High On Life

High On Life pairs the Intel Core i5-14400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, a combination that lands at rank 32 out of 1732 tested combos in this game. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet still capable of delivering extremely high frame rates even at 4K. The benchmark results reveal a clear hierarchy of performance scaling, where the choice of settings has a more pronounced impact at 4K than at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a predictable, yet steep, decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 212.6 FPS at 1080p to 153.4 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 92 FPS at 4K. This represents a 43% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering workload scales heavily with pixel count.

The scaling pattern across all settings suggests that at 1080p, the system is partially constrained by the CPU, as the frame rates are exceptionally high. Moving from the Low preset at 1080p (248.2 FPS) to the High preset at 1080p (212.6 FPS) shows a relatively modest 14% drop, implying that the CPU can still feed the GPU adequately at these levels. However, the transition to 4K changes the dynamic entirely; the gap between Low (143 FPS) and High (92 FPS) at 4K is a substantial 36%, demonstrating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting component as resolution increases.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090's immense processing power is the dominant factor in this equation. At 4K, the frame rates are high enough to suggest the GPU is still not fully saturated at lower settings, but the drop from Medium (112.5 FPS) to Ultra (71.6 FPS) shows the cost of the most demanding visual features. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling: at the Low preset, the frame rate drops from 219.7 FPS to 143 FPS, a 35% decline, which aligns closely with the pixel count increase of 2.25x, indicating the GPU is the clear bottleneck here.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake family, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs.

Given the frame rates observed in High On Life, the CPU appears to be a capable partner for the RTX 5090, but it is not the primary driver of performance. At 1080p, the system achieves 248.2 FPS on Low settings, which is near the upper limit for many displays. The data suggests that the CPU can handle the game's logic and draw calls at these high frame rates, but the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings (248.2 FPS to 219.7 FPS on Low) indicates that even at 1440p, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU is already taking on more work.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-12800H with an average score of 32513 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 7 250 at 32584 (-0.2% delta). This tight cluster of scores suggests that the i5-14400F's performance is well within the expected range for its class. For a game like High On Life, which is not typically CPU-intensive, the 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom, but the frame rates at 1080p suggest that the CPU is nearing its ceiling at the highest settings, where the drop from Medium (225 FPS) to Ultra (162.4 FPS) is more pronounced.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship GPU built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. It has 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The GPU's raw compute power is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32, and it achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14411, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs.

In High On Life, the RTX 5090's role is clearly dominant. The benchmark results show that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates at all resolutions, but its headroom is most evident at 1080p and 1440p. At 1440p High, the combo delivers 153.4 FPS, and at 1080p High, it reaches 212.6 FPS, suggesting that the GPU has significant capacity to spare. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 71.6 FPS, which is still playable but indicates that the GPU is being fully utilized.

The GPU's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D with an average score of 84241 (0.1% delta), which is virtually identical in performance. The RTX 5050 Mobile also appears close with a score of 84171 (0.2% delta), but this is a mobile part. The data suggests that the RTX 5090 is at the top of its class, and its 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for High On Life, even at 4K with Ultra settings. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and asset loading are not bottlenecks, allowing the GPU to maintain consistent frame rates across the measured scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 248.2 on Low to 162.4 on Ultra, with High at 212.6 and Medium at 225. The differences between Low and Medium are small (a 9% drop), while the jump from Medium to Ultra is a more significant 28% reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces heavy effects like ray tracing or advanced post-processing.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high, with Low at 219.7 FPS, High at 153.4 FPS, Medium at 186.4 FPS, and Ultra at 113.2 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at the High preset shows a 28% drop, which is less than the pixel count increase of 1.78x, suggesting that the GPU is still coping well with the added resolution. The Ultra preset at 1440p (113.2 FPS) is only slightly below the 4K High preset (92 FPS), highlighting the cost of the Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are the most variable: Low at 143 FPS, Medium at 112.5 FPS, High at 92 FPS, and Ultra at 71.6 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 50%, which is a substantial performance penalty for the highest visual quality. Even at 4K Low, the system maintains over 140 FPS, which is impressive for a game at this resolution. The data suggests that for a consistent 60 FPS experience, even the Ultra preset is viable at 4K, but for high refresh rate displays, the Medium or High presets are more appropriate.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 32 out of 1732 tested combos in High On Life. This places it in the top 2% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the CPU's mid-range positioning. The rank reflects the GPU's dominance in the pairing, as the RTX 5090 is among the fastest GPUs available, while the i5-14400F is a capable but not flagship processor.

The data indicates that higher-ranked combos would likely feature a more powerful CPU, such as a Core i9 or Ryzen 9, to reduce any potential CPU bottlenecks at 1080p. However, the performance difference is likely small, as the i5-14400F's nearest rivals show a delta of less than 0.2% in average benchmark scores. The combo's rank is also influenced by the GPU's 94th percentile standing, which pulls the overall performance upward. For a game like High On Life, where the GPU is the primary driver, this rank is expected and reflects the system's ability to deliver high frame rates consistently.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 162.4 FPS is the best choice for users with high refresh rate monitors, as it provides the full visual experience without compromising on smoothness. For 1440p, the High preset at 153.4 FPS offers a balanced experience, while the Ultra preset at 113.2 FPS is still viable for 120 Hz displays, though the drop from High is noticeable.

For 4K, the recommendations are more nuanced. The Ultra preset at 71.6 FPS is playable for 60 Hz displays, but the High preset at 92 FPS provides a more comfortable margin for variable refresh rate monitors. The Medium preset at 112.5 FPS is the best option for 4K users seeking a high frame rate experience, as it delivers a 22% improvement over High while maintaining good visual fidelity. The Low preset at 143 FPS is only recommended for competitive play, as the visual downgrade may not be worth the frame rate increase for most players. Overall, the data suggests that the High preset is the sweet spot for this combo across all resolutions, offering the best balance of performance and image quality.