Grand Theft Auto V

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

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake generation, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The processor uses the Intel Socket 1200 interface and has a 65 W TDP.

Synthetic benchmark data places this CPU in the 68th percentile of all CPUs tested. Its multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score is 10283, while the single-core score is 1451. In Geekbench, it scores 6257 multi-core and 1420 single-core. The 3DMark results show a scaling pattern from 1350 with 2 threads to 3929 with 8 threads, then leveling off to 4735 with max threads. This indicates that beyond 8 threads, the additional 4 threads provide only marginal gains — a characteristic that matters for a 2013-era game like Grand Theft Auto V.

Grand Theft Auto V was released in September 2013, when quad-core processors were the mainstream standard. The game's engine was designed around that era's CPU capabilities. The i5-10400F's 6 cores and 12 threads provide substantial headroom for the game's threading model. Data from the measured FPS shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 123 FPS average. This high frame rate at low graphical settings suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately even in less GPU-bound scenarios.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 indicate balanced performance. The data compression score of 185944 and integer math score of 41471 are strong, but these are not directly gaming-related. The physics score of 696 in PassMark is more relevant, as GTA V has significant physics simulation for vehicles and environmental destruction. The CPU's 12 threads allow the game to distribute physics, AI, and rendering tasks without creating a bottleneck in most scenarios.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database are the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% higher average score), Intel Core 7 160UL (0.3% lower), AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% higher), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% lower). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the i5-10400F sits in a tightly contested performance band. For GTA V specifically, the 6-core/12-thread configuration is adequate, but the game's age means it rarely utilizes more than a few cores effectively. The single-core performance of 1451 in Cinebench R23 is the more critical metric for this title.

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

The Intel Arc B570 is built on TSMC's 5 nm process with the BMG-G21 chip, codenamed Battlemage (Arc 5 generation). It packs 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). It features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

The compute configuration includes 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. Ray tracing is supported with 18 RT cores. The pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS. The card is rated at 150 W TDP and requires a 450 W suggested PSU. It connects via PCIe 4.0 x8 and is a dual-slot design measuring 272 mm in length.

In the GPU benchmark hierarchy, the Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its PassMark G3D score is 14195, with a DirectX 12 score of 72 and DirectX 11 score of 118. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844 and OpenCL score of 83514 are notably strong. The nearest GPU rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% higher), Intel Arc A750 (0.1% lower), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% higher), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% lower).

For Grand Theft Auto V, the 10 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient. The game's highest texture quality settings from the 2013 era were designed for GPUs with 2-4 GB of memory. Even at 4K Ultra settings, the game would not approach the 10 GB limit. The memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is the more relevant factor, as GTA V's open world requires constant streaming of textures and geometry.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's performance ceiling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 123 FPS average. Moving to 1080p Ultra drops the average to 60 FPS — exactly half. This halving suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at Ultra settings, as the CPU would not be the constraint at 1080p. The Arc B570's 2500 MHz clock and 80 ROPs determine the fill-rate bound at higher settings. The DirectX 11 score of 118 in PassMark is relevant because GTA V primarily uses DirectX 11 for rendering, and this older API path can be a bottleneck for newer GPU architectures.

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

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear picture of where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p Low settings, the combo delivers 123 FPS average. At 1440p Low, it drops to 83 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 48 FPS. This scaling pattern — 123 → 83 → 48 — shows a consistent reduction as pixel count increases. The 4K Low result is only 39% of the 1080p Low result, indicating GPU-bound behavior even at the lowest settings.

For High settings, the progression is 84 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is 38% of the 1080p High result, nearly identical to the Low settings ratio. This consistency suggests the GPU is the primary limiter across all settings at higher resolutions. The CPU's role becomes less significant as resolution increases because the GPU workload grows faster than the CPU workload.

