Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 remains one of the most demanding titles in the benchmark database, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the Intel Arc B580 produces a distinctive performance curve. The data shows a system that is heavily constrained by graphics load at higher resolutions, yet reveals a capable mid-range combination at 1080p when settings are managed correctly. The Arc B580's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are clearly working hard here, but the results indicate that the 6-core, 6-thread i5-9400 is not the primary limiting factor in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent drop as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average frame rate falls from 46.4 FPS to 34.1 FPS, a reduction of roughly 26%. The transition from 1440p to 3840x2160 at High settings is even more punishing, with the average dropping from 34.1 FPS to just 20.6 FPS, a further 40% loss. This pattern strongly indicates that the Intel Arc B580 is the performance ceiling at 4K, as the CPU has far less geometry and draw-call work to manage at lower resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling behavior shifts noticeably. The 1080p result of 80.9 FPS is more than double the 4K result of 41.4 FPS, which shows that the GPU is still the bottleneck even when pixel fill rate demands are reduced. However, the gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is smaller in percentage terms than at High, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute units are being saturated in different ways. The 1440p Low result of 61.5 FPS versus the 4K Low result of 41.4 FPS represents a 33% drop, which is less severe than the 40% drop seen at High settings. This implies that at lower quality presets, the game becomes less reliant on raw shader throughput and more dependent on other GPU subsystems.

The Ultra preset data further confirms the GPU-bound nature of this combination. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 46.2 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 1080p High result of 46.4 FPS. This near-flat performance between High and Ultra at 1080p suggests that the Arc B580 is hitting a hard limit around 46 FPS regardless of minor settings adjustments, pointing to a driver or architectural ceiling rather than a traditional shader bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the 24.3 FPS average is only slightly better than the 4K High result, reinforcing that high-resolution Cyberpunk 2077 is simply beyond the comfortable reach of this GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 brings 6 cores and 6 threads with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In the context of Cyberpunk 2077, which is known for heavy single-threaded and multi-threaded demands, this processor shows its age but does not collapse. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 place this CPU at the 50th percentile among all tested processors, meaning it sits exactly in the middle of the pack. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 0.2% higher, and the Intel Xeon E-2134, which is 0.4% ahead, indicating that the i5-9400 is competitive with entry-level modern chips.

Benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the primary constraint at 1080p, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The 1080p Medium result of 61.2 FPS versus the 1440p Medium result of 49.8 FPS shows a 19% drop, which is less severe than the High preset drop of 26%. This suggests that at lower settings, the game's CPU overhead becomes relatively more important, but even then, the i5-9400's six physical cores are sufficient to feed the Arc B580 without dropping below playable thresholds. The lack of hyper-threading is notable, as the 6-thread configuration can cause stutter in some modern titles, but the measured data does not show catastrophic frame time issues.

The 65W TDP of the i5-9400 is modest, and its 9 MB of shared L3 cache is adequate for this workload. The CPU's memory support for DDR4 at dual-channel with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth is a potential bottleneck in theory, but the FPS data suggests that memory bandwidth is not the limiting factor here. The GPU's 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than ten times higher, so the CPU's memory subsystem is unlikely to starve the graphics card. The combination of a 50th-percentile CPU with a 66th-percentile GPU (based on the Arc B580's percentileVsAllGpus of 66) means the system is reasonably balanced for 1080p gaming, with the GPU having slightly more headroom than the CPU.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 strong enough for the Intel Arc B580 in Cyberpunk 2077?

A: Yes, the data shows the CPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p High, the i5-9400's 6-core/6-thread configuration delivers 46.4 FPS, and at 1440p High it achieves 34.1 FPS. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 places it at the 50th percentile, which is sufficient to keep the Arc B580 fed, as evidenced by the GPU-bound scaling pattern.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Cyberpunk 2077?

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets are playable. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 80.9 FPS, and even at 1080p Ultra it maintains 46.2 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings (61.5 FPS) reach a smooth 60 FPS threshold, while 4K results are consistently below 42 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in this context?

A: The Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (23181), but 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon 760M (22999). This means the B580 performs essentially on par with those cards in synthetic tests, though the Cyberpunk 2077 measured data shows it demanding careful settings management.

Q: Why does the 1080p Ultra result (46.2 FPS) differ so little from the 1080p High result (46.4 FPS)?

A: The near-identical scores suggest the Arc B580 hits a performance ceiling around 46 FPS at 1080p regardless of the quality preset. This is likely due to a driver or architectural limit in the Xe2-HPG design, rather than a traditional compute bottleneck, as the pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s should theoretically support higher frame rates.

