Minecraft

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Minecraft with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows exceptional performance across all tested resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160, the combo delivers an average of 187 FPS on High settings, 297 FPS on Low, 235 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 200 FPS and maximum of 270 FPS, and 117 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only reading that drops below the 200 FPS mark, though it remains far above the playable threshold of 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages climb substantially. High settings produce 330 FPS, Low settings reach 390 FPS, Medium settings hit 359 FPS with a minimum of 305 FPS and maximum of 413 FPS, and Ultra settings average 223 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 167 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset still imposes a measurable load even on this flagship GPU.

At 1920x1080, the results are the highest in the dataset. High settings average 385 FPS, Low settings average 455 FPS, Medium settings average 418 FPS with a minimum of 356 FPS and maximum of 481 FPS, and Ultra settings average 321 FPS. The 1080p Medium result shows the tightest min/max spread relative to its average, while the 1080p Low result represents the single highest average FPS recorded for this combination.

The scaling pattern is consistent: each resolution step down from 4K to 1440p to 1080p increases average FPS across every preset. The largest relative jump occurs between 4K Ultra at 117 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 223 FPS, a gain of 106 FPS. Between 1440p Ultra and 1080p Ultra, the gain is 98 FPS. Low settings show the smallest absolute scaling gains, from 297 FPS at 4K to 390 FPS at 1440p to 455 FPS at 1080p.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 4090 is the dominant performance contributor at 4K, while the Core i5-9400 becomes increasingly relevant as resolution drops. At 3840x2160, the GPU must process over eight million pixels per frame, and the measured averages reflect that load: Ultra drops to 117 FPS, a 51% reduction from High at 187 FPS. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario where the graphics card's rendering throughput defines the ceiling.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts. The Ultra preset averages 223 FPS, which is 106 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result. The i5-9400, with its six cores and six threads, is better able to feed the GPU at this resolution, but the GPU still carries the heavier burden. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 305 FPS, suggesting that even during demanding scenes, the frame pacing remains stable.

At 1920x1080, the CPU becomes the limiting factor. The RTX 4090 is capable of far higher frame rates than the i5-9400 can supply, and the data reflects this: Low settings average 455 FPS, but Ultra only drops that to 321 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 134 FPS, compared to 180 FPS at 4K. This compression of the preset gap at lower resolutions is a hallmark of CPU limitation, where the processor's single-thread performance and cache behavior cap the frame rate regardless of GPU headroom.

The i5-9400's benchmark scores support this interpretation. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 935, and its multi-core score is 6629. For a game like Minecraft, which relies heavily on single-threaded world generation and entity updates, the CPU's single-core throughput is the relevant bottleneck at 1080p. The Geekbench single-core score of 1389 and multi-core score of 5141 reinforce that this processor sits in the mid-range tier, with a percentile rank of 47 among all CPUs.

The RTX 4090, by contrast, ranks in the 88th percentile among all GPUs and carries an average benchmark score of 60347. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 271631 and OpenCL score of 255416 indicate immense compute throughput. In this pairing, the GPU is never the constraint at 1080p; the CPU is. At 4K, the GPU's raw power is still sufficient to push Ultra past 117 FPS, which means the overall experience is playable at every tested setting and resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 117 FPS. All four presets at this resolution are playable, including Low at 297 FPS, Medium at 235 FPS, and High at 187 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers the highest visual fidelity while maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best setting is also Ultra, averaging 223 FPS. The gap between Ultra and the next preset down, High at 330 FPS, is 107 FPS, but Ultra remains far above the playable threshold. Low settings at this resolution average 390 FPS, and Medium averages 359 FPS with a minimum of 305 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is again the best setting, with an average of 321 FPS. The minimum recorded FPS at any 1080p preset is 356 FPS on Medium, so even the most demanding preset never approaches the playable threshold. The data shows that this combination can run Minecraft at maximum settings at any resolution without dropping below 60 FPS, with the lowest recorded average being the 117 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The playable settings list for each resolution includes all four presets: High, Low, Medium, and Ultra. There is no resolution in the dataset where any preset fails to meet the 60 FPS playable threshold, which makes the best settings recommendation straightforward: choose Ultra at every resolution for the highest visual quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 729th out of 3710 tested combos in the Minecraft database. This places it in the top 19.7% of all recorded configurations. Given that the RTX 4090 is one of the fastest consumer GPUs ever measured, the ranking is tempered by the i5-9400's mid-range CPU performance, which holds the combo back from the top percentile positions.

The percentile data for the individual components helps contextualize this ranking. The i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, meaning roughly half of the processors in the database are faster. The RTX 4090 sits at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of graphics cards. The combo's 729th rank reflects the CPU's limiting influence in CPU-bound scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU's advantage cannot be fully expressed.

In the broader database, combos with higher-ranked CPUs paired with the RTX 4090 would naturally occupy higher positions. The 729th rank is still strong in absolute terms, but it demonstrates that pairing a flagship GPU with a mid-range, end-of-life CPU leaves performance on the table. For Minecraft specifically, the game's single-threaded nature means the i5-9400's modest single-core scores (935 in Cinebench R23, 1389 in Geekbench) directly impact the maximum achievable frame rate at 1080p.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-9400, based on average benchmark score, are all within a narrow band. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, a delta of -0.2% relative to the i5-9400's 2254 average. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, a delta of 0.3%. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a delta of 0.4%. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, a delta of -0.4%. Any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Minecraft when paired with the RTX 4090, since the performance difference is under half a percent in synthetic benchmarks.

For the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's nearest rivals are also tightly clustered. The Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60326, a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60140, a delta of 0.3%. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, a delta of -2.5%. The AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58657, a delta of 2.9%. Swapping the RTX 4090 for any of these would change Minecraft frame rates by only a few percent, assuming the CPU remains the same.

The practical takeaway is that this combo's performance is robust to component substitutions within these rival groups. A system with the i7-1068NG7 or Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 instead of the i5-9400 would deliver nearly identical results at all three resolutions. Likewise, replacing the RTX 4090 with the Arc Pro A60 or Radeon Pro Vega 48 would not meaningfully alter the measured FPS, since those GPUs sit within 0.3% of the 4090's average score.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Minecraft at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 117, well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average is 455 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 418 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 1080p?

A: The CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. The i5-9400's single-core score of 935 in Cinebench R23 and 1389 in Geekbench cap frame rates, as shown by the compressed gap between Low and Ultra presets at this resolution.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The lowest average is 117 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. Even this minimum result is nearly double the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Minecraft?

A: It ranks 729th out of 3710 combos, placing it in the top 19.7% of the database.

Q: Are there other CPUs that would perform similarly to the i5-9400 in this setup?

A: Yes. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and Intel Core i3-10305 score within 0.4% of the i5-9400's average benchmark score, so they would produce nearly identical Minecraft frame rates when paired with the RTX 4090.