Fortnite

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates for this Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination in Fortnite show a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution increases, average FPS drops substantially across every settings tier. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 290 FPS average; moving to 1440p Low drops that to 250 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 144 FPS. That progression represents a 13.8% decline from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 42.4% decline from 1440p to 4K.

The same scaling behavior appears at High settings: 232 FPS at 1080p, 149 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35.8%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 47.0%. Medium settings show a similar curve: 255 FPS at 1080p, 193 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding tier, with 155 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K.

The magnitude of these resolution-based declines — especially the large 4K penalties — indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, is clearly being pressed harder as pixel count rises. However, the fact that 1080p Low hits 290 FPS and 1080p Medium still reaches 255 FPS suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU's six cores and six threads are capable of feeding the GPU adequately for most settings.

What is most telling is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (290 FPS) and Ultra (155 FPS) is 135 FPS, or 46.6% lower. At 4K, Low (144 FPS) versus Ultra (52 FPS) is a 63.9% reduction. This widening gap at higher resolutions reinforces that the GPU workload scales more aggressively with settings than with resolution alone.

The data also shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER maintains playable frame rates at 4K Medium (102 FPS average) and 4K High (79 FPS average), but 4K Ultra falls to 52 FPS, which is below the threshold many would consider smooth for a competitive shooter. This pattern suggests that for this game, the GPU is the dominant constraint at 4K Ultra specifically, while at 1080p the combination remains GPU-bound only at the highest settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a transistor count of 45,900 million on a 379 mm² die. Its base clock is 2295 MHz, boosting to 2550 MHz, and it carries 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. These specifications position the GPU firmly in the high-end segment, and the benchmark data confirms it is delivering strong raw performance in Fortnite.

The GPU's 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs provide substantial pixel-pushing capability. Its pixel rate is 285.6 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 816.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS indicates that the card is not compute-limited for this title. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, though Fortnite's measured results do not isolate ray tracing performance in this dataset.

Looking at the measured FPS numbers, the RTX 4080 SUPER is clearly capable of very high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across all settings. At 1080p High, it achieves 232 FPS; at 1440p High, 149 FPS. The 4K results are more modest but still respectable: 79 FPS at High, 102 FPS at Medium, and 144 FPS at Low. The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire measured set.

The GPU's memory subsystem appears sufficient for this game. At no point does the data suggest VRAM capacity or bandwidth becomes a bottleneck — the 16 GB pool is more than adequate for Fortnite's texture and geometry demands even at 4K Ultra. The memory clock of 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective) combined with the 256-bit bus provides the bandwidth needed to sustain high frame rates at 4K Medium and High without stutter.

Given the GPU's percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs, it sits well above average. Its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark database include the RTX 4080 (average score 54247, deltaPct -0.1), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.7), and the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.8). The RTX 4080 SUPER's average score of 54209 places it essentially tied with the RTX 4080 and slightly behind those AMD cards in that specific metric, though the in-game results here show strong performance.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake generation, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy consists of 64 KB L1 per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 9 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR4 in dual-channel configuration, with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141 and single-core of 1389. Its average benchmark score is 2254, placing it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (avg 2259, deltaPct -0.2), the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, +0.3), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, +0.4), and the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, -0.4). These are all closely matched scores, indicating the i5-9400 sits in a dense performance cluster.

For Fortnite specifically, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 290 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to suggest the CPU is keeping up. However, the 1080p Medium result of 255 FPS and 1080p High of 232 FPS show that even at 1440p and 4K, the CPU is not dramatically limiting performance — the large FPS drops with resolution point primarily to GPU scaling.

The six threads may present a limitation in more CPU-intensive scenarios, but the measured data does not show any obvious CPU bottleneck at the settings tested. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides adequate single-thread performance for Fortnite's game logic and physics. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards but appears sufficient for this title's working set.

Comparing the CPU's percentile rank of 47 to the GPU's percentile rank of 86 highlights a significant imbalance: the GPU is far above average while the CPU sits near the middle of the pack. This asymmetry suggests that in CPU-light titles like Fortnite, the combination works well, but in CPU-bound scenarios the i5-9400 would likely hold back the RTX 4080 SUPER.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Fortnite?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 290, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Fortnite?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low it averages 144 FPS, at 4K Medium 102 FPS, at 4K High 79 FPS, and at 4K Ultra only 52 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the standard RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, while the RTX 4080 scores 54247, a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning they are effectively performance equals in that metric.

Q: Is the Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The data does not indicate a severe CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low the combo reaches 290 FPS, and FPS scaling with resolution follows a GPU-bound pattern. However, the CPU's 47th percentile rank versus the GPU's 86th suggests potential limitations in more CPU-intensive games.

Q: What is the lowest measured FPS across all tested settings?

