Fivem

Fivem with AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a fascinating case study in bottleneck dynamics, pairing a 73rd-percentile CPU with an 88th-percentile GPU. The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a system where the CPU's Zen 3 architecture, while capable, consistently limits the GPU's vast potential, particularly at lower resolutions where the graphics card is most underutilized.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K shows a clear and dramatic shift in performance, but not in the way one might expect from a flagship GPU. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 228 FPS, which drops to 153 FPS at 1440p, and further to 85 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 63% decrease from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern is remarkably consistent across all settings presets, suggesting a systematic relationship between pixel count and frame rate.

What is most telling is the behavior at 1080p Low settings, where the system reaches 270 FPS. This is the highest measured result in the entire dataset, yet it is only 22% higher than the 1080p High result of 228 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 90 FPS (270 vs 180), but at 4K, that same gap shrinks to 69 FPS (135 vs 66). This compression of the settings delta at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases, while the CPU holds performance back at lower resolutions.

The data suggests that this pairing is heavily CPU-bound at 1080p. The RTX 4090 is capable of far more than 270 FPS in less demanding scenarios, but the Ryzen 5 5500's 6 cores and 12 threads, running at base and boost clocks of 3.60 GHz and 4.20 GHz respectively, appear to be the ceiling. At 4K, the scales tip toward the GPU, as the 66 FPS Ultra result at 4K is 63% lower than the 180 FPS Ultra result at 1080p, illustrating the GPU's workload scaling with resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing smooth gameplay, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 248 FPS with a minimum of 210 FPS and maximum of 285 FPS, providing a 20 FPS improvement over High settings while maintaining a comfortable margin above typical high-refresh-rate displays. At 1440p, Medium hits 191 FPS (minimum 163, maximum 220), which is still exceptionally fluid and only 44 FPS behind the Low preset's 235 FPS.

The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, shows the steepest performance cost. At 4K, Ultra drops to 66 FPS, which is 40 FPS below the High preset's 85 FPS and 69 FPS below Low's 135 FPS. This 49% reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K suggests diminishing returns on visual fidelity for the performance hit. At 1080p, Ultra still manages 180 FPS, but the jump from High to Ultra only gains visual quality at the cost of 48 FPS, a significant sacrifice.

The Low preset at 4K, yielding 135 FPS, is notable for being only 13 FPS less than the High preset at 1440p (153 FPS). This indicates that for users with 4K displays, dropping to Low settings can recover performance comparable to a lower resolution with higher settings. The Medium preset at 4K (106 FPS) provides a strong middle ground, particularly with its measured minimum of 90 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery above typical 60 FPS targets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500's specifications paint a picture of a mid-range processor that is competent but not exceptional. Its 6 cores and 12 threads, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process, deliver a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. The CPU's percentile ranking of 73 against all CPUs places it in the upper-middle tier, but its nearest rivals show how tight the competition is: the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 is 0.1% faster, the Intel Core i5-12500 is 0.4% faster, and the Intel Core i5-11600KF is 0.7% faster, while the Intel Core i7-10700F is 0.5% slower.

In Fivem, a multiplayer game, the CPU's thread management is critical. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5386 and max-thread score of 5411 indicate strong multi-threaded scaling, but the single-thread score of 836 is more modest. The game's engine appears to respond to the CPU's 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, yet the measured results suggest these resources are insufficient to fully feed the RTX 4090.

The evidence of CPU limitation is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 270 FPS. This is only 19% higher than the 4K Low result of 135 FPS, despite a 4x increase in pixel count. In a purely GPU-bound scenario, the 1080p result would be significantly higher relative to 4K. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1645 and 4-thread score of 3151 further suggest that the CPU's per-thread performance is the constraining factor, as Fivem's multiplayer environments often rely heavily on a few primary threads.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 bottlenecking the RTX 4090 in Fivem?

A: Yes, the data strongly indicates this. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 270 FPS, while at 4K Low it produces 135 FPS. The relatively small gap between these resolutions, despite a 4x pixel difference, suggests the CPU is limiting performance at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maximize frame rate?

