 24-core part.

The GPU scores an average of 178,050, placing it at the 98th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell (score 182,109, delta -2.2%), NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB (score 183,725, delta -3.1%), and NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation (score 184,664, delta -3.6%). The 4090 D trails these workstation and data center cards by small margins, but they are all in the same performance tier. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the GPU scores 8,587, and in Geekbench OpenCL it scores 278,621 with Vulkan at 246,941. These numbers indicate that the GPU is within a few percent of the fastest accelerators available, despite being positioned as a consumer part.

The combined picture is a system at the 97th percentile, with the CPU and GPU both in the top 5% of their respective categories. The CPU's average score is slightly lower than the GPU's percentile ranking, suggesting the GPU is the more exceptional component, but the pairing is well-matched for high-end workloads. No measured FPS data exists for this combination, so all gaming performance is inferred from these synthetic scores.

FAQ

Q: What is the CPU's core and thread count?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 has 24 cores and 24 threads, with no hyperthreading, meaning each core handles one thread.

Q: Does the CPU support ECC memory?

A: Yes, the fact pack lists ECC memory support as true, making it suitable for workstation and server-like reliability use cases.

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

A: The RTX 4090 D has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 75,488 is 0.1% lower than the AMD EPYC 8224P's 75,582, making them statistically identical in performance.

Q: What is the GPU's ray tracing capability?

A: The RTX 4090 D has 114 ray tracing cores and 456 tensor cores, with an FP32 throughput of 73.54 TFLOPS, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 APIs.

Q: Is the CPU unlocked for overclocking?

A: No, the multiplier is not unlocked, so the CPU operates at its fixed clock speeds of 2.50 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost.

Q: What is the combined system percentile?

A: The combined percentile for this CPU+GPU pairing is 97, indicating it outperforms 97% of all recorded system configurations in the database.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1851, which is specific to the Core Ultra Series 2 (Arrow Lake) generation. This means any CPU upgrade would require a motherboard with the same socket, and the platform supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The CPU provides 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the processor itself, which is sufficient for a high-end GPU and one or two NVMe drives. The integrated graphics is Arc Xe-LPG with 64 execution units, providing a fallback display output if the discrete GPU is removed or fails.

The GPU connects via PCIe 4.0 x16, which is a generation behind the CPU's native Gen 5 support, but the bandwidth difference is negligible for gaming workloads. The GPU has a TDP of 425 W, and the suggested PSU is 800 W, which provides headroom for the CPU's 65 W TDP plus system components. A sensible next upgrade path would be to the successor GeForce 50 series (noted as the GPU's successor in the fact pack), but the current GPU is already at the 98th percentile, so upgrades would be marginal. For the CPU, the socket 1851 platform is current-generation, so a future Core Ultra refresh with higher clocks or more cores would be the only meaningful upgrade within the same platform. The 800 W PSU recommendation leaves approximately 300 W of headroom after accounting for the GPU and CPU TDPs, which is sufficient for additional drives, fans, and minor overclocking of the GPU.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD102 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. It has 14,592 shading units, 456 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units, along with 114 ray tracing cores and 456 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory runs on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth.

Benchmark results place this GPU at the 98th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 178,050. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 8,587, which is a demanding next-generation DX12 test. Geekbench OpenCL scores 278,621 and Vulkan scores 246,941, showing strong compute performance across both APIs. The nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell at 182,109 (2.2% higher), and the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB at 183,725 (3.1% higher). These rivals are workstation or data center accelerators, meaning the 4090 D offers consumer-level pricing with near-professional compute performance. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,149.1 GTexel/s ensure that the GPU is not bottlenecked in fill-rate-limited scenarios. The FP32 throughput of 73.54 TFLOPS (with FP16 at 1:1 ratio) makes it suitable for AI inference and training workloads, though the 456 tensor cores are fewer than dedicated data center parts. For rendering, the 114 RT cores accelerate ray-traced effects in DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 applications, and the 24 GB VRAM is sufficient for large scenes and high-resolution textures without spilling to system memory.