A: The lowest average FPS is 52, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How many combinations does this result rank against in Fortnite?

A: This combo ranks 593 out of 3700 tested combinations, placing it in the top 16% of all tested combos.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which settings offer the best experience for this Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination in Fortnite. The goal is to balance frame rate and visual quality, prioritizing smoothness for a competitive battle royale title.

At 1920x1080, all settings produce playable frame rates. Low averages 290 FPS, Medium 255 FPS, High 232 FPS, and Ultra 155 FPS. For competitive play, Medium offers the best balance — it retains 255 FPS while providing better visual fidelity than Low. High is also viable at 232 FPS if visual quality is preferred over maximum frame rate. Ultra at 155 FPS is smooth but represents a 39.2% drop from Medium, which is a significant sacrifice for marginal visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the picture shifts. Low averages 250 FPS, Medium 193 FPS, High 149 FPS, and Ultra 99 FPS. Medium is the recommended preset here, offering 193 FPS which is well above typical high-refresh monitor rates. High at 149 FPS is still excellent and may be preferred for better image quality. Ultra at 99 FPS is playable but begins to approach the lower end of what competitive players would accept.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. Low averages 144 FPS, Medium 102 FPS, High 79 FPS, and Ultra 52 FPS. For 4K, Medium is the clear recommendation: 102 FPS is smooth, and the visual step up from Low is substantial. High at 79 FPS is acceptable for casual play but may feel less responsive. Ultra at 52 FPS is below 60 FPS and should be avoided for any competitive scenario.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the most balanced experience. It delivers frame rates that are 50-80% higher than Ultra while offering noticeably better visuals than Low. The only exception is 4K Ultra, which falls below 60 FPS and is not recommended.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080 (Full HD):

• Low: 290 FPS average
• Medium: 255 FPS average, with a minimum of 216 FPS and maximum of 293 FPS
• High: 232 FPS average
• Ultra: 155 FPS average

At 1080p, the combo delivers high frame rates across all settings. The gap between Low and Ultra is 135 FPS, or 46.6% lower at Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 216 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, frame rates stay well above 200 FPS.

2560x1440 (Quad HD):

• Low: 250 FPS average
• Medium: 193 FPS average, with a minimum of 164 FPS and maximum of 221 FPS
• High: 149 FPS average
• Ultra: 99 FPS average

At 1440p, the drop from 1080p is noticeable but frame rates remain high. Low loses 40 FPS (down 13.8%), Medium loses 62 FPS (down 24.3%), High loses 83 FPS (down 35.8%), and Ultra loses 56 FPS (down 36.1%). The Medium preset still delivers 193 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors.

3840x2160 (4K UHD):

• Low: 144 FPS average
• Medium: 102 FPS average, with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 117 FPS
• High: 79 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

At 4K, the scaling penalties are severe. Low drops 42.4% from 1440p, Medium drops 47.2%, High drops 47.0%, and Ultra drops 47.5%. The Medium preset's minimum of 86 FPS shows that even in worst-case scenes, the combo stays above 60 FPS. Ultra at 52 FPS is the only setting that falls below 60 FPS in the entire dataset.

The Medium preset is the only tier with min/max values recorded at all three resolutions, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the range is 216-293 FPS (a 77 FPS spread); at 1440p, 164-221 FPS (57 FPS spread); and at 4K, 86-117 FPS (31 FPS spread). The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU becomes more consistently loaded as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 593 out of 3700 tested combos in Fortnite. This places it in the top 16.0% of all tested combinations, which is a strong showing given the CPU's mid-range positioning.

The rank reflects the combined effect of both components. The RTX 4080 SUPER's high percentile rank of 86 among GPUs contributes significantly to the overall placement. The CPU's 47th percentile rank is below average, but Fortnite's relatively light CPU demands allow the GPU to shine.

The discrepancy between the GPU's synthetic average score of 54209 and the CPU's 2254 is substantial. In the nearestRivals data for the GPU, the RTX 4080 SUPER is essentially tied with the RTX 4080 (deltaPct -0.1) and slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (-2.7) and AMD Radeon 8060S (-2.8). The CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its average score, indicating a tightly contested mid-range segment.

For context, ranking 593 out of 3700 means there are 592 combinations that perform better in Fortnite, and 3107 that perform worse. This places the combo comfortably in the upper quartile of all tested systems. The weak link is clearly the CPU — a more modern six-core or eight-core processor with higher single-thread performance would likely push this combo higher, as the GPU has demonstrated it can deliver 290 FPS at 1080p Low when adequately fed.

The data supports the conclusion that this is a GPU-dominated combination in Fortnite. The RTX 4080 SUPER provides the vast majority of the performance headroom, while the i5-9400 acts as a competent but not exceptional partner. Players using this combo should expect excellent frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, and respectable performance at 4K with Medium settings.