High On Life

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

The measured data for High On Life shows a steep and consistent performance decline as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 84.5 FPS at 1080p to 61.1 FPS at 1440p, then to 36 FPS at 4K. That represents a 57% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at the same preset, which is a substantial drop that points directly at the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern is revealing. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings costs roughly 23 FPS, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 25 FPS. The pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K is larger than the jump from 1080p to 1440p, explaining the near-linear relationship between pixel throughput and frame rate. This is classic GPU-bound behavior — the Intel Core i5-9400’s six cores are not the constraint here, as the frame rate collapses in proportion to the rendering load.

Looking at the Low preset, the trend is even more pronounced. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 126.4 FPS, which drops to 86.5 FPS at 1440p and 55.7 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still playable, but it is less than half the 1080p Low figure. This wide spread across presets at the same resolution reinforces that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are being pushed hard as resolution scales.

Ultra settings tell a similar story with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 62.9 FPS; at 1440p Ultra it falls to 42.5 FPS; and at 4K Ultra it drops to 26 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that this combination cannot handle the game’s highest visual fidelity at 4K. The data suggests that High On Life is heavily GPU-limited at 4K across all presets, with the CPU’s role diminishing as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

Within the database of tested combinations for High On Life, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 sits at rank 1390 out of 1732 combos. That places it in the lower third of all tested systems, which is a notable finding given that both components are from the same generation and were considered mainstream at their release. The percentile data for each component helps contextualize this: the CPU ranks in the 50th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. Neither component is exceptional, but the GPU is slightly stronger relative to its peers than the CPU.

The combo rank suggests that High On Life is particularly demanding on the system as a whole. With 342 combos ranked below this pairing, there is a long tail of weaker systems, but the 1390th position means a majority of tested setups outperform it. The nearest rival data for the CPU shows it is closely matched with the Intel Core i3-10305 (deltaPct 0.2) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (deltaPct 0.2), while the GPU’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (deltaPct 0.5). These narrow margins indicate that small component changes could shift the combo ranking noticeably.

The measured FPS data supports the ranking. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 84.5 FPS, which is solid for competitive play but not exceptional. At 1440p High, it drops to 61.1 FPS, which is still playable but shows the system’s limits. The fact that the combo ranks below the median suggests that High On Life’s optimization favors systems with newer architectures or higher core counts, even if the raw benchmark scores are similar.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all presets remain playable, with the lowest average being 62.9 FPS at Ultra. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS, while at 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299), and 0.4% higher than the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295). It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G by 0.6%.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to bottleneck at 4K?

A: The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings (84.5 to 36 FPS) indicates GPU-bound performance. The CPU’s six cores and 4.10 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 336 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factors at 4K.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 126.4 FPS while Ultra averages 62.9 FPS — a difference of 63.5 FPS. Medium lands at 98.3 FPS and High at 84.5 FPS, showing a clear stepwise progression as visual quality increases.

Q: How does the GPU rank against its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7% each.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming in High On Life?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 2560x1440, Low averages 86.5 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS, and High averages 61.1 FPS — all playable. Ultra drops to 42.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth action in this FPS.

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

1920x1080: The full range of presets is playable. Low delivers 126.4 FPS, Medium 98.3 FPS, High 84.5 FPS, and Ultra 62.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 63.5 FPS, indicating that visual settings have a massive impact at this resolution. Even the heaviest preset stays above 60 FPS, making 1080p the sweet spot for this combo.

2560x1440: Performance drops noticeably but remains workable for most presets. Low hits 86.5 FPS, Medium 72 FPS, and High 61.1 FPS — all above the 60 FPS mark. Ultra falls to 42.5 FPS, which is a significant 18.6 FPS drop from High. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 44 FPS spread, similar in percentage terms to 1080p but with lower absolute numbers.

