Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator, a simulation title from 2019, presents an unusual testing scenario for the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. The measured data shows frame rates that are heavily influenced by both the CPU's six cores and the GPU's massive rendering power. The i5-10400F is a 10th Gen Comet Lake part with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost of 4.30 GHz, features 6 cores and 12 threads, and sits in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. The RTX 4080 is a large Ada Lovelace GPU with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, offering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The combination ranks 762nd out of 3723 tested combos in this game, placing it comfortably in the top 21% of systems. The data shows that this pairing is far from balanced in many situations, and the following sections dissect exactly where the bottleneck lies.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression across resolutions is the first clear sign of how this combo behaves. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system averages 256 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops this to 219 FPS, a reduction of 14.5%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 155 FPS, which is 29.2% lower than the 1440p result. The scaling pattern changes dramatically depending on the settings preset. With High settings, the 1080p score is 198 FPS, 1440p is 148 FPS, and 4K is 78 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 60.6%, while the drop at Low is 39.5%. This suggests that at Low settings, the game is not purely GPU-limited at lower resolutions; the CPU has more influence.

The Medium setting shows the smallest relative drop between 1080p and 1440p, going from 225 FPS to 193 FPS, a 14.2% decrease. However, scaling from 1440p to 4K at Medium is a 43.0% drop (193 to 110 FPS). This is because the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p Medium, while the GPU begins to take over at 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 194 FPS at 1080p, 141 at 1440p, and 74 at 4K, with the largest relative drop occurring between 1440p and 4K (47.5%). The data indicates that at 1080p, the RTX 4080 is often waiting on the i5-10400F, especially at Low and Medium settings. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are enough to push high frames, but they cap the GPU's potential. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, which is why the scaling becomes more pronounced. At 4K, the RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM and high bandwidth are fully utilized, and the CPU can still deliver acceptable frame rates, but the GPU is clearly the limiting component.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a Comet Lake part built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The 3DMark benchmarks from the pack show a single-thread score of 688 in 3dmark_single_thread and a max-thread score of 4735. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 10283, and the single-core score is 1451. These numbers place the CPU in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's role is significant. The game is a Simulation genre title where the player constructs and manages PCs; the actual 3D rendering is not as complex as in a AAA shooter, but the simulation logic can be CPU-heavy. The measured FPS shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 256 FPS. This is a very high frame rate, and it is likely that the CPU's 12 threads are being used effectively. The i5-10400F's boost clock of 4.30 GHz is sufficient for the single-threaded aspects of the simulation. The difference between 1080p Low (256 FPS) and 4K Low (155 FPS) is 101 FPS, and at 4K Ultra the FPS is 74, which indicates that the CPU is not the sole limitation at 4K. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a weak link in this game, but it is not a top-tier part. For instance, the nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark list include the Intel Xeon 6756E (which scores 14163, a 0.2% delta) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (which scores 14115, a 0.5% delta). This suggests that the i5-10400F's performance in synthetic tests is comparable to some server parts, but in a game like Pc Building Simulator, the 12 threads are likely more important than raw multi-core scores. The average benchmark score for the CPU is 14185, which is a composite metric, but the game's performance is a mix of single-thread and multi-thread workloads. The data from the FPS table shows that the CPU is not the main bottleneck at any resolution above 1080p, but at 1080p, it is the limiting factor in Low and Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which settings preset offers the best experience. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 256 FPS, Medium 225 FPS, High 198 FPS, and Ultra 194 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is 27 FPS, and between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset is not worth the performance hit over High, as the 4 FPS difference is minimal. The Medium preset offers a significant improvement over Low (31 FPS more) and is only 27 FPS slower than High. At 1440p, Medium hits 193 FPS, which is 54 FPS more than High's 148 FPS, and 52 FPS more than Ultra's 141 FPS. Again, Ultra offers no advantage over High in terms of FPS, but the difference between Medium and High is larger. At 4K, the Medium preset gives 110 FPS, High gives 78 FPS, and Ultra gives 74 FPS. The Medium preset is the best choice at 4K, as it is 32 FPS faster than High and 36 FPS faster than Ultra. The data shows that the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. The Ultra preset is not recommended, as it only provides a marginal FPS improvement over High at 1080p and none at 1440p and 4K. The High preset is a good alternative at 1080p, but the Medium preset is the most consistent. The benchmark results indicate that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this CPU-GPU combination, as it avoids the low FPS of High and Ultra while maintaining a high frame rate. The 4K Medium is 110 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the 1440p Medium is 193 FPS, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors. The 1080p Medium is 225 FPS, which is more than enough for any display. The measured min and max FPS