Minimum

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates for this combination of Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB show a clear hierarchy across the four preset levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 206.9 FPS average, which is the highest measured value for this combo at any resolution. Medium drops to 157.1 FPS, High to 133.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 105 FPS. The data indicates that Ultra at 1080p still clears the 100 FPS threshold, making it playable, but the gap between Medium and High is only 23.3 FPS, while the jump from Low to Medium costs 49.8 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 132.5 FPS, Medium 103.2 FPS, High 87.9 FPS, and Ultra 64.7 FPS. The 1440p High setting sits just below the 90 FPS mark, which is respectable for a third-person shooter, but Ultra falls below 65 FPS, suggesting the preset demands more from the GPU than the combo can comfortably sustain. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained: Low manages 74.2 FPS, Medium 56.5 FPS, High 44 FPS, and Ultra 35.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is barely half the 1080p Ultra number, a steep drop that signals the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The optimal experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, which delivers 157.1 FPS average. This setting provides a substantial frame rate cushion over High (133.8 FPS) while still maintaining visual quality far above Low. For 1440p users, Medium at 103.2 FPS is the best balance, as it stays above 100 FPS while High dips to 87.9 FPS. At 4K, the data suggests Low at 74.2 FPS is the only preset that remains fluid, since Medium falls to 56.5 FPS and High drops below 45 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at any resolution and setting?

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 206.9, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only measurement in the entire dataset that exceeds 200 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 35.8 FPS, while 1080p Ultra averages 105 FPS. The 4K result is approximately one-third of the 1080p figure, representing a 69.2 FPS absolute drop.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 1440p across all presets?

A: No. Low (132.5 FPS), Medium (103.2 FPS), and High (87.9 FPS) all exceed 60 FPS, but Ultra drops to 64.7 FPS, which is just barely above the threshold. At 4K, only Low (74.2 FPS) clears 60 FPS.

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

A: The difference is 101.9 FPS, with Low at 206.9 FPS and Ultra at 105 FPS. This means Ultra delivers roughly half the frame rate of Low at the same resolution.

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

A: The data points to the GPU as the limiting component at 4K. The RX 9060 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit bus, and the frame rate drops from 74.2 FPS at Low to 35.8 FPS at Ultra, a 38.4 FPS reduction that correlates with increased GPU load rather than CPU limitation.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested system combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 923rd out of 1733 tested combinations. This places it in the middle of the distribution, slightly above the median percentile.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how this combination scales across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 206.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 132.5 FPS, a reduction of 74.4 FPS or roughly 36%. At 4K Low, the figure falls further to 74.2 FPS, which is 58.3 FPS below the 1440p result and 132.7 FPS below the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is progressively more stressed as pixel count rises, with the 4K Low result barely reaching half the 1080p Low number.

For Medium settings, the progression is 157.1 FPS at 1080p, 103.2 FPS at 1440p, and 56.5 FPS at 4K. The 1440p Medium result is 65.7% of the 1080p figure, while 4K Medium is 36% of the 1080p figure. High settings show 133.8 FPS at 1080p, 87.9 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce 105 FPS at 1080p, 64.7 FPS at 1440p, and 35.8 FPS at 4K. Across all presets, the 4K results are consistently less than half of the 1080p results, which strongly suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The CPU, with 6 cores and 6 threads running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost of 4.10 GHz, likely keeps up with the GPU at 1080p where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. However, the steep scaling penalties at 1440p and 4K align with the GPU's memory bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s and 8 GB VRAM capacity. The 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB frame buffer appear insufficient for high-resolution, high-preset workloads, explaining why 4K Ultra collapses to 35.8 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 923rd out of 1733 tested combinations for this game. This places it in the 53rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 47% of combinations perform worse and 53% perform better. The rank reflects the balance between the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB. Given that the CPU's average benchmark score is 2305 and it sits at the 50th percentile against all CPUs, the pairing appears reasonably matched for a 2014 third-person shooter.

The rank of 923 is notable because it places this combo in the middle of the field, not in the upper echelon. The GPU is relatively modern (RDNA 4.0 architecture on a 4 nm process) with a boost clock of 3130 MHz and 2048 shading units, but the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus likely cap its performance in a game that may have larger texture requirements at higher presets. The CPU, while having 6 cores and 9 MB of shared L3 cache, is from the Coffee Lake generation and benchmarks similarly to the Intel Core i3-10305 (deltaPct 0.2) and Intel Xeon E-2134 (deltaPct 0.4), indicating it is not a high-end processor by current standards.

