Overpower

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable experience in Overpower, though the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy driven by resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combo achieves its highest frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 118 FPS average. Moving up to 1440p, the average at Low drops to 106 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 90 FPS. This scaling pattern—a 28 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings—shows that the GPU is still able to push high frame rates even at the highest resolution when graphical load is minimized. However, the picture changes dramatically when settings are raised. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 69 at 1080p to 61 at 1440p, then down to 52 at 4K. The gap between Low and High at 4K is 38 FPS, compared to a 49 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU's workload scales heavily with both resolution and preset.

The most telling data point for bottleneck analysis is the Ultra preset. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 43 FPS average, while at 1080p Ultra it reaches 57 FPS. This 14 FPS difference across resolutions at Ultra is smaller than the 28 FPS difference at Low, suggesting that the game becomes more GPU-bound at higher settings, but the CPU still has a role in preventing the frame rate from scaling fully. At 1080p Low, the 118 FPS average is likely near the ceiling for this CPU in Overpower, as the 6-core, 6-thread processor with a 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost clock can only generate so many frames. The data indicates that lowering resolution from 1440p to 1080p at Low only yields a 12 FPS gain (106 to 118), which is a smaller relative increase than the 16 FPS gain seen from 4K to 1440p (90 to 106), implying diminishing returns as the CPU becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K in Overpower shows a consistent decline across all presets, but the shape of that decline reveals where the bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 118 at 1080p to 106 at 1440p (a 10.2% decrease), and then to 90 at 4K (a 15.1% decrease from 1440p). This linear degradation suggests that the RX 6600, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, is still the primary driver of performance even at 4K Low. The GPU's 2491 MHz boost clock and 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are sufficient to maintain high frame rates when the scene complexity is low, but the memory bus width of 128 bit does limit how much data can be moved at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the combo produces 74 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The min FPS figures for Medium settings show a similar pattern: 63 at 1080p, 56 at 1440p, and 48 at 4K. These minimum frame rates are crucial because they represent the worst-case dips during intense action sequences. The spread between average and minimum FPS at Medium is 11 FPS at 1080p, 10 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K, indicating that frame pacing becomes slightly more consistent at higher resolutions, likely because the GPU is more uniformly loaded. The fact that the 4K Medium average (56 FPS) is still above the 60 FPS threshold is notable, but the 48 FPS minimum suggests occasional stutter.

For High settings, the averages are 69 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. This represents a 17 FPS loss from 1080p to 4K. In contrast, the Ultra preset sees a 14 FPS loss across the same resolution range, with averages of 57, 51, and 43 FPS respectively. The narrowing of the resolution gap at higher presets indicates that the RX 6600's compute resources—1792 shading units and 112 TMUs—are being saturated by the Ultra settings, making resolution a less significant factor. The data suggests that Overpower at 4K is a challenging scenario for this GPU, as even the High preset cannot maintain a consistent 60 FPS average, and the Ultra preset drops below 45 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and playability for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset is the clear winner, delivering 69 FPS average with no min FPS reported, which suggests stable performance without significant dips. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs only 5 FPS (74 to 69), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 12 FPS (69 to 57). This makes High the sweet spot at 1080p, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium for a minimal performance penalty, and it avoids the steep drop to Ultra. The Low preset at 1080p hits 118 FPS, but that sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a competitive edge that most players won't need.

At 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best experience, with a 66 FPS average and a 56 FPS minimum. The High preset at 1440p still averages 61 FPS, but the lack of min FPS data for High means we cannot verify its stability; the Medium preset's min FPS of 56 suggests it maintains a safer margin above the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 51 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth. For 4K, the Low preset is the only one that achieves a high average (90 FPS), but the Medium preset at 56 FPS average with a 48 FPS minimum is borderline. Given that the 4K Ultra preset averages 43 FPS, the data recommends that users targeting 4K should stick with Medium or Low settings, as High (52 FPS) and Ultra (43 FPS) do not meet the 60 FPS threshold.