Balance and Bottleneck

In this pairing, the GPU is the stronger component relative to its category, sitting at the 98th percentile versus the CPU's 95th. This means that in GPU-bound workloads such as 4K gaming or ray-traced rendering, the RTX 4090 D will be the limiting factor because it is the component that is maxed out first, but the CPU has enough headroom to feed it frames. In CPU-bound scenarios like 1080p competitive gaming or physics simulations, the CPU becomes the bottleneck, but its 95th percentile ranking means it is still among the fastest available. The CPU's single-core Cinebench R23 score of 6,909 is sufficient to drive high FPS in most titles, so the GPU will rarely be starved of data.

The lack of measured FPS data prevents exact bottleneck quantification, but the percentile gap of 3 points suggests the system is well-balanced. For productivity workloads like video editing, the CPU's multi-core score (48,945 in Cinebench R23) and the GPU's compute score (278,621 in Geekbench OpenCL) complement each other, with neither component consistently dominating. The memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s on the CPU side is modest compared to the GPU's 1.01 TB/s, but this is expected since the GPU has its own dedicated VRAM. The CPU's 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide adequate bandwidth for the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, though the system would benefit from a Gen 5 GPU if one were available. Overall, the balance favors the GPU, making this system ideal for graphics-intensive tasks while still offering strong CPU performance for compute-heavy workloads.

Build Overview

This is a desktop-class build combining the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 (Arrow Lake) CPU with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D GPU. The CPU is a 24-core, 24-thread processor with a 65 W TDP and a 5.60 GHz boost clock, while the GPU is a triple-slot, 425 W card with 24 GB GDDR6X memory and a 2520 MHz boost clock. The system occupies the 97th combined percentile, meaning it outperforms 97% of all recorded configurations in the database. The CPU alone is at the 95th percentile, and the GPU is at the 98th percentile, indicating that this is a top-tier enthusiast or professional workstation pairing.

The build class is desktop, and the production status is active for the CPU but end-of-life for the GPU, which was released in December 2023. The GPU's predecessor is the GeForce 30 series and its successor is the GeForce 50 series, so this system represents the peak of the Ada Lovelace generation. The CPU has a launch MSRP of $579, and the GPU has a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD. The physical dimensions of the GPU (304 mm length, 137 mm height, 61 mm width) require a spacious case with triple-slot clearance, and the 800 W suggested PSU must be paired with a 16-pin power connector. This is a high-end desktop configuration that prioritizes raw performance over power efficiency, though the CPU's 65 W TDP mitigates overall system power draw compared to other high-core-count parts.

Who Should Build It

Gamers targeting 4K resolution with maximum settings will benefit from the RTX 4090 D's 98th percentile GPU score, which provides the computational headroom for high frame rates at ultra settings in modern titles, and the CPU's single-core strength ensures no bottleneck at lower resolutions. Content creators working with 8K video, complex After Effects compositions, or large Blender scenes will find the 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth sufficient for real-time preview, while the CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 48,945 accelerates final renders. Software developers compiling large codebases will appreciate the PassMark integer math score of 164,869 and the 36 MB L3 cache, which reduces compilation times for projects with many parallel build tasks.

Students in engineering or data science programs who need a system for both coursework and research will find the ECC memory support and 24 CPU threads valuable for running simulations and machine learning experiments, though the system is overkill for typical student workloads. Small business workstations handling CAD, financial modeling, or scientific computing will benefit from the combined 97th percentile performance, which enables fast iteration on complex models. The 456 tensor cores and 73.54 TFLOPS FP32 make this system suitable for local AI inference tasks, such as running large language models or image generation, without requiring cloud resources. However, the GPU's end-of-life status and triple-slot size mean builders should verify case compatibility, and the 800 W PSU requirement is a minimum — not a recommendation for headroom. For users who prioritize gaming at 1440p or lower, the CPU may be over-specified, but for those who need a single system for both gaming and professional workloads, this pairing offers near-top-tier performance across all categories.