Allods Online

# Allods Online with Intel Core i5-13400F + Intel Arc B390

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and the Intel Arc B390 produces a playable but heavily resolution-dependent experience in Allods Online, a 2010 MMORPG. The measured data shows a clear pattern: the system delivers smooth frame rates at 1080p on lower settings, but performance collapses dramatically as resolution increases, indicating the integrated GPU is the primary bottleneck. The combo ranks near the bottom of the tested pool, at position 2459 out of 2775 combinations, placing it in the 11th percentile of all tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K in Allods Online is severe and reveals the limiting component clearly. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 120 FPS at 1920x1080 to 75 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 39 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 67.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is non-linear; the drop from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger (48% decrease) than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (37.5% decrease). This accelerating degradation with resolution is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the rendering workload grows faster than the hardware can sustain.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but the absolute numbers are lower. The system delivers 59 FPS at 1080p, 37 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 67.8%, nearly identical to the Low setting drop. This consistency across settings indicates that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, not the graphics preset complexity. When the GPU is already near its limit, increasing resolution has a proportional impact regardless of whether the scene is simple or complex.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic collapse. The system manages 37 FPS at 1080p, drops to 23 FPS at 1440p (a 37.8% decrease), and falls to 12 FPS at 4K (a 67.6% decrease from 1080p). The 4K Ultra result of 12 FPS is essentially unplayable, and even the 1080p Ultra result of 37 FPS is marginal for an MMORPG where smooth gameplay matters. The data suggests that the Intel Arc B390, with its system-shared memory architecture, cannot cope with the pixel throughput required at higher resolutions.

The Medium settings provide the only complete FPS data with minimum and maximum values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 94 FPS with a minimum of 80 and maximum of 108. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 59 FPS with a range of 50 to 68. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 31 FPS with a range of 26 to 36. The minimum frame rates at each resolution are consistently about 15-16% below the averages, indicating reasonably stable performance without major hitches, but the overall trend is unmistakable: this combo is designed for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being borderline and 4K being impractical.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2459th out of 2775 tested combinations in Allods Online, placing it in the bottom 11.4% of all systems. This is a poor showing that reflects the GPU's limitations more than the CPU's capabilities. The Intel Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rivals are all low-end NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, 1.3% slower), GeForce 800M (score 1460, 1.5% slower), GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, 2.5% slower), and GeForce GT 710 (score 1443, 2.7% slower). The B390 outperforms these older parts, but the margins are small, and all of them are entry-level GPUs.

The CPU, by contrast, is a strong performer. The Intel Core i5-13400F ranks at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25292. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (score 25284, 0% difference), Intel Core 5 120 (score 25362, 0.3% faster), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (score 25365, 0.3% faster), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (score 25201, 0.4% slower). These are all capable mid-range to upper-mid-range processors, and the i5-13400F holds its own against them. The disconnect between the CPU's strong standing and the combo's poor rank underscores that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing.

Given that the GPU is an integrated part (IGP slot width, no power connectors, system-shared memory), this combo behaves like an entry-level laptop or compact desktop solution rather than a dedicated gaming rig. The rank of 2459 out of 2775 reflects this reality: the system can handle light gaming at modest settings, but it is not competitive with even mid-range dedicated GPU configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes from the CPU.

For Allods Online, a game from 2010, the CPU is far more powerful than necessary. The game was designed for the multi-core processors of its era, and the i5-13400F's 16 threads are more than sufficient for the game's workload. Benchmark results confirm the CPU's strength: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22604 and single-core score of 3191, Geekbench multi-core of 11068 and single-core of 1996, and PassMark multi-thread of 25032 with single-thread of 3634. The 3DMark tests show strong scaling from 2 threads (1880) to 16 threads (7314), with the max-threads score of 7307 nearly matching the 16-thread score, indicating the CPU is fully utilized at high thread counts.

In this game, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. Given the i5-13400F's single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread 3634, Cinebench R23 single-core 3191), it can easily handle the game's CPU demands, even in crowded MMORPG scenarios with many players on screen. The bottleneck is not the CPU, as evidenced by the fact that FPS scales almost entirely with resolution changes rather than with CPU-intensive settings. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see more uniform FPS across resolutions, as the CPU would cap performance regardless of pixel count.

The 10-core configuration with 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores (implied by the 10-core, 16-thread layout) provides strong multi-threaded performance for background tasks and any modern game engine features, but Allods Online's older engine likely uses only a few threads. This means the CPU has significant headroom, and the measured FPS in the game is almost certainly GPU-bound at all tested resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 120 FPS, which is excellent for any game. Medium settings yield 94 FPS with a minimum of 80 and maximum of 108, providing a smooth experience. High settings drop to 59 FPS, which is still playable but shows a significant step down from Medium. Ultra settings deliver only 37 FPS, which is marginal for an MMORPG where consistent frame pacing matters for combat responsiveness.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 75 FPS, which is still playable but a 37.5% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 68, putting the experience at the edge of smoothness. High settings fall to 37 FPS, which is borderline for comfortable play. Ultra settings average 23 FPS, which is below what most players would consider acceptable for a game requiring quick reactions.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across all settings. Low settings average 39 FPS, which is technically playable but not smooth. Medium settings average 31 FPS with a minimum of 26 and maximum of 36, making the experience noticeably choppy. High settings drop to 19 FPS, which is difficult to play. Ultra settings average 12 FPS, making the game essentially unresponsive and unplayable.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with full min/max data, and they show a consistent pattern: at 1080p, the range is 80-108 FPS (spread of 28); at 1440p, the range is 50-68 FPS (spread of 18); at 4K, the range is 26-36 FPS (spread of 10). The absolute spread decreases at higher resolutions because the frame rate is lower, but the relative spread (max/min) is similar across resolutions, around 1.35-1.38x. This suggests the game's frame time variance is proportionally consistent regardless of resolution, which is a sign of stable GPU performance rather than CPU-related hitches.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. The GPU runs at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. Its memory is system-shared, meaning it uses the system's main memory (DDR4 or DDR5) rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as "system dependent."

