Fortnite

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 lands at rank 1258 out of 1564 tested combinations in Fortnite. That places this setup in the lower third of the database, which is a sobering starting point for a system built around a 2021 CPU and a 2019 GPU. The data shows this combo is functional but far from competitive at the top end of the leaderboard.

The CPU itself performs admirably in synthetic tests, sitting at the 75th percentile among all processors. Its average benchmark score of 17181 is essentially neck-and-neck with its nearest rivals: the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U scores 17189 (a delta of 0%), the Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17212 (-0.2%), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U also scores 17215 (-0.2%). The Intel Core i5-1240U trails slightly at 17141 (+0.2% relative to the i5-11400F). This clustering indicates that the 11400F's six cores and twelve threads deliver throughput that is competitive with mobile and low-power parts, but the desktop chip's real advantage lies in sustained performance rather than peak synthetic numbers.

The GPU tells a different story. The RTX 2060 sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7600S at 15996 (+0.5% for the RTX 2060), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 both at 16351 (-1.7%), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 15786 (+1.8%). This places the RTX 2060 in a mid-range tier, which is consistent with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, but the data confirms it is not a high-end part.

In Fortnite specifically, the combination of a mid-tier GPU and a solid but not exceptional CPU produces results that are playable at lower settings but struggle at higher presets. The rank of 1258 out of 1564 suggests that a significant portion of tested combos outperform this pairing, which is expected given the age of both components. The CPU's 75th percentile standing cannot compensate for the GPU's 58th percentile position when the game is heavily graphics-bound at higher settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across resolutions and presets reveals a clear sweet spot for this combination. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 189.5 FPS average, which is more than enough for competitive play. Medium drops to 133.5 FPS, still excellent, while High falls to 104.2 FPS and Ultra bottoms out at 67.5 FPS. For players prioritizing frame rate, Low at 1080p is the obvious choice, but Medium offers a better balance between visual fidelity and performance without dipping below the 130 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. Low delivers 121.1 FPS, which is respectable, but Medium drops to 82.9 FPS and High to 63.3 FPS. Ultra is nearly unplayable at 44.3 FPS. The data suggests that 1440p users should stick with Low or Medium, as High and Ultra introduce frame rates that fall below the 60 FPS mark, which is generally considered the minimum for smooth gameplay in a battle royale.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes dire. Low manages 61.2 FPS, which is just above the playable threshold, but Medium drops to 47.5 FPS, High to 32.9 FPS, and Ultra to 26.1 FPS. The recommendation is clear: if 4K is a requirement, Low is the only viable preset, and even then, the frame rate hovers near the edge of acceptability. For most users, the best experience is achieved at 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers 133.5 FPS and provides a substantial visual upgrade over Low while maintaining a high refresh rate.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the progression is 189.5 FPS at 1080p, 121.1 FPS at 1440p, and 61.2 FPS at 4K. That is a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 49% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 2060's 6 GB memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth become the bottleneck as pixel count increases.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds: 133.5 FPS at 1080p, 82.9 FPS at 1440p, and 47.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 38%, and from 1440p to 4K is 43%. High settings show 104.2 FPS at 1080p, 63.3 FPS at 1440p, and 32.9 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 39% and 48% respectively. Ultra is the most punishing: 67.5 FPS at 1080p, 44.3 FPS at 1440p, and 26.1 FPS at 4K, representing a 34% drop and then a 41% drop.

The consistent pattern across all presets indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's performance, as measured by its synthetic benchmarks, does not degrade with resolution; it is the GPU's rendering load that scales with pixel count. The RTX 2060's 192-bit memory bus and 6 GB frame buffer are simply not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of settings. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being a stretch at lower presets.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 104.2, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for competitive play?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 189.5 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate for this combo. This is ideal for competitive scenarios where frame rate is prioritized over visual quality.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 61.2 FPS average. At Medium, High, or Ultra, frame rates fall to 47.5, 32.9, and 26.1 FPS respectively, which are below the playable threshold for a fast-paced battle royale.

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

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212). It is effectively tied with these parts in synthetic tests.

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

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) but 1.7% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 (both 16351).

Q: What is the limiting component at 4K?

A: The GPU. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows consistent drops of 34-49% across all presets, which is characteristic of a graphics-bound workload where the RTX 2060's memory bandwidth and capacity become the constraint.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the TU106 chip using the Turing architecture and a 12 nm process from TSMC. It features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation pipelines, along with 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus. This configuration yields a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, which is a critical figure for understanding the 4K performance limitations.

The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory is a significant constraint in Fortnite at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 26.1 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it reaches 67.5 FPS. This 61% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K is directly attributable to the GPU's inability to feed the render pipeline fast enough. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is the bottleneck, not the CPU's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth or its 12 MB of shared L3 cache.

The GPU's transistor count of 10,800 million on a 445 mm² die gives it a density of 24.3M per mm², which is modest by modern standards but was competitive at its 2019 release. The RTX 2060's FP32 performance is 6.451 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.90 TFLOPS (2:1). These figures place it in the mid-range tier, which is consistent with its 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In Fortnite, the GPU's role is dominant. The measured FPS data shows that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at any resolution yields dramatic improvements: at 1080p, the jump is from 67.5 to 189.5 FPS (a 181% increase), and at 4K, it is from 26.1 to 61.2 FPS (a 134% increase). This sensitivity to settings confirms that the RTX 2060 is the primary determinant of performance, and the CPU's 75th percentile standing is more than sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions and presets.