Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a peculiar performance profile in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The data reveals a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics processor at higher resolutions, yet manages to deliver playable frame rates at 1080p. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to determine where this combo’s bottlenecks lie and what settings offer the most balanced experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a dramatic and consistent decline as resolution increases, indicating that the Intel Arc B390 is the primary limiting factor across all tested settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 95 FPS. Moving to 1440p, that figure drops to 61 FPS, a reduction of 34 frames per second. At 4K, the average falls further to 33 FPS. This scaling pattern—where doubling the pixel count roughly halves the frame rate—is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario.

The High settings preset tells a similar story. At 1920x1080, the average is 61 FPS. At 2560x1440, it drops to 39 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it plummets to 21 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 40 FPS, which is a 65.6% reduction in performance. This steep decline suggests that the Arc B390’s compute and memory resources are quickly saturated as pixel count increases, leaving the i5-9400 with little to do.

The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, provides additional insight into the scaling. At 1080p, the combo averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 83. At 1440p, the average drops to 47 FPS with a range of 40 to 54. At 4K, the average falls to 25 FPS with a range of 21 to 29. The frame time consistency remains relatively stable, but the average performance is cut by roughly one-third at each resolution step. This consistent degradation points directly at the GPU’s inability to keep up with the increasing fragment and texture workload.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe bottleneck. At 1080p, the average is 46 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 30 FPS, and at 4K, it is a slideshow-like 16 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is a 65.2% loss, nearly identical to the High preset’s drop. This uniformity across presets confirms that the resolution is the dominant factor, not the specific quality settings. In short, the data indicates a GPU that is overwhelmed at 4K and only marginally acceptable at 1440p for less demanding presets.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B390 holds a combo rank of 2602 out of 2939 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, which aligns with the measured FPS data showing significant struggles at higher resolutions. The rank reflects that the vast majority of other CPU-GPU pairings tested in this game deliver higher frame rates.

The GPU’s individual standing explains this poor combo rank. The Arc B390’s average benchmark score is 1482, putting it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are all older, low-end NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX, with a score of 1463 and a delta of 1.3%; the GeForce 800M at 1460 with a delta of 1.5%; the GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 with a delta of 2.5%; and the GeForce GT 710 at 1443 with a delta of 2.7%. The Arc B390 is only 1.3% to 2.7% faster than these legacy parts, which are themselves entry-level solutions from over a decade ago. This indicates that while the Arc B390 is technically superior, its real-world performance in this game is barely above the bottom of the barrel.

The CPU, in contrast, is a mid-range part. The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, -0.2%), the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, 0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, 0.4%), and the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, -0.4%). These deltas are all within 0.4% of the i5-9400, indicating that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. The CPU is not the outlier here; the GPU is. The combo’s poor rank is almost entirely attributable to the Arc B390’s low standing, not the processor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Low preset averages 95 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS, and High averages 61 FPS at this resolution, making it the only viable option for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B390’s average benchmark score is 1482, which is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463) and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710 (1443). This means it performs at a level just above these older entry-level GPUs.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The CPU’s benchmark scores (e.g., 2784 in Cinebench R20 multi-core) place it in the 47th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its average score. The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 95 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 46 FPS. This is a 49 FPS difference, representing a 51.6% drop in performance when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: The data suggests no. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS recorded is 33 on Low settings, with High at 21 FPS and Ultra at 16 FPS. These frame rates are below the threshold for playable performance in a shooter.

Q: How consistent are the frame times at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows an average of 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 54. This 14 FPS range indicates relatively stable frame pacing, but the average is still too low for competitive play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance across four settings and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 95 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 72 FPS, with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 83. The High preset averages 61 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 46 FPS. This shows a clear gradient where each step up in quality costs roughly 15-20% performance.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 61 FPS, which is still playable but right at the edge of smoothness. The Medium preset averages 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 54. The High preset averages 39 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 30 FPS. The 1440p data shows that only the Low preset can maintain a 60 FPS average, and even that is marginal.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 33 FPS. The Medium preset averages 25 FPS, with a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 29. The High preset drops to 21 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 16 FPS. None of these averages are suitable for a fast-paced third-person shooter, as they all fall well below the 30 FPS baseline for minimal playability.

The Medium preset is the only one with full min and max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 62-83 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 40-54 FPS. At 4K, the range is 21-29 FPS. The ratio of min to max stays consistent, indicating that the frame pacing issue is not due to spikes but rather a uniform reduction in throughput as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, and it connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core. These scores place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its average score, confirming that it is a predictable, mid-range performer. The Cinebench R20 scores of 2784 multi-core and 392 single-core further reinforce this positioning.

For Minimum, a game released in 2014, the i5-9400’s six physical cores are more than sufficient. The game’s engine is not likely to utilize more than four threads effectively, and the CPU’s boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides adequate single-thread performance for game logic and physics. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 95 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU is clearly keeping up with the GPU’s output. The fact that FPS drops so steeply with resolution increases confirms that the CPU has headroom to spare, as higher resolutions do not increase CPU load in the same way they do GPU load.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. It averages 72 FPS, which is smooth for a shooter, and the minimum of 62 FPS ensures that there are no significant drops below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset is also viable, averaging 61 FPS, but it leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only sensible choice. It averages 61 FPS, which is exactly at the playable threshold, but any higher preset will result in averages below 50 FPS. The Medium preset at 47 FPS is playable for a slower game, but for a third-person shooter that requires quick reactions, the low preset is recommended to maintain responsiveness.

At 3840x2160, the data shows that no preset is truly playable. The Low preset averages 33 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS minimum for most players, and it is a 62 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. For this reason, 4K gaming is not recommended with this configuration, regardless of settings.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it averages 46 FPS, which is a 26.1% drop from the High preset. At 1440p, it averages 30 FPS, and at 4K, it averages 16 FPS. The visual improvement from High to Ultra is typically marginal in a 2014 title, so the substantial performance cost makes it an inefficient choice. The Medium preset at 1080p provides the most consistent experience, with a min FPS of 62 that keeps the gameplay fluid.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its compute power is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32 and 15.36 TFLOPS for FP16 (2:1). The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s.

Critically, the Arc B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." This is a significant limitation for gaming, as the GPU must contend with the CPU for memory bandwidth. The i5-9400’s 42.7 GB/s dual-channel memory bandwidth is shared between the two, and the GPU’s access to this bandwidth is a bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions where texture and framebuffer demands increase.

In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the Arc B390 scores 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from a much older generation, such as the GeForce GT 520MX and GT 710, which are within 2.7% of its score. This low standing is reflected in the game’s performance. The GPU’s 80 W TDP and IGP form factor suggest it is designed for power efficiency rather than raw gaming performance.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The consistent drop in FPS from 1080p to 4K across all presets is a textbook GPU-bound pattern. The Arc B390 simply lacks the raw fill rate and memory bandwidth to handle 4K resolutions in a modern game, even one from 2014. The fact that it performs only slightly better than a GT 710 in synthetic benchmarks underscores its position as an entry-level part, making it unsuitable for high-resolution gaming.