The GPU's benchmark performance is very low. Its only 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, placing it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all older, low-end NVIDIA parts, as noted earlier. The compute capabilities are modest: 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and 15.36 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. These specifications are typical for an integrated solution, and the system-shared memory architecture means that bandwidth availability depends entirely on the system's memory configuration, which can vary.

In Allods Online, the GPU is clearly the limiting component. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (12 FPS) versus 1080p Low (120 FPS) shows a 10x difference, which is far more than what CPU limitations would cause. The GPU's 24 ROPs are likely the bottleneck at high resolutions, as pixel fill rate requirements scale linearly with resolution. At 4K, the GPU must process 8.3 million pixels per frame (3840x2160), and with a maximum pixel rate of 60 GPixel/s, the theoretical maximum FPS at 4K would be around 72 if the GPU were perfectly efficient, but real-world efficiency for an integrated GPU is much lower, explaining the observed 12-39 FPS range depending on settings.

The GPU's system-shared memory is another factor. In Allods Online, which can use several GB of VRAM at high settings and high resolutions, the shared memory architecture can cause performance degradation when the system needs to allocate memory for both the CPU and GPU. This is particularly problematic at 4K Ultra, where the game's texture and geometry demands are highest, potentially exceeding the available shared memory bandwidth and causing the GPU to stall.

The GPU's 12 ray tracing cores are irrelevant for this game, as Allods Online does not use ray tracing features. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is future-proofing but not needed for a 2010 MMORPG. The OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 support may be more relevant, as older games sometimes rely on these APIs, but the measured FPS data suggests the game is rendering through whatever path the system selects, with the GPU struggling to keep up at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Allods Online at 4K?

A: At 4K, the system delivers 39 FPS on Low settings, 31 FPS on Medium, 19 FPS on High, and 12 FPS on Ultra. Only Low settings at 4K approach playability, and even then, the 39 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target most players prefer. The data indicates 4K is not a practical resolution for this combo in this game.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system consistently exceeds 60 FPS, with 120 FPS on Low and 94 FPS on Medium. At 2560x1440, only Low settings (75 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, and at 3840x2160, no settings reach 60 FPS. 1080p is clearly the optimal resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, 0% difference) and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (25201, 0.4% slower). It is slightly slower than the Intel Core 5 120 (25362, 0.3% faster) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, 0.3% faster). The CPU is competitive with these mid-range parts.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is higher than all four listed rivals. It beats the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% faster), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% faster), GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% faster), and GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% faster). However, all of these are very low-end GPUs, and the B390's 9th percentile ranking shows it is still near the bottom of the performance spectrum.

Q: Is the system CPU-bound or GPU-bound in this game?

A: The data strongly indicates GPU-bound performance. The FPS scales significantly with resolution changes, dropping by 67.5% from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, while the CPU's benchmark scores are strong (77th percentile). If the CPU were the bottleneck, FPS would remain more constant across resolutions.

Q: What causes the FPS drop from Medium to High settings?

A: The measured data shows a substantial drop from Medium to High at all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium averages 94 FPS while High averages 59 FPS, a 37.2% decrease. At 1440p, the drop is from 59 to 37 FPS (37.3%), and at 4K, from 31 to 19 FPS (38.7%). This consistent ~38% penalty suggests High settings enable rendering features that significantly increase GPU load, likely related to shading or texture quality.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the player's performance priorities. For smooth 60 FPS gameplay, the only viable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low or Medium settings. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 120 FPS, providing a very smooth experience with plenty of headroom for demanding MMORPG scenarios like large player gatherings. At 1080p Medium, the 94 FPS average with an 80 FPS minimum remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual upgrade from Low to Medium is likely noticeable in a game with detailed environments.

For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p High at 59 FPS is the highest quality setting that remains near playable, but the 59 FPS average means occasional dips below 60 FPS, which may cause slight stuttering. The 1440p Low setting at 75 FPS offers a middle ground: higher resolution than 1080p with still-smooth performance, though the visual difference between 1080p Medium and 1440p Low may be minimal given the settings trade-off.

The data clearly shows that Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. Even at 1080p, Ultra delivers only 37 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold for an MMORPG where quick reactions matter. At higher resolutions, Ultra becomes unplayable, with 23 FPS at 1440p and 12 FPS at 4K. The visual gains from Ultra over High are likely not worth a 37% FPS penalty at every resolution.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, 1080p Medium is the recommended configuration. The 94 FPS average with an 80 FPS minimum provides a solid gameplay experience, and the Medium preset likely includes the most important visual features without the performance-heavy effects that cripple High and Ultra settings. Players with higher refresh rate monitors can use 1080p Low to approach 120 FPS, while players who prefer higher resolution should stick to 1440p Low, which remains above 60 FPS at 75 FPS average. The 4K resolution should be avoided entirely, as even Low settings at 39 FPS do not provide a comfortable experience for an MMORPG.