Pc Building Simulator

# Pc Building Simulator with Intel Core i5-14400F + Intel Arc B390

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers playable performance only at 1080p, with the GPU acting as the definitive bottleneck across all resolutions. Benchmark results show this combo ranks 2650th out of 3002 tested combinations in Pc Building Simulator, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations. The Arc B390, with its 9th percentile standing among all GPUs, fundamentally limits the experience; the i5-14400F, by contrast, sits in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, creating a massive imbalance where the processor's headroom goes largely unused.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and reveals a GPU-bound workload. At Low settings, the combo produces 125 FPS at 1920x1080, drops to 79 FPS at 2560x1440, and falls to 41 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K — a cumulative 67% loss from the lowest to highest resolution.

The High preset tells a similar story: 62 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The scaling pattern here is nearly identical in percentage terms, which strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution. If the CPU were the constraint, the frame rate would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the processor's workload would stay constant. Instead, the data shows the Arc B390's rendering throughput saturating well before the i5-14400F's capabilities are exhausted.

Ultra settings amplify the problem. At 1080p, the combo manages 59 FPS, which drops to 38 FPS at 1440p and 20 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K loss of 39 FPS mirrors the High preset's 41 FPS drop, confirming that resolution scaling is independent of quality preset — a hallmark of pixel-throughput-limited performance. The Arc B390's pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for 4K workloads, regardless of how the game's settings are configured.

Even at 1080p, the scaling from Low to Ultra shows the GPU struggling with increased shading complexity. The difference between 125 FPS and 59 FPS at 1080p is a 53% performance hit, which is substantial for a game like Pc Building Simulator that is not typically considered graphically demanding.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the clear limiting factor in this configuration. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), the GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), and the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower). The B390 edges out these legacy parts, but the margin is razor-thin — the performance envelope is firmly in entry-level territory.

The GPU's memory configuration is "System Shared" with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent," which means the Arc B390 relies on system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. This architecture choice has direct implications for Pc Building Simulator, a game that involves constructing and managing systems with various components. The shared memory approach means the GPU's effective bandwidth fluctuates based on system memory speed and configuration, which the measured FPS data reflects in the wide gaps between presets.

With only 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, the B390's raw compute capacity is modest. The FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS and FP16 of 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1) suggest a part designed for efficiency rather than brute force. The 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) indicate modern API compatibility, but Pc Building Simulator's workload appears to be primarily rasterization-bound given the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions.

The GPU's clock behavior — a 300 MHz base and 2500 MHz boost — shows a wide dynamic range, but the sustained performance in this game never reaches levels that would suggest the boost clock is being maintained under load. The 80 W TDP and IGP form factor (integrated graphics processor with no power connectors) mean this is a power-constrained part, and the benchmark results reflect that limitation. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces just 20 FPS, which is essentially unplayable, and even at 4K Low, the 41 FPS average is borderline.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is substantially more capable than the GPU, with an average benchmark score of 32279 across all tests. This places it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, 0.1% slower), the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, 0.2% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, 0.2% faster). The i5-14400F's performance is essentially on par with these parts, showing that it is a well-rounded mid-range processor.

The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallelism for Pc Building Simulator, which is a simulation title that can leverage multiple threads for game logic, physics, and entity updates. The Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, delivers strong single-threaded performance with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Cinebench R23 scores of 21645 multi-core and 3055 single-core confirm that this processor can handle both heavily threaded workloads and single-thread-bound tasks with ease.

However, the measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work to do, the combo reaches 125 FPS — the highest figure in the entire dataset. If the CPU were the constraint, this number would be lower and would not improve when resolution drops. The fact that 1080p Low is the peak performance point, and that every other configuration yields lower FPS, indicates the GPU is saturated even at the lightest settings.

The i5-14400F's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L1 (80 KB) and L2 (1.25 MB) caches are sufficient for this game's data access patterns. The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though specific bandwidth figures are not provided. Given the GPU's shared memory architecture, the CPU's memory controller and the system's RAM speed likely influence the Arc B390's performance, but the benchmark data does not isolate this variable.

The CPU's boost behavior — reaching 4.70 GHz under load — is more than adequate for Pc Building Simulator. The PassMark single-thread score of 3701 and Geekbench single-core score of 2058 show strong per-thread performance. The processor's 65 W TDP and locked multiplier (non-K SKU) mean it runs efficiently, but this efficiency is wasted in this pairing because the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's output capacity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for the best experience with this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 125 FPS average, which is smooth and responsive. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS — this is the sweet spot for visual quality without sacrificing playability. The minimum of 75 FPS ensures that even in scene transitions or complex simulation moments, the frame rate stays comfortably above typical display refresh rates.

