SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc A310

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

98%

GPU

85%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus

84,003 Benchmark Score

Top 2% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

GRAPHICS CARD

Intel Arc A310

7,550 Benchmark Score

Top 15% 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 9 290K Plus paired with an Intel Arc A310 is a study in extreme contrast. The CPU is a top-tier, 24-core desktop processor built on a state-of-the-art 3 nm process, while the GPU is a low-power, 4 GB entry-level card designed primarily for basic display output and light acceleration. Benchmark data confirms this is a desktop-class pairing with a combined performance percentile of 68, but the two components sit at opposite ends of the spectrum: the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, while the GPU languishes in the 40th percentile among all GPUs. No measured FPS data exists for this exact combination, so all gaming performance discussion is estimated from the individual component benchmark scores.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is the undisputed anchor of this build. It is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, codenamed Arrow Lake Refresh, and fabricated by TSMC on a 3 nm process. This is a desktop-class chip with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, backed by a substantial 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The architecture does not use hyperthreading, so the 24 threads match the 24 physical cores, which is a design choice that prioritizes power efficiency and raw core count over thread duplication.

Benchmark results confirm its flagship status. In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 51731 in multi-core and 7303 in single-core tests. The multi-core score places it ahead of nearly all consumer and many server processors, indicating exceptional throughput for heavy parallel workloads like video rendering, 3D modeling, and code compilation. The single-core score of 7303 is equally impressive, demonstrating strong per-thread performance that benefits everyday responsiveness and lightly-threaded applications. Its average benchmark score of 84003 puts it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and it trades blows with the nearest rivals: it is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX, and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135, while trailing the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%.

In real workloads, this CPU is a workhorse. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60860 and floating-point math score of 214760 indicate heavy lifting in scientific computing and financial modeling. The data compression score of 698346 and data encryption score of 52563 show strength in database operations and secure transactions. With a TDP of 125 W and support for DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus delivering 115.2 GB/s, this is a processor built for sustained professional workloads. The 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die are arranged densely, and the unlocked multiplier means overclocking is possible for those who want to push beyond stock boost clocks. For any task that requires maximum CPU throughput, this chip delivers.

Balance and Bottleneck

The performance asymmetry here is stark. The CPU operates at the 96th percentile, while the GPU sits at the 40th percentile. This creates an unavoidable bottleneck scenario where the GPU will limit almost any graphics-related task. The CPU is capable of feeding a much more powerful GPU; the Arc A310 is not capable of utilizing the CPU’s full potential. In gaming, this means the frame rate will be dictated almost entirely by the GPU, and the CPU will remain largely idle waiting for the graphics card to catch up.

The data supports this conclusion. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 5433 is barely above entry-level, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R7 250 (-0.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (+1% for the Arc). These are not GPUs designed for high-refresh-rate gaming. Conversely, the CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 4823 is excellent, meaning it will not be the limiting factor in any workload. For general productivity, the CPU will dominate, and the GPU will handle basic output. For gaming, the GPU is the clear and primary bottleneck. Even in CPU-heavy games, the GPU will struggle to maintain playable frame rates at high settings. This is a pairing where the CPU is overqualified for the GPU’s capabilities, and any future upgrade to a better graphics card would unlock a massive amount of latent performance from the processor.

Gaming Performance

The FACT PACK contains no measured FPS rows for this CPU+GPU combination, so the following figures are estimated from benchmark scores and should be treated as approximations. The Arc A310’s performance profile is defined by its low-end specifications: 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, 768 shading units, and an FP32 throughput of 2.688 TFLOPS. This is not a gaming card. In modern titles, even at 1080p with low or medium settings, the GPU will struggle to maintain smooth frame rates.

Based on the GPU’s PassMark DirectX scores—DirectX 10 at 31, DirectX 11 at 33, DirectX 12 at 29, and DirectX 9 at 69—the card is best suited for older or less demanding games. Competitive esports titles like CS or Valorant, which are typically CPU-bound, might be playable at low settings, but the GPU’s texture rate of 56.00 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 28.00 GPixel/s are simply too low for modern AAA games. At 1080p with ultra settings, expect frame rates in the low single digits to low tens for recent releases, making the experience unplayable. At 720p with reduced settings, some lighter titles may approach 30 FPS, but this is not a system for serious gaming. The CPU’s single-core strength will help with frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios, but the GPU will cap the output at a very low level. For any gaming beyond casual 2D titles or very old 3D games, this GPU is a severe limitation.

Who Should Build It

This build is not for gamers, at least not in the traditional sense. The target user is someone who requires massive CPU compute power for professional work but has minimal graphics requirements. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is ideal for content creators who render video or 3D scenes, as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 ensures fast export times. Software developers compiling large codebases will benefit from the 24 cores and 24 threads, and the high data compression score of 698346 helps with version control and build tools. Students and researchers in engineering, physics, or data science will find the floating-point math score of 214760 useful for simulations and analysis.

Small business workstations that run virtualization, database servers, or financial modeling software will also benefit from the CPU’s encryption score of 52563 and multi-thread score of 60860. The Arc A310 is sufficient for driving multiple displays—it has 4x mini-DisplayPort 2.0 outputs—and for hardware-accelerated video encoding and decoding, which is useful for office productivity and media playback. This is a workstation-class CPU with a basic display adapter. It is not a machine for gaming, high-end 3D rendering on the GPU, or machine learning training on the graphics card. If the workload is purely CPU-bound and the graphics needs are limited to spreadsheets, web browsing, and video playback, this pairing makes sense. If the user plans to game or do GPU-accelerated work, they need a different graphics card.

Benchmark Performance

The combined picture is one of extreme polarity. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 84003, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all high-end server or desktop parts, with the deltaPct values showing a margin of less than 1.5% in either direction. This is a top-tier processor. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 7550, placing it in the 40th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are entry-level cards from previous generations, with the Arc A310 performing essentially on par with the AMD Radeon R7 250 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650.