Q: Is ray tracing performance relevant for this combo?

A: The Arc B580 has 20 RT cores, but the measured FPS data in the FACT PACK does not include any ray tracing benchmarks. The standard rasterization results show that even without ray tracing, 4K performance is poor, so enabling ray tracing would likely be impractical based on the GPU's overall capability.

Q: Should I worry about the i5-9400's lack of hyper-threading?

A: The 6-thread configuration is a limitation on paper, but the benchmark data shows the CPU holding up well. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 61.2 FPS, and the single-core Cinebench score of 1125 is adequate for Cyberpunk 2077's AI and physics workloads. The 50th percentile ranking confirms it is an average performer, not a weak link.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to 1920x1080 as the only resolution where this combination delivers a consistently playable experience across all presets. At 1080p Low, the average of 80.9 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making this the smoothest option for competitive or fast-paced play. However, the jump to 1080p Medium (61.2 FPS) is the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while offering significantly better textures and effects than Low.

For users with 1440p monitors, the data shows that only the Low preset (61.5 FPS) is viable for smooth gameplay. The 1440p Medium result of 49.8 FPS is borderline, and the High (34.1 FPS) and Ultra (33.6 FPS) presets are too demanding for this GPU. The recommendation is to stick with Low settings at 1440p for a 60 FPS experience, or accept a drop to 30-40 FPS for higher visual fidelity. At 4K, all presets fall below 42 FPS, with the best result being Low at 41.4 FPS. This is not recommended for serious play, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain a stable 30 FPS in demanding scenes.

The Ultra preset is effectively a trap for this combo. At 1080p Ultra, the 46.2 FPS average is barely above the High preset's 46.4 FPS, meaning the extra graphical features provide no measurable performance benefit but likely add visual improvements that are hard to notice at lower frame rates. The data supports using Medium as the default preset at 1080p, and Low at 1440p, to maximize frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B580 ranks 1314 out of 1710 tested combos in Cyberpunk 2077, placing it in the bottom 23% of all systems in the database. This ranking is surprisingly low given that both components sit near the median of their respective pools, but it reflects the game's extreme GPU demands and the CPU's age. The i5-9400's 50th percentile CPU ranking and the Arc B580's 66th percentile GPU ranking should theoretically place this combo higher, but the measured FPS data shows that Cyberpunk 2077 is particularly punishing for this hardware pairing.

The low rank is driven primarily by the 4K and 1440p results, which are consistently below 40 FPS for most presets. Even at 1080p, the system cannot break 81 FPS, which puts it well behind combinations featuring higher-end CPUs or GPUs. The Arc B580's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which scores 0.7% higher on average, and the RTX 4060 Mobile, which scores 1.3% higher. In real-world Cyberpunk 2077 performance, these small synthetic differences are likely amplified, explaining why this combo sits in the lower quartile.

For context, the CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% higher average score) and the Intel Core i7-8809G (0.6% lower average score). The fact that the i5-9400 is competitive with these chips suggests that the CPU is not the primary reason for the low combo rank. Instead, the data indicates that the Arc B580, while a solid mid-range GPU in synthetic benchmarks, struggles with Cyberpunk 2077's specific rendering requirements, particularly at higher resolutions where its 12 GB memory buffer and 192-bit bus are insufficient for the game's texture and geometry demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results across all settings. The Low preset averages 80.9 FPS, which is the only setting above 80 FPS. Medium drops to 61.2 FPS, still above the 60 FPS threshold. High and Ultra are nearly identical at 46.4 FPS and 46.2 FPS respectively, showing a hard cap around 46 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 34.7 FPS, or a 43% reduction in frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 61.5 FPS, which is just playable. Medium falls to 49.8 FPS, High to 34.1 FPS, and Ultra to 33.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 27.9 FPS, a 45% reduction. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra is only 0.5 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional features do not meaningfully impact this GPU at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low settings average 41.4 FPS, Medium drops to 30.7 FPS, High to 20.6 FPS, and Ultra to 24.3 FPS. The Ultra result being higher than High is an anomaly in the data, suggesting possible measurement variance or driver scheduling quirks, but both are well below playable thresholds. The difference between Low and Ultra is 17.1 FPS, a 41% reduction, showing that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K regardless of settings. Across all resolutions, the Low preset provides the highest frame rates, while Medium offers the best balance of performance and visual quality, and High/Ultra are only recommended at 1080p where the 46 FPS average is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay.