Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator, a simulation title focused on the assembly and maintenance of virtual PCs, presents a unique benchmark scenario. The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D creates a significant performance pairing, but the data reveals that the game's engine and the CPU's capabilities dictate the experience more than the GPU's raw power. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, examining the roles of the processor and graphics card in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, but the nature of this scaling reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 300 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops the average to 257 FPS, a reduction of 43 FPS (approximately 14.3%). At 3840x2160, the Low preset average falls further to 187 FPS, a 70 FPS drop from the 1440p result and a 113 FPS drop from 1080p.

This pattern shifts when examining higher settings. At High settings, the 1080p average is 232 FPS, the 1440p average is 179 FPS, and the 4K average is 94 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K here is 85 FPS, which is a much larger relative decrease compared to the Low preset's 70 FPS drop across the same resolution step. This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU is the primary limiter, as the frame rate does not scale as dramatically with resolution. At higher settings, the GPU becomes more involved, and the increased pixel count at 4K places a heavier load on it, leading to a more pronounced FPS decline.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is not being fully utilized at lower resolutions. The jump from 1080p Low (300 FPS) to 1440p Low (257 FPS) is relatively modest, suggesting the processor is struggling to feed the GPU with enough frames at 1080p. The gap between 1080p and 1440p High (232 FPS vs 179 FPS) is also significant, but the most telling statistic is the 4K High result of 94 FPS, which is less than half the 1080p High result. This suggests that while the CPU holds the system back at lower resolutions, the GPU's workload at 4K High is the deciding factor, though the i5-11400F still prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achieved by this combination?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 300, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at the Medium preset?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 264 at 1920x1080 to 226 at 2560x1440, and then to 133 at 3840x2160. This represents a 131 FPS difference between the lowest and highest resolution tested.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D the primary bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests not. At 1080p Low, the system hits 300 FPS, but the scaling to 1440p Low (257 FPS) is not proportional, indicating a CPU limitation. The GPU's potential is likely higher than what the i5-11400F can provide at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 187 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 89 FPS. This is a difference of 98 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset nearly halves the frame rate compared to Low at this resolution.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120) and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17074). It is 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-12450H (17239).

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

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 89, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra settings preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate for this combination depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset offers an average of 232 FPS, which is a substantial visual improvement over the Low preset's 300 FPS, but still maintains a frame rate far above what most displays can utilize. The Ultra preset at 1080p (228 FPS) provides a marginal average FPS gain over High (232 FPS), but the difference is only 4 FPS, making High the more efficient choice for a minimal visual penalty.

At 2560x1440, the High preset (179 FPS) is again a strong choice, offering a smooth experience. The Medium preset (226 FPS) provides a higher frame rate, but the step up to High is likely worth the 47 FPS cost for improved fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1440p (171 FPS) is close to High, with only an 8 FPS difference, so High is recommended for the better performance without a significant drop in quality.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The High preset drops to 94 FPS, which is still playable but not as fluid as lower resolutions. The Medium preset (133 FPS) offers a better balance, providing a 39 FPS improvement over High. The Low preset at 4K (187 FPS) is the only way to achieve a high refresh rate experience, but it sacrifices a significant amount of visual detail. For the best experience at 4K, the Medium preset presents the most reasonable compromise between the Low preset's high frame rate and the High preset's better visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 201 out of 3002 tested combos in Pc Building Simulator. This places the system in the top 6.7% of all tested configurations, a strong result that reflects the high performance of the RTX 5090 D. However, the rank is not higher due to the limitations of the i5-11400F, which is a mid-range processor from an older generation.

The CPU's percentile of 71 compared to all CPUs indicates that it outperforms 71% of processors in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU's percentile of 92 shows it outperforms 92% of GPUs. The gap between these percentiles suggests an imbalance. The GPU is a top-tier component, while the CPU is more mid-range. This combination's rank of 201, while impressive, is likely held back by the CPU's inability to fully feed the GPU in a game that appears to have significant CPU overhead. The data shows that in a more GPU-bound title, this combination might rank higher, but in Pc Building Simulator, the processor's role is more critical.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache is a key feature for gaming, but the architecture is from the 11th generation, which is now several generations old. In synthetic tests, the processor scores 14340 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2024 in single-core. These scores are respectable, but they place the chip in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is not a top-tier performer.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's role is highlighted by the FPS scaling. The difference between 1080p Low (300 FPS) and 1440p Low (257 FPS) is 43 FPS. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, this drop would be much larger, as the pixel count increases by 1.78x. The smaller than expected drop indicates that the CPU is limiting the frame rate at 1080p. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is likely the limiting factor, as the game may not be able to fully utilize all threads, and the single-thread performance of the Rocket Lake architecture, while decent, cannot keep up with the GPU's frame generation capabilities.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support are also factors, but the primary issue is the core architecture's IPC (instructions per clock) and clock speed ceiling. The i5-11400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is not high enough to prevent a bottleneck in a simulation game that likely has complex single-threaded logic. This is why the frame rate does not scale linearly with resolution, and why the system cannot achieve higher FPS at 1080p, even with the RTX 5090 D.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is a direct breakdown of the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 300 FPS average
• Medium: 264 FPS average, with a minimum of 224 and a maximum of 303
• High: 232 FPS average
• Ultra: 228 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 257 FPS average
• Medium: 226 FPS average, with a minimum of 192 and a maximum of 260
• High: 179 FPS average
• Ultra: 171 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 187 FPS average
• Medium: 133 FPS average, with a minimum of 113 and a maximum of 153
• High: 94 FPS average
• Ultra: 89 FPS average

The data shows a consistent trend. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, indicating that the other presets may have more variable frame times or the data collection focused on averages. The jumps between presets are not uniform. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 36 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS. This suggests that the High and Ultra presets are very similar in performance at this resolution. At 4K, the difference between Low and Medium is 54 FPS, and between High and Ultra is only 5 FPS. This pattern suggests that the Ultra preset offers little performance benefit over High, while the step from Low to Medium is significant.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship graphics card based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The card has 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Its boost clock is 2407 MHz, and it has a TDP of 575 W. In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 44065 in Passmark G3D and 14326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs.

In Pc Building Simulator, the GPU's role is primarily visible at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is the limiting factor, as the average FPS drops to 89, which is a very low number for such a powerful card. This indicates that the game's engine is not optimized to use the GPU's full potential, or that the CPU is still holding it back even at this resolution. The GPU's immense memory bandwidth and 32 GB of VRAM are likely not being fully utilized, as the game is not graphically demanding.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals is interesting. Its average benchmark score is 77712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940). This placement among its nearest rivals in synthetic tests does not translate to a dominant lead in this game. The RTX 5090 D is clearly overkill for Pc Building Simulator, as the game's graphical demands are not sufficient to stress the card. The data shows that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, and only becomes more relevant at 4K, where its raw power still results in high frame rates for most presets, except for the most demanding Ultra setting.