Minecraft

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Minecraft with this Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination shows exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the lowest average FPS recorded is 320 at Ultra settings, while the highest reaches 455 at Low settings. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers an average of 418 FPS with a minimum of 356 FPS and a maximum of 481 FPS, providing the only complete min/max range recorded for this resolution. High settings at 1080p average 385 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain well above any practical display refresh rate. Ultra settings produce an average of 202 FPS, High settings reach 323 FPS, Medium settings hit 359 FPS with a minimum of 305 FPS and a maximum of 413 FPS, and Low settings achieve 390 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a modest reduction in frame rates, with the Ultra preset dropping from 320 to 202 FPS, a 37% decrease. Medium settings drop from 418 to 359 FPS, a 14% reduction, while Low settings decrease from 455 to 390 FPS, an 14% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains remarkably strong. Ultra settings still deliver an average of 106 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playability threshold by a wide margin. High settings average 169 FPS, Medium settings average 213 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 245 FPS, and Low settings reach 269 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K produces the largest relative drop for the Ultra preset, falling from 202 to 106 FPS, a 48% reduction. High settings drop from 323 to 169 FPS, a 48% reduction as well. Medium settings fall from 359 to 213 FPS, a 41% reduction, while Low settings decrease from 390 to 269 FPS, a 31% reduction.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: even the most demanding preset at the highest resolution maintains an average above 100 FPS. The minimum recorded frame rate across the entire dataset is 181 FPS, which occurs at 4K Medium settings. This indicates that frame pacing and consistency are not concerns for this configuration, as even the lowest recorded 1% or 0.1% lows would remain comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals an interesting dynamic between the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in Minecraft. This game is known for its CPU-intensive rendering pipeline, particularly for chunk generation and entity processing, but the benchmark results show that the GPU still plays a substantial role at higher resolutions.

The scaling between resolutions demonstrates where the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 135 FPS (455 versus 320), suggesting that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to keep frame rates extremely high. The RTX 4080, which sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs according to the database, has ample headroom at this resolution.

At 1440p, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 188 FPS (390 versus 202), and at 4K it widens further to 163 FPS (269 versus 106). The significant drop in Ultra settings from 1440p to 4K (from 202 to 106 FPS) indicates that at 4K, the GPU's rendering workload becomes the dominant constraint. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are being exercised more fully at this resolution.

Conversely, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is not saturated. The Intel Core i5-9400, a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake processor with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, scores in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629 and single-core score is 935. The fact that 1080p Low settings hit 455 FPS suggests that even this mid-range CPU can sustain very high frame rates in Minecraft when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The Medium preset at each resolution provides the most complete picture, as it is the only preset with full min/max data. At 1080p Medium, the range from 356 to 481 FPS spans 125 FPS, indicating some CPU-bound variability. At 1440p Medium, the range from 305 to 413 FPS spans 108 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range from 181 to 245 FPS spans 64 FPS. The shrinking range at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU increasingly smooths out frame delivery as it becomes the primary constraint.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database provide context for how the Intel Core i5-9400 compares. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 has an average benchmark score of 2259, which is 0.2% higher than the i5-9400's average of 2254. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4% lower. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4% higher. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning that any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Minecraft when paired with the same GPU. The i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for this workload, and the performance differences among these rivals are within measurement noise.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209 on average, just 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080's 54247. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, 1.1% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, 2.7% higher. These small deltas suggest that swapping the RTX 4080 for any of these rivals would produce nearly indistinguishable results in Minecraft, with frame rate differences likely within a few percent at any given resolution and preset.

The database's combo ranking places this configuration at rank 775 out of 3710 tested combos, placing it in the top 21% of all combinations. This ranking reflects the strong GPU performance combined with a mid-range CPU that does not bottleneck in this particular game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves rank 775 out of 3710 tested combos in Minecraft. This places the pairing in the 79th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 79% of tested combos perform worse. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU sits in only the 47th percentile. The gap between these percentiles explains why the combo ranks slightly below the GPU's individual percentile: the CPU does hold the system back in some scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has excess capacity.

In practical terms, this combo rank indicates that while the RTX 4080 is a top-tier graphics card, pairing it with the i5-9400 does not unlock its full potential in CPU-bound scenarios. However, in Minecraft specifically, the game's rendering characteristics allow the GPU to dominate at higher resolutions and presets, which is why the measured frame rates remain exceptionally high across the board.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minecraft at every tested resolution and preset configuration, with all recorded averages clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold by a substantial margin. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 106 FPS, which is 77% above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at 4K reach 169 FPS, Medium reaches 213 FPS, and Low reaches 269 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 202 FPS and Low reaches 390 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 320 FPS and Low reaches 455 FPS.

The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at all three resolutions tested. Even the most demanding combination, 4K Ultra, maintains an average of 106 FPS with no recorded minimum dipping below the threshold. The only data point with a reported minimum is the Medium preset, and even at 4K, the minimum of 181 FPS is over 3 times the playability threshold.

For users with high refresh rate monitors, the 1440p and 1080p results provide ample headroom. At 1080p, the lowest average across all presets is 320 FPS, which exceeds 240 Hz displays. At 1440p, the lowest average is 202 FPS, which exceeds 165 Hz displays. At 4K, the lowest average is 106 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 60 Hz displays and approaches 120 Hz capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 106 FPS, which is 77% above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: Does this combo ever drop below 60 FPS in the recorded data?

A: No. The lowest recorded average is 106 FPS at 4K Ultra, and the lowest recorded minimum is 181 FPS at 4K Medium. Every measurement exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold by a wide margin.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-9400 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 (0.4% higher). All are within 0.4% of each other.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset is the best settings option, delivering an average of 202 FPS. All four presets are playable at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, which is 0.1% lower. The two cards are effectively equivalent in performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 775 out of 3710 tested combos in Minecraft, placing it in the top 21% of all tested configurations.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 320 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available and the frame rate is more than 5 times the playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is also the best settings option, averaging 202 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is 67% lower than the 1080p Ultra result, but still far above any practical refresh rate requirement.

At 3840x2160, Ultra remains the recommended preset, averaging 106 FPS. This is the most demanding configuration tested, and it still clears the 60 FPS threshold by 77%. The 4K Ultra result is 48% lower than the 1440p Ultra result, demonstrating the expected scaling curve as resolution increases.

For users seeking the absolute highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 455 FPS, which is the maximum recorded average across the entire dataset. However, the data shows that even the most visually demanding configurations remain highly playable, so there is no need to compromise on quality to achieve acceptable performance.