for Medium settings show that the frame pacing is good: at 1080p, the min is 191 FPS and the max is 259 FPS; at 1440p, the min is 164 FPS and the max is 222 FPS; at 4K, the min is 93 FPS and the max is 126 FPS. These numbers indicate that the Medium preset is stable and does not have frame drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in Pc Building Simulator is 762 out of 3723 combinations. This puts it in the top 21.5% of all tested combos. The rank is influenced by the fact that the RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU, but the i5-10400F is a mid-range CPU from 2020. The combo ranks 762nd, which means there are 761 combos that perform better. These are likely combos with more powerful CPUs, such as those with higher core counts or better single-thread performance. The data shows that the combo is not a bad one, but it is not optimal. In the GPU benchmark, the RTX 4080 scores 54,247 on average, which is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest GPU rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54,209 (a 0.1% delta), indicating the 4080 is essentially equal to the SUPER in this metric. The CPU's average benchmark score is 14,185, which is in the 68th percentile. The combo gains its rank from the GPU's strength, but the CPU holds it back. The 1440p and 4K results are decent, but at 1080p, the combo is not fully utilizing the RTX 4080. The rank of 762 is a reflection of that imbalance. The number of combos tested (3723) is a large sample, so the rank is a reliable indicator. The combo's rank is better than the CPU's percentile (68th) and the GPU's percentile (86th), which shows that the GPU is the stronger component. The data suggests that pairing the RTX 4080 with a more powerful CPU would yield a better rank, but with the i5-10400F, the combo is still a solid performer, especially at 4K and 1440p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU from the GeForce 40-series, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and a 5 nm process from TSMC. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 2205 MHz and the boost clock is 2505 MHz. The GPU has 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It also has 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores. The GPU's benchmark scores show it is a powerful part: the Passmark G3D score is 34,457, and the Geekbench OpenCL score is 214,739. The GPU is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. In Pc Building Simulator, the GPU's role is significant, but not always the bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the FPS drops to 74. The 16 GB of VRAM is more than enough for this game, which is not VRAM-hungry. The GPU's high bandwidth is utilized at higher resolutions, where the game's rendering becomes more demanding. The measured FPS at 4K Medium (110 FPS) shows that the GPU can handle the game well, but the CPU interferes at lower resolutions. The RTX 4080's performance is not fully utilized at 1080p, as the CPU is the bottleneck. The GPU's scores are high, but the game's simulation nature means that some of the GPU's power is wasted. The GPU's memory clock is 22.4 Gbps effective, which is high, but the game does not require it. The GPU's passing mark G2D score is 1,239, which is low, but that is a 2D test. In the game, the GPU's 3D capabilities are what matter. The RTX 4080 is a very strong GPU, and the data shows that it is the dominant component in this combo. The GPU's performance is the reason the combo ranks as well as it does.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is presented in the pack for three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS for Low is 256, Medium is 225 (min 191, max 259), High is 198, and Ultra is 194. At 2560x1440, the average is 219 for Low, 193 for Medium (min 164, max 222), 148 for High, and 141 for Ultra. At 3840x2160, the average is 155 for Low, 110 for Medium (min 93, max 126), 78 for High, and 74 for Ultra. The frame times show that the Medium settings have the most consistent frame pacing, as the min and max are relatively close. The Low settings have no min/max data, but the average is high. The High and Ultra settings have no min/max data, but the averages are lower. The data shows that the system can handle the game well at 1080p and 1440p, with all settings above 100 FPS. At 4K, only the Medium and Low settings are above 100 FPS, with High and Ultra below 80 FPS. The 4K Ultra is 74 FPS, which is the lowest score, and is still playable, but not ideal. The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is largest at Ultra (from 194 to 74, a 61.9% drop) and smallest at Medium (from 225 to 110, a 51.1% drop). The data indicates that the Medium preset is the best for 4K. The average FPS at 1440p Medium is 193, which is a very high frame rate for a 1440p display, and the 4K Medium is 110, which is also good. The measured FPS values are all above 60, which is the minimum for a smooth experience. The game is not very demanding, and the RTX 4080 is overkill at 1080p, but at 4K, it is used more effectively.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU/GPU combo in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The Medium preset provides the best balance across all resolutions. At 1080p it averages 225 FPS, at 1440p 193 FPS, and at 4K 110 FPS, which are all above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 762nd out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21.5% of all systems.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is a bottleneck, as the FPS is capped at 256 FPS on Low settings. At 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor, with the FPS dropping to 74 on Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54,247 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828).

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, High averages 78 FPS and Ultra averages 74 FPS, a difference of only 4 FPS, making Ultra a poor value for the performance cost.

Q: Does the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads matter for this game?

A: The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, which is enough for the simulation. The 3DMark multi-thread score is 4,748, and the Cinebench R23 multi-core is 10,283, showing it handles multi-threaded loads well. The game's FPS at 1080p Medium (225 FPS) suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's needs.