A: 1080p provides the highest frame rates, with the Low preset reaching 270 FPS and Medium reaching 248 FPS. However, the CPU's limitation means the RTX 4090 cannot fully stretch its legs, and 1440p Medium (191 FPS) offers a better balance of resolution and speed.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score is 19593, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19617), 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-12500 (19668), and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723), but 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i7-10700F (19499).

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a playable experience at 4K?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 66 FPS. While this is above the 60 FPS threshold, it is a significant drop from High settings (85 FPS) and may not be ideal for competitive multiplayer where higher frame rates are beneficial.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, it ranges from 210 to 285 FPS with an average of 248. At 1440p, it ranges from 163 to 220 FPS with an average of 191. At 4K, it ranges from 90 to 122 FPS with an average of 106. This suggests stable frame pacing.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347, which is 0% different from the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326), 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60140), 2.9% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58657), and 2.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61896).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth, with 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, and its boost clock of 2520 MHz drives a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. The GPU's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is staggering, yet in Fivem, the measured results show it is often waiting on the CPU.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 88 against all GPUs is high, but its nearest rivals in the database are professional and workstation cards, not gaming GPUs. The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches its average score exactly (0% delta), while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% faster in synthetic benchmarks. This is unusual for a flagship consumer card and suggests the benchmark database's comparison set is not fully representative of gaming performance.

In Fivem, the GPU's role becomes more prominent as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the 66 FPS result is likely GPU-bound, given the massive pixel workload. The GPU's 24 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for any settings at any resolution, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor. The memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) and the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not bottleneck the rendering pipeline.

The data reveals a GPU that is capable of far more than the CPU allows. At 1080p, the RTX 4090 is effectively idling, with the CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 5386 suggesting a processing ceiling that the game's engine hits before the GPU can be fully utilized. The GPU's raw compute power, evidenced by its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance, remains largely untapped in this pairing, particularly at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 270 FPS, Medium produces 248 FPS (minimum 210, maximum 285), High produces 228 FPS, and Ultra produces 180 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 90 FPS, with each settings tier costing approximately 20-30 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 210 FPS ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above 144 Hz.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down significantly. Low settings yield 235 FPS, Medium yields 191 FPS (minimum 163, maximum 220), High yields 153 FPS, and Ultra yields 119 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 116 FPS, larger than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to take on more work. The Medium preset's minimum of 163 FPS still keeps the experience smooth for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload dominates. Low settings produce 135 FPS, Medium produces 106 FPS (minimum 90, maximum 122), High produces 85 FPS, and Ultra produces 66 FPS. The Low to Ultra gap is 69 FPS, smaller than at lower resolutions, because the GPU is now the primary bottleneck. Even at 4K Low, the frame rate is respectable, but the 66 FPS Ultra result shows the demands of 4K with maximum settings.

The pattern across all resolutions shows that Medium settings offer the most consistent experience, with measured minimums that are close to the averages. At 1080p, the minimum is 15% below the average; at 1440p, it is 15% below; at 4K, it is 15% below. This consistency suggests that the Medium preset avoids the extreme performance swings seen with other settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 205th out of 3707 tested combos in Fivem, placing it in the top 5.5% of all configurations. This rank is surprisingly high given the CPU's mid-range positioning, but the GPU's immense power compensates for the CPU's limitations, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU does most of the work.

The rank of 205 out of 3707 suggests that while this combo is strong, there are 204 other configurations that achieve better performance in Fivem. These likely include pairings with faster CPUs that can better feed the RTX 4090, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU bottleneck is most pronounced. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking against all CPUs, combined with the GPU's 88th percentile, creates an imbalance that holds the combo back from the top tiers.

The data implies that the combo's rank could be improved by pairing the RTX 4090 with a stronger CPU. The Ryzen 5 5500's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-12500 (0.4% faster) or the Intel Core i5-11600KF (0.7% faster), might yield marginal improvements, but a more significant CPU upgrade would likely be needed to see substantial rank gains. The 205th rank out of 3707 is respectable, but the system's performance is clearly limited by the CPU in Fivem's multiplayer environment, where frame rates above 200 FPS at 1080p are common for top-tier combos.