Fortnite

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER presents a compelling dataset for Fortnite, a Battle Royale title that scales dramatically across resolutions and settings. The measured FPS reveals a system that is exceptionally strong at high refresh rates but shows distinct bottlenecks as graphical load increases. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics, focusing on how the resolution, GPU, and CPU each influence the final frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and clearly illustrates the shifting balance of power between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 427.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings reduces this to 273.9 FPS, a substantial decrease that suggests the GPU is beginning to take on more work. At 4K Low, the average FPS plummets further to 144.8 FPS. This trajectory indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is capable of feeding frames at a rate that the GPU can process, but the GPU becomes the primary limiter as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced with higher settings. At 1440p High, the average is 150.3 FPS, while at 4K High, it drops to 81.2 FPS. This represents a 46% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings. The Ultra preset shows the most extreme scaling, with a 99.2 FPS average at 1440p collapsing to 50.6 FPS at 4K. This 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, indicating that the combination of maximum visual fidelity and high pixel count creates a workload that is heavily GPU-bound, pushing the RTX 4080 SUPER to its limits.

The data shows that the system is not purely GPU-limited at all times. At 1080p Low, the 427.2 FPS average is exceptionally high, and the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (427.2 to 153.5 FPS) is less severe than at higher resolutions. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is keeping pace, and the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased graphical complexity. However, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens at 1440p (273.9 vs 99.2 FPS) and 4K (144.8 vs 50.6 FPS), confirming that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the determining factor for performance at these higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its characteristics directly influence the frame rates observed. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a substantial memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is crucial for handling the high-resolution textures and assets in Fortnite at 4K. The data indicates that the GPU's memory subsystem is not a bottleneck, as performance scales consistently with resolution, rather than hitting a wall due to memory capacity or speed.

Clock speeds are a key indicator of the GPU's behavior. The base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2550 MHz are relatively high, and the benchmark results show the GPU is capable of sustained high performance. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS is a theoretical metric, but the measured FPS at 1440p High (150.3) and 4K High (81.2) demonstrates practical, real-world capability. The GPU's 80 RT cores are present, though Fortnite's standard rendering path doesn't heavily utilize ray tracing in these measurements.

The GPU's role is most clearly defined at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 50.6. This is a demanding scenario, and the result shows that even a high-end card like the RTX 4080 SUPER cannot maintain high refresh rates at maximum settings and 4K resolution. The GPU is the definitive limiting component here. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the GPU is underutilized, as the 427.2 FPS result is far above what most displays can show, indicating the frame rate is likely capped by the CPU or game engine's internal limits rather than the GPU's raw power.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F plays a supporting role in this configuration, but its performance is critical for achieving the highest frame rates. With 10 cores and 16 threads, and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, the CPU provides substantial processing power. The benchmark results show the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. At 4K High, the 81.2 FPS average is determined by the GPU's rendering speed, not the CPU's ability to issue draw calls.

However, the CPU's influence becomes apparent at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 427.2 FPS is exceptionally high, and it suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach this level. The single-core performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093, is strong and contributes to the game's ability to process game logic and physics at high speed. The multi-core score of 21914 in the same test indicates that the 10-core processor can handle background tasks and the game's multi-threaded aspects without causing frame drops.

The CPU's role is to ensure the GPU is never starved of work. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's performance is sufficient to keep the GPU busy, as evidenced by the high frame rates. The data suggests that the i5-14400F is a capable partner for the RTX 4080 SUPER, allowing the GPU to perform to its full potential at most settings. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 or DDR5 memory provide a solid foundation, though the specific memory configuration is not detailed in this data.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve in Fortnite?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 427.2, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 50.6, which is the lowest result in the dataset and indicates a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 427.2 FPS result suggests the CPU is the primary limiter, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames faster, but the frame rate is likely capped by the CPU's processing speed.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, High settings yield an average of 150.3 FPS, while Ultra settings yield 99.2 FPS, a difference of 51.1 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K High result compare to the 1440p High result?

A: The 4K High average is 81.2 FPS, which is about 54% of the 1440p High average of 150.3 FPS, showing a significant performance drop with increased resolution.

Q: Based on the data, is this system better suited for high-refresh-rate gaming or high-resolution gaming?

A: The data shows exceptional performance at 1080p and 1440p, with averages above 150 FPS at High settings, making it well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, at 4K Ultra, the 50.6 FPS average is more aligned with a 60Hz display target.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 82nd out of 1564 tested combos in Fortnite. This places the system in the top 5.2% of all configurations tested, indicating a very high level of overall performance. The ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU and GPU, where the processor provides enough support to allow the graphics card to operate near its full potential in most scenarios.

The GPU itself performs well relative to its peers, with an average benchmark score of 53610, which is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 0.2%. The CPU also holds its own, with an average benchmark score of 32508, which is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H. The combo's strong rank reflects the balance of the components, as neither the CPU nor GPU appears to be a significant weak point in the context of Fortnite's performance demands.

The rank of 82 out of 1564 is notably high, but it is not the absolute top. This suggests that while the RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerful GPU, there are other graphics cards and CPU pairings that can achieve higher frame rates, likely in configurations with more powerful CPUs that can push even higher frame rates at 1080p. The data indicates that this combo is extremely capable for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p and for smooth 4K gaming at High settings, but it is not the absolute peak of performance for this particular game.