Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti pairing delivers a striking split in _Minimum_: at 1080p the system is almost entirely CPU-bound, while at 4K the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. The measured results show a 256.1 FPS average at 1080p Low settings, which drops to 116.6 FPS at 4K Low, indicating that the six-core Coffee Lake processor is the primary limiter at lower resolutions, whereas the RTX 5070 Ti's workload scales heavily with resolution.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are modest by modern standards, but they are sufficient to feed the RTX 5070 Ti in this particular title. The CPU's benchmark percentile of 50 against all processors places it squarely in the mid-range, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 confirms that it is not a high-end part.

In _Minimum_, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p. The difference between 1080p Low (256.1 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (164.7 FPS) is 91.4 FPS, a span that shows how settings changes alter the CPU workload. When the resolution drops to 1080p, the GPU is rarely the bottleneck, so the i5-9400's six threads determine the ceiling. The fact that 1080p High (220.7 FPS) is only 35.4 FPS behind 1080p Low suggests that the CPU is already near its limit; raising settings from Low to High does not proportionally reduce performance because the processor cannot push much higher.

At 1440p, the CPU still matters, but the GPU begins to share the load. The 1440p Low result of 217.7 FPS is only 38.4 FPS lower than the 1080p Low figure, which is a smaller drop than the resolution scaling would imply if the GPU were fully saturated. This indicates the i5-9400 is still holding back the RTX 5070 Ti at 1440p Low. However, at 1440p Ultra (108.3 FPS), the gap narrows, and the GPU's rendering cost becomes more significant. The processor's nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, has an average benchmark score of 2300 versus the i5-9400's 2305, a delta of 0.2%; this means the i5-9400 is statistically identical to its closest competitor in synthetic tests, yet the real-world game data shows it can sustain high frame rates.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2452 MHz, and it has 8960 shading units. The GPU's percentile of 87 against all GPUs puts it in the upper tier, and its Passmark G3D score of 32974 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080's 52085 average benchmark score (a 0% delta), making it a direct performance peer.

In _Minimum_, the GPU's role becomes apparent at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 58.1 FPS is the lowest in the entire dataset, and it is 106.6 FPS below the 4K Low result of 116.6 FPS. This 58.5 FPS difference between Ultra and Low at 4K demonstrates that the RTX 5070 Ti's rendering pipeline is heavily taxed by the highest settings. The 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in this game, as even the 4K Ultra preset does not show any signs of memory-related stutter in the measured averages.

At 1080p, the GPU is essentially underutilized. The 1080p Low result of 256.1 FPS is the highest in the dataset, and the 1080p Medium result of 237.4 FPS is only 18.7 FPS behind. This pattern suggests that the CPU, not the GPU, is the bottleneck at 1080p. The RTX 5070 Ti's 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is more than enough for this 2014 title, so the GPU's clock speed and bandwidth only become relevant at higher resolutions where pixel throughput matters.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For a 4K display, the High preset provides the best balance. The 4K High result of 78.8 FPS is well above the playable threshold, while 4K Ultra drops to 58.1 FPS, which may feel less smooth. The 4K Medium result of 89.1 FPS is also viable, but High offers a 10.3 FPS advantage over Medium while costing only 10.3 FPS compared to Ultra (89.1 vs 78.8). The data shows that 4K High is the sweet spot because it maintains a comfortable margin over the 60 FPS target.

At 1440p, the High preset (141.7 FPS) is the recommended choice. It is 33.4 FPS ahead of Ultra (108.3 FPS) and only 24.0 FPS behind Low (217.7 FPS), but the visual quality gain from Low to High is substantial. The 1440p Medium result of 165.7 FPS is also strong, but High provides a better visual experience for a 24.0 FPS cost. For competitive play at 1440p, Low is an option, but the difference between 1440p Low (217.7 FPS) and 1440p High (141.7 FPS) is significant.

At 1080p, the Medium preset (237.4 FPS) is the best all-around choice. It is only 18.7 FPS behind Low (256.1 FPS) but offers better visual fidelity. The 1080p High result of 220.7 FPS is also acceptable, but Medium is 16.7 FPS faster. The 1080p Ultra result of 164.7 FPS is the only preset that dips below 200 FPS at this resolution, so it should be avoided if frame rate consistency is the priority.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 265th out of 1733 tested combos in _Minimum_. This places it in the top 15.3% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing given the CPU's mid-range status. The ranking reflects that the RTX 5070 Ti is the primary driver of the overall score, but the i5-9400 prevents the combo from reaching the top tier.

The combo's rank is more impressive at higher resolutions, where the GPU's power is fully utilized. At 4K, the RTX 5070 Ti's performance is close to that of the RTX 4080 (based on a 0% delta in average benchmark scores), and the i5-9400's limitation is less pronounced. At 1080p, the combo's rank would likely be lower because the CPU holds back the GPU, but the measured data does not provide a per-resolution rank. The overall rank of 265 suggests that this pairing is better suited for 1440p and 4K gaming than for high-refresh-rate 1080p play.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minimum?

A: The highest average FPS is 256.1 at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to the RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 52086, while the RTX 4080 scores 52085, a delta of 0%, making them statistically equal in average performance.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 58.1 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p Low and 4K Low?

A: The difference is 139.5 FPS, with 1080p Low at 256.1 FPS and 4K Low at 116.6 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-9400's multi-core score compare to its closest rival?

A: The i5-9400 scores 7969 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, has an average benchmark score of 2300, which is 0.2% lower than the i5-9400's 2305 average.

Q: Which resolution shows the smallest gap between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160, the gap between Low (116.6 FPS) and Ultra (58.1 FPS) is 58.5 FPS, which is the smallest absolute difference among all resolutions tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low delivers 256.1 FPS, Medium delivers 237.4 FPS, High delivers 220.7 FPS, and Ultra delivers 164.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 91.4 FPS, which is the largest absolute range across all resolutions. The frame rate drops by 18.7 FPS from Low to Medium, by another 16.7 FPS from Medium to High, and by 56.0 FPS from High to Ultra. This pattern shows that the Ultra preset imposes a significant penalty.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 217.7 FPS, Medium at 165.7 FPS, High at 141.7 FPS, and Ultra at 108.3 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 52.0 FPS, which is the largest single-step decrease in this resolution. From Medium to High, the drop is 24.0 FPS, and from High to Ultra, it is 33.4 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently lower than 1080p, but the relative scaling between settings is similar.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 116.6 FPS, Medium at 89.1 FPS, High at 78.8 FPS, and Ultra at 58.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 27.5 FPS, from Medium to High is 10.3 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 20.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 58.1 FPS is the only data point below 60 FPS, making it the most demanding configuration in the dataset.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Going from 1080p Low to 4K Low, the average FPS drops from 256.1 to 116.6, a reduction of 139.5 FPS or roughly 54.5%. This large drop indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases, because the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count. At 1080p Low, the i5-9400 is the bottleneck, so the GPU cannot reach its full potential; at 4K Low, the RTX 5070 Ti's rendering cost takes over.

For High settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 220.7 FPS to 78.8 FPS, a reduction of 141.9 FPS. This is a similar absolute drop to Low, but the percentage loss is larger, confirming that the GPU's workload dominates at higher settings. The 4K High result of 78.8 FPS is 64.3% lower than the 1080p High result, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K regardless of the preset.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: from 164.7 FPS at 1080p to 58.1 FPS at 4K, a drop of 106.6 FPS. This 64.7% reduction is the largest proportional decrease in the dataset, which suggests that the Ultra preset at 4K is the point where the RTX 5070 Ti's compute and memory bandwidth are fully saturated. The data concludes that the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p, while the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings.