Overpower

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ranks 530th out of 1,744 tested combos in Overpower, placing it in the top 30% of all systems benchmarked. This is a strong result for a combination that pairs a 10th-generation mid-range CPU with a flagship-tier GPU, indicating that the system is well-balanced for this specific action title despite the CPU's older architecture.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 530 out of 1,744 tested combinations places it in the 69.6th percentile of all systems evaluated for Overpower. This is a respectable position, though not a top-tier one, which suggests that while the RTX 3080 Ti provides exceptional graphics horsepower, the Core i5-10400F's 6-core/12-thread configuration limits the system from reaching the upper echelons of the performance leaderboard. The data indicates this pairing is more than capable of delivering smooth gameplay at most settings, but it will not be the fastest combination available.

When examining the CPU's standalone standing, the i5-10400F achieves an average benchmark score of 14,168, which places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals show remarkably tight competition: the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14,115 (0.4% slower), the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14,277 (0.8% faster), the Intel Core i5-8500 scores 14,332 (1.1% faster), and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 scores 14,336 (1.2% faster). This clustering demonstrates that the i5-10400F sits in a highly competitive performance bracket where a few percentage points separate it from both server-grade and embedded alternatives.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system delivers an average of 75.3 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The frame rate drops significantly from the 94 FPS seen at High settings, indicating that Ultra is a demanding preset for this title.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 167.2 FPS, and dropping to Medium only reduces performance to 132.7 FPS. The relatively modest scaling between Low and Medium at 1080p compared to the larger gaps at higher resolutions suggests the CPU begins to constrain performance at lower graphical loads.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At High settings, it delivers 110.2 FPS, which is only 12.4% slower than the 1080p High result of 125.8 FPS, while providing significantly more detail than 1080p.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The i5-10400F scores 688 in 3DMark single-thread and 4,748 in 3DMark 16-thread tests. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 1,453 for single-core and 10,297 for multi-core, showing that while the 6-core/12-thread design scales well, the single-thread performance is modest by modern standards.

Q: What GPU benchmark score does the RTX 3080 Ti achieve?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti scores 26,896 in PassMark G3D and 41,224 average across all GPU benchmarks. This places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival, the RTX 3090, scoring 41,441 (0.5% higher).

Q: Does the combo perform better at 1440p or 4K?

A: The performance difference between 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 is substantial. At High settings, 1440p delivers 110.2 FPS versus 94 FPS at 4K, a 17.2% advantage. However, both are playable, with the 4K experience still exceeding 60 FPS at Medium settings (102.5 FPS).

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling pattern reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound at 1080p to GPU-bound at 4K. At 1920x1080, the spread between Ultra (103.2 FPS) and Low (167.2 FPS) is 64 FPS, representing a 62% performance increase when lowering settings. This relatively constrained scaling suggests the CPU is providing a performance ceiling at lower resolutions.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings comparison shows Low at 161.9 FPS and Ultra at 90.3 FPS, a spread of 71.6 FPS or 79.3%. The larger percentage delta indicates the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload. At 3840x2160, the pattern shifts dramatically: Low delivers 151.8 FPS while Ultra drops to 75.3 FPS, a spread of 76.5 FPS or 101.6%. This near-doubling of performance between Ultra and Low at 4K confirms the GPU is now the primary bottleneck.

The data shows that at 1080p, the RTX 3080 Ti's immense power is partially wasted, as the i5-10400F cannot feed frames fast enough to fully utilize the GPU. At 4K, however, the GPU's workload becomes dominant, and the CPU's limitations become less relevant. This makes the combo particularly well-suited for high-resolution gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 167.2 FPS on Low settings, 132.7 FPS on Medium, 125.8 FPS on High, and 103.2 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium represents a 20.6% performance drop, while the step from Medium to High is a gentler 5.2% reduction. The jump from High to Ultra costs another 17.9% of performance.

At 2560x1440, the results are 161.9 FPS (Low), 120.1 FPS (Medium), 110.2 FPS (High), and 90.3 FPS (Ultra). The scaling from Low to Medium is a 25.8% decrease, while High to Ultra drops by 18.1%. Compared to 1080p, the Low setting performance only decreases by 3.2% when moving to 1440p, indicating the CPU is still the limiting factor at Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 151.8 FPS (Low), 102.5 FPS (Medium), 94 FPS (High), and 75.3 FPS (Ultra). The transition from Low to Medium is a substantial 32.5% drop, while High to Ultra costs 19.9%. The 4K Low result remains remarkably high at 151.8 FPS, demonstrating that the RTX 3080 Ti has ample headroom when the CPU is not the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts to 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides solid multi-threaded performance for gaming, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10,297 and 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,748.

The CPU's single-thread performance is more modest, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,453. This is where the 14 nm process and 10th-generation architecture show their age, particularly when compared to newer processors with higher IPC. In Overpower, this single-thread limitation becomes apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the frame rate of 167.2 FPS likely represents a CPU ceiling rather than a GPU limitation.

The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this workload. The CPU's percentile ranking of 73rd against all CPUs, along with its tight clustering of rivals within 1.2% performance, indicates that while it is not a top-tier processor, it remains competitive in its class.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 120.1 FPS, which provides a smooth frame rate while maintaining reasonable visual quality. This represents a 9.7% performance improvement over High settings at the same resolution while only sacrificing a modest amount of graphical fidelity.

At 1920x1080, the High preset at 125.8 FPS is the recommended choice for users with standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz displays. The jump from Medium to High only costs 5.2% performance, making it an efficient upgrade. Ultra at 1080p delivers 103.2 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 102.5 FPS is the sweet spot, as it maintains triple-digit frame rates while providing acceptable visual quality. The High preset at 94 FPS is also viable for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate, but the Ultra preset at 75.3 FPS should be avoided unless a 60 Hz display is in use.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung's 8 nm process, featuring 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and boosts to 1665 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus providing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 10,240 shading units and 320 tensor cores deliver 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's benchmark results are exceptional, with a PassMark G3D score of 26,896 and an average benchmark score of 41,224, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3090, scores only 0.5% higher, demonstrating that the 3080 Ti is nearly at the top of the performance pyramid. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM capacity is well-suited for 4K gaming, and its 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate ensures efficient rasterization at high resolutions.

In Overpower, the RTX 3080 Ti's capabilities are most evident at 4K resolution, where it maintains 151.8 FPS on Low settings and 94 FPS on High settings. The GPU's dominance is such that even at 4K Ultra, it manages 75.3 FPS, a figure that would be challenging for lesser hardware. However, the GPU's 83rd percentile ranking suggests there is still headroom for even faster cards to achieve higher frame rates in this title.