Minecraft

Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a highly capable Minecraft experience, with benchmark data showing strong performance across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is well-balanced for this title, though the scaling patterns indicate where each component’s influence is most pronounced. This combination ranks in the 69th percentile of all tested combos, placing it in the upper third of systems evaluated for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K shows how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 389 FPS, while dropping to 246 FPS at 2560x1440 and 128 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 66% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 1440p, and a 67% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is relatively consistent, suggesting the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

Looking at Ultra settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 153 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% from 1080p to 1440p and 48% from 1440p to 4K. The smaller relative drop at higher resolutions for Ultra settings indicates that the GPU is already heavily loaded, so additional pixel count has a more moderate impact compared to Low settings.

The data reveals that at 1080p with Low settings, the frame rate of 389 FPS is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has ample headroom. Moving to Medium settings at 1080p yields 308 FPS, still extremely high. At 1440p, the system remains very playable, with Low settings producing 246 FPS and High settings producing 154 FPS. The 4K results are more demanding, with only Low settings (128 FPS) and Medium settings (102 FPS) remaining above 100 FPS.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER perform at 4K in Minecraft?

A: At 3840x2160, the system averages 128 FPS on Low settings, 102 FPS on Medium, 81 FPS on High, and 50 FPS on Ultra. Medium settings provide the smoothest experience with a minimum of 86 FPS, while Ultra dips to 50 FPS average, which may feel less fluid.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F sufficient for high frame rates in Minecraft?

A: Yes, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz support frame rates exceeding 300 FPS at 1080p. The data shows 389 FPS on Low and 308 FPS on Medium at 1080p, indicating the CPU is not a bottleneck at these settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 144+ FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the system averages 246 FPS on Low, 195 FPS on Medium, and 154 FPS on High. All three presets maintain an average above 144 FPS, making 1440p a viable target for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 2556 out of 3710 tested combos, placing it in the upper 31% of all configurations evaluated for Minecraft. This rank reflects the balanced performance of the CPU and GPU pair.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration, and does it matter for this game?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Minecraft’s chunk loading benefits from this capacity, though the game typically does not require the full 8 GB at the tested settings.

Q: How does the GPU’s benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373) by 1.5%.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz and boosts to 1650 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which supports texture streaming and chunk loading in Minecraft.

The GPU’s compute capabilities include 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. It also features 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, though Minecraft does not heavily utilize ray tracing or AI acceleration. The FP32 performance is 7.181 TFLOPS, and the texture rate is 224.4 GTexel/s. These specifications contribute to the GPU’s average benchmark score of 18093, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs.

In Minecraft, the GPU’s role becomes more significant at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rate difference between Low (389 FPS) and Ultra (153 FPS) is 236 FPS, indicating the GPU is not fully taxed at lower settings. At 4K, the difference narrows to 78 FPS (128 FPS on Low vs. 50 FPS on Ultra), demonstrating that the GPU is increasingly the limiting factor. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the textures and render distances tested, as no memory-related stuttering is evident from the measured frame times.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 2556 out of 3710 tested combos for Minecraft. This places the system in the 69th percentile of all configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly 69% of tested systems. The rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is severely underpowered for the other.

The CPU’s benchmark performance shows an average score of 14185, which places it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E with an average score of 14163 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL at 14232 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 7552 at 14115 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14277 (0.6% higher). This tight grouping indicates the i5-10400F performs competitively with these alternative processors.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 18093 places it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 18159 (0.4% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 18189 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 460 at 18373 (1.5% higher), and the Intel Arc A770M at 18383 (1.6% higher). The GPU is slightly below these rivals in synthetic benchmarks, yet the in-game results remain strong.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 389 FPS, Medium produces 308 FPS with a minimum of 262 FPS and maximum of 355 FPS, High produces 245 FPS, and Ultra produces 153 FPS. The 1080p results show the CPU can push very high frame rates, with the GPU becoming more relevant as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains impressive. Low settings average 246 FPS, Medium averages 195 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS and maximum of 224 FPS, High averages 154 FPS, and Ultra averages 97 FPS. The 1440p results represent a 37% drop from 1080p at Low settings, but a 37% drop at Ultra settings as well, showing consistent scaling.

At 3840x2160, frame rates become more moderate. Low settings average 128 FPS, Medium averages 102 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 117 FPS, High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The 4K results show that only Low and Medium settings maintain averages above 100 FPS, while High and Ultra dip below 81 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the data supports using High or Ultra settings. High settings deliver 245 FPS, which is well above typical 144 Hz refresh rates, while Ultra provides 153 FPS, still sufficient for smooth gameplay. The 308 FPS on Medium suggests that even High settings leave performance headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1440p, Medium settings offer the best balance, with an average of 195 FPS and a minimum of 165 FPS. High settings at 154 FPS remain playable, while Ultra at 97 FPS may introduce noticeable frame drops on fast-paced gameplay. Low settings at 246 FPS are excessive for most displays, so Medium is recommended for visual quality with robust performance.

For 4K displays, Medium settings are the optimal choice. The average of 102 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS ensures consistent frame pacing, while Low settings at 128 FPS sacrifice too much visual fidelity. High settings at 81 FPS are playable but may feel less responsive, and Ultra at 50 FPS is best avoided for action-oriented play.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F features 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Comet Lake architecture manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU’s cache configuration includes 64 KB L1 per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 12 MB shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 10283 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1451 in single-core, with a Geekbench multicore score of 6257 and single-core score of 1420. The Passmark multithread score is 12115, with a single-thread score of 2541. These results show solid multi-threaded performance for a 6-core processor, while single-thread performance is adequate for Minecraft’s primary game loop.

Minecraft is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance, and the i5-10400F’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz provides sufficient headroom. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 389 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output. At 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 153 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase. The CPU’s 12 MB L3 cache helps with chunk storage, and the 6 cores handle background simulation tasks without bottlenecking the main render thread.