Fortnite

Fortnite, a Battle Royale title released in 2017, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical presets. The measured data for the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 reveals a configuration that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions but struggles to maintain fluid frame rates at 4K. The benchmark results indicate a clear hierarchy: lowering settings provides a dramatic performance uplift, making preset selection the most critical factor for optimizing the experience with this hardware combo.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows a steep performance cliff as settings increase, regardless of resolution. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra presets is substantial, with the Low preset achieving an average of 187.3 FPS compared to 70.6 FPS on Ultra. This represents a performance gain of over 165% when moving from the highest to the lowest settings. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, as the frame rates well exceed the refresh rate capabilities of most high-end monitors, providing the smoothest possible experience.

However, for users prioritizing visual fidelity, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers a balanced compromise. It delivers an average of 135.7 FPS, which remains highly playable, while providing a noticeable visual improvement over the Low preset. The High preset at 1080p, with an average of 103.9 FPS, is still viable for 60Hz displays but represents a significant drop from Medium. The Ultra preset at this resolution, averaging 70.6 FPS, is the least advisable for consistent performance, as the frame pacing may suffer in intense combat scenarios.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges but with lower absolute numbers. The Low preset maintains a respectable 121.6 FPS average, making it the optimal choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming. The Medium preset drops to 86.2 FPS, which is still acceptable for a 60-75Hz monitor. The High preset at 68.1 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 43.9 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes critical; even the Low preset only manages an average of 63.5 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 35.8 and 20.5 FPS respectively, rendering the Ultra preset nearly unplayable. The best experience per the measured rows is therefore the Low or Medium preset at 1080p, or Low at 1440p for higher resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, built on the Turing architecture and featuring the TU106 chip, is the primary driver for Fortnite's frame rates. Its memory configuration of 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for the texture loads at 1080p and 1440p. The GPU's boost clock of 1680 MHz, up from a base of 1365 MHz, allows it to scale performance under load. The benchmark results show that the GPU is the dominant factor in this combo, as the frame rates drop consistently when resolution increases, which directly increases the GPU's workload.

The GPU's performance relative to its peers is solid. Its average benchmark score of 16074 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. However, it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7%. This indicates that the RTX 2060 is positioned in a competitive performance tier. In Fortnite, the data shows that the GPU's capability is the limiting factor at 4K, where even the Low preset cannot achieve a consistent 60 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a performance scaling factor of roughly 0.65 across all settings, indicating the GPU's rendering load increases significantly with pixel count.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Fortnite?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. It provides the highest average frame rates across all settings, with the Low preset reaching 187.3 FPS and the Medium preset achieving 135.7 FPS, both of which are ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this setup handle Fortnite at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates that 4K gaming is not viable for a consistently smooth experience. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 63.5 FPS on Low to just 20.5 FPS on Ultra, meaning only the Low preset approaches playability, and even that is marginal.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score is 16074. It performs 0.5% better than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.8% better than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. It is 1.7% slower than both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever recommended for this combo?

A: No. The measured data shows that the Ultra preset produces the lowest frame rates at every resolution. At 1080p it averages 70.6 FPS, at 1440p it drops to 43.9 FPS, and at 4K it falls to a meager 20.5 FPS. The performance cost is too high relative to the visual gain.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 121.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 43.9 FPS. This means the Low preset is approximately 177% faster than the Ultra preset, a massive difference that makes Low the clear choice for competitive play.

Q: Does the GPU's memory bandwidth impact performance in this game?

A: The RTX 2060 has a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s via its 6 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. While this is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, the significant frame rate drop at 4K suggests that the memory bandwidth and capacity are stressed at that higher resolution, contributing to the sub-60 FPS averages.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings.

At 1920x1080, the configuration shows strong performance. The Low preset delivers an average of 187.3 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. Moving up, the Medium preset averages 135.7 FPS, a drop of 51.6 FPS from Low. The High preset averages 103.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 70.6 FPS. The trend shows a clear linear decline in performance as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease considerably. The Low preset is the only one to remain above the 100 FPS threshold, averaging 121.6 FPS. The Medium preset averages 86.2 FPS, followed by the High preset at 68.1 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 43.9 FPS, which is the lowest playable score at this resolution, though it lacks smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. The Low preset averages 63.5 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches a playable level. The Medium preset drops to 44.4 FPS, and the High preset averages 35.8 FPS. The Ultra preset averages only 20.5 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. The data shows that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Fortnite, as even the most performance-oriented preset cannot guarantee a stable 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 1233 out of 1564 tested combos for Fortnite. This places it in the lower 21% of all configurations tested, indicating that while it is not a low-end system, there are many more powerful combos that achieve higher frame rates. This ranking is likely due to the CPU's modest core count and the GPU's mid-range positioning in the current landscape.

The CPU's performance relative to its peers is average. Its average benchmark score is 2305, placing it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs. It is nearly identical in performance to the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, with a deltaPct of 0.2% in its favor. It is also 0.4% faster than the Intel Xeon E-2134 but 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i7-8809G. This indicates that the i5-9400 is a solid, mid-pack processor that does not bottleneck the GPU significantly in most scenarios, but its lower ranking in this specific game suggests that Fortnite may be sensitive to the CPU's 6-core, 6-thread configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 and 256 KB of L2 per core, with a shared 9 MB L3 cache. This CPU supports DDR4 memory via a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. While the CPU's average benchmark score is 2305, its role in Fortnite is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic.

The data shows that the CPU is likely not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the frame rates scale down consistently with resolution, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. At 1920x1080, the CPU must work harder to keep up with the GPU's high frame rates. The jump from 135.7 FPS on Medium to 187.3 FPS on Low suggests that the CPU can handle these frame rates, but the 6-core, 6-thread design may limit performance in complex scenes with many players and building structures. Compared to its rivals, the i5-9400's performance is nearly identical to the i3-10305 and i3-1125G4, indicating that its single-threaded and multi-threaded capabilities are well-balanced for this game. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, and the data suggests that this CPU provides sufficient performance to pair with the RTX 2060 without creating a severe imbalance, although the overall combo ranking indicates that other pairings are more effective.