Overpower

Overpower is an action title that scales heavily with resolution, and the measured data for the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT shows a clear pattern. Across the three tested resolutions, the average frame rates remain high, but the gap between the lowest and highest settings tells a story about where the bottleneck lies. The data indicates a system that is capable of delivering smooth gameplay even at 4K, though the performance curve suggests that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, with the six-core CPU providing a consistent, if not spectacular, foundation.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combination at higher settings. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 102 at 1920x1080 to 91 at 2560x1440, and then further to 77 at 3840x2160. This is a 25% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial hit but still leaves the system in playable territory. The scaling between 1080p and 1440p is a relatively modest 11% drop, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increase in pixel count without a dramatic loss in performance.

However, the pattern changes when looking at lower settings. At Low settings, the average FPS at 1920x1080 is 160, dropping to 154 at 2560x1440, and then to 146 at 3840x2160. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is only 8.75%, which is much smaller than the drop seen at Ultra settings. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor, as the GPU is no longer stressed to the same degree. The difference between the Ultra and Low setting drops indicates that the RX 9070 XT is the primary driver of performance at high graphical loads, while the Core i5-9400’s six threads can hold the system back when the GPU is underutilized.

The Medium settings row provides additional insight, with average FPS of 132 at 1080p, 118 at 1440p, and 100 at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium is a 24% reduction, which closely mirrors the Ultra setting’s drop. This reinforces the idea that the GPU is the main constraint at both Medium and Ultra, as the relative performance loss is similar. The High settings row shows a 24% drop as well, from 123 at 1080p to 93 at 4K, further confirming that the GPU is the dominant factor in this configuration. The data collectively shows that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where the CPU and GPU work together to produce strong frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU’s workload becomes the clear limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 102 frames per second.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 100, with a minimum of 85 and a maximum of 115 frames per second.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 1440p, as the average FPS at High settings (109) is only slightly higher than at 4K High (93), indicating a strong dependence on the GPU’s capabilities.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 160, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How much of a drop is seen from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 102 at 1080p to 77 at 4K, a reduction of 25 frames per second.

Q: Are there any settings where the frame rate stays above 120 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 1440p with Low settings, the average FPS is 154, and at Medium settings it is 118, both of which exceed 120 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance for this combo is the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 132 FPS, which is a substantial jump from the 102 FPS seen at Ultra, while still providing a significant visual upgrade over Low. The difference between Medium and High is smaller, with High averaging 123 FPS, but the 9 FPS gain from stepping down to Medium is more meaningful for maintaining a high refresh rate experience. The minimum FPS at Medium is also solid at 112, which ensures smoother frame pacing compared to the potentially lower dips at higher settings.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset again appears to be the sweet spot, offering an average of 118 FPS with a minimum of 100. This keeps the gameplay fluid on most displays. While High settings at 1440p produce a respectable 109 FPS, the Medium preset’s higher floor and average make it a safer choice for consistent performance. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option for smooth play, as it averages 100 FPS, while High drops to 93 and Ultra falls to 77. The Low preset at 4K does reach 146 FPS, but the graphical compromise is likely too severe for most users. Therefore, the data strongly supports Medium as the recommended preset across all three resolutions for this specific CPU-GPU pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is broad. Low settings produce an average of 160 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 132 FPS, with a minimum of 112 and a maximum of 152 FPS. High settings yield an average of 123 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 102 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 58 FPS, showing that the GPU can scale its performance significantly when the CPU is not the limiting factor.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with lower overall numbers. Low settings average 154 FPS, Medium averages 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 135, High averages 109 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra narrows slightly to 63 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still the primary driver of these changes. The 4K resolution, 3840x2160, shows the most pronounced scaling. Low settings average 146 FPS, Medium averages 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 and a maximum of 115, High averages 93 FPS, and Ultra averages 77 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 69 FPS, the largest gap in the dataset, which highlights the GPU’s workload increasing with resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination ranks 1148 out of 3713 tested combos in Overpower. This places it in the top 31% of all configurations tested for this game. The ranking is a measure of the overall performance, and the data shows that while the GPU is a high-end part, the CPU’s age and six-thread limit prevent the combo from reaching the very top tiers. The combo’s position suggests that it outperforms a majority of other systems, but there is a substantial number of more powerful pairings, likely featuring newer processors with higher core counts.

The rank of 1148 is a direct result of the measured FPS data, which shows strong performance at 1080p and 1440p but a noticeable drop at 4K. The GPU’s 16 GB of VRAM and high clock speeds allow it to handle the game’s textures and effects well, but the CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads may not provide enough throughput to keep up with the GPU in all scenarios. This ranking means that users of this combo can expect a smooth experience at mainstream resolutions, but it is not a top-tier performer when compared to the most powerful systems in the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It features 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory. In Overpower, this CPU provides a solid foundation for the GPU, but its performance is a limiting factor in certain scenarios. The benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, which are moderate figures. The CPU’s percentile rank versus all CPUs is 47, indicating it sits just below the median in terms of overall processing power.

In the context of this game, the CPU’s 6 threads appear to be sufficient for maintaining high frame rates at 1080p with lower settings, as evidenced by the 160 FPS average at Low settings. However, when the GPU is pushed harder at higher resolutions and settings, the CPU’s role becomes less critical. The data shows that the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is 25%, which is likely due to the GPU’s increased workload rather than a CPU bottleneck. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, have very similar average benchmark scores, with deltas of -0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. This indicates that the i5-9400 is on par with other mid-range processors from its era, and its performance in Overpower is consistent with that positioning.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a powerful graphics card built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. It has a boost clock of 2970 MHz and a game clock of 2400 MHz, with 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs. This GPU is the dominant component in this pairing, and the measured FPS data confirms its strength. The GPU’s percentile rank versus all GPUs is 55, which places it slightly above the median, but its average benchmark score of 13543 is significantly higher than that of the CPU.

In Overpower, the GPU’s performance dictates the frame rates at higher settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 77, which is a demanding workload that the GPU handles admirably. The 16 GB of VRAM is ample for the game’s textures, and the high memory bandwidth ensures that data can be fed to the GPU quickly. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, have average scores that are nearly identical, with deltas of 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. This is a surprising comparison, as it suggests that the RX 9070 XT’s raw benchmark score is not drastically higher than those older cards, but its modern architecture and features like DirectX 12 Ultimate and hardware ray tracing make it far more capable in a current game like Overpower. The GPU’s performance is the primary reason this combo ranks 1148th, as it provides the necessary muscle to run the game smoothly at high resolutions.