Overpower

# Overpower with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers a playable but not spectacular experience in Overpower, with the combo ranking at position 3070 out of 3713 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the lower third of all tested systems, though the measured frame rates reveal a config that handles 1080p with reasonable headroom while struggling to maintain smooth performance at higher resolutions. The data indicates a system that leans heavily on its Pascal-era GPU, with the Comet Lake processor rarely becoming the primary constraint even at the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a GPU-bound scenario at every quality level. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 106 FPS at 1920x1080 to 95 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 80 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 15% reduction going from 1080p to 1440p, and a 16% further reduction moving to 4K — a total loss of 26 FPS, or roughly 25% of the 1080p performance.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 66 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops between successive resolutions are 11% and 15%, respectively, which is slightly less severe than Low but still indicates that pixel count heavily taxes the GTX 1070. High settings follow suit with 62 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K — a 24% total reduction from the lowest to highest resolution.

Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling, dropping from 51 FPS at 1080p to 46 FPS at 1440p and then to 39 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the weakest measured point in the entire dataset, falling below the 40 FPS threshold generally considered the minimum for acceptable gaming smoothness. The pattern across all four presets tells a clear story: the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are being saturated as resolution climbs, and the frame rate degradation is far more pronounced than what a CPU bottleneck would produce.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 55 FPS (106 vs 51). At 1440p, that spread shrinks to 49 FPS (95 vs 46). At 4K, it tightens further to 41 FPS (80 vs 39). This convergence suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU's rendering throughput — not the settings-driven workload — becomes the dominant limiter, a classic sign of a graphics card operating near its ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position at 3070 out of 3713 tested combinations places it in the bottom 17% of all systems benchmarked in Overpower. This low standing is driven primarily by the GPU, which sits at the 47th percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU fares somewhat better at the 68th percentile among all processors. The mismatch between these two percentile figures explains why the total combo ranking is so weak: the GTX 1070, despite being a capable 1080p card in its era, is now outclassed by a large portion of the modern GPU landscape.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14185 is remarkably close to several competitors. The Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14163, just 0.2% lower, while the AMD EPYC 7552 trails by 0.5% with a score of 14115. On the other side, the Intel Core 7 160UL leads by 0.3% with 14232, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C sits 0.6% ahead at 14277. These tiny deltas indicate that the 10th-gen Core i5 is still competitive in raw processing power, even against much newer and more expensive server and mobile parts.

The GPU's rival comparison paints a less flattering picture. The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 9780 is nearly identical to the AMD FirePro W5000 at 9803 (0.2% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M at 9832 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla M10 at 9724 (0.6% lower), and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 at 9716 (0.7% lower). These are all professional or workstation-oriented cards, not gaming products, which underscores how far the GTX 1070 has fallen relative to contemporary gaming GPUs.

In the context of Overpower specifically, the 3070th rank out of 3713 combos means that roughly 83% of tested systems deliver higher frame rates. This is not a configuration that will impress in a competitive benchmark comparison, but it is also not the worst-performing pairing in the database — there are 643 systems that score worse.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is built on the GP104 chip using a 16 nm TSMC process, with 7,200 million transistors packed into a 314 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 2002 MHz with an effective 8 Gbps transfer rate across a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications, while dated, still provide enough memory capacity and throughput for Overpower's demands at 1080p, but the data shows the card struggling to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

The GPU's clock speeds are modest by modern standards: a base of 1506 MHz and a boost of 1683 MHz. These clocks, combined with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, produce a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS places the card firmly in the mid-range of the Pascal generation, and it shows in the measured results.

The GTX 1070's benchmark scores reinforce the gaming data. Its PassMark G3D score of 13498 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1082 both indicate a card that can handle modern titles at reduced settings, but the 47th percentile standing among all GPUs confirms that it is now an entry-level performer. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 44700 and Vulkan score of 22121 suggest the compute capabilities are still functional, though the DirectX 12 PassMark score of 48 — notably lower than the DirectX 11 score of 100 — hints that the card's DX12 implementation is not its strong suit.

