Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 presents an extreme stress test for the Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B370. The measured frame rates place this combo at rank 2685 out of 2920 tested configurations, indicating that this system is positioned near the bottom of the performance hierarchy for this specific title. The data shows a fundamental imbalance where the GPU’s capabilities limit the experience across all tested resolutions and settings, making this configuration suitable primarily for low-resolution, low-detail play.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combo in Cyberpunk 2077?

A: The combination ranks 2685th out of 2920 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low percentile is driven by the Intel Arc B370’s 5th percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU performs much more respectably at the 83rd percentile.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370’s average benchmark score is 1184, which is virtually identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, 0.2% faster) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, 0.5% faster). It is slightly ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% slower), placing it in very dated performance territory.

Q: What is the best average FPS achievable with this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 45 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that approaches playability, as the next best result is 33 FPS at the same resolution with Medium settings.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279. It is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, 0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, 0.2% faster). It outperforms the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, -0.2% slower) and Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, 0.5% faster) by very narrow margins.

Q: Does the GPU have dedicated VRAM?

A: No, the Intel Arc B370 uses "System Shared" memory, meaning its frame buffer is shared with the system’s main memory. Its memory bandwidth is also "System Dependent," which means performance scales with the speed of the host system’s RAM configuration.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 45 FPS on Low settings to 23 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 49% performance reduction when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the dominant performance bottleneck in this pairing. The data confirms this through its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all legacy ATI/AMD parts from over a decade ago, indicating that the Arc B370’s compute capabilities are extremely modest for a modern title like Cyberpunk 2077.

The GPU’s architecture is Xe3-LPG on Intel’s 3 nm process, with a boost clock of 2400 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. It features 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, figures that are consistent with a low-power integrated graphics part rather than a discrete gaming card.

Critically, the Arc B370 has no dedicated VRAM. Its memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." For Cyberpunk 2077, a game known for heavy texture streaming and large asset loading, relying on shared system memory severely impacts frame pacing and average FPS. The measured results show this clearly: at 4K Ultra, the combo averages 11 FPS, and at 4K High it manages only 12 FPS.

The GPU’s TDP is just 25 W, and it is classified as an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with no power connectors required. Its 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is minimal for a game of this scope. The data shows that even at the lowest resolution and settings tested (1080p Low), the average FPS is only 45, which is below the 60 FPS target most players consider smooth. This indicates the GPU is saturated even in the least demanding scenario measured.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F presents a stark contrast to the GPU in terms of relative performance. It sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32279. This is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 provide ample bandwidth for feeding a more capable GPU.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233) and Intel Core i9-11900 (32226), both of which it edges out by 0.1% to 0.2%. It also slightly beats the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121) by 0.5%. These results show that the i5-14400F is a solid mid-range performer, with multi-core scores like 21645 in Cinebench R23 and 9090 in Cinebench R20.

In the context of Cyberpunk 2077, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor. The measured FPS scales almost linearly with resolution and settings reductions, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. For instance, at 1080p, dropping from High to Low settings increases average FPS from 24 to 45, a 21 FPS jump. At 1440p, the same settings change yields a 15 FPS increase (18 to 33). If the CPU were the bottleneck, these gaps would be much smaller because the CPU would be unable to feed frames faster regardless of GPU load.

The CPU’s 16 threads and high boost clock are more than sufficient for Cyberpunk 2077’s game logic and NPC AI. The data shows that even at the highest CPU load scenarios, the system’s frame rates are dictated by the Arc B370’s rendering limits. The i5-14400F is effectively idle waiting for the GPU to finish its work, making any CPU-focused upgrade irrelevant for this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 2685 out of 2920 places this system in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations for Cyberpunk 2077. This ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s 5th percentile standing. The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking suggests that, if paired with a more capable graphics card, this system could perform dramatically better.

