Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator is a simulation title that stresses system assembly logic more than raw rendering, but the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B390 reveals a clear performance ceiling. This combination ranks 2650th out of 3002 tested combos, placing it in the lower 12th percentile of all tested systems. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings show a setup that can handle the game at 1080p but struggles significantly as resolution increases, with the integrated graphics of the B390 acting as the primary bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that the Intel Arc B390's integrated graphics are the limiting factor in this pairing. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 125 at 1920x1080 to 79 at 2560x1440, a 36.8% reduction, and then to 41 at 3840x2160, a 67.2% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This pattern holds at Medium settings, where the average drops from 88 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p (36.4% decrease) and then to 29 at 4K (67.0% decrease). High settings show a similar trajectory: 62 FPS at 1080p, 39 at 1440p (37.1% decrease), and 21 at 4K (66.1% decrease). Ultra settings follow the same curve with 59 FPS at 1080p, 38 at 1440p (35.6% decrease), and 20 at 4K (66.1% decrease).

The consistency of these percentage drops across all quality presets is notable. When resolution scaling causes a nearly identical relative FPS loss regardless of whether the game runs at Low or Ultra, it indicates that the GPU is saturated at every quality level. The Intel Arc B390, with its 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units, simply lacks the pixel throughput needed for higher resolutions. The GPU's pixel rate is listed at 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate at 120.0 GTexel/s, but these theoretical figures translate to real-world performance that places the B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals—the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—are all legacy low-end parts, and the B390 sits just 1.3% to 2.7% above them in average benchmark score.

The 1080p to 1440p transition shows the first major cliff. At Low settings, the 46 FPS difference between 125 and 79 means the system loses over a third of its performance just by moving up one resolution tier. The 1440p to 4K transition is even more punishing, with the Low setting dropping another 38 FPS to reach 41. This suggests that 1440p is already pushing the B390 beyond its comfort zone, and 4K is only viable for screenshot-level frame rates. The data shows no scenario where 4K reaches even 30 FPS at Medium settings, with the average sitting at 29 FPS and minimums at 25 FPS. For a game like Pc Building Simulator, which is not a fast-paced action title, these numbers might be tolerable for menu navigation, but they fall short of a smooth experience for any interactive work.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Pc Building Simulator at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings with an average of 41 FPS. At Medium settings, the average drops to 29 FPS with minimums of 25 FPS, and at High or Ultra settings, the average falls to 21 FPS and 20 FPS respectively. The 4K experience is marginal at best.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings produce playable frame rates. Even at Ultra settings, the average FPS is 59, which is above the 50 FPS threshold typically considered acceptable for non-competitive gaming. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium settings stay above 50 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score of 1463), 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (score of 1460), 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (score of 1446), and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (score of 1443). All these parts are in the same performance tier.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 holding back the system in this game?

A: Not based on the resolution scaling data. The consistent FPS drops across resolutions point to the GPU as the bottleneck. The i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 is sufficient for a simulation game that relies more on GPU rendering.

Q: What settings should be avoided with this combo?

A: Ultra settings at any resolution above 1080p should be avoided. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 38 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it averages 20 FPS. Even at 1080p, Ultra at 59 FPS is only marginally better than High at 62 FPS, so the extra visual fidelity may not justify the performance cost.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2650th out of 3002 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 11.7% of all systems tested in Pc Building Simulator. This is a low-end configuration by the benchmark database's standards, though the game remains playable at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2650 out of 3002 places this system solidly in the lower quartile of all tested combinations. In percentile terms, this is roughly the 88th percentile from the bottom, meaning only about 352 tested combos perform worse. The CPU contributes positively to this ranking, as the Intel Core i5-9400 sits in the 47th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest CPU rivals are closely matched: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U at 2248 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2264 (0.4% higher). These deltas are all within half a percent, indicating the i5-9400 is a mid-pack processor.

The GPU tells a different story. The Intel Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which is exceptionally low. The nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from a much older generation, and the B390 only manages to edge them out by single-digit percentage points. This massive gap between CPU percentile (47th) and GPU percentile (9th) highlights the imbalance in this combo. The CPU is roughly average, while the GPU is near the bottom of the database. For Pc Building Simulator specifically, the 2650th rank reflects this GPU limitation, as the game's performance scales directly with the graphics solution.