The GPU's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector are consistent with its 2016 release, and the suggested 450 W PSU requirement is modest. The 267 mm length and 40 mm width mean it fits in most mid-tower cases, but the end-of-life production status and the fact that it predates the GeForce 20 series successor indicate that this is legacy hardware being asked to run a 2023 game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience in Overpower comes from the Low preset at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 106 FPS. This is the only configuration in the entire dataset to exceed triple-digit frame rates, and it provides the smoothest gameplay for fast-paced action sequences. The Medium preset at the same resolution offers 66 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS target, but the 40 FPS drop from Low to Medium suggests that the visual quality gains come at a significant performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 95 FPS, which remains highly playable, while Medium drops to 59 FPS — just below the 60 FPS mark. The High preset at 1440p yields 55 FPS, and Ultra falls to 46 FPS. For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, Low at 1440p is the only sensible choice, as it keeps the experience above 90 FPS while all other presets fail to reach 60 FPS.

The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo. Even the Low preset only manages 80 FPS, and Medium drops to 50 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS. High and Ultra produce 47 FPS and 39 FPS respectively, with the Ultra result being the worst in the dataset. At 4K, the GTX 1070's memory bandwidth and fill rate are simply insufficient for a consistent experience, and the frame time variance at Medium (43-58 FPS) indicates noticeable stuttering.

The optimal setting for a balanced experience is Medium at 1080p. It offers 66 FPS average with a minimum of 56 FPS and maximum of 76 FPS, which provides a stable frame rate window while still delivering improved visual quality over Low. The 56 FPS minimum ensures that even demanding scenes stay above the stutter threshold, and the 76 FPS maximum shows that the card has occasional headroom. For competitive play, Low at 1080p is the clear winner, but for a more visually rich single-player experience, Medium at 1080p strikes the best balance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings ladder is as follows: Low averages 106 FPS, Medium averages 66 FPS with a range of 56 to 76 FPS, High averages 62 FPS, and Ultra averages 51 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is the largest single drop in the dataset at 40 FPS, while the transition from Medium to High costs only 4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs another 11 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the Low preset disables several expensive rendering features that have diminishing returns as quality increases.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 95 FPS, Medium at 59 FPS with a range of 50 to 68 FPS, High at 55 FPS, and Ultra at 46 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 36 FPS, still the largest step, but the absolute values are all lower than their 1080p counterparts. The Medium preset's minimum of 50 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the 18 FPS variance between minimum and maximum indicates some frame pacing inconsistency.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low at 80 FPS, Medium at 50 FPS with a range of 43 to 58 FPS, High at 47 FPS, and Ultra at 39 FPS. The Low preset is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS at 4K, and even it falls well short of the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset's 43 FPS minimum is the lowest recorded minimum in the entire dataset, making 4K Medium a risky choice for anyone sensitive to frame drops. High and Ultra at 4K are both below 50 FPS, which is the threshold where many players begin to notice reduced fluidity.

The overall trend across all resolutions is that the GTX 1070's performance degrades by roughly 20-25% for each step up in resolution, regardless of quality preset. This consistency points to a GPU that is bandwidth-limited rather than compute-limited in Overpower, as the 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes the constraining factor when pixel count increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Overpower?

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080, where even the Ultra preset achieves 51 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, and at 3840x2160, the Low preset is the sole option above 60 FPS at 80 FPS. For consistent performance above 60 FPS across multiple presets, 1080p is the only viable choice.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, placing it 0.2% above the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163), 0.5% above the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115), 0.3% below the Intel Core 7 160UL (14232), and 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277). These negligible differences indicate the CPU is not a performance liability.

Q: Is the GTX 1070 the bottleneck in this system?

A: Yes. The GPU's 47th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 68th percentile, combined with the steep FPS drops as resolution increases, confirms the graphics card is the limiting component. The CPU's benchmark scores are competitive with much newer processors, while the GPU trails most modern counterparts.

Q: What settings should I use for competitive play?

A: Low at 1920x1080 provides the highest average FPS at 106, making it the optimal choice for maximizing frame rate. The Medium preset at the same resolution offers 66 FPS, which is also viable, but the 40 FPS penalty for upgrading from Low to Medium is substantial.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Marginally, at best. The Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves 80 FPS, but Medium drops to 50 FPS with a 43 FPS minimum, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. Only the Low preset provides a smooth experience, and even that requires significant visual compromises.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 3070 out of 3713 combinations, placing it in the bottom 17% of all tested systems in Overpower. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GTX 1070's age and performance class, as the CPU remains competitive with its direct rivals.