Overpower

Overpower is an action title that stresses both processor and graphics hardware, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a lopsided result. The CPU is a six-core, six-thread part from the Coffee Lake generation, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP place it as a mainstream desktop chip, but benchmark results show it is merely average in the broader landscape, sitting at the 47th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU, however, is a different class of hardware entirely, representing the flagship Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process. The RTX 4090 carries 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz. This combination of an older mid-range CPU with a top-tier GPU leads to predictable bottlenecking in Overpower, where the frame rates are high but not as high as the graphics card alone could deliver.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor, and its lack of hyper-threading is a notable factor in Overpower. With a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, the chip has enough single-thread grunt to handle basic game logic, but its six threads are the hard ceiling. In the Cinebench R23 multi-core test, the i5-9400 scores 6629 points, while its single-core score is 935 points. These numbers are modest, especially when compared to its nearest rivals; the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 in the average benchmark aggregate, which is only 0.2% higher than the i5-9400's 2254, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 is 0.4% ahead with a score of 2246. The processor's L3 cache is 9 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, which is adequate for feeding the GPU in most scenarios.

In Overpower, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 160 FPS, but at 4K with Low settings, it drops to 146 FPS. This 14 FPS drop is relatively small, suggesting the CPU is not the primary limiter at lower resolutions; rather, the GPU is still able to push high frame rates even when the CPU is working at its limits. The i5-9400's six threads can become saturated in action-heavy scenes with many entities, but the data shows that the processor keeps frame rates above 100 FPS in all tested configurations. The CPU's percentile rank of 47 indicates it is a middle-of-the-pack performer, and its average benchmark score of 2254 puts it in the same tier as the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% faster). For Overpower, the i5-9400 is sufficient to avoid severe stuttering, but it does cap the maximum achievable frame rate when paired with the RTX 4090.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications are overwhelming. Built on the AD102 chip with 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, the GPU is designed for extreme throughput. Its memory configuration is equally impressive: 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, and the memory clock runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The base clock is 2235 MHz, boosting to 2520 MHz, which allows the card to sustain high frame rates in demanding titles. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60347, placing it at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% difference) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% ahead).

In Overpower, the GPU's role is to render the action at high resolutions with detailed textures and effects. The 24 GB VRAM is far more than the game requires, so there is no memory capacity bottleneck. The data shows that the RTX 4090 delivers 122 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 117 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and 109 FPS at 4K Ultra. These numbers are high, but the gap between 1080p and 4K is only 13 FPS, which is surprisingly small for a GPU of this caliber. This suggests that the CPU is holding the GPU back, particularly at lower resolutions where the graphics card would normally hit much higher frame rates. The RTX 4090's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are more than capable of handling Overpower's visuals, but the i5-9400 cannot feed it data fast enough to utilize its full potential. The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are also available for any ray tracing or DLSS features, though the measured FPS data does not indicate whether these are enabled.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a clear bottleneck pattern. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, the average FPS drops are modest, which is the opposite of what one would expect if the GPU were the sole limiting factor. At High settings, the combo goes from 130 FPS at 1080p to 125 FPS at 1440p to 119 FPS at 4K. That is a total drop of 11 FPS from 1080p to 4K, or roughly 8.5%. At Low settings, the drop is from 160 FPS at 1080p to 154 FPS at 1440p to 146 FPS at 4K, a 14 FPS decrease. At Medium settings, the numbers are 134 FPS at 1080p, 129 FPS at 1440p, and 122 FPS at 4K, with minimum FPS readings of 114, 109, and 103 respectively. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 122 FPS at 1080p to 117 FPS at 1440p to 109 FPS at 4K.

This pattern indicates that the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p and 1440p. The RTX 4090 is powerful enough that it should easily push past 200 FPS at 1080p in most games, but the i5-9400's six threads cannot keep up, resulting in a ceiling around 160 FPS at Low settings. As the resolution increases, the GPU workload grows, but the frame rate does not drop dramatically because the CPU bottleneck is partially alleviated—the GPU has more time to render each frame while waiting for the CPU. The 4K results are still strong, with 109 FPS at Ultra, but the fact that 4K Ultra is only 13 FPS lower than 1080p Ultra suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor even at the highest resolution. The data shows a CPU-bound scenario throughout, with the i5-9400 preventing the RTX 4090 from reaching its full potential at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured frame rates for this combination are as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 160 FPS, Medium yields 134 FPS with a minimum of 114 and maximum of 154, High yields 130 FPS, and Ultra yields 122 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low produces 154 FPS, Medium produces 129 FPS with a minimum of 109 and maximum of 148, High produces 125 FPS, and Ultra produces 117 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low delivers 146 FPS, Medium delivers 122 FPS with a minimum of 103 and maximum of 140, High delivers 119 FPS, and Ultra delivers 109 FPS.

These numbers show a consistent pattern: the difference between Low and Ultra settings is significant but not massive. At 1080p, the gap from Low to Ultra is 38 FPS (160 to 122), which is a 23.75% reduction in frame rate for higher visual quality. At 1440p, the gap is 37 FPS (154 to 117), and at 4K, the gap is 37 FPS (146 to 109). The Medium preset provides a middle ground, with frame rates that are only 5-8 FPS lower than Low but with better visuals. The minimum FPS readings at Medium settings are 114 at 1080p, 109 at 1440p, and 103 at 4K, which are all well above 60 FPS, indicating smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The maximum FPS readings at Medium are 154 at 1080p, 148 at 1440p, and 140 at 4K, showing that the combo can occasionally spike higher but is generally capped by the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Overpower, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 784th out of 3713 total combos. That places it in the top 21% of all tested systems, which is a strong overall position, but the rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's power rather than the CPU's contribution. The RTX 4090 alone is at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-9400 is at the 47th percentile among all CPUs. This mismatch means the combo's rank is lower than what the GPU alone could achieve with a better processor. The data suggests that many other tested combos with a more balanced CPU-GPU pairing outperform this one, despite the RTX 4090 being a top-tier card. The rank of 784 indicates that while the system can run Overpower very well, there are over 780 other combinations that deliver higher average frame rates, likely because they pair the RTX 4090 with a more capable CPU that does not bottleneck it as severely.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 134, which is only 26 FPS lower than Low but provides significantly better graphics. The minimum FPS at Medium is 114, ensuring no noticeable stutter. At 1440p Medium, the average is 129 FPS with a minimum of 109, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 4K Medium, the average is 122 FPS with a minimum of 103, which is excellent for a 4K display. The High preset is also viable, with 130 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 119 FPS at 4K, but the gains over Medium are marginal in terms of visual fidelity while the frame rate drops slightly. The Ultra preset, while delivering the best visuals, reduces the frame rate to 122 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 109 FPS at 4K. These are still high numbers, but the jump from Medium to Ultra only adds a few FPS of performance loss, so players with high-refresh-rate monitors might prefer Medium to maximize smoothness. The Low preset is not recommended because it sacrifices too much visual quality for a frame rate increase that is limited by the CPU anyway; the 160 FPS at 1080p Low is only 26 FPS higher than Medium, and the CPU bottleneck prevents it from going significantly higher. For the best experience, Medium at 1440p or 4K is the sweet spot, offering high detail with frame rates that comfortably exceed 120 FPS.