High On Life

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 in High On Life?

A: This combination ranks 2012 out of 3718 tested combos in this game. That places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, meaning a majority of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher frame rates, but it still outperforms roughly 46% of tested configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform relative to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17639, sitting at the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7790, scores 17666 (0.2% higher), while the AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588 (0.3% lower). The gap between these cards is essentially negligible in raw compute terms, though real gaming performance diverges significantly due to architectural differences.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded capability in Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a single-core score of 1451. This 6-core, 12-thread Comet Lake processor has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Its average benchmark score of 14185 places it at the 68th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What are the measured FPS differences between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 166 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 80 FPS average. That is a 86 FPS reduction, or roughly 48% lower performance when moving from the lowest to highest quality settings. The Medium preset sits at 129 FPS, and High at 107 FPS, showing a consistent step-down pattern.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for 4K gaming in this title?

A: The RTX 4060 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields only 34 FPS average, while Low reaches 71 FPS. The data suggests that while 8 GB may be sufficient for lower settings at 4K, the card's overall compute capabilities limit high-quality 4K performance in this game.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low, and what does that indicate?

A: At Low settings, 1080p yields 166 FPS, 1440p yields 116 FPS, and 4K yields 71 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 95 FPS, representing a 57% reduction. This steep decline indicates the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as resolution increases, since the CPU workload remains relatively constant while pixel throughput demands grow.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 2012 out of 3718 tested combinations in High On Life. This places the combo in the 54th percentile of all tested pairings, meaning slightly more than half of all configurations outperform it. The ranking is notable because both components individually sit above the median — the CPU is at the 68th percentile and the GPU at the 61st percentile — yet their combined performance in this specific title lags behind what those individual scores might suggest.

The discrepancy between component-level percentiles and the combo's in-game rank points to High On Life's particular performance characteristics. The game appears to favor certain hardware architectures or configurations that this pairing does not fully exploit. The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% higher score) and AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% higher) — are enterprise-class processors with very different core configurations, yet they achieve nearly identical average benchmark scores. This suggests the i5-10400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are competitive in synthetic workloads, but the game's engine may not scale in a way that benefits this particular CPU-GPU balance.

When examining the GPU's nearest rivals, the pattern becomes clearer. The RTX 4060's closest competitors — AMD Radeon HD 7790, Radeon 780M, Radeon Pro 560, and Radeon Pro 460 — are all within 0.7% of its average score. These are dramatically different GPUs in terms of architecture and intended use case, yet they cluster tightly in raw compute benchmarks. This tight clustering suggests that the RTX 4060's synthetic performance does not necessarily translate into gaming superiority, particularly in a game like High On Life where the measured FPS reveals a wide spread across settings.

The 2012th rank out of 3718 combos indicates that while this pairing is capable of playable frame rates at most settings, it does not represent an optimal configuration for this title. Users seeking higher rankings would likely need either a stronger GPU to handle the game's rendering demands at higher resolutions, or a more capable CPU to reduce potential bottlenecks at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 100 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the AD107 chip using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 18,900 million transistors packed into a 159 mm² die. Its base clock runs at 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and the memory operates at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications translate to 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, with 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In High On Life, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p Low settings, the card delivers 166 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames at a high rate. However, at 4K Ultra, performance collapses to 34 FPS — a 79% reduction from the 1080p Low figure. The memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, while adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, appears to constrain performance at 4K where texture fetching and memory access demands multiply significantly.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at all tested settings, as evidenced by the playable if not stellar frame rates at 4K High (46 FPS) and 4K Medium (55 FPS). The card's FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS provides the raw compute necessary for the game's visual effects, but the 128-bit memory interface creates a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are respectable for the card's class, yet the measured FPS data indicates that High On Life's renderer is sensitive to memory bandwidth and fill rate limitations.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark performance — PassMark G3D score of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 — places it in the 61st percentile, but the in-game results reveal that this card is better suited to 1080p and 1440p gaming than 4K. At 1440p High, the card achieves 75 FPS, which is a smooth experience, while 4K High dips to 46 FPS, suggesting that 4K requires either lower settings or a more powerful GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4060 delivers its strongest performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves 166 FPS average, which is exceptionally smooth and well beyond the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings yield 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS and maximum of 149 FPS, providing consistent performance with only a 39 FPS spread between the observed extremes. High settings drop to 107 FPS average, still very playable, while Ultra settles at 80 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear linear scaling from Low to Ultra, with each preset tier costing roughly 20-30 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings produce 116 FPS average, which remains highly responsive. Medium delivers 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS and maximum of 105 FPS — the 28 FPS variance indicates some scenes are more demanding than others. High settings at 1440p yield 75 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Ultra drops to 56 FPS, which is marginally below ideal smoothness but remains playable for most users. The 1440p results demonstrate that this combo is well-suited for this resolution at Medium to High settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limitations. Low settings achieve 71 FPS, which is acceptable for 4K gaming, but Medium drops to 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 FPS — noticeable frame dips in demanding scenes. High settings produce only 46 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K results indicate that users should stick to Low or Medium settings if they insist on this resolution, or consider dropping to 1440p for a more consistent experience.

