Allods Online

# Allods Online with Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

This pairing combines a six-core Coffee Lake CPU from 2018 with NVIDIA's flagship Ada Lovelace GPU, producing a lopsided but surprisingly playable experience in Allods Online. The benchmark data shows this combo ranks 1497th out of 3670 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems for this MMORPG. The RTX 4090 clearly dominates the performance picture, but the aging i5-9400 imposes measurable limits that become more apparent at lower resolutions and higher frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1497 out of 3670 tested configurations places it in the 59th percentile of all tested combos for Allods Online. This is not a top-tier result, but it is comfortably above the median, which makes sense given the extreme GPU power paired with a modest CPU. The RTX 4090 alone sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs tested, while the i5-9400 sits in only the 47th percentile among all CPUs. The gap between these percentile positions explains why this combo underperforms what the GPU alone might suggest.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254 places it within a razor-thin margin of several comparable processors. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, which is only 0.2% higher, while the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, just 0.4% higher. On the other side, the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% lower) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% lower). These tiny deltas show the i5-9400 is squarely in the middle of a dense pack of mid-range processors, none of which offer a meaningful advantage over the others.

For the GPU, the RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60347 is essentially tied with the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326 (0% delta), and it edges out the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60140 by 0.3%. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, which is 2.5% higher, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 comes in at 58657, 2.9% lower. These comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores, not game-specific performance, but they illustrate that the 4090 is performing at the expected level for its class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts up to 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache layout includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is dual-channel DDR4 with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, and the CPU provides 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes.

In synthetic CPU benchmarks, the i5-9400 produces a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935. The Geekbench results show 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core. These numbers place the CPU in the 47th percentile overall, meaning it outperforms roughly half of all CPUs in the database. For Allods Online, a game released in 2010, the single-core performance matters more than multi-threaded throughput, and the 4.10 GHz boost clock provides adequate headroom for the game's older engine logic.

The measured FPS data reveals the CPU's influence. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 168 FPS average, but at 1080p Ultra it drops to 107 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at the same resolution indicates that the game's CPU-bound simulation and draw call processing are not the sole bottleneck, since even at Low settings the frame rate does not scale to extremely high values. The 144 FPS at 1440p Low versus 168 FPS at 1080p Low shows a 14% drop from resolution scaling alone, which is relatively modest and suggests the CPU is not completely saturating at 1080p.

The i5-9400's six cores and six threads are sufficient for Allods Online's workload, which rarely utilizes more than a few threads. The lack of hyper-threading is not a significant disadvantage here, as the game's single-threaded performance characteristics align with the CPU's 4.10 GHz boost clock. The 9 MB L3 cache helps with the game's asset streaming, though the older engine does not heavily stress cache hierarchies compared to modern titles.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and its memory operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory sits on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4090 achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 255416, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 271631. The Passmark G3D score is 38194, with a G2D score of 1299. These figures confirm the GPU's position in the 88th percentile among all GPUs tested. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are exceptionally high, which helps at 4K resolutions where fill rate becomes critical.

For Allods Online, the RTX 4090's role is straightforward: it provides overwhelming rasterization headroom that the game's 2010-era engine cannot fully utilize. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 51 FPS average, which is the lowest result in the entire dataset. This is surprising given the GPU's power, and it indicates that the game's ultra settings impose significant rendering costs that even the 4090 cannot overcome. The 4K Medium setting yields 106 FPS average with a minimum of 90 and maximum of 122, while 4K Low reaches 116 FPS. The fact that Low produces only 10 FPS more than Medium at 4K suggests the game's optimization ceiling is being reached.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the results are: Low averages 168 FPS, Medium averages 153 FPS with a minimum of 130 and maximum of 177, High averages 128 FPS, and Ultra averages 107 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 15 FPS, from Medium to High costs 25 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 21 FPS. This pattern shows diminishing returns as settings increase, but the 107 FPS at Ultra is still highly playable.

