Minimum

The benchmark data for Minimum with the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but shows signs of CPU limitation at 1080p. The measured frames per second across three resolutions and four quality presets provide a clear picture of where the bottleneck shifts, how the combination ranks against other tested configs, and what settings deliver the optimal experience for this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a classic scaling curve that is primarily dictated by the GPU’s rendering load. At the High preset, the system delivers 209.3 FPS at 1080p, drops to 133.4 FPS at 1440p, and falls further to 74.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64.2% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial hit but still leaves the game comfortably playable at all three resolutions.

The scaling pattern across presets shows interesting behavior. At the Low preset, the frame rate goes from 273 FPS at 1080p to 211.7 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 113.9 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 22.5%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 46.2%, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor more aggressively as pixel count increases. The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 247.7 FPS at 1080p, 164.1 FPS at 1440p, and 86.8 FPS at 4K, with a 47.1% decline between the two higher resolutions.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, starting at 158.5 FPS at 1080p, falling to 104.6 FPS at 1440p, and plummeting to 58.2 FPS at 4K. The 44.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p is the largest relative decline among all presets, and the 4K result falls below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that Ultra settings at 4K push the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range for this title. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads are able to keep pace with the GPU, but the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s raw power is not being fully utilized at that resolution, as evidenced by the relatively small performance gap between Low and High presets at 1080p compared to the larger gaps at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 272 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places the pairing in the top 15.7% of all configurations in the database, which is a strong showing given the CPU’s 2020 release date and the GPU’s newer architecture. The combo outperforms the vast majority of systems while trailing the most extreme high-end pairings that likely feature newer flagship processors.

The CPU itself sits at the 73rd percentile against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD EPYC 7552 with an average score of 14115 and a delta of 0.4%, the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14277 with a delta of -0.8%, and the Intel Core i5-8500 at 14332 with a delta of -1.1%. These small deltas, all within 1.2% of the i5-10400F’s score, indicate that the processor performs comparably to these alternatives in general benchmark workloads, though the i5-10400F holds a slight edge over the EPYC 7552 and trails the others by a marginal margin.

The GPU, on the other hand, ranks at the 86th percentile against all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 48704. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 50HX at 49071 (delta -0.7%), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 at 47915 (delta 1.6%), and the Intel Arc A550M at 49737 (delta -2.1%). The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER sits comfortably above the RTX A2000 by 1.6% and below the Arc A550M by 2.1%, showing that it is a mid-to-upper-tier performer in the database. The combo rank of 272 benefits disproportionately from the GPU’s high percentile, as the CPU’s lower percentile is offset by the fact that Minimum appears to favor graphics throughput over raw CPU compute.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the AD103 chip using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for the memory demands of Minimum at any resolution. The GPU’s 8448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines deliver a pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s, both of which contribute to the high frame rates observed in the measured data.

The base clock of 2340 MHz and boost clock of 2610 MHz allow the GPU to sustain high throughput under load, and the measured FPS results confirm that the card is performing near its expected capabilities. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the GPU scores 5569, and in Geekbench OpenCL it scores 223091, with a Vulkan score of 206035. The PassMark G3D score of 31811 further corroborates the GPU’s strong performance. The 86th percentile ranking against all GPUs is reflected in the fact that the card can push 273 FPS at 1080p Low settings, a figure that only a small fraction of GPUs can match.

The memory configuration plays a critical role at 4K resolution, where the 16 GB frame buffer prevents any capacity-related stuttering that might occur with smaller VRAM pools. The 672.3 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and shader operations are not bottlenecked, as evidenced by the relatively smooth scaling from Ultra to Low settings at 4K. The GPU’s 66 RT cores and 264 tensor cores are present but are not specifically leveraged by Minimum’s rendering pipeline, which appears to rely on traditional rasterization based on the performance metrics.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 273 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with the highest settings?

A: No, at 4K with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 58.2 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K achieves 74.9 FPS, which exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552’s 14115, but 0.8% lower than the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C’s 14277.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth and how does it affect performance?

A: The GPU has a memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s across a 256-bit bus with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, which supports high-resolution texture loading without becoming a limiting factor in the measured results.

*Q: What is the combo’s rank out of all tested configurations in Minimum?*

A: The combo ranks 272nd out of 1733 tested combos, placing it in the top 15.7% of all configurations.

Q: At which resolution does the CPU become the limiting factor?

A: At 1920x1080, the frame rates across presets (158.5 FPS on Ultra to 273 FPS on Low) suggest the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads nearing their limit, as the GPU’s performance headroom is not fully tapped.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 10th-generation processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 14 nm process. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache, along with 64 KB L1 and 256 KB L2 per core, provides adequate data locality for gaming workloads. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration, offering a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, which is modest compared to the GPU’s memory bandwidth but sufficient for the processor’s needs.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show a clear scaling pattern from single-thread to multi-thread performance. In Cinebench R23, the multicore score is 10297 and the single-core score is 1453, while in Geekbench the multicore score is 5783 and single-core is 1454. The 3DMark results indicate that the CPU scales well up to 8 threads (3929) but sees diminishing returns beyond that, with 16 threads scoring 4748 and max threads scoring 4735. This suggests that the processor’s 6 physical cores are well-utilized, but the additional 6 threads from Hyper-Threading provide only marginal gains in threaded workloads.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role becomes most apparent at 1080p resolution. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 273 FPS, which is the highest measured value. However, the gap between Low and High settings at 1080p is only 63.7 FPS (from 273 to 209.3), whereas at 4K the same preset gap is 39 FPS (from 113.9 to 74.9). This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is struggling to feed the GPU with enough frames, as the GPU could likely render more than 273 FPS if the CPU were faster. The 73rd percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168, places the i5-10400F above the median but well below top-tier processors that would allow the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER to reach its full potential at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for each resolution, with the optimal choice depending on the user’s target frame rate and visual fidelity preferences. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 209.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display and represents a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 158.5 FPS, which is still exceptionally high and would be suitable for users with high-refresh-rate monitors who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate. The Low preset at 273 FPS offers the maximum possible performance for competitive play, but the visual compromise is significant.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 133.4 FPS, which is above the 120 Hz refresh rate commonly found on 1440p monitors. The Medium preset at 164.1 FPS provides an even higher margin for high-refresh displays, while the Ultra preset at 104.6 FPS remains above 100 FPS and offers the best visual experience. The Low preset at 211.7 FPS is likely overkill for most users, as the visual downgrade is not justified when High already exceeds 130 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers 74.9 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and is the recommended choice for 4K displays. The Medium preset at 86.8 FPS offers a small performance boost but with reduced visual details, while the Ultra preset at 58.2 FPS falls below 60 FPS and may result in noticeable stuttering on standard 60 Hz displays. The Low preset at 113.9 FPS is viable for users who prioritize frame rate over everything else, but the High preset strikes the best balance for 4K gaming. The data clearly shows that the High preset is the sweet spot across all three resolutions, delivering frame rates that are both high and consistent with the system’s capabilities.