The pattern across all resolutions reveals that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience, with 129 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. The step from Medium to High costs roughly 22 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 9 FPS at 4K, while the step from High to Ultra costs 27 FPS, 19 FPS, and 12 FPS respectively. These diminishing returns suggest that Ultra settings provide marginal visual improvements for significant performance penalties.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals critical information about where the bottleneck lies in this combo. At Low settings, the progression is 166 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 50 FPS (30% reduction), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 45 FPS (39% reduction). This relatively linear scaling suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor even at low settings, as the CPU can sustain frame rates well above 166 FPS.

At Medium settings, the scaling is 129 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 29% from 1080p to 1440p and 40% from 1440p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium settings indicates that the game's rendering workload scales predictably with resolution, and the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth are the determining factors.

High settings show a similar pattern: 107 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. The drops are 30% and 39% respectively. Ultra settings follow with 80 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K, representing 30% and 39% reductions. The remarkable consistency of these percentage drops — all hovering around 30% for the first transition and 39% for the second — strongly suggests that resolution scaling in High On Life is governed by the GPU's pixel processing capabilities rather than any other system component.

This scaling behavior has important implications for the CPU's role. If the i5-10400F were a significant bottleneck, we would expect to see diminishing FPS drops as resolution increases, since the CPU would cap frame rates at lower resolutions. Instead, the uniform scaling indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficiently at all tested resolutions, and the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are the constraining factors at higher resolutions. The 57% total drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low (166 to 71 FPS) is a strong indicator that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s is insufficient for maintaining high frame rates as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz can boost up to 4.30 GHz, and it features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes and fits the Intel Socket 1200.

In High On Life, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 166 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 129 FPS. These high frame rates suggest that the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep up with the game's simulation and draw call processing demands. The single-thread performance, measured at 688 in 3DMark single-thread and 2541 in PassMark single-thread, indicates that the CPU's per-core performance is adequate for this title's engine.

However, the CPU's limitations become apparent when comparing its synthetic benchmarks to its in-game performance. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and Geekbench multi-core score of 6257 are solid for a 6-core processor, but the game's frame rates at 1080p suggest that the CPU is approaching its limits. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 80 FPS, and the fact that this is only 48% of the 1080p Low performance indicates that the GPU is still the primary bottleneck even at lower resolutions.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 14 nm process node mean it runs relatively cool and efficiently, but its Comet Lake architecture is older compared to more modern designs. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and max-thread score of 4735 show that the CPU scales well with additional threads, which is beneficial for games that utilize multiple cores. The PassMark multi-thread score of 12115 and physics score of 696 demonstrate competent multi-threaded performance for gaming workloads.

The nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks — Intel Xeon 6756E, Intel Core 7 160UL, AMD EPYC 7552, and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C — all score within 0.6% of the i5-10400F's average. This clustering indicates that the CPU's raw compute performance is competitive with a wide range of processors, but the in-game results show that High On Life benefits more from GPU performance than CPU compute power. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is a capable mid-range processor, but it is not the component driving the combo's 2012nd place ranking in this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The 1440p Medium setting provides 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS, which remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 4K, Medium achieves 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 FPS, which is playable though not ideal for fast-paced action.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset is the clear choice. At 1080p, Low delivers 166 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The 1440p Low setting provides 116 FPS, still excellent for competitive play, and 4K Low reaches 71 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios. The Low preset's performance at all resolutions suggests that the game's lowest settings significantly reduce GPU load while maintaining acceptable visual quality.

The High preset offers a middle ground that may appeal to users with 1080p or 1440p displays. At 1080p, High delivers 107 FPS, which is smooth and visually appealing. The 1440p High setting provides 75 FPS, which is adequate for most games but may show occasional dips in intense scenes. However, at 4K, High drops to 46 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, making this preset unsuitable for 4K users.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 1080p displays who prioritize maximum visual quality. At 1080p, Ultra achieves 80 FPS, which is playable, but the 1440p Ultra setting drops to 56 FPS and 4K Ultra to 34 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra settings — a 51% reduction from High at 1080p and a 39% reduction at 1440p — is substantial for the visual improvements it provides. Given that the measured data shows Ultra yielding less than 60 FPS at 1440p and below 40 FPS at 4K, users at these resolutions should avoid Ultra and stick with Medium or High.

For the optimal experience, users with 1080p displays should use Medium or High settings depending on their preference for frame rate versus visual quality. Users with 1440p displays should use Medium settings to maintain smooth performance, while users with 4K displays should use Low settings for the best frame rates, accepting the visual trade-offs. The data clearly indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with Medium settings providing the most consistent experience across all resolutions.