High settings at 1080p drop to 62 FPS average, which is still playable but represents a 30% reduction from Medium. Ultra settings at 1080p yield 59 FPS, barely better than High and not worth the additional quality settings. The data shows that Medium at 1080p is the optimal configuration: it provides a 25% FPS advantage over High while likely maintaining most of the visual fidelity improvements over Low.

At 2560x1440, the options become more limited. Low settings produce 79 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 56 FPS with a minimum of 47 FPS. For a simulation game where smoothness matters for precision, the 47 FPS minimum at 1440p Medium is borderline. High at 1440p yields 39 FPS, and Ultra produces 38 FPS — both are too low for a comfortable experience. The recommendation is clear: if playing at 1440p, use Low settings to maintain frame rates above 60 FPS, or accept Medium with the understanding that dips to 47 FPS may occur.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves playable performance. Even Low produces only 41 FPS, and Medium drops to 29 FPS with a minimum of 25 FPS. High and Ultra are effectively unplayable at 21 and 20 FPS respectively. The 4K resolution is not viable with this combo for Pc Building Simulator, regardless of settings.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 2650 out of 3002 tested combinations, this configuration sits in the bottom 11.7% of all systems tested in Pc Building Simulator. This ranking is driven entirely by the GPU's limitations; the CPU's 83rd percentile standing suggests that if paired with a more capable graphics card, this system could rank significantly higher.

The rank disparity between the two components is stark. The i5-14400F's nearest rivals — the Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, Core i9-11900, and Ryzen 7 6800HS — are all comparable in CPU performance, yet this combo's overall ranking is low because the Arc B390 cannot translate that CPU power into frame rate. The GPU's nearest rivals (GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM) are all ancient, low-end parts, confirming that the B390 is performing at a level consistent with entry-level GPUs from over a decade ago.

In the context of Pc Building Simulator specifically, the game's simulation genre typically benefits from strong single-threaded CPU performance. The i5-14400F's Geekbench single-core score of 2058 and Cinebench R23 single-core of 3055 are solid, but the game's frame rate is still GPU-bound. This suggests that Pc Building Simulator's rendering demands outweigh its simulation logic demands at the resolutions tested.

The 0.1% delta between the i5-14400F and its nearest CPU rival (Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U) shows that CPU choice has minimal impact on this combo's standing. The bottleneck is so heavily weighted toward the GPU that swapping the processor for a slightly faster or slower part would not meaningfully change the measured FPS or the combo rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 125 FPS average
• Medium: 88 FPS average, 75 FPS minimum, 102 FPS maximum
• High: 62 FPS average
• Ultra: 59 FPS average

The 1080p results show a clear progression: Low is 42% faster than Medium, Medium is 42% faster than High, and High is 5% faster than Ultra. The diminishing returns from High to Ultra suggest that the Ultra preset adds significant visual effects without proportional performance cost — the 3 FPS difference (62 vs 59) is within the margin of measurement error.

2560x1440:

• Low: 79 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average, 47 FPS minimum, 64 FPS maximum
• High: 39 FPS average
• Ultra: 38 FPS average

At 1440p, the pattern repeats but with lower absolute values. Low is 41% faster than Medium, Medium is 44% faster than High, and High and Ultra are statistically identical (39 vs 38 FPS). The 1440p results are consistently 37% lower than 1080p across all presets, confirming the resolution scaling behavior is uniform.

3840x2160:

• Low: 41 FPS average
• Medium: 29 FPS average, 25 FPS minimum, 34 FPS maximum
• High: 21 FPS average
• Ultra: 20 FPS average

The 4K results are uniformly poor. Low is 41% faster than Medium, Medium is 38% faster than High, and High and Ultra are effectively tied at 21 and 20 FPS. The 4K performance is 67% lower than 1080p on average across all presets, demonstrating that the Arc B390's rendering pipeline cannot handle the pixel count at any quality level.

The Medium preset at each resolution provides the only FPS range data (minimum and maximum values), which is useful for understanding frame time variance. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 75 to 102 FPS — a 27 FPS spread that indicates moderate frame pacing variability. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 47 to 64 FPS (17 FPS spread), and at 4K Medium, it's 25 to 34 FPS (9 FPS spread). As resolution increases, the frame rate variance compresses because the GPU is consistently saturated, leaving less headroom for fluctuations.