Looking at the measured FPS data, the combo's ranking makes sense. At 1080p Low, the 125 FPS average is respectable, but the B390's performance collapses as resolution increases. The jump from 1080p to 4K at Low settings costs 84 FPS, which is a 67.2% loss. This kind of scaling is characteristic of a GPU with limited memory bandwidth (listed as "System Dependent" since the B390 uses shared system memory) and a modest 80 W TDP. The B390 is designed as an integrated graphics solution, and its 3 nm process node and Xe3-LPG architecture cannot compensate for the lack of dedicated VRAM. In a game like Pc Building Simulator, which renders detailed PC components and workspaces, the texture and geometry load at higher resolutions quickly overwhelms the B390's 24 ROPs.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, the data supports using High settings as the best balance. The average FPS at High is 62, which is only 3 FPS lower than Ultra at 59, but High likely uses less memory bandwidth and produces less heat. The Low setting at 1080p delivers 125 FPS, which is unnecessary for a simulation game where precision mouse control matters more than high refresh rates. Medium at 88 FPS is also viable, but the jump from Medium to High only costs 26 FPS, making High the sweet spot for visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to Medium settings. The average FPS at Medium is 56, with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 64. This is playable for a simulation title, though the minimum FPS dips below 50. High settings at 1440p drop to 39 FPS average, which is noticeably less smooth, and Low at 79 FPS is excessive for the visual quality loss. Ultra at 1440p at 38 FPS is essentially indistinguishable from High in performance, so there is no reason to choose it over High.

For 4K resolution, the only viable option is Low settings, which delivers 41 FPS average. Medium at 4K drops to 29 FPS with a minimum of 25, which will feel stuttery during scene transitions. High and Ultra at 4K both sit in the low 20s, which is below the threshold for comfortable interaction. Given that Pc Building Simulator is not a twitch shooter, some users might tolerate 4K Low, but the 1440p Medium experience at 56 FPS is likely the better overall choice for image quality and smoothness. The measured data shows that the B390 has a hard performance ceiling around 125 FPS at 1080p Low, so users should prioritize resolution scaling over quality settings when pushing this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's capabilities across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 125 FPS average at Low settings, 88 FPS at Medium (with minimums of 75 and maximums of 102), 62 FPS at High, and 59 FPS at Ultra. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy where each step up in quality costs roughly 25-30 FPS, except for the High to Ultra transition which only costs 3 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings at 1080p are not well optimized, or that the B390 reaches a saturation point near 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 79 FPS, Medium averages 56 FPS (minimums of 47, maximums of 64), High averages 39 FPS, and Ultra averages 38 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 23 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 17 FPS. Ultra offers no advantage over High, with only a 1 FPS difference. The minimum FPS of 47 at Medium settings is notable because it shows that even the recommended setting can dip below 50 FPS during complex scenes.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly overmatched. Low settings average 41 FPS, Medium averages 29 FPS (minimums of 25, maximums of 34), High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS. The 4K results show a linear progression where each quality tier costs roughly 8-12 FPS, but all configurations struggle to maintain playable frame rates. The Medium setting at 4K has a minimum of 25 FPS, which is below the standard 30 FPS console target, and the High and Ultra settings hover around 20 FPS, which is only suitable for static screenshots.

The lack of min/max FPS data for most settings (only Medium settings have min/max values) limits the analysis, but the averages alone tell a clear story. The B390's performance in Pc Building Simulator is heavily resolution-bound, with the 1080p Low result of 125 FPS being the only configuration that exceeds typical 60 FPS expectations. The 1440p Medium result at 56 FPS is the most balanced configuration, offering reasonable visual quality with acceptable performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its specifications suggest it is not the limiting factor in Pc Building Simulator. With 6 cores and 6 threads, a base clock of 2.90 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, this Coffee Lake refresh processor offers solid single-threaded performance for game logic and simulation calculations. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 64 KB L1 cache per core provide adequate data locality for the game's asset management. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1151 compatibility make it a standard mid-range desktop part, and its 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs reflects its position as an average processor in the database.

Benchmark scores for the i5-9400 show a processor that handles both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads competently. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and singlecore score of 935 indicate that it can manage the physics and logic calculations that Pc Building Simulator requires. The Geekbench scores of 5141 multicore and 1389 singlecore align with this assessment. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% faster), Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% slower), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% slower), and Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% faster), are all within a tight performance band, confirming that the i5-9400 is neither a standout nor a weak link.

In the context of Pc Building Simulator's measured FPS, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The resolution scaling patterns show that the B390's integrated graphics are the bottleneck, as the FPS drops proportionally with pixel count regardless of settings. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see less variation between 1080p and 4K at the same settings, since the CPU workload would remain constant while the GPU load increases. Instead, the data shows consistent 35-37% FPS losses when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and additional 50-67% losses when moving to 4K. This behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound system.

The i5-9400's memory support for DDR4 at dual-channel bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is adequate for the B390, which uses system shared memory and has bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." The CPU's PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the integrated GPU, though the B390's bus interface is listed as IGP, meaning it does not use a discrete PCIe connection. The 14 nm process node and Coffee Lake architecture are older, but they deliver consistent performance for a simulation game that does not demand extreme CPU throughput. The conclusion from the data is clear: upgrading the GPU would yield far greater FPS improvements in Pc Building Simulator than upgrading the CPU, as the i5-9400 has ample headroom to feed a more capable graphics solution.