Looking at the measured FPS, the combo’s best-case scenario is 45 FPS at 1080p Low. This is a playable but far from ideal experience for a fast-paced action RPG. The data shows that 97% of tested combos perform better, which underscores how severely the GPU limits the overall experience. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability but rather a demonstration of how a powerful processor cannot compensate for an underpowered graphics solution.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU percentiles (83 vs 5) creates a highly unbalanced system. In practical terms, this means the i5-14400F is capable of far more than the Arc B370 can deliver. Benchmark results indicate that any improvement in frame rate would require a GPU upgrade, as the current card is operating at its absolute limit even in the least demanding scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a consistent pattern of GPU-bound performance. From 1080p to 4K, the average FPS drops significantly at every settings level, which is expected, but the magnitude of the drop highlights the GPU’s severe limitations.

At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 45 at 1080p to 33 at 1440p and then to 22 at 4K. That is a 51% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the drop is from 24 to 18 to 12 FPS, a 50% reduction. The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 33 to 24 to 16 FPS. The Ultra preset goes from 23 to 17 to 11 FPS.

The fact that the relative performance drop is consistent across all settings—roughly halving from 1080p to 4K—indicates that the GPU is the sole limiting factor. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the frame rate would not degrade as much at higher resolutions because the GPU would be doing more work per frame while the CPU load remains constant. Here, the GPU’s fillrate and shader throughput are simply insufficient to handle the increased pixel count.

The data also shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K for most settings. For example, at Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 12 FPS (45 to 33), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 11 FPS (33 to 22). This near-linear scaling suggests that the Arc B370’s memory bandwidth (system dependent) and compute resources are equally taxed across the resolution range, with no single stage providing a disproportionate penalty.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s capabilities across 12 distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 45 FPS, Medium averages 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 and maximum of 38, High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium represents a 27% performance loss, while the drop from High to Ultra is minimal at just 1 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are significantly lower. Low settings produce 33 FPS, Medium produces 24 FPS (minimum 21, maximum 28), High produces 18 FPS, and Ultra produces 17 FPS. The relative scaling between settings is similar to 1080p, with Low being the only playable option. The difference between High and Ultra remains negligible at 1 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unusable. Low settings average 22 FPS, Medium averages 16 FPS (minimum 14, maximum 19), High averages 12 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 6 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is just 1 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s shader cores are overwhelmed at 4K, with any settings reduction providing only marginal relief.

The minimum FPS data shows that frame pacing is inconsistent. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 28 FPS versus an average of 33 FPS, a 15% variance. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 21 FPS versus an average of 24 FPS, a 12.5% variance. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 14 FPS versus an average of 16 FPS, a 12.5% variance. These numbers indicate that the system can experience noticeable stutters, particularly in crowded scenes or during combat.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable configuration for a playable experience is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which yields an average of 45 FPS. This is the only preset that approaches the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so only at the lowest resolution tested. The data shows that this combo cannot maintain 30 FPS at 1440p on any setting, with the best result being 33 FPS at Low.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the 1080p Low preset is the clear recommendation. It provides a 12 FPS advantage over the next best option (1080p Medium at 33 FPS), and it is the only configuration that stays above 30 FPS consistently. The 1080p Medium preset is the second-best option, offering 33 FPS average, but the minimum of 28 FPS may cause noticeable dips during intense action.

The 1440p resolution is not recommended for this combo. Even at Low settings, the average FPS is only 33, which is borderline playable but will result in frequent frame drops. The 4K resolution is entirely unsuitable, with all settings producing averages below 22 FPS, which is well below the threshold for a smooth gaming experience.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset provides negligible benefit over High at any resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 1 FPS (23 vs 24). At 1440p, it is also 1 FPS (17 vs 18). At 4K, it remains 1 FPS (11 vs 12). This indicates that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not effectively utilizing the GPU’s limited resources, so opting for High settings would yield essentially the same performance with potentially better visual stability.

In summary, the measured rows indicate that 1080p Low is the only sensible choice for this hardware combination. Users should avoid Medium or higher settings at any resolution if they wish to maintain a playable frame rate. The system is best suited for low-detail gaming at 1080p, and any attempt to increase quality will result in sub-30 FPS performance.