Overpower

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Overpower, with performance scaling that clearly exposes the integrated graphics as the primary bottleneck. The data shows a dramatic FPS collapse as resolution climbs from 1080p to 4K, and even the most favorable settings fail to produce a smooth 60 FPS at higher resolutions. This combination ranks in the bottom 11% of all tested pairings, making it a strictly entry-level configuration for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a steep performance cliff as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 72 FPS — the only measured configuration to cross the 60 FPS threshold. Stepping up to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops the average to 64 FPS, a modest 11% reduction. However, the jump to 3840x2160 Low yields just 54 FPS, representing a 25% loss from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates that the Arc B390, with its system-shared memory and 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, rapidly exhausts its bandwidth and fill rate as resolution increases.

The scaling behavior is even more telling at higher quality presets. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (42 FPS) to 1440p (37 FPS) costs 12%, but moving to 4K (32 FPS) compounds to a 24% total drop. Medium settings follow a similar trajectory: 45 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, starts at 35 FPS at 1080p and falls to 31 FPS at 1440p, then bottoms out at 26 FPS at 4K — a 26% reduction from the 1080p result.

What this scaling data suggests is that the limiting component is unambiguously the GPU. The i5-9400, with its six cores and six threads, provides enough processing headroom to push frame rates higher at 1080p Low, but the Arc B390's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs cannot sustain throughput as the render target grows. The system-shared memory bandwidth, listed as "System Dependent," further compounds the issue at 4K, where memory pressure becomes severe. The fact that Low settings at 4K (54 FPS) outperform Ultra at 1080p (35 FPS) by 54% confirms that pixel count, not scene complexity, is the dominant performance killer here.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Overpower at 60 FPS in any configuration?*

A: Yes, but only at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average FPS is 72. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 64 FPS, which still clears 60. Every other measured setting and resolution combination falls below 60 FPS, with 4K Ultra averaging just 26 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost between 1080p and 4K?

A: At Low settings, the drop is 25% (from 72 FPS to 54 FPS). At High settings, the loss is 24% (42 FPS to 32 FPS). The Ultra preset shows the largest relative degradation, falling 26% from 35 FPS to 26 FPS. The Medium preset loses 24% as well, going from 45 FPS to 34 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 holding back the Arc B390 in this game?

A: Benchmark data suggests the CPU is not the primary constraint. The i5-9400 scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core, placing it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs. The fact that 1080p Low reaches 72 FPS indicates the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions; the steep drop at 4K is characteristic of GPU memory and fill-rate limits, not CPU stalls.

Q: What is the best playable preset for a smooth experience?

A: For 60 FPS gameplay, 1920x1080 Low is the only option that consistently delivers. If visual fidelity matters more than frame rate, 2560x1440 Medium at 40 FPS offers a reasonable balance, though it requires accepting a sub-60 FPS experience. The data shows no configuration above Low settings achieves even 50 FPS at any resolution.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rivals in raw compute?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463 — just 1.3% lower. The GeForce 800M trails by 1.5%, while the GT 625 OEM and GT 710 are 2.5% and 2.7% behind, respectively. These are all extremely low-end parts, confirming the B390's entry-level positioning.

Q: Does the integrated nature of the GPU affect its performance?

A: Yes, significantly. The Arc B390 uses "System Shared" memory with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent," meaning performance scales with the host system's RAM configuration. This is a major factor in the 4K performance collapse, as the shared memory bus must handle both game assets and system operations, whereas a discrete GPU would have dedicated VRAM bandwidth.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running at a 2.90 GHz base clock and boosting to 4.10 GHz. It features 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves 6629 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141. These figures place it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, meaning it sits near the middle of the pack — neither a standout performer nor a weak link.

In Overpower, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling pattern: if the i5-9400 were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU's workload (draw calls, game logic) does not increase with pixel count. Instead, we see a consistent 24-26% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which is a classic GPU-bound signature. The CPU can clearly deliver more than 72 FPS in this title, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result, but the Arc B390 cannot translate that headroom into higher frame rates at more demanding settings.

The i5-9400's nearest rivals in overall benchmark score include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% slower). These deltas are minuscule, indicating that the i5-9400 is firmly in the mainstream performance tier. For Overpower, this means the CPU is more than adequate for the game's demands; the measured FPS results would likely be nearly identical with any of these rival processors, since the GPU is the limiting factor in every scenario above 1080p Low.

