Fivem

The data for Fivem with an Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shows a system where the CPU is a significant bottleneck at lower resolutions. This pairing places a 10th-generation 6-core processor ahead of a flagship 50-series GPU, resulting in a performance profile that inverts the typical relationship between resolution and frame rate. The measured frames per second across the tested settings and resolutions provide a clear picture of a system constrained by its processor, especially when the graphical load is light.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is surprisingly mild for a GPU as powerful as the RTX 5090. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 222.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 196.2 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 12%. The decline continues to 141.9 FPS at 3840x2160, which represents a 36% drop from the 1080p result. This is a shallow curve for a GPU that is clearly capable of far higher output, indicating that the processor is limiting the system's maximum frame rate even at 1080p.

The pattern becomes more defined when examining the High preset. Here, the system produces 189.4 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 85.8 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is a substantial 45% drop, which is much steeper than the 18% drop seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p. This suggests that while the CPU still limits performance at 1080p and 1440p, the GPU begins to take on a more significant role as the resolution increases to 4K, where the pixel workload becomes more demanding.

The Ultra preset shows the most pronounced resolution scaling. The average FPS falls from 171.3 at 1080p to 122.3 at 1440p, and then to 70 at 4K. The 43% decline from 1440p to 4K is even more severe than the High preset, confirming that the RTX 5090 is finally becoming the limiting factor at this extreme setting. The data indicates that at 4K Ultra, the system is likely GPU-bound, whereas at lower resolutions and settings, the i5-10400F prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential.

This behavior is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck. The 1080p Low result of 222.5 FPS is likely near the practical ceiling for this processor in Fivem, regardless of the GPU's theoretical capability. The fact that the 4K Low result of 141.9 FPS is still substantially higher than the 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS shows that the GPU has ample headroom when the graphics settings are reduced, but the CPU's frame pacing becomes the primary constraint.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 189.4 FPS, which is only 15% lower than the Low preset's 222.5 FPS, yet provides a significant visual upgrade. At 1440p, High produces 156 FPS, a figure that remains well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on high-end monitors. Even at 4K, the High preset's 85.8 FPS is a playable and smooth result for a multiplayer title.

The Medium preset presents a less compelling case. At 1080p, it achieves 207.3 FPS, which is 9% higher than High, but the visual difference between Medium and High is often more noticeable than the frame rate gain. At 1440p, the Medium preset's 175.6 FPS is only 13% higher than High's 156 FPS, a marginal improvement that does not justify the reduction in graphical fidelity. At 4K, Medium's 106.4 FPS is a 24% improvement over High, but the absolute frame rate is still high enough that the superior image quality of High is likely the better choice.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this configuration. While it achieves 171.3 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 122.3 FPS at 1440p and 70 FPS at 4K. The performance cost of Ultra is substantial, particularly at higher resolutions, and the stability of frame times is likely to suffer. The data shows that High is the sweet spot, providing a 4K frame rate of 85.8 FPS that is 23% higher than Ultra's 70 FPS, while also offering a smoother experience at 1080p and 1440p. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates on high-refresh monitors, the Low preset at 1440p (196.2 FPS) or 1080p (222.5 FPS) remains an option, but the visual compromise is significant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168. The data from Fivem suggests that this processor's single-threaded performance is the primary limiting factor. The 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453 are moderate figures that struggle to feed the RTX 5090 with enough data.

The nearest rivals for the i5-10400F, based on average score, include the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% faster), the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% slower), and the Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% slower). These deltas are minuscule, indicating that the i5-10400F is a mid-pack performer in the broader CPU landscape. In Fivem, a game that often relies on a few primary threads for simulation and physics, the 12 threads are less critical than the per-core speed. The benchmark results confirm this, as the 3DMark 2-thread score of 1350 is nearly 72% of the 8-thread score of 3929, showing that scaling beyond a few cores yields diminishing returns.

The 12 MB of shared L3 cache is a modest amount, and the 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth is standard for DDR4. These factors contribute to the CPU's inability to maintain high frame rates when the GPU is underutilized. The fact that the 1080p Low setting yields 222.5 FPS but the 1080p Ultra setting yields 171.3 FPS suggests that the CPU can generate frames up to a point, but the extra work required for Ultra settings, even if GPU-driven, still depends on the CPU to dispatch draw calls and manage the game world. The core count of 6 is adequate for modern gaming, but the architecture's IPC and clock speed limitations are evident in this specific pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate this system achieves in Fivem?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 222.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This appears to be the practical ceiling for this CPU-GPU combination, as even at 4K with Low settings, the system still manages 141.9 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its closest rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, placing it in the 73rd percentile. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, scores 14115, which is 0.4% slower. The AMD Ryzen 3 7320C is 0.8% faster with a score of 14277, and the Intel Core i5-8500 is 1.1% faster with a score of 14332.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 being fully utilized in this system?

A: The data suggests it is not, especially at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 222.5 FPS, but at 4K Low, it still manages 141.9 FPS. The modest drop in frame rate with a 4x increase in pixel count indicates that the CPU is the bottleneck, preventing the GPU from working harder.

Q: What settings should be used for 4K gaming on this system?

A: The High preset is the recommended choice for 4K, as it delivers an average of 85.8 FPS. The Medium preset offers 106.4 FPS, but the visual quality reduction is significant. The Ultra preset drops to 70 FPS, which is noticeably less smooth.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance affect Fivem?

A: The i5-10400F scores 10297 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4324 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. These scores indicate good overall throughput, but Fivem's performance is more dependent on single-thread speed. The 3DMark single-thread score of 688 is the more relevant metric for this game, as the frame rate data shows a clear CPU limitation.

Q: What is the performance gap between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 196.2 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 122.3 FPS. This represents a 60% performance advantage for Low over Ultra, but the visual difference is substantial. The High preset at 156 FPS is a middle ground that balances both factors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with a chip size of 750 mm² and 92,200 million transistors. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU's boost clock is 2407 MHz, and it has 21760 shading units. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14411 and Passmark G3D score of 39650 place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84306. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, is only 0.1% slower, while the RTX 5050 Mobile is 0.2% faster, showing the 5090's position at the top of the performance stack.

Despite this immense capability, the measured FPS in Fivem shows that the GPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS is the clearest indicator of GPU-bound performance, as this setting demands the most from the pixel pipeline and memory bandwidth. The 4K High result of 85.8 FPS and 4K Medium result of 106.4 FPS show how the GPU's performance scales with settings, but the 4K Low result of 141.9 FPS is still lower than the 1080p Low result of 222.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU is still holding back the GPU even at 4K.

The RTX 5090's 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are more than sufficient for Fivem's requirements. The GPU's Passmark DirectX 12 score of 185 and DirectX 11 score of 341 indicate its API efficiency, but these numbers are not directly translating into frame rate gains in this title due to the processor constraint. The data shows that the GPU has significant headroom; when the settings are reduced at 1080p, the frame rate increases, but it hits a wall around 222.5 FPS. This is a CPU limit, not a GPU limit. The RTX 5090 is effectively waiting for the i5-10400F to provide it with work, which is a common issue when pairing a high-end GPU with a mid-range older CPU.