High On Life

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 in High On Life?

A: This pairing ranks 1350 out of 3718 tested combos in the database for this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all possible CPU-GPU combinations tested.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core i5-9400's average benchmark score is 2254, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259), 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248), and 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246). It also trails the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264) by 0.4%.

Q: What is the RTX 5070's standing relative to other GPUs in the benchmark database?

A: The GPU sits in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40318, a mere 0.1% difference.

Q: What are the best and worst average FPS results across all measured configurations?

A: The highest average FPS is 139 at 1080p Low settings, while the lowest average FPS is 50 at 4K Ultra settings. The spread between these extremes is 89 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 have a higher average benchmark score than its nearest listed rival, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100?

A: Yes, the RTX 5070's average score of 40377 is 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100's 40063. However, it is 1.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300's 40870.

Q: How many threads does the Core i5-9400 have, and what is its boost clock?

A: The Core i5-9400 has 6 threads across 6 cores, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its TDP is rated at 65 W.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It packs 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 2325 MHz, boosting up to 2512 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s.

In High On Life, the GPU's role is critical across all resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 139 FPS, but even at 4K Ultra it manages 50 FPS, showing the RTX 5070's raw throughput is sufficient to maintain playable framerates at the highest resolution. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is notable for a game of this type; while the data doesn't directly show VRAM usage, the fact that the GPU can handle Ultra settings at 4K without dropping below 50 FPS suggests the memory pool is adequate for the game's demands.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores. The FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS provides ample headroom for the stylized visuals of High On Life. Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are professional-class AMD cards (Radeon Pro 580, Pro WX 7100, Pro 5300) and a mobile NVIDIA RTX A500, with delta percentages ranging from -1.2% to 2% — indicating the RTX 5070 sits in a performance bracket surrounded by workstation hardware, yet it decisively outperforms them in this gaming scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1350 out of 3718, this i5-9400 + RTX 5070 pairing sits in the 63rd percentile of all tested combinations for High On Life. This is a curious outcome: the GPU alone ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, yet the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the CPU's 47th percentile standing among all processors.

The data implies a significant bottleneck: the CPU's average benchmark score of 2254 is just 0.2% away from the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, a low-power mobile chip, and 0.4% from the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500. In contrast, the RTX 5070's score of 40377 is only 0.1% off the AMD Radeon Pro 580, which is itself a workstation GPU. This mismatch — a top-tier GPU paired with a mid-range 2018-era CPU — explains why the combo doesn't crack the top 1000. The rank suggests that in High On Life, the system's ceiling is determined by the CPU, not the GPU.

The rank also highlights that many other combos in the database achieve better results, likely with more balanced pairings. For a game released in December 2022, the i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for the game's logic, but they limit the GPU's ability to stretch its legs at lower resolutions where CPU overhead matters more. The percentile gap between the GPU (82nd) and CPU (47th) is a clear indicator of where the system loses ground.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 139 FPS, with Medium at 127 FPS (min 108, max 146), High at 119 FPS, and Ultra at 107 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 32 FPS, or roughly 23% — a moderate penalty for the visual upgrade. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra is only 12 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are relatively light on the GPU at this resolution.

At 1440p, the averages are 124 FPS (Low), 113 FPS (Medium, min 96, max 130), 106 FPS (High), and 83 FPS (Ultra). The step from High to Ultra is a steep 23 FPS decline, which is a larger relative drop than at 1080p. This indicates that at 1440p, the Ultra preset begins to tax the GPU more heavily, while the CPU's influence diminishes as resolution scales up.

At 4K, the averages are 104 FPS (Low), 81 FPS (Medium, min 69, max 94), 67 FPS (High), and 50 FPS (Ultra). The Low-to-Ultra spread is 54 FPS, more than half the Low value. The Medium preset's minimum of 69 FPS is the only recorded min/max data at 4K, showing that even the minimum stays above 60 FPS — a key threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra result of 50 FPS is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 60 FPS average.

The pattern across resolutions is consistent: the RTX 5070's performance scales predictably with settings, but the CPU's 6-core/6-thread configuration becomes less of a limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 32 FPS; at 4K, it's 54 FPS — the GPU is doing proportionally more work at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. With an average of 106 FPS, it clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin while providing significantly better visuals than Low or Medium. At 4K, the High preset's 67 FPS average is also above 60 FPS, making it a viable option for players with 4K displays who prioritize smoothness over maximum fidelity.

For players targeting 1080p, the Ultra preset at 107 FPS is the recommended choice — the GPU has enough headroom to run max settings while staying well above refresh-rate thresholds for most monitors. The 12 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is a small price to pay for the full visual experience.

At 4K, Medium settings (81 FPS) provide the best experience if you want to stay comfortably above 60 FPS, as the min FPS of 69 ensures no drops below the smoothness threshold. The Ultra preset at 4K (50 FPS) is only suitable for players who prioritize image quality over framerate, as the 50 FPS average will be noticeable in fast-paced FPS gameplay.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the "sweet spot" across all resolutions: at 1080p it's 127 FPS, at 1440p it's 113 FPS, and at 4K it's 81 FPS. This consistency makes Medium the safest recommendation for players who switch between resolutions or use variable refresh rate monitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake generation, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, consuming 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 9 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In High On Life, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p, where the combo achieves 139 FPS at Low settings. This high framerate is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has enough raw power to render far more frames if the CPU could feed it. The CPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range standing: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and singlecore score of 935, with a Geekbench multicore of 5141 and singlecore of 1389.

The CPU's 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it's roughly average, but the RTX 5070's 82nd percentile creates a significant imbalance. In a game like High On Life, which is an FPS with stylized graphics, the CPU must handle game logic, physics, and draw calls while the GPU renders the scene. The 6-core/6-thread configuration — without hyperthreading — can struggle in scenes with many AI agents or complex interactions, even if the average FPS remains high.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% higher score), which is a low-power mobile chip, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% higher). This proximity to mobile parts underscores that the i5-9400 is not a high-end desktop processor, yet it still manages to keep the RTX 5070 fed at 1080p in this game, suggesting High On Life is not extremely CPU-intensive.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops, but the rate of drop varies by settings preset. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS decreases by 15 FPS at Low (139 to 124), 14 FPS at Medium (127 to 113), 13 FPS at High (119 to 106), and 24 FPS at Ultra (107 to 83). The Ultra preset shows the steepest decline, indicating that the GPU's fill-rate and bandwidth limits are being approached at 1440p with max settings.

From 1440p to 4K, the drops are more pronounced: 20 FPS at Low (124 to 104), 32 FPS at Medium (113 to 81), 39 FPS at High (106 to 67), and 33 FPS at Ultra (83 to 50). The High preset's 39 FPS drop suggests that the combination of 4K resolution and High settings is where the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth start to feel constrained. The Medium preset's 32 FPS drop is also significant, but its 4K average of 81 FPS remains playable.

The scaling behavior indicates that the system is GPU-limited at higher resolutions, as expected. At 1080p, the CPU's influence is stronger — the difference between Low and Ultra is 32 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 4K (54 FPS). This widening gap at higher resolutions confirms that the RTX 5070's performance scales with resolution, while the CPU's contribution remains roughly constant. For players with 4K displays, the GPU is the clear bottleneck; for 1080p players, the CPU's 6 threads may occasionally limit peak framerates. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where the balance between CPU and GPU utilization is most even — the 106 FPS at High settings is a strong result that leverages both components effectively.