Medium settings show 1080p at 108 FPS, 1440p at 73 FPS, and 4K at 42 FPS. The Medium setting at 1440p has recorded min/max values of 62/83 FPS, while 1080p Medium ranges from 91 to 124 FPS. These min/max spreads indicate frame time variance that grows with resolution. Ultra settings produce 60 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS is below the 30 FPS playability threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each setting shows roughly a 30-35% drop. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is approximately 40-45%. This accelerating decline is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where memory bandwidth and fill rate become increasingly strained. The Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s bandwidth and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are the physical limits here. At 4K, the GPU must process 8.3 million pixels per frame versus 2.1 million at 1080p — a 4x increase that the FPS numbers reflect.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the combo is partially CPU-bound at Low settings (123 FPS suggests the CPU is keeping pace but the GPU is not fully saturated). At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component across all settings. For 4K gaming, only Low settings (48 FPS) approach playability, while Medium (42 FPS) is borderline and High (32 FPS) and Ultra (23 FPS) fall short.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Grand Theft Auto V at 1080p with High settings?

A: Yes. The measured data shows 84 FPS average at 1920x1080 with High settings. This provides smooth gameplay well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F or the Intel Arc B570 the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck at 4K. At 4K Low settings, the combo achieves 48 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 23 FPS. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this 2013 title at higher resolutions, but the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth limit performance.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in GTA V?

A: 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides 73 FPS average (62-83 FPS range), which is a good balance of visual quality and performance. 1080p High at 84 FPS is also viable if higher frame rates are preferred.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rival for this game?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score is 20556, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534). These are essentially equivalent in overall benchmark performance, though game-specific results may vary.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 42 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, with a range of 35 to 48 FPS. This is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action sequences.

Q: Is the i5-10400F's 6-core/12-thread configuration adequate for GTA V?

A: Yes. The game released in 2013 when quad-core CPUs were standard. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and single-core score of 1451 show sufficient performance. The CPU sits in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, and the game's engine does not require more than 6 cores.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2353 out of 2954 tested combos in Grand Theft Auto V. This places it in the bottom 20% of all combinations tested for this game. The percentile ranking of 68 for the CPU and 65 for the GPU individually do not translate to a strong combo ranking in this specific title.

The discrepancy between individual component percentiles and the combo ranking suggests that this pairing is not optimal for GTA V. The CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 2.90 GHz base clock may be underutilized by the 2013-era game engine, while the GPU's modern architecture may not be fully leveraged by the older DirectX 11 rendering path that GTA V uses.

The combo's position at 2353 of 2954 means there are 601 tested combinations that perform worse in this game. However, it also means 2352 combinations deliver better results. This low ranking is notable given the hardware's individual percentiles of 68th and 65th. The data suggests that other CPU-GPU pairings within similar individual performance ranges achieve better results in GTA V, possibly due to more mature driver support for this specific game or better architectural compatibility with the game's rendering engine.

The rank reflects the measured FPS data, which shows the combo struggling at 4K Ultra (23 FPS) and only achieving 48 FPS at 4K Low. These results are below what the component percentiles might suggest, indicating that game-specific optimization plays a significant role in the final ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings levels (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). All data points represent average FPS unless otherwise noted.

1920x1080:

• Low: 123 FPS average
• Medium: 108 FPS average (min 91, max 124)
• High: 84 FPS average
• Ultra: 60 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 83 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average (min 62, max 83)
• High: 57 FPS average
• Ultra: 41 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 48 FPS average
• Medium: 42 FPS average (min 35, max 48)
• High: 32 FPS average
• Ultra: 23 FPS average

The 1080p Low result of 123 FPS is the highest measured value, while 4K Ultra at 23 FPS is the lowest. The min/max values are only recorded for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the frame range is 91-124 FPS, indicating a 33 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range tightens to 62-83 FPS, a 21 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range narrows further to 35-48 FPS, a 13 FPS spread.

This pattern — where higher resolutions produce tighter frame ranges — suggests that at 1080p, CPU-bound moments create frame spikes, while at 4K, the GPU is consistently saturated and frame times are more uniform. The data implies that for a stable experience, 1440p Medium (73 FPS average with 62-83 FPS range) offers the best consistency. For 1080p gaming, High settings at 84 FPS average provide a good balance, though Ultra at 60 FPS is exactly at the standard refresh rate threshold. The 4K results show that only Low settings (48 FPS) approach playability, while Medium (42 FPS) is marginal and High/Ultra are not recommended for smooth gameplay.