Minecraft

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B370 presents a highly unusual combination in Minecraft: a six-core desktop CPU from 2018 driving an integrated-class GPU from 2026. Benchmark results show this pairing delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p on medium settings, but the scaling curve reveals a system that is overwhelmingly constrained by the graphics solution. The data indicates this is not a balanced gaming platform; rather, it is a configuration where the CPU has ample headroom and the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at every resolution tested.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 155 FPS at 1080p to 98 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 57 FPS, and then falls further to 51 FPS at 4K. This pattern is not linear—the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 36.8% of the frame rate, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs another 48%. Such aggressive scaling indicates that pixel throughput is the primary constraint; the GPU is being asked to fill exponentially more pixels, and its fixed shading units and ROPs cannot keep pace.

The Low settings row confirms this analysis. At 1080p Low, the system produces 195 FPS, which drops to 123 FPS at 1440p and 64 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 36.9% and 48% respectively, nearly identical to the Medium preset’s scaling. This consistency across settings suggests the limiting factor is not texture bandwidth or shading complexity, but rather the raw pixel fill rate and memory subsystem. The Arc B370 has a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, and those figures appear to be the hard ceiling. When resolution doubles, the workload on those units doubles, and the frame rate responds accordingly.

High settings show a slightly different scaling curve. The jump from 1080p High (123 FPS) to 1440p High (77 FPS) is a 37.4% reduction, but the drop to 4K High (40 FPS) is a 48.1% reduction from the 1440p figure. Interestingly, the 4K High result of 40 FPS is lower than the 4K Medium result of 51 FPS, but the relative scaling from 1440p to 4K is similar. This indicates that even at High settings, the bottleneck remains the GPU’s ability to output pixels, not the CPU feeding it data. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 77 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 37.7%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 47.9%, again matching the same proportional decline.

The fact that the 1080p to 1440p scaling is consistently around 37% across all four settings presets, and the 1440p to 4K scaling is consistently around 48%, strongly suggests a pure pixel-fill bottleneck. The CPU is not becoming a limiting factor at higher resolutions; if it were, the frame rates would plateau or show smaller percentage drops as the GPU workload increased. Instead, the proportional drops remain constant, meaning the GPU is saturated at all resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS is the clearest demonstration of this, as it represents the GPU’s absolute ceiling when pushed to maximum detail and resolution simultaneously.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Minecraft, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 1053 out of 1176 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 10.5% of all configurations. This low ranking is not surprising given the GPU’s performance class. The Intel Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, a 0.2% difference) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, a 0.5% difference). These are legacy discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, and the Arc B370 is essentially matching their performance while operating as an integrated processor.

The CPU, by contrast, is a mid-pack performer. The Intel Core i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, a -0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, a -0.4% delta). This means the CPU is performing right in the middle of the pack, with no significant advantage or disadvantage relative to its peers. The combination’s low rank in Minecraft is therefore almost entirely attributable to the GPU, not the CPU. The data shows that if the GPU were replaced with something at the 50th percentile, this combo would likely jump several hundred ranks.

The deltaPct values for the CPU’s rivals are all within a narrow band of -0.4% to +0.4%, indicating that the i5-9400 is a thoroughly average processor in synthetic tests. However, in a game like Minecraft, which is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance, the CPU’s 935 Cinebench R23 single-core score and 1,389 Geekbench single-core score become relevant. The combo rank of 1053 out of 1176 suggests that even with a competent CPU, the GPU drags the overall experience down to the bottom tier. The 40 FPS average at 4K High and 25 FPS at 4K Ultra are the kinds of numbers that place a configuration in the bottom decile, regardless of what the CPU is doing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel’s 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 9 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6,629 and a single-core score of 935, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 5,141 and single-core score of 1,389. These numbers place it at the 47th percentile, meaning it is neither a high-end nor a low-end part; it is squarely mid-range.

In Minecraft, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, chunk updates, and entity management, while the GPU handles rendering. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 195 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU faster than the GPU can render. At 1080p Medium, the frame rate is 155 FPS, and at 1080p High it is 123 FPS. These numbers suggest the CPU is not a limiting factor at 1080p, because the frame rates scale inversely with GPU load—as settings increase and the GPU works harder, the FPS drops proportionally. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain flat or drop only slightly as settings increased.

The single-core performance of 935 in Cinebench R23 is adequate for Minecraft’s primary thread, which handles the main game loop. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides the high-frequency responsiveness that Minecraft benefits from. However, the CPU’s multi-core performance of 6,629 in Cinebench R23 is less relevant, as Minecraft does not scale well across six cores. The 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs means there are many processors that would perform better, but the data shows that the i5-9400 is not the reason this combo ranks at 1053 out of 1176. The CPU has enough headroom at 4K to maintain the 25 FPS Ultra result, but that is a GPU limit, not a CPU limit.

