High On Life

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

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread desktop processor built on Intel's Raptor Lake architecture, using a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 pool. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus, and its PCIe implementation provides Gen 5 with 16 lanes from the CPU.

In synthetic workloads, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093. Its Geekbench results are 11209 multi-core and 2333 single-core. The PassMark multithread score sits at 25783, with a single-thread score of 3723. These figures place the chip at the 88th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rivals by average score are the Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% faster delta), the AMD Ryzen 7 250 at 32584 (-0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-13705H at 32586 (-0.2%). This means the i5-14400F sits squarely in a tightly grouped performance band, where differences between these chips are negligible in aggregate.

For High On Life, this CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU at the tested settings. The boost clock of 4.70 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, which matters for game logic and frame pacing. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 225.9 FPS average, indicating the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The L3 cache of 20 MB shared across the cores helps with data locality in a fast-paced FPS. Given that the CPU's percentile rank is 88, it is well above the median processor, making it a capable partner for this title without becoming the limiting factor.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It features 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 46 RT cores, and 184 tensor cores, all running Ada Lovelace architecture. The base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, while memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The card has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s, texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 29.15 TFLOPS. The TDP is 200 W, and it requires a 550 W suggested PSU.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 scores 3854 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 168006 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 157352 in Geekbench Vulkan. PassMark results include a G3D score of 26927 and a GPU compute score of 14720. This places it at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507 (-0.6% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at 38008 (-1.9%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (-2.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5300M at 36371 (2.5%). The RTX 4070's position here shows it performs slightly below those comparison points in aggregate, but the deltas are small—under 3% in all cases.

For High On Life, the 12 GB VRAM buffer is ample for the game's textures, even at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 45. The boost clock of 2475 MHz sustains high throughput, and the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth keeps data flowing. The GPU's percentile rank of 81 indicates it is a high-end part, but the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (45 FPS) shows that the card is the limiting factor at that extreme setting. At lower settings, the GPU has headroom, as evidenced by the 4K Low result of 95.6 FPS.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1080p High, the combo averages 148.2 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 102.3 FPS; and at 4K High, it falls further to 63.3 FPS. This represents a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 38% drop from 1440p to 4K. The trend is consistent across all settings, but the magnitude varies.

At Low settings, the FPS goes from 225.9 at 1080p to 157.4 at 1440p (a 30% drop) and then to 95.6 at 4K (a 39% drop). For Medium, it's 177.4 at 1080p, 123.3 at 1440p (30% drop), and 77 at 4K (38% drop). At Ultra, the numbers are 113.5 at 1080p, 75.8 at 1440p (33% drop), and 45 at 4K (41% drop). The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU is the primary scaling factor—the CPU's workload doesn't change much with resolution, but the GPU's pixel and shading load increases significantly.

The fact that even at 4K Low the combo still achieves 95.6 FPS suggests that the CPU has enough headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we'd see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 4K, especially at lower settings. Instead, the drops are proportional to the GPU's workload increase, confirming that the RTX 4070 is the component that dictates frame rates at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 225.9 FPS result shows the CPU and GPU are both working well, but the GPU still has the final say on performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 470th out of 1732 tested combos in High On Life. That places it in the top 27% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the combination's overall measured performance, not just the CPU or GPU alone. Given that the CPU sits at the 88th percentile and the GPU at the 81st percentile, the combo's position in the upper quartile aligns with the strengths of both components.

The rank of 470 out of 1732 means there are 469 combos that perform better, but also over 1200 that perform worse. For a mid-range to high-end pairing, this result indicates a balanced setup that handles the game well across most settings. The combo's performance is likely constrained by the GPU at higher resolutions and settings, while the CPU provides enough compute to avoid holding back the system. In practical terms, this rank suggests that the i5-14400F and RTX 4070 are well-matched for High On Life, with no obvious weak link causing disproportionate performance loss.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 225.9 FPS on Low settings, 177.4 FPS on Medium, 148.2 FPS on High, and 113.5 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear progression: dropping from Low to Ultra reduces frame rates by roughly half, from 225.9 to 113.5 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 29.2 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 34.7 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant additional load.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 157.4 FPS on Low, 123.3 FPS on Medium, 102.3 FPS on High, and 75.8 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 81.6 FPS, which is a 52% reduction. The Medium to High step costs 21 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 26.5 FPS. At this resolution, even Ultra remains playable at 75.8 FPS, though it's approaching the threshold where some users might prefer lower settings for higher refresh rates.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 95.6 FPS on Low, 77 FPS on Medium, 63.3 FPS on High, and 45 FPS on Ultra. The Low to Ultra drop is 50.6 FPS, a 53% reduction. At 4K, only Low and Medium settings maintain averages above 60 FPS, with High at 63.3 FPS just barely clearing that mark. Ultra at 45 FPS is below the common 60 FPS target, indicating that this combo requires settings tuning for smooth 4K play.

The data shows that the RTX 4070 can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease, even at Ultra settings, but 4K Ultra is demanding enough to drop below playable thresholds. For 4K, users should stick to Medium or High settings to maintain smooth frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play High On Life with this combo?

A: At 2560x1440, the combo delivers 102.3 FPS on High and 75.8 FPS on Ultra, making it the sweet spot for high refresh rates without sacrificing visual quality. At 1080p, you get 148.2 FPS on High, which is excellent for esports-style play.

Q: Can this setup run 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K, the average FPS is 63.3 on High and 45 on Ultra. Only Low and Medium settings (95.6 and 77 FPS respectively) exceed 60 FPS, so 4K play is possible but requires lowering settings from the maximum.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% delta). The AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H are also within 0.2% of its score, so performance differences are minimal.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile rank among all graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37507, which is only 0.6% higher.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any tested setting?

A: No. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent across all settings (roughly 30-40% per resolution step), which indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's boost clock of 4.70 GHz and 10 cores provide sufficient headroom even at 1080p Low where the combo hits 225.9 FPS.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for these components?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has a launch MSRP of $196, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has a launch MSRP of 599 USD.