The min FPS data for Medium settings across all resolutions (63 at 1080p, 56 at 1440p, 48 at 4K) provides a useful consistency metric. Since the Medium preset is the only one with min FPS data, it appears to be the most thoroughly tested preset, and its performance suggests it is the intended baseline. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1080p Medium delivers 74 FPS average with a 63 FPS minimum, which is the safest combination. At 1440p, Medium's 66 FPS average with 56 FPS minimum is acceptable for most players, but those sensitive to frame drops may prefer High at 1080p. The Ultra preset, while visually impressive, should be reserved for 1080p where it still hits 57 FPS average, though the lack of min FPS data for Ultra makes its stability uncertain.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 9 MB of shared L3 cache. In Overpower, this CPU appears to be a sufficient partner for the RX 6600 at higher resolutions, but it may limit performance at 1080p with lower presets. The benchmark results for this CPU show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259 in average benchmarks, just 0.2% higher, while the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4% higher. This suggests the i5-9400 is competitive with other mid-range processors from its era.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 118 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's maximum frame generation capability in this game. The 6 threads mean that the CPU can handle the game's logic and draw calls, but it cannot push beyond this threshold. When moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 106, and then to 90 at 4K Low. If the CPU were the sole bottleneck, the 1080p score would be much higher than the 1440p score, but the 12 FPS difference suggests the GPU is still contributing to the frame rate at 1080p. However, the fact that 4K Low (90 FPS) is still significantly lower than 1080p Low (118 FPS) indicates that the GPU is also becoming a limiting factor at 4K, even at Low settings.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for this game. The lack of hyper-threading means the CPU has 6 threads, which is on par with many modern games' requirements, but it may struggle in scenes with heavy physics or AI calculations. The benchmark data for the CPU shows a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141 and a single-core score of 1389, which are modest figures. In comparison to the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, which scores 2246 in average benchmarks (0.4% lower), the i5-9400 is effectively equivalent in overall CPU performance. For Overpower, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at 1440p and 4K, as the FPS differences across presets are more pronounced than across resolutions, pointing to the GPU as the primary performance driver at those settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2894 out of 3713 tested combos in Overpower, placing it in the 22nd percentile of all combinations. This is a relatively low ranking, suggesting that there are many other CPU-GPU pairings that achieve higher frame rates in this game. However, this ranking must be interpreted in context: the RX 6600 sits in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the i5-9400 is in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. The combo's rank is dragged down by the CPU's modest performance, as the GPU is comparatively stronger. The data indicates that this pairing is not optimized for Overpower, as the CPU's 6 threads and 2.90 GHz base clock may not fully feed the GPU in all scenarios.

The RX 6600's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000, which has an identical average benchmark score of 19030 (0% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile, which scores 19049 (0.1% higher). This shows that the RX 6600 is a solid mid-range GPU, but its ranking in the combo is limited by the i5-9400. The combo's 2894th rank out of 3713 means that roughly 78% of tested combinations perform better in Overpower. This is not surprising given that the CPU is a 2018 model with only 6 threads, while many modern games benefit from 8 or more threads. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target that many gamers expect.

The rank of 2894 also reflects the fact that the RX 6600, despite being a capable GPU, is not a high-end model. Its 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but they limit its performance at 4K. In Overpower, the combo's best performance is at 1080p Low with 118 FPS, which is good but not exceptional. The combo's ranking suggests that users seeking higher frame rates should consider pairing the RX 6600 with a stronger CPU, such as one with more cores or higher clocks. However, for users who already own this combo, the data shows that it can provide a playable experience at 1080p High (69 FPS) and 1440p Medium (66 FPS), making it a viable option for mainstream gaming.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, featuring 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications make it a capable 1080p and 1440p GPU, and the benchmark data in Overpower confirms this. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492 and PassMark G3D score of 15096 place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, indicating that it performs better than the average GPU.

In Overpower, the GPU's performance is strongly influenced by the preset settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 118 FPS, which is likely near the GPU's maximum at that setting. As settings increase, the FPS drops: Medium at 74 FPS, High at 69 FPS, and Ultra at 57 FPS. The GPU's 64 ROPs and 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for these frame rates, but the 128-bit memory bus becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s is taxed, resulting in a 90 FPS average at Low settings but only 43 FPS at Ultra. The 8 GB VRAM is also a consideration, as 4K Ultra textures can exceed 8 GB, though the data does not show any VRAM-related crashes.

The GPU's ray tracing capabilities, with 28 RT cores, are present but not heavily utilized in Overpower, as the game's genre is Action and the measured FPS does not indicate RT-specific workloads. The GPU's FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS is solid for rasterization, and its 17.86 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) performance indicates good compute potential. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro K6000, has an identical average benchmark score of 19030, which shows that the RX 6600 is a well-balanced GPU for its class. However, the GPU's end-of-life production status and 132 W TDP suggest it is a previous-generation model. The data shows that for Overpower, the RX 6600 performs best at 1080p and 1440p with Medium to High settings, where it can maintain playable frame rates, while 4K Ultra is not recommended due to the sub-45 FPS average.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p provides the highest frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 118 FPS and High at 69 FPS. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 66 FPS, which is playable, while 4K is only recommended at Low settings (90 FPS) or Medium (56 FPS).

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 4K?

A: At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 47 FPS (90 to 43), while the difference between 1080p and 4K at Low is 28 FPS (118 to 90). This indicates the CPU's 6 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at 4K, but the GPU's compute limits dominate.

Q: Is the RX 6600 capable of 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, at Medium settings, the combo achieves 66 FPS average with a 56 FPS minimum, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1440p averages 61 FPS, but the lack of min FPS data makes Medium the safer choice.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 2894 out of 3713 tested combinations in Overpower, placing it in the 22nd percentile. The GPU ranks in the 63rd percentile, while the CPU ranks in the 47th percentile, indicating that the CPU is the weaker component.

Q: What is the recommended preset for 1080p gaming?

A: The High preset is recommended for 1080p, as it delivers 69 FPS average without reported min FPS dips. The Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS, while Medium hits 74 FPS, but High offers the best balance of visual quality and performance.

*Q: Does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM cause issues in Overpower?*

A: The data does not show any VRAM-related performance issues. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for the tested settings, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and preset, suggesting memory capacity is not a limiting factor in this game.