High On Life

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable but constrained experience in High On Life, with the combo ranking 2608th out of 2958 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the bottom 12% of all tested systems, a position driven primarily by the GPU’s limited compute resources rather than the CPU’s solid six-core foundation. The data shows that while 1080p Low can reach 78 FPS average, the pairing struggles to maintain frame rates above 30 FPS at higher settings and resolutions, revealing a system that is best suited for competitive or casual play at moderate graphical presets.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in High On Life?*

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings. At Low settings, the combo achieves 78 FPS average, while at Medium it drops to 61 FPS, and at High it reaches 50 FPS. At 2560x1440, the best result is 55 FPS on Low, but at 3840x2160, the maximum average is only 33 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-10400F perform in multi-threaded workloads?

A: The CPU’s 3DMark scores show a clear scaling pattern from 1350 points with 2 threads to 3929 points with 8 threads, and 4735 points with max threads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 10283, while the single-core score is 1451, indicating that the processor’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide sufficient parallel throughput for modern game logic.

Q: What is the GPU’s position among all tested graphics cards?

A: The Intel Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463, a 1.3% difference, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, a 2.7% difference.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 places it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, showing strong processing capability. However, the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking and the steep frame rate drops when increasing resolution or settings point to the Arc B390 as the bottleneck.

Q: What settings should I use for a 60 FPS target at 1080p?

A: The measured data shows that Medium settings at 1920x1080 deliver 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS. This is the only settings/resolution combination in the dataset that exceeds 60 FPS average while maintaining a minimum above 50 FPS. High settings at 1080p drop to 50 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other CPU-GPU pairings?

A: The combo ranks 2608th out of 2958 tested combos in High On Life, meaning roughly 88% of tested systems perform better. This ranking aligns with the GPU’s low percentile position, while the CPU’s higher percentile indicates that pairing the i5-10400F with a more powerful GPU would likely yield significantly better results.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B390 places 2608th out of 2958 tested combos in High On Life, a position that puts it in the bottom 12% of all systems evaluated. This ranking is not surprising when considering the individual component positions: the CPU sits in the 68th percentile of all processors, while the GPU languishes in the 9th percentile. The disparity between these two percentile rankings is stark, and it directly explains why the combo underperforms relative to its CPU component.

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database, the Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14163 (0.2% ahead of the i5-10400F’s 14185 average), while the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115 (0.5% behind). These are enterprise-grade processors that the i5-10400F matches or slightly exceeds in average benchmark scores, reinforcing that the CPU is not the weak link here. The GPU’s nearest rivals tell a different story: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% behind the Arc B390’s 1482), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% behind). These are entry-level GPUs from over a decade ago, which contextualizes the Arc B390’s performance class.

The measured FPS data confirms this ranking. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 78 FPS on Low, 61 FPS on Medium, 50 FPS on High, and 38 FPS on Ultra. This spread of 40 FPS between Low and Ultra at the same resolution illustrates how heavily the GPU’s limited resources are taxed by increasing graphical fidelity. At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 55 FPS on Low, 43 FPS on Medium, 35 FPS on High, and 26 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results fall further: 33 FPS on Low, 26 FPS on Medium, 21 FPS on High, and 16 FPS on Ultra. The pattern is consistent: each step up in resolution or settings costs roughly 20-30% of the previous frame rate, which is characteristic of a GPU that is running at its absolute limits.

The combo’s ranking relative to other tested systems suggests that most users would find the experience suboptimal for a fast-paced FPS like High On Life. The game’s genre demands quick reactions and smooth motion, so the sub-60 FPS averages at most settings create a less responsive feel. Only the 1080p Low and Medium presets provide frame rates that approach or exceed 60 FPS, and even then, the minimum FPS data for Medium (52 FPS) shows that the system can dip below the desired threshold during intense scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 14 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, and it connects to the system via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-10400F demonstrates balanced performance. The Cinebench R23 scores show 1451 points in single-core and 10283 points in multi-core, indicating that the processor can handle both lightly-threaded game logic and more heavily-threaded background tasks. The 3DMark results show a progression from 1350 points with 2 threads to 2560 points with 4 threads, 3929 points with 8 threads, and 4735 points with max threads. The jump from 2 to 4 threads (an 89.6% increase) and from 4 to 8 threads (a 53.5% increase) demonstrates that the processor’s scaling efficiency remains strong up to its full thread count.

For High On Life, which is an FPS game released in late 2022, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI processing. The i5-10400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample capacity for these tasks, and its single-thread performance of 1451 in Cinebench R23 is sufficient for the game’s primary thread. The PassMark scores further illustrate the CPU’s capabilities: 41471 in integer math, 25956 in floating point math, and 185944 in data compression. These scores indicate that the processor can process the various computational workloads that a modern game generates without becoming a limiting factor.

The CPU’s 68th percentile ranking among all processors, combined with its average benchmark score of 14185, places it well above the median. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% higher score), AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% lower score), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% lower score). This clustering shows that the i5-10400F performs competitively with much more expensive enterprise processors in general benchmarks, which reflects its efficiency.