3840x2160: This is where the combo struggles. Low averages 55.7 FPS, Medium 45.3 FPS, High 36 FPS, and Ultra 26 FPS. No preset reaches 60 FPS at 4K. The difference between Low and Ultra is 29.7 FPS, but the absolute numbers are too low for comfortable play. The 4K Low result is the only one above 50 FPS, and it still falls short of the 60 FPS target.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each resolution step roughly halves the performance headroom. At 1080p, the combo has ample margin; at 1440p, it is borderline; at 4K, it is inadequate. The Ultra preset at 4K (26 FPS) is less than half the Low preset at 1080p (126.4 FPS), showing the combined impact of resolution and settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For players targeting 60 FPS, the data points to specific presets at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 84.5 FPS provides the best balance between visual fidelity and performance headroom, while Ultra at 62.9 FPS is still viable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. Medium at 98.3 FPS is the choice for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals, and Low at 126.4 FPS suits competitive play on high-refresh displays.

At 2560x1440, Medium at 72 FPS emerges as the recommended preset — it offers a 10.9 FPS buffer over High’s 61.1 FPS and a substantial 29.5 FPS advantage over Ultra’s 42.5 FPS. Low at 86.5 FPS remains an option for smoother gameplay, but Medium provides the best compromise between quality and speed. High is acceptable for players who accept 60 FPS as the floor, but the margin is thin.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS, so the recommendation depends on the target frame rate. Low at 55.7 FPS is the only preset near the 60 FPS mark, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. Medium at 45.3 FPS is more visually appealing but drops below 50 FPS. For 4K play, the data suggests accepting lower settings or reducing resolution to 1440p, where Medium and High both exceed 60 FPS.

The overall recommendation is to use High at 1080p or Medium at 1440p for the best experience. The Ultra preset is only advisable at 1080p, where it barely clears 60 FPS. The measured data shows that High On Life rewards moderate settings over extreme ones, as the frame rate cost between Medium and Ultra is proportionally larger than the visual gain.

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

The Intel Core i5-9400 brings six cores and six threads to this combination, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This is a Coffee Lake architecture part on a 14 nm process, and its synthetic benchmarks paint a picture of a mid-range CPU: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 7969, single-core 1125, and the average benchmark score across all tests is 2305. The CPU sits in the 50th percentile against all CPUs, meaning it is exactly average in the wider ecosystem.

In High On Life, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU, based on the measured FPS scaling. The 6-core, 6-thread configuration is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking at 1080p, where the RTX 2060 is clearly the limiting factor — the frame rate drops proportionally with resolution increases. The 4.10 GHz boost clock provides adequate single-thread performance for game logic and physics, while the 9 MB shared L3 cache helps with data locality.

The nearest rival data shows the i5-9400 is nearly identical in synthetic performance to several other CPUs, with deltaPct values of 0.2% against the Core i3-10305 and Core i3-1125G4, and 0.4% against the Xeon E-2134. This suggests that swapping the CPU for any of these would yield minimal changes in High On Life, further confirming that the GPU is the dominant factor in this game’s performance. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are unremarkable but adequate for this workload.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the more influential component in this pairing, and the measured FPS data reflects its capabilities and limitations. The GPU features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is a moderate allocation for a 2022 game like High On Life. The base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz drive 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores for ray tracing and AI features.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmarks show it ranks in the 58th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, scores 15996 (deltaPct 0.5), while the Radeon Pro 5700 scores 16351 (deltaPct -1.7). These tight margins indicate the RTX 2060 is competitive with newer mid-range parts, but its 6 GB VRAM is likely a constraint at 4K Ultra, where the measured 26 FPS suggests the memory bandwidth is saturated.

The 4K results are particularly telling for the GPU’s role. At 4K High, the combo averages 36 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 55.7 FPS — a 19.7 FPS difference. The fact that even Low settings cannot hit 60 FPS at 4K points to the GPU’s raw compute limits rather than VRAM capacity alone. The 6.451 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 201.6 GTexel/s texture rate are simply insufficient for 4K in this game. The 160 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this class, but the performance data shows the GPU is the clear bottleneck at higher resolutions and presets.