The 65W TDP and 14nm process node suggest the i5-9400 runs cool and efficient, but these characteristics do not translate into a gaming advantage here. The six threads, while sufficient for modern titles, do not provide the multi-threading headroom that eight-thread or higher CPUs offer. However, given that the Arc B390's 3DMark score (1482) places it at just the 9th GPU percentile, the CPU's modest capabilities are rarely the binding constraint. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield far larger FPS gains than any CPU swap, though the system-shared memory architecture of the B390 may also benefit from faster system RAM.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 2980 tested CPU-GPU combinations for Overpower, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2638th. That places it in the bottom 11.5% of all configurations, underscoring its status as a low-end setup. The rank reflects the GPU's severe limitations more than the CPU's capabilities — the i5-9400's 47th percentile CPU score is roughly average, but the Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU score drags the combined result down dramatically.

The combo's ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data. A rank of 2638 out of 2980 means that 89.5% of tested combinations deliver better performance in this game. This is not surprising given that the GPU's nearest rivals are the GT 520MX and GeForce 800M — parts that are over a decade old and were entry-level even in their heyday. The Arc B390's 1482 Steel Nomad score is barely above the GT 625 OEM (1446) and GT 710 (1443), both of which are ancient low-end cards.

In practical terms, this ranking means the combo is suitable only for 1080p gaming at the lowest settings, and even then it barely manages 60 FPS. For any resolution above 1080p, the experience will be stuttery and visually compromised. The combo's position in the bottom 11% of all tested pairs should serve as a clear indicator that this is not a configuration for frame-rate-sensitive players. The data shows that the i5-9400 is not the issue — when paired with a more capable GPU, it would likely rank much higher, given its mid-pack CPU standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 72 FPS, the only configuration to exceed 60 FPS. Medium settings yield 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52. High settings drop to 42 FPS, while Ultra bottoms out at 35 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 37 FPS, indicating that the GPU is sensitive to quality presets even at the lowest resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, all settings lose ground. Low still manages 64 FPS, which is playable but shows a 11% reduction from 1080p. Medium falls to 40 FPS (min 34, max 46), High to 37 FPS, and Ultra to 31 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 33 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is starting to hit a hard limit regardless of settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. Low settings average 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and represents a 25% loss from 1080p. Medium drops to 34 FPS (min 29, max 39), High to 32 FPS, and Ultra to 26 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 28 FPS, confirming that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily constrained that even reducing quality yields diminishing returns. The minimum FPS of 29 at 4K Medium suggests occasional stutters that would be noticeable in fast-paced action scenes.

The overall pattern is clear: 1080p Low is the only playable configuration, 1440p Low is borderline acceptable, and anything above that is not suitable for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at every resolution, with the best Ultra result (35 FPS at 1080p) still falling well short of smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 72 FPS. This is the only setting that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without dips into stutter territory. The 72 FPS average gives some headroom for demanding scenes, although the lack of a minimum FPS measurement for this preset means there is some uncertainty about worst-case performance.

For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 2560x1440 Low at 64 FPS is the next best option. It retains the Low preset's performance benefits while adding 78% more pixels than 1080p, which sharpens the image noticeably. However, the 64 FPS average is close to the 60 FPS threshold, so players may experience occasional drops below that mark in heavy scenes.

The Medium preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p it averages 45 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth than Low. At 1440p it drops to 40 FPS, and at 4K it plummets to 34 FPS with a 29 FPS minimum — an experience that will feel choppy. The visual improvement from Low to Medium does not justify the 27-40% FPS penalty across resolutions.

High and Ultra settings are effectively off the table. High at 1080p averages 42 FPS, and Ultra at the same resolution averages just 35 FPS. At 4K, both presets fall into the 26-32 FPS range, which is cinematic but not interactive. The data indicates that the Arc B390 lacks the raw throughput (7.680 TFLOPS, 24 ROPs) to handle these presets at playable frame rates, regardless of resolution.

The best experience-per-FPS tradeoff is clearly the 1080p Low preset. It is the only configuration that delivers a consistently smooth frame rate, and it does so with a 72 FPS average that leaves room for scene complexity. If a higher resolution is desired, 1440p Low offers a reasonable compromise at 64 FPS, but players should be prepared for occasional dips below 60. All other settings and resolution combinations fall short of the minimum standard for smooth gameplay in Overpower.