However, the CPU’s potential is not fully realized in this combo because the GPU cannot keep up. The measured FPS differences between resolutions and settings are entirely attributable to GPU load, as the CPU’s performance would not change based on these graphical parameters. The fact that the combo ranks in the bottom 12% despite the CPU being in the top 32% of all processors suggests that the pairing is heavily imbalanced, with the GPU holding the system back from achieving the frame rates the CPU could support.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for High On Life with this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the system’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results show a clear hierarchy: Low settings deliver 78 FPS average, Medium delivers 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS, High delivers 50 FPS average, and Ultra delivers 38 FPS average. The 40 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p highlights the GPU’s sensitivity to graphical settings, with each preset tier costing approximately 12-15 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings produce 55 FPS average, Medium produces 43 FPS average with a minimum of 36 FPS and maximum of 49 FPS, High produces 35 FPS average, and Ultra produces 26 FPS average. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings costs roughly 23-30% of the frame rate, which is consistent with the increased pixel count demanding more GPU processing power. At 1440p, only the Low preset maintains an average above 50 FPS, while Medium and above all fall below 45 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are challenging for playability. Low settings yield 33 FPS average, Medium yields 26 FPS average with a minimum of 22 FPS and maximum of 30 FPS, High yields 21 FPS average, and Ultra yields 16 FPS average. The 4K resolution proves too demanding for the Arc B390, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain a stable 30 FPS. The step from 1440p to 4K at Low settings costs 22 FPS (a 40% reduction), illustrating how the GPU’s limited pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor.

The minimum FPS data provided for Medium settings at each resolution shows that frame pacing is relatively stable. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 52 FPS is 85% of the average, while at 1440p Medium, the minimum of 36 FPS is 84% of the average, and at 4K Medium, the minimum of 22 FPS is 85% of the average. This consistency suggests that the GPU does not experience sudden frame drops, but rather degrades gracefully under load.

The overall pattern reveals that the combo is most viable at 1080p with Low or Medium settings. At 1080p Low, the 78 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, and even 1080p Medium at 61 FPS average provides a playable experience. At 1440p, only Low settings approach 60 FPS, while at 4K, no settings preset achieves a playable frame rate. The data suggests that users should prioritize resolution reduction over settings reduction to maintain playable performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process node. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS of FP16 performance, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s memory is system-shared, meaning it uses the system’s DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This is a significant limitation for gaming, as the memory bandwidth is system-dependent and shared with the CPU. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which means it can run modern game APIs, but its physical resources are constrained.

In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the Arc B390 scores 1482 points, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA entry-level mobile and OEM parts: the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% behind), the GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% behind), the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% behind), and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% behind). These are all GPUs that were low-end at their release, and the Arc B390’s performance aligns with this class.

The GPU’s limited resources directly explain the measured FPS results in High On Life. The 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are insufficient for rendering at high resolutions with many effects, which is why the frame rates drop so sharply from 1080p to 4K. The 1536 shading units provide decent compute power for basic rendering, but the system-shared memory creates bandwidth bottlenecks that become more severe as resolution increases.

The fact that the GPU’s average benchmark score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the GeForce GT 520MX suggests that the Arc B390 is performing at a level that would have been considered low-end over a decade ago. This is reflected in the game’s measured performance: at 4K Ultra, the combo only achieves 16 FPS average, which is essentially unplayable. The GPU’s 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs means that 91% of tested graphics cards outperform it, and this is the primary reason the combo ranks 2608th out of 2958.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2500 MHz provides some efficiency, but it cannot compensate for the low shader count and shared memory architecture. The system-shared memory is particularly problematic for High On Life, which likely requires substantial texture memory at higher settings. The measured FPS drops from Low to Ultra at each resolution show that the GPU is unable to handle the increased memory and compute demands of higher presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user’s target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, delivering 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS. This is the only settings/resolution combination in the dataset that exceeds 60 FPS average while maintaining a minimum above 50 FPS, making it suitable for most FPS players who prioritize smoothness.

For users who want the highest possible frame rate, 1080p Low provides 78 FPS average, which is ideal for competitive play where every frame counts. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 17 FPS (a 22% reduction), while the jump from Medium to High costs 11 FPS (an 18% reduction), and from High to Ultra costs 12 FPS (a 24% reduction). The diminishing returns suggest that Medium is the sweet spot, as it retains a significant portion of the visual quality while keeping frame rates above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only viable option, delivering 55 FPS average. Medium drops to 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced gameplay. The 12 FPS difference between Low and Medium at 1440p is significant, and users who want to play at this resolution should accept the reduced visual quality of Low settings to maintain playable performance.

At 3840x2160, no settings preset provides a playable experience. The highest average is 33 FPS on Low, which is below the 30 FPS console-like minimum for most gamers. The data indicates that 4K should be avoided entirely with this combo, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain stable frame rates. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 22 FPS, which would likely cause noticeable judder during gameplay.

For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, 1080p High at 50 FPS average is the highest preset that remains near playable, though the 50 FPS average may feel less smooth than the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 38 FPS, which is likely too low for an FPS game. The recommendation is to stick with Medium at 1080p for the best overall experience, or Low at 1440p if higher resolution is preferred.

The minimum FPS data for Medium settings shows that the system maintains stable frame pacing across all resolutions, with the minimum consistently around 85% of the average. This suggests that the GPU does not experience sudden drops, which is a positive sign for the Medium preset’s viability. However, the absolute frame rates remain the limiting factor, and users should prioritize resolution reduction before lowering settings further.