High On Life

FAQ

Q: What is the Intel Arc B370's performance percentile, and what does that mean for High On Life?

A: The GPU sits at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, placing it in the lowest tier of the tested hardware pool. Its average benchmark score of 1184 puts it roughly on par with legacy mobile parts like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (deltaPct -0.2) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (deltaPct -0.5). This explains why frame rates are consistently low across most settings and resolutions in this game.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-13400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 25292 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, 0% delta) and the Intel Core 5 120 (25362, -0.3% delta). It also sits within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (25201). The i5-13400F ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong general processing capability relative to the GPU's weak showing.

Q: What is the best frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average is 70 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. Medium settings yield 55 FPS (with a min of 47 and max of 63), High drops to 45 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. Only the Low preset approaches a comfortable playable threshold, and even that is borderline for fast-paced FPS action.

Q: Does the Intel Arc B370 have dedicated VRAM, and how does that affect performance?

A: The GPU uses System Shared memory for both capacity and bandwidth, with the memory type and bus width also marked as System Shared. This means the graphics card relies on the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM, and bandwidth is listed as System Dependent. This architecture likely contributes heavily to the low FPS figures, as memory contention with the CPU can bottleneck data throughput.

Q: How many cores and threads does the CPU provide, and what is its boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its L3 cache is 20 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5 memory. The CPU is not multiplier-unlocked and has a TDP of 65 W.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested configurations for High On Life?

A: This combination ranks 2715 out of 2958 total tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. The rank reflects the severe imbalance between the relatively capable CPU and the very weak GPU, which drags the entire system down in this game.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units. The GPU also includes 10 ray tracing cores, though the game's measured results suggest ray tracing is not a practical consideration at playable frame rates.

The most critical limitation is the memory configuration: the GPU has no dedicated VRAM, relying entirely on System Shared memory for capacity, type, and bus width. The bandwidth is System Dependent, meaning performance scales with whatever main memory the system uses. This design forces the GPU to compete with the CPU for memory access, which is particularly problematic in a game like High On Life that requires constant texture streaming and geometry processing.

The GPU's raw compute figures are modest: 6.144 TFLOPS for FP32 and 12.29 TFLOPS for FP16 (2:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. These numbers place the GPU firmly in entry-level territory, and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 confirms this. The GPU's percentile rank of 5 means it outperforms only 5% of all GPUs in that benchmark, making it one of the weakest components in any modern gaming system.

In the context of High On Life, the GPU's memory sharing is the dominant factor. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 14, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p Low, the 70 FPS figure represents the absolute ceiling for this GPU, and that comes with significant compromises in visual quality. The GPU's boost clock of 2400 MHz helps at lower resolutions, but the memory bottleneck becomes increasingly severe as resolution and settings increase.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable preset for this combo is Low settings at 1080p, which delivers an average of 70 FPS. This is the single configuration that approaches a smooth experience, though it remains below the 144 FPS target many FPS players prefer. Medium at 1080p drops to 55 FPS average (min 47, max 63), which is playable but not ideal for competitive scenarios.

At 1440p, Low settings yield 49 FPS average, which is borderline acceptable for single-player exploration but may feel sluggish during combat. Medium at 1440p averages 38 FPS (min 33, max 44), and High drops to 32 FPS. Ultra at 1440p averages just 24 FPS, making it effectively unplayable.

The 4K resolution is entirely impractical for this GPU. Even at Low settings, the average is 30 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard. Medium at 4K averages 23 FPS (min 20, max 27), and High averages 19 FPS. Ultra at 4K averages 14 FPS, which is a slideshow.

The data indicates that High settings are only marginally better than Ultra in terms of FPS, suggesting that the GPU is so constrained that even reducing settings does not unlock meaningful headroom. The jump from Low to Medium at any resolution costs roughly 15-20 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs another 5-10 FPS. For the best experience, users should start at 1080p Low and only increase settings if they prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate stability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 70 FPS (Low), 55 FPS (Medium, min 47, max 63), 45 FPS (High), and 34 FPS (Ultra). The 1080p results show the widest spread, with a 36 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. The Medium preset provides the only measured min/max range, indicating that the GPU can sustain a 47-63 FPS window, which is reasonably stable but still below the 60 FPS average threshold.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 49 FPS (Low), 38 FPS (Medium, min 33, max 44), 32 FPS (High), and 24 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p results compress the range to 25 FPS between Low and Ultra, showing that resolution scaling begins to flatten the differences between settings. The Medium preset's min/max range of 33-44 FPS indicates tighter performance but at a lower overall level.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 30 FPS (Low), 23 FPS (Medium, min 20, max 27), 19 FPS (High), and 14 FPS (Ultra). The 4K results have a range of just 16 FPS between Low and Ultra, meaning that even the lowest settings cannot escape the GPU's fundamental performance ceiling. The Medium preset's min/max of 20-27 FPS shows that the GPU is consistently operating at sub-30 FPS levels, regardless of configuration.