Moving to 1440p, the averages drop: Low produces 144 FPS, Medium averages 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 and maximum of 151, High averages 110 FPS, and Ultra averages 92 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with Low losing 24 FPS, Medium losing 21 FPS, High losing 18 FPS, and Ultra losing 15 FPS. Interestingly, the absolute FPS loss becomes smaller at higher settings, which suggests the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor at Ultra settings where the additional resolution overhead matters less relative to the total rendering load.

At 4K, the results show the GPU's dominance: Low averages 116 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 and maximum of 122, High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 51 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra at 4K is a steep 30 FPS, representing a 37% reduction. This is the largest single setting penalty in the entire dataset and indicates that Ultra settings at 4K push the engine beyond what the RTX 4090 can comfortably handle at high frame rates.

The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings: 130 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K. These minimums are relatively close to the averages, suggesting frame pacing is stable without severe hitches, at least at Medium settings. The absence of min/max data for other settings means we cannot fully assess frame time consistency across the full range.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals which component is the bottleneck at each setting level. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 168 at 1080p to 144 at 1440p (a 14% reduction) and then to 116 at 4K (a 19% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 52 FPS, or 31%. This relatively shallow scaling curve indicates that the CPU is the primary limiter at Low settings, since the GPU has massive headroom and the frame rate does not scale linearly with pixel count.

At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 153 at 1080p to 132 at 1440p (14% reduction) and then to 106 at 4K (20% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 47 FPS, or 31%. This is nearly identical to the Low settings scaling, reinforcing that the CPU is still the limiting factor at Medium quality.

At High settings, the pattern shifts slightly. The FPS drops from 128 at 1080p to 110 at 1440p (14% reduction) and then to 81 at 4K (26% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 47 FPS, or 37%. The larger drop from 1440p to 4K suggests the GPU is starting to become more relevant at High settings, but the CPU still exerts influence.

At Ultra settings, the scaling changes dramatically. The FPS drops from 107 at 1080p to 92 at 1440p (14% reduction) and then to 51 at 4K (45% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 56 FPS, or 52%. This much steeper scaling curve at Ultra settings indicates the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, as the increased pixel count and rendering effects at Ultra quality overwhelm even the RTX 4090's capabilities.

The consistent 14% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all settings is notable. This suggests that the transition from 1080p to 1440p is primarily CPU-limited, as the frame rate drops proportionally regardless of graphics settings. The divergence appears between 1440p and 4K, where Low and Medium show roughly 20% drops but High shows 26% and Ultra shows 45%. This is the signature of a system where the CPU caps performance at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, particularly at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Allods Online?

A: The data suggests partial CPU limitation at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 168 FPS, but at 4K Low it still reaches 116 FPS, indicating the CPU is not fully capping performance. However, the consistent 14% FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p across all settings implies the CPU is limiting scaling at these resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with FPS dropping to 51.

Q: What is the best settings preset for smooth gameplay at 4K?

A: At 4K, Medium settings provide the best balance with an average of 106 FPS and a minimum of 90 FPS. Low settings slightly improve the average to 116 FPS but without min/max data to confirm consistency. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 51 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings at 4K average 81 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom than Medium.

Q: How does this combo compare to the CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254 is within 0.4% of its nearest rivals. 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). These differences are negligible for gaming performance.

Q: Does the RTX 4090 perform as expected in this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 60347 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, and it performs within 2.9% of its nearest rivals in synthetic tests. However, in Allods Online at 4K Ultra, the 51 FPS average is underwhelming for a flagship GPU, indicating the game's engine limits performance rather than the GPU itself.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 153 at 1080p to 132 at 1440p, then to 106 at 4K. This represents a 31% total reduction from 1080p to 4K. The minimum FPS also drops from 130 at 1080p to 112 at 1440p and 90 at 4K, maintaining a stable gap between average and minimum across resolutions.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1440p or 4K gaming in Allods Online?

A: At 1440p, the combo achieves 110 FPS average on High settings and 92 FPS on Ultra, both of which are smooth. At 4K, High settings drop to 81 FPS and Ultra to 51 FPS. The data suggests 1440p Ultra is the sweet spot, offering 92 FPS average, while 4K requires Medium settings or below to maintain 60+ FPS. The 1440p Low setting reaches 144 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate displays.