Pc Building Simulator

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 505th out of 1,769 tested combos in Pc Building Simulator. This places the combination in the upper third of all configurations tested, roughly the 71st percentile of tested combos. The ranking reflects a system that is far more capable than average, yet not at the absolute top tier, which is expected given the pairing's fundamental imbalance: the GPU is a top-tier enthusiast part while the CPU is a mid-range, older-generation chip.

Benchmark results indicate that the combo's position is driven almost entirely by GPU dominance. The RX 7900 XTX sits at the 85th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the i5-9400 sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. This 35-point gap in percentile standing is the defining characteristic of this pairing. In a simulation game like Pc Building Simulator, where menu navigation, part selection, and 3D rendering of components are common tasks, the GPU-heavy workload allows the 7900 XTX to carry the combo to a rank that significantly outpaces what the CPU alone would achieve. The data shows that in fewer than 30% of tested combos does a system outperform this pairing, which is a strong result for a CPU that is in the exact middle of the pack.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the dominant component in this pairing. It features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1929 MHz, a game clock of 2365 MHz, and a boost clock of 2498 MHz. Memory operates at an effective 20 Gbps. With 6,144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs, the card is built for high-resolution rendering. Its compute capability is substantial: 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, and 122.8 TFLOPS of FP16 performance at a 2:1 ratio. The silicon is a 5 nm design from TSMC, containing 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die.

In Pc Building Simulator, the GPU's role is magnified because the game renders a fully interactive 3D workshop environment, including detailed PC cases, motherboards, and cooling components. The high VRAM capacity of 24 GB is overkill for this title, which does not push texture memory to the limits seen in modern AAA shooters. However, the sheer pixel throughput of the 7900 XTX — 479.6 GPixel/s — ensures that even at 4K resolution, the game's geometry and UI elements are rendered with headroom. The GPU's 192 ROPs are particularly relevant here, as the game's interface-heavy scenes with many small objects benefit from high fill rate. The card's average benchmark score of 44,019 places it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (which it trails by 2%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (which it leads by 0.4%). This context shows that the 7900 XTX is not just fast in synthetic tests; it competes with the fastest consumer cards available.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The CPU includes 9 MB of shared L3 cache, with 256 KB of L2 and 64 KB of L1 per core. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a total bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, and it connects to the system via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes. This is a locked processor (multiplier not unlocked), which means no overclocking headroom — a limitation that becomes relevant when paired with such a high-end GPU.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's workload is modest. The game simulates PC assembly and boot sequences, but it does not feature complex physics, AI, or large-scale world simulation. The i5-9400's six physical cores are sufficient for the game's logic, and its single-core performance — a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,125 — is adequate for the UI and menu responsiveness. However, the CPU's multi-core scores tell a story of mediocrity: 7,969 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,346 in Cinebench R20. The processor's average benchmark score of 2,305 places it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% ahead) and the Intel Core i7-8809G (0.6% ahead). This means the CPU is essentially middle-of-the-road, and in a game that doesn't stress multiple threads heavily, its performance is rarely the limiting factor. The 65 W TDP also indicates a modest power envelope that does not create thermal constraints in most builds.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a system that is capable of high frame rates across all resolutions. At 1080p, the combo delivers exceptional performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 245.2. Medium settings drop that to 214.5, High settings yield 189.1, and Ultra settings produce 183.0. The gap between Low and Ultra is 62.2 FPS, showing that even at the highest settings, the system remains well above 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the results are still strong but show a clear scaling trend. Low settings average 209.3 FPS, Medium 182.0, High 133.1, and Ultra 126.5. The drop from Low to Ultra is 82.8 FPS, a larger delta than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to work harder as resolution increases. At 4K, the system remains playable but with much lower frame rates. Low settings average 141.9 FPS, Medium 98.6, High 71.2, and Ultra 69.4. The Ultra 4K result is the only setting/resolution combination that dips below 70 FPS, but it still clears the 60 FPS threshold.

The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 245.2 FPS average suggests the i5-9400 can feed the 7900 XTX adequately for this game. However, the relatively small FPS drop between High and Ultra at 1080p (6.1 FPS) compared to the drop between Low and Medium (30.7 FPS) hints that the GPU is not being pushed to its absolute limit at 1080p.

# Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU workload. At Low settings, the FPS goes from 245.2 at 1080p to 209.3 at 1440p (a 14.6% drop) and then to 141.9 at 4K (a 32.2% drop from 1440p). The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound workload. At Ultra settings, the FPS goes from 183.0 at 1080p to 126.5 at 1440p (a 30.9% drop) and then to 69.4 at 4K (a 45.1% drop from 1440p). The larger percentage drops at Ultra settings indicate that the GPU's rendering load increases disproportionately with resolution when more effects are enabled.

The limiting component becomes clearer when examining the Low settings scaling. The fact that 4K Low (141.9 FPS) is higher than 1080p Ultra (183.0 FPS) shows that the GPU has significant headroom; the bottleneck is not the GPU at lower settings. Instead, the CPU's six threads are sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at 4K Low, meaning the i5-9400 is not the primary constraint. However, at 4K Ultra, the 69.4 FPS result shows the GPU is heavily loaded, and the CPU's mid-range performance does not cause a noticeable issue. The data suggests that the system is GPU-limited at 4K Ultra, CPU-limited is not evident at any resolution, and the GPU has enough power to overcome the CPU's modest single-thread performance. The 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth of the CPU could theoretically limit frame pacing in some scenarios, but the measured FPS shows no such stutter or drop.

# FAQ

Q: How does this combo rank overall in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 505th out of 1,769 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all configurations.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to other GPUs?

A: The RX 7900 XTX is at the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44,019. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, is 2% faster.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to other CPUs?

A: The i5-9400 is at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2,305. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, is 0.2% faster.

Q: What is the best measured FPS result for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 245.2 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 69.4 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 4K Ultra (69.4 FPS), the GPU is the limiting factor. At 4K Low (141.9 FPS), the GPU still has headroom, and the CPU does not bottleneck, as the frame rate remains high.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, with 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, operating at an effective 20 Gbps.