The data reveals a clear pattern: each resolution step down (4K to 1440p to 1080p) adds roughly 15-20 FPS at Low settings, but the gains shrink as settings increase. For example, Low settings improve by 19 FPS from 4K to 1440p and by another 21 FPS from 1440p to 1080p. In contrast, Ultra settings improve by 10 FPS from 4K to 1440p and by another 10 FPS from 1440p to 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and scales unevenly across settings. At Low, the average drops from 70 FPS (1080p) to 49 FPS (1440p) to 30 FPS (4K), representing a 43% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 39% reduction from 1440p to 4K. At Medium, the drop is from 55 to 38 to 23 FPS, a 31% and 39% reduction respectively. At High, the drop is from 45 to 32 to 19 FPS, a 29% and 41% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 34 to 24 to 14 FPS, a 29% and 42% reduction.

The consistency of these percentage drops (roughly 30-40% per resolution step) indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at all settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences at lower resolutions where the CPU must work harder relative to the GPU. Instead, the FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count, which is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated even at the lowest settings.

The 1080p Low result of 70 FPS is the only point where the GPU approaches a reasonable utilization level. At 1440p and above, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, as evidenced by the 4K Low result of 30 FPS, which is only 43% of the 1080p Low figure. The pixel count at 4K is 4 times that of 1080p, but the FPS does not drop to 25% (which would be 17.5 FPS), suggesting that other factors (likely memory bandwidth or API overhead) are also limiting performance.

The resolution scaling data points to the System Shared memory as the primary bottleneck. As resolution increases, the GPU needs more memory bandwidth to feed the larger frame buffer, but since it shares system memory with the CPU, the available bandwidth does not scale accordingly. This creates a situation where the GPU cannot fully utilize its shading units at higher resolutions, resulting in the steep FPS declines observed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a Raptor Lake-S processor with 10 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5 memory and uses PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 22604, Geekbench multicore scores 11068, and Passmark multithread scores 25032. Single-thread performance is also solid, with Cinebench R23 singlecore at 3191 and Passmark singlethread at 3634. These numbers place the CPU in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 77% of tested processors.

For High On Life, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The game is a fast-paced FPS that benefits from strong single-thread performance for game logic and physics, and the i5-13400F delivers that with a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3634. The 10-core, 16-thread configuration ensures that background tasks and streaming do not interfere with game performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.4% of its average benchmark score, indicating that the i5-13400F is well-matched against comparable processors. However, the CPU's performance is irrelevant to the observed FPS in High On Life because the GPU is so severely underpowered. At 1080p Low, the CPU could likely push far higher frame rates if paired with a more capable GPU, but the Arc B370 caps the output at 70 FPS.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 10 nm process node suggest efficient operation, which is beneficial for sustained gaming sessions. The lack of an integrated GPU (the i5-13400F has no iGPU listed) means the Arc B370 is the sole graphics output, making the system dependent on the weak GPU for all rendering tasks.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i5-13400F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2715 out of 2958 tested combos for High On Life, placing it in the 8th percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects the extreme imbalance between the CPU and GPU: the CPU is in the 77th percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. The resulting performance is dictated almost entirely by the GPU's limitations.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all legacy parts from over a decade ago, such as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta). These comparisons illustrate that the Arc B370 is not merely weak by modern standards; it is comparable to graphics hardware from an entirely different era. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is a single data point, but it aligns with the FPS results observed.

The combo's rank of 2715 out of 2958 means that only 243 tested configurations perform worse in High On Life. Given that the CPU is a capable mid-range processor, the rank is overwhelmingly attributable to the GPU. If the Arc B370 were paired with a weaker CPU, the rank might not change significantly, as the GPU is the binding constraint at all resolutions and settings.

The FPS data confirms this analysis: even at 1080p Low, the combo achieves only 70 FPS, which is below the 144 FPS target for competitive FPS play. At any higher resolution or setting, the frame rates fall below 60 FPS, making the game feel sluggish. The 4K results are uniformly unplayable, with the best case being 30 FPS at Low settings.

For users considering this combo, the data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor and could support a much more powerful GPU. However, the current configuration is severely constrained, and the measured results indicate that the system is only suitable for low-resolution, low-settings gaming in High On Life.