The combined percentile for the system is 68, which reflects the fact that the CPU’s high standing is dragged down by the GPU’s poor showing. In the PassMark suite, the CPU’s integer math score of 166194 and prime number finding score of 503 are strong, while the GPU’s OpenCL score in Geekbench is 30607 and Vulkan is 28964, which are modest. The GPU’s compute score in PassMark is 2157, which is very low. The data shows a system where the CPU is performing at the elite level, and the GPU is performing at a basic level. The combined score is a statistical artifact of averaging these two extremes; it does not represent a balanced system. Any benchmark that is CPU-focused will show this system as a top performer, while any GPU-focused benchmark will show it as severely lacking.

FAQ

Q: What is the most significant performance limitation of this build?

A: The Intel Arc A310 GPU is the clear limiting factor. It ranks in the 40th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile, meaning the GPU will bottleneck any graphics-intensive workload.

Q: Can this system handle modern AAA games at high settings?

A: No. The Arc A310’s PassMark DirectX 12 score is 29, and it has only 4 GB of VRAM. Estimated frame rates at 1080p ultra would be very low, making modern games unplayable at high settings.

Q: Is the CPU good for video editing and 3D rendering?

A: Yes. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scored 51731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 214760 in PassMark floating-point math, indicating excellent performance for CPU-based rendering and video export tasks.

Q: What type of memory does this platform support?

A: The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. It also supports ECC memory, which is useful for workstation stability.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival, the Core Ultra 9 285K?

A: The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% ahead of the Core Ultra 9 285K’s score of 83807. The performance difference is negligible.

Q: What is the power draw of the GPU?

A: The Arc A310 has a TDP of 30 W and requires no external power connectors. The suggested PSU for the system is 200 W.

Q: Does the CPU have integrated graphics?

A: Yes, it includes Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, which provides a fallback display output and basic acceleration if the discrete GPU is removed or fails.

GPU Analysis

The Intel Arc A310 is a low-profile, single-slot graphics card based on the Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the DG2-128 chip, fabricated on a 6 nm process by TSMC. It is marked as end-of-life, having been released in late 2022, and is the entry point in the Arc 3 generation. The card has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 124.0 GB/s. Its base and boost clocks are both 1750 MHz, and the memory runs at an effective speed of 15.5 Gbps.

Compute resources are minimal: 768 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. It has 6 ray tracing cores but no dedicated tensor cores, which means AI-accelerated workloads like DLSS are not supported in the same way as NVIDIA cards. The FP32 performance is 2.688 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 5.376 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which ensures API compatibility but does not guarantee performance. The pixel rate is 28.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 56.00 GTexel/s, which are figures consistent with an entry-level card from 2022.

Benchmark results confirm its low standing. The PassMark G3D score is 5433, and the GPU compute score is 2157. In Geekbench, it scores 30607 in OpenCL and 28964 in Vulkan. These scores put it on par with the AMD Radeon R7 250 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, both of which are older or lower-tier cards. The TDP is just 30 W, and it requires no power connectors, making it a very power-efficient option for basic tasks. For rendering, the low FP32 throughput means real-time 3D rendering is not feasible, and the 4 GB VRAM is insufficient for modern texture-heavy scenes. It is best suited for multi-display office setups, video playback, and light 2D acceleration.

Build Overview

This is a desktop-class build combining Intel’s flagship Arrow Lake Refresh CPU with Intel’s entry-level Alchemist GPU. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core processor with a 5.80 GHz boost clock, ranking in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The Arc A310 is a 30 W card with 4 GB VRAM, ranking in the 40th percentile of all GPUs. The combined system percentile is 68, which reflects the massive gap between the two components.

This is not a balanced build. The CPU is a high-end workstation part, while the GPU is a basic display adapter. The overall tier is defined by the CPU’s dominance; the system is a top-tier compute machine with a graphics subsystem that is barely sufficient for standard desktop use. For users who need CPU horsepower for compilation, rendering, or scientific computing, this is a valid configuration. For anyone expecting gaming or GPU-accelerated tasks, the GPU is a severe bottleneck that undermines the system’s potential.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is socketed in Intel Socket 1851, which is the platform for the Arrow Lake Refresh generation. Memory support is DDR5 on a dual-channel bus, and the CPU has 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, which provides high-bandwidth connectivity for NVMe SSDs and future expansion cards. The CPU’s TDP is 125 W, and it has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking, so a capable air cooler or liquid cooler is recommended to maintain boost clocks under load.

The GPU uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, which is fully compatible with the CPU’s PCIe Gen 5 lanes, though the older interface is not a bottleneck for this low-end card. The Arc A310 has a TDP of 30 W and requires no power connectors, and the system’s suggested PSU is 200 W. This means there is significant headroom for a GPU upgrade; the motherboard and power supply are not constraints.

The sensible next upgrade is a more powerful graphics card. Given the CPU’s 96th percentile performance, it can support nearly any modern GPU without becoming a bottleneck itself. A user could replace the Arc A310 with a mid-range or high-end card to unlock the full gaming and rendering potential of the system. The CPU’s 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes are future-proof, and the DDR5 memory support ensures compatibility with the latest memory standards. The platform has a clear path forward: keep the CPU, upgrade the GPU, and potentially add more memory for larger workloads. The CPU is not the limiting factor in any scenario; the GPU is the only component that needs immediate attention for any performance-intensive task.

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc A310

Apex Performer

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus

Intel Arc A310

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

Balance and Bottleneck

Gaming Performance

Who Should Build It

Benchmark Performance

FAQ

GPU Analysis

Build Overview

Upgrade Path and Platform

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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