Benchmark results indicate that the CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support are sufficient for this GPU, which uses system shared memory. The Arc B370’s memory bandwidth is listed as “System Dependent,” meaning the CPU’s memory controller is part of the equation. The i5-9400’s 42.7 GB/s bandwidth may be a secondary constraint at 4K, where the GPU needs to access large textures, but the primary bottleneck remains the GPU’s computational throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 195, which is a very playable result for competitive or fast-paced gameplay. Medium settings yield 155 FPS with a minimum of 131 and a maximum of 178, showing a consistent frame time distribution. High settings drop to 123 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 77 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system can handle all settings presets at playable frame rates, though Ultra begins to show the GPU’s limits.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings average 123 FPS, which is still smooth for most players. Medium settings average 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 and maximum of 112. High settings fall to 77 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 48 FPS. The 1440p results show that Medium is the highest preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High settings at 77 FPS are playable, but the margin is thinner, and Ultra at 48 FPS is borderline.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low settings average 64 FPS, which is technically playable but not smooth. Medium settings average 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 and maximum of 59, meaning the frame rate dips below 45 FPS at times. High settings drop to 40 FPS, and Ultra settings produce just 25 FPS. These 4K results are largely unplayable for a smooth experience, with only Low settings approaching a 60 FPS target.

The Medium preset is the only one that provides both minimum and maximum FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 131 to 178 FPS; at 1440p, it is 83 to 112 FPS; and at 4K, it is 43 to 59 FPS. The minimum FPS values are consistently about 15-20% below the average, suggesting occasional frame hitches but no severe stuttering. The maximum values are consistently about 15% above the average, indicating that the system can burst above the average when the scene is less demanding.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 3 nm process. It has 1,280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The boost clock is 2400 MHz, and the pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS. The GPU sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184.

These specifications explain the measured FPS results. The 20 ROPs are the primary constraint at high resolutions, as they determine the pixel fill rate. At 4K, the GPU has to fill 8.3 million pixels per frame, and with a pixel rate of 48 GPixel/s, it can theoretically fill 48 billion pixels per second. Dividing the pixel count by the frame rate yields a theoretical maximum, but the measured results show that the GPU is achieving only a fraction of that. The 25 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates that the shading units are also saturated, not just the ROPs.

The GPU’s memory is “System Shared,” meaning it uses the CPU’s DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This is a significant disadvantage in Minecraft, which can use large texture caches. The memory bandwidth is listed as “System Dependent,” and with the i5-9400’s 42.7 GB/s dual-channel bandwidth, the GPU may be starved for memory bandwidth at 4K. This could explain why the 4K results are disproportionately low compared to 1440p. The GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic tests are the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, both of which have dedicated memory, yet the Arc B370 matches their scores.

The GPU’s TDP of 25 W is remarkably low, which is typical for an integrated part. This means the system’s overall power draw is minimal, but it also means the GPU has no headroom for sustained boost clocks under load. The 2400 MHz boost clock is likely not maintained consistently during gaming, which would further reduce performance. The 25 W TDP and the “IGP” slot width confirm that this is not a gaming-oriented part, and the benchmark results reflect that.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset is the optimal choice for most users, provided they are playing at 1080p or 1440p. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 155 FPS with a minimum of 131 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and even above 144 Hz for high-refresh monitors. At 1440p Medium, the average is 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS, which is still comfortably above 60 FPS and suitable for 1440p monitors with a 75 Hz or 100 Hz refresh rate.

For users with a 1080p 144 Hz monitor, the High preset at 123 FPS is also viable, as it stays above 120 FPS on average. However, the Medium preset provides a larger frame rate margin and is the safer recommendation. The Low preset at 195 FPS is only necessary for competitive play where every frame counts, but the visual quality reduction is significant.

At 4K, the data shows that no preset provides a consistently smooth experience. The Low preset averages 64 FPS, which is playable but subject to dips below 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Therefore, the recommendation for 4K is to use Low settings if 60 FPS is the goal, or to reduce the resolution to 1440p and use Medium settings for a better visual experience. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as it produces 77 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K—all of which are below the smoothness thresholds for their respective resolutions.

The data suggests that the system is best utilized at 1080p with Medium or High settings, where it delivers frame rates in the 123-155 FPS range. At 1440p, Medium is the highest playable preset. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, and even then, the 77 FPS average is not ideal for high-refresh displays. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p is the clear winner in the measured results.