High On Life

# High On Life: Intel Core i5-10400F + Intel Arc B370 Benchmark Analysis

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 represents a fundamentally constrained configuration for High On Life, a 2022-released FPS title. The benchmark data shows this combo ranks 2715th out of 2958 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 9% of all systems tested. The Arc B370, operating as an integrated GPU with system-shared memory, delivers playable performance only at 1080p with reduced settings, while the 6-core Comet Lake processor demonstrates it is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the best playable setting for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 70 FPS average, while Medium drops to 55 FPS average (with a minimum of 47 FPS). High runs at 45 FPS average. For a smooth experience, Low is the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, though Medium remains playable for less demanding sessions.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it 0.2% behind the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and 0.5% behind the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190). It sits 1.4% ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, though that delta indicates the rival is slightly ahead).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU is overwhelmingly the bottleneck at 3840x2160. The Arc B370 drops to 19 FPS on High and just 14 FPS on Ultra. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are not the constraint here, as even the weakest GPU scores show the integrated graphics struggling with pixel throughput.

Q: What is the performance gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS falls from 45 at 1920x1080 to 32 at 2560x1440, then to 19 at 3840x2160. This represents a 58% drop from 1080p to 4K, confirming that resolution scaling heavily penalizes this GPU.

Q: How does the Core i5-10400F rank among all CPUs?

A: The processor sits in the 68th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6756E, scores 14163 (0.2% lower), while the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277 (0.6% higher).

Q: Does the Arc B370 support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This means the hardware is technically capable of running modern rendering features, though the low shading unit count (1280) and 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance severely limit actual frame rates.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with system-shared memory that makes bandwidth "System Dependent." The GPU's 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units deliver a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

In High On Life, the GPU's role is decisive. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 70 FPS average, but this collapses to 34 FPS at Ultra. The scaling between settings is steep: moving from Low to Medium costs 15 FPS (70 to 55), from Medium to High costs another 10 FPS (55 to 45), and from High to Ultra costs 11 FPS (45 to 34). This pattern shows a GPU that has very little headroom for quality enhancements.

The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, which is exceptionally low. Compared to its nearest rivals, the performance delta is minimal — within 1.4% of the AMD FirePro M2000 and 0.7% of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M. These are all legacy or entry-level parts, confirming that the Arc B370 is not designed for demanding gaming workloads. The 25 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate this is an efficiency-focused part, not a performance one.

The shared memory architecture means the GPU has no dedicated VRAM allocation, relying entirely on system memory bandwidth. In a game like High On Life, which requires consistent texture streaming, this likely contributes to the performance degradation at higher resolutions and settings. The 14 FPS result at 4K Ultra is indicative of a GPU that runs out of both compute and memory bandwidth long before the CPU becomes relevant.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 70 FPS on Low, 55 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, and 34 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, those numbers drop to 49, 38, 32, and 24 respectively. At 3840x2160, the results fall to 30, 23, 19, and 14.

The resolution scaling is not linear — it is steeper than the pixel count increase would suggest. From 1080p to 1440p (a 78% increase in pixels), High settings drop from 45 to 32 FPS, a 29% reduction. From 1440p to 4K (a 2.25x increase in pixels), High settings fall from 32 to 19 FPS, a 41% drop. This accelerating degradation indicates the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading resources are being exhausted progressively.

The Low setting at 4K achieves 30 FPS, which is technically playable but barely. The Medium setting at 4K shows a minimum FPS of 20 and maximum of 27, averaging 23 — this is the only 4K preset with min/max data, and it confirms the frame time variance is tight but consistently low. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 14 FPS average, which is effectively a slideshow.

This scaling behavior tells us the limiting component is the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the processor's workload does not change significantly with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly half from 1080p to 4K at every settings level, which is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.30 GHz, has sufficient single-threaded performance for this game at these frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2715th out of 2958 tested combos for High On Life. This places the system in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations, which is consistent with the GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The combo's rank is primarily dragged down by the Arc B370. The CPU, by contrast, sits in the 68th percentile of all processors, suggesting it is a mid-range part that would pair well with a significantly stronger discrete GPU. The 2715th rank out of 2958 means that 243 combos performed worse, but the vast majority of tested systems delivered higher frame rates in this game.

Given that High On Life is an FPS title from 2022, the expectations for smooth gameplay are relatively high — most players would target at least 60 FPS at 1080p. This combo only achieves that at the Low preset (70 FPS) and falls short at Medium (55 FPS) and above. The 4K results, ranging from 14 to 30 FPS depending on settings, place this system firmly in the area of "not suitable for 4K gaming."

The rank also reflects the unusual nature of the Arc B370 — it is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a 25 W TDP, designed for portable devices, not desktop gaming. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 is comparable to GPUs from the early 2010s, which explains why it lands so low in the combo rankings despite being paired with a capable CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts to 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 12 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 42.7 GB/s bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows solid mid-range performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 10283, while single-core is 1451. Geekbench results show 6257 multi-core and 1420 single-core. The Passmark multi-thread score is 12115, with single-thread at 2541. These figures place the processor in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185.

In High On Life, the CPU's role is secondary. The game's frame rates are consistently GPU-limited, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 70 FPS average, which is within the CPU's capability to feed — the single-thread score of 1451 in Cinebench R23 suggests adequate per-core performance for game logic and draw call processing.

However, the CPU does have limits. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1350 and 4-thread score of 2560 indicate that heavily threaded workloads would expose the Comet Lake architecture's age, but High On Life is not such a title at these frame rates. The 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for the GPU's shared memory usage, though it does constrain the integrated graphics.

Given that the GPU ranks in the 5th percentile while the CPU ranks in the 68th, the system is massively GPU-bound. Upgrading the GPU would yield substantial gains, while upgrading the CPU would provide little benefit in this specific game at these settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range was tested. Low delivers 70 FPS average, which is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium averages 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 63, showing some frame time variance but remaining mostly playable. High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS. The step from Low to Ultra represents a 51% performance penalty.

At 2560x1440, the results shift downward. Low averages 49 FPS, Medium 38 FPS (minimum 33, maximum 44), High 32 FPS, and Ultra 24 FPS. None of these presets achieve 60 FPS, and even Low falls below the 50 FPS mark. Medium's min/max spread of 11 FPS (33 to 44) suggests consistent frame pacing, but the absolute values are low.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. Low averages 30 FPS, Medium 23 FPS (minimum 20, maximum 27), High 19 FPS, and Ultra 14 FPS. The Medium preset's tight frame range (20-27) indicates the GPU is saturated and producing frames at a consistent but very low rate. High and Ultra are effectively unplayable, with frame rates that would cause noticeable stutter in an FPS title.

The data shows that the only viable configuration for a playable experience is 1080p with Low settings, which yields 70 FPS. For players willing to accept lower frame rates, 1080p Medium at 55 FPS or 1440p Low at 49 FPS are options, but they require compromises in visual quality or resolution. The 4K results are below 30 FPS across all settings, making them unsuitable for actual gameplay in a fast-paced shooter.