Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the best playable setting for this PC at 1920x1080 in Minimum?

A: High settings deliver 61 FPS average, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Low and Medium also pass, but High is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 3840x2160?

A: No. The best recorded result at 4K is 33 FPS average on Low settings, which falls well short of the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra and High are even lower, at 16 and 21 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. That is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, but the GPU still sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU performance tier of the Intel Core i5-11400F?

A: The processor scores 17177 on average across its benchmark suite, placing it at the 71st percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, scores 17120, which is 0.3% behind, while the Intel Core i5-12450H sits 0.4% ahead with 17239.

Q: Which component is more limiting at 1440p in Minimum?

A: The data shows GPU-heavy scaling. Dropping from Ultra to Low settings at 2560x1440 raises average FPS from 30 to 61, a 31 FPS swing. The i5-11400F has ample headroom (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340), so the Arc B390 is the bottleneck.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B390 an integrated or discrete GPU?

A: The database lists it as an IGP with a bus interface of IGP, a slot width of IGP, and no power connectors. Its memory is system shared, and its memory bandwidth is system dependent. It also uses the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture on a 3 nm process.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core i5-11400F and the Intel Arc B390 is clear when tracking frame rates across resolutions and presets in Minimum. At 1920x1080, the GPU is the dominant constraint: Low settings produce 95 FPS, Medium drops to 72 FPS, High falls to 61 FPS, and Ultra collapses to 46 FPS. The CPU, with 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.40 GHz, is never the limiting factor at this resolution, as even the most demanding preset still yields a playable 46 FPS average, a result that would be far lower if the processor were struggling.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU load intensifies and the pattern sharpens. Low settings deliver 61 FPS, Medium drops to 47 FPS, High falls to 39 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 30 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p is a 31 FPS loss, nearly identical to the 49 FPS loss seen at 1080p from Low to Ultra. This consistent drop across both resolutions indicates a sustained GPU bottleneck. The CPU's benchmark scores support this interpretation: the i5-11400F posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1777, placing it at the 71st percentile of all CPUs, far above the Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU standing.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is overwhelmingly the limiting component. The best result is 33 FPS on Low, and Ultra manages only 16 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 17 FPS, and even the lowest settings cannot approach 60 FPS. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance (PassMark multi-thread score of 16908) cannot compensate for the GPU's low throughput. Across all three resolutions, the data indicates that the Arc B390 determines playability, while the i5-11400F provides more than enough processing headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the recorded data shows a wide spread across presets. Low settings average 95 FPS, which is the highest result for this combo in the entire database. Medium settings average 72 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. High settings average 61 FPS, exactly at the playable threshold. Ultra settings drop to 46 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 23 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 11 FPS, and the final step from High to Ultra costs 15 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results compress downward. Low settings average 61 FPS, again exactly at the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS. High settings average 39 FPS, and Ultra settings average 30 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline of roughly 8 to 14 FPS per preset step, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium.

At 3840x2160, the combo falls far below playability across all presets. Low settings average 33 FPS, Medium averages 25 FPS with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 29 FPS, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS. No preset at 4K comes within 27 FPS of the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset is the only 4K configuration with recorded min and max values, showing a tight 21 to 29 FPS range, which indicates consistent low performance rather than occasional dips.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's ranking of tested CPU and GPU combinations for Minimum, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the Intel Arc B390 lands at position 3299 out of 3712 combos. That places it in the bottom 11% of all tested configurations, a reflection of the GPU's weak standing. The Arc B390's average benchmark score of 1482 puts it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all low-end NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% behind), the GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% behind), the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% behind), and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% behind).

The CPU, by contrast, ranks far more favorably. The i5-11400F sits at the 71st percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 17177. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 at 17120 (0.3% behind), the Intel Core i5-12450H at 17239 (0.4% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G at 17278 (0.6% ahead), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U at 17074 (0.6% behind). The combination of a high-percentile CPU and a bottom-decile GPU explains the overall rank: the system's performance ceiling in Minimum is set almost entirely by the GPU, and the CPU's strength does little to lift the combo above its 3299th position.

The rank of 3299 out of 3712 also highlights a practical reality. Many other combos in the database achieve higher frame rates simply by pairing a comparable or weaker CPU with a stronger GPU. For Minimum, the recorded data shows that only a narrow set of presets and resolutions yield playable results, and the combo's low overall standing reflects that limitation.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum, but only under specific conditions. At 1920x1080, the verdict is clear: High settings average 61 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold, and both Low (95 FPS) and Medium (72 FPS) are also playable. Ultra at 1080p falls short at 46 FPS, so it is not recommended for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the system is borderline playable. Low settings average 61 FPS, exactly at the threshold, making it the only viable preset at this resolution. Medium (47 FPS), High (39 FPS), and Ultra (30 FPS) all miss the 60 FPS mark by significant margins.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is negative. No preset reaches 60 FPS. The best result is 33 FPS on Low, and Ultra averages only 16 FPS. The database lists no playable settings for 4K, confirming that this resolution is out of reach for this hardware combination. Overall, the system is a capable 1080p machine for Minimum, a marginal 1440p machine on the lowest settings, and not viable at 4K.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average of 61 FPS. This is the recommended choice because it clears the threshold while offering better visual quality than Low or Medium. Low runs at 95 FPS and Medium at 72 FPS, both of which are also playable, but High is the highest preset that maintains playability.

At 2560x1440, the only preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 61 FPS. Medium drops to 47 FPS, so it cannot be recommended for a 60 FPS target. The best settings at 1440p are therefore Low, which exactly matches the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, so there is no recommended setting. The database records no playable settings at this resolution, and the best observed result is 33 FPS on Low. Users targeting 4K would need a different GPU to achieve playable frame rates in Minimum.