The 1080p results, which exceed 200 FPS at Low settings, show that this combo can deliver high frame rates when the GPU is not overloaded. The 4K results, however, drag the overall experience down, and the rank of 923 reflects this inconsistency. For a game released in 2014, the combo performs adequately at 1080p and 1440p but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 features 6 cores and 6 threads with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It is built on the Coffee Lake architecture using a 14 nm process and has 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's average benchmark score is 2305, placing it at the 50th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-8809G, which scores 2319 and is 0.6% faster, while the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2300 and is 0.2% slower.

In this game, the CPU's role appears most significant at 1080p where frame rates reach 206.9 FPS on Low settings. At such high frame rates, the CPU must process game logic and draw calls quickly enough to feed the GPU. The 6-core, 6-thread configuration with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides sufficient single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125. The multi-core score of 7969 in R23 indicates that the CPU can handle multi-threaded workloads, but this game, released in 2014, may not utilize all 6 threads efficiently.

At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The frame rate drops from 132.5 FPS at 1440p Low to 74.2 FPS at 4K Low, a scaling pattern that aligns with GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints. The CPU's 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR4 support are sufficient for this workload, but the lack of hyper-threading means only 6 threads are available for game tasks. The CPU's percentile of 50 indicates it sits exactly at the median of all CPUs, which is consistent with its mid-range positioning in this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 206.9, Medium 157.1, High 133.8, and Ultra 105. The spread from Low to Ultra is 101.9 FPS, with each preset step costing approximately 50 FPS initially (Low to Medium loses 49.8 FPS) and then a smaller 23.3 FPS drop from Medium to High, followed by a 28.8 FPS drop from High to Ultra. The 1080p results are the strongest for this combo, with even Ultra clearing the 100 FPS mark.

At 2560x1440, the measured values are: Low 132.5, Medium 103.2, High 87.9, and Ultra 64.7. The Low to Medium drop is 29.3 FPS, Medium to High is 15.3 FPS, and High to Ultra is 23.2 FPS. Notably, 1440p Ultra at 64.7 FPS is 40.3 FPS slower than 1080p Ultra at 105 FPS. The 1440p results show a tighter cluster, with Ultra remaining above 60 FPS but not by a large margin.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low 74.2, Medium 56.5, High 44, and Ultra 35.8. The Low to Medium drop is 17.7 FPS, Medium to High is 12.5 FPS, and High to Ultra is 8.2 FPS. The 4K results are the weakest, with only Low exceeding 60 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K for each preset is significant: Low falls from 206.9 to 74.2 (a 64% reduction), Medium from 157.1 to 56.5 (64%), High from 133.8 to 44 (67%), and Ultra from 105 to 35.8 (66%). This consistent ~65% reduction across presets indicates a resolution-bound limitation.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is built on the Navi 44 chip using RDNA 4.0 architecture on a 4 nm process. It has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU's boost clock is 3130 MHz, with a game clock of 2530 MHz and a base clock of 1700 MHz. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 322.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's transistor count is 29,700 million on a 199 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 149.2M per mm².

The GPU's role in this game is clearly defined by the measured frame rates. At 1080p, the GPU delivers high frame rates across all presets, with Low at 206.9 FPS and Ultra at 105 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient at this resolution, and the 322.3 GB/s bandwidth supports the data throughput required. However, at 1440p and especially 4K, the GPU's limitations become apparent. The 128-bit memory bus is narrow compared to higher-end GPUs, and the 8 GB VRAM may be insufficient for Ultra presets at 4K, where the frame rate drops to 35.8 FPS.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 25.64 TFLOPS suggests strong compute capabilities, but the measured results indicate that memory bandwidth is the constraining factor at higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 200.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 400.6 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p but struggle to maintain fill rates at 4K. The GPU's 64 ROPs are also a limiting factor, as 4K rendering requires more pixel output operations. The GPU's release date of 2025-06-03 and launch MSRP of 299 USD position it as a mid-range card, which aligns with its performance profile in this game. The combo rank of 923 out of 1733 reflects this mid-range positioning, with the GPU's 50th percentile standing matching the CPU's median performance.