Pc Building Simulator

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination delivers a playable experience in Pc Building Simulator, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling at higher resolutions. The GTX 1070 is the primary bottleneck when pushing 4K Ultra settings, while the six-core i5-9400 provides sufficient headroom at lower resolutions to let the GPU stretch its legs. This pairing ranks in the bottom 20% of tested configurations, indicating that while it can run the game, it does not offer the high-end headroom that many newer or more powerful combos provide.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance drop as resolution increases, which points directly to the GPU being the limiting component at 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 92 FPS; moving to 1440p High drops that to 58 FPS, and at 4K High it falls to just 30 FPS. This scaling pattern—a 34 FPS loss from 1080p to 1440p and another 28 FPS loss from 1440p to 4K—is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are being saturated by the increasing pixel count.

The Ultra preset tells an even more revealing story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 88 FPS, which is only 4 FPS lower than High. However, at 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 55 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 29 FPS, dipping below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The fact that 4K Ultra (29 FPS) is nearly identical to 4K High (30 FPS) suggests that the GPU has hit a hard computational wall—increasing settings further does not meaningfully change the frame rate because the pixel throughput demand has already exceeded what the GTX 1070 can deliver.

Conversely, the Low preset demonstrates the opposite extreme. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 184 FPS, which is a 92 FPS jump over High settings. This large delta indicates that when the GPU load is reduced, the i5-9400 can feed frames quickly enough to exploit the headroom. At 1440p Low, the average is 116 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 61 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low (a 123 FPS drop) is proportionally smaller than the drop from 1080p High to 4K High (a 62 FPS drop), which further confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck—at Low settings, the CPU has more relative influence, but the GPU still limits at 4K.

The Medium preset offers the most balanced view of this scaling. At 1080p Medium, the average is 131 FPS with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 82 FPS (min 70, max 95), and at 4K Medium, it lands at 43 FPS (min 37, max 50). The consistent 30-40% FPS reduction per resolution step-up across Medium settings reinforces that the GTX 1070 is the dominant constraint, as the CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads are not being taxed to their limit at these frame rates.

CPU Role

The i5-9400's specifications—6 cores, 6 threads, a base clock of 2.90 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz—position it as a mid-range desktop processor that is adequate but not exceptional for gaming. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and single-core score of 935 place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it performs better than just under half of tested processors. This mid-pack standing is reflected in the game's FPS data, where the CPU does not appear to be the primary limiter at any resolution.

At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 184 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would typically stress a CPU's single-thread performance. The fact that the i5-9400 can sustain this without a reported minimum FPS drop (the data shows no min FPS for Low settings) suggests that its 4.10 GHz boost clock is sufficient to keep up with the GTX 1070's output at this resolution. However, the 47th percentile CPU ranking indicates that this is not a top-tier processor; it sits within 0.4% of the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 in average benchmark score, showing that it is firmly in the middle of the pack.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when examining the delta between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (184 FPS) and Ultra (88 FPS) is 96 FPS, which is a massive gap driven by GPU load. At 4K, the gap between Low (61 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) is only 32 FPS, indicating that the CPU is not the constraint at higher resolutions—the GPU is. This pattern aligns with the i5-9400's 6-thread design, which is sufficient for a simulation game like Pc Building Simulator that does not typically leverage many cores, but it also lacks the high single-thread performance that would be needed to push frame rates beyond what the GTX 1070 can deliver at 1080p.

Benchmark results show the CPU's average score of 2254, which is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (avg score 2259, deltaPct -0.2%). This near-tie indicates that the i5-9400 delivers performance on par with that mobile chip, but its lack of hyper-threading (6 threads vs. potential 8+ in rivals) means it is not designed for heavy multi-threaded workloads. In Pc Building Simulator, this translates to consistent, but not exceptional, frame delivery that never causes the GPU to idle due to CPU starvation.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it averages 61 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 43 FPS, and at High or Ultra, it falls to 30 FPS or below, which may feel sluggish.

Q: What is the best resolution for smooth 60 FPS gameplay?

A: Based on the data, 1440p is the highest resolution where the combo maintains a 60 FPS average, but only on Low (116 FPS) or Medium (82 FPS) settings. At 1440p High, the average drops to 58 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, as shown by the significant FPS drops when increasing resolution. The CPU is only potentially relevant at 1080p Low, where the combo hits 184 FPS, but even then, the GTX 1070's performance ceiling is the limiting factor.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD FirePro W5000 (avg 9803) and 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (avg 9832). It outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla M10 by 0.6% and the Tesla C2070 by 0.7%.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like on Medium settings?

A: The data shows that on Medium settings, the minimum FPS is consistently about 15-16% lower than the average. At 1080p, the min is 111 FPS vs. an average of 131 FPS; at 1440p, the min is 70 FPS vs. an average of 82 FPS; and at 4K, the min is 37 FPS vs. an average of 43 FPS.

Q: Does the i5-9400 hold back the GTX 1070 in any scenario?

A: The data does not show a scenario where the CPU limits performance, as the GPU bottleneck dominates at all resolutions. The i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the 184 FPS result at 1080p Low.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1440p Medium, the combo averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, which provides a smooth experience without the steep penalties of High or Ultra settings. The 4K Medium result of 43 FPS (min 37, max 50) is playable, but it is close to the edge of what is comfortable for most users, making 1440p Medium the recommended target for consistent frame rates.

For users with a 1080p monitor, the High preset is the optimal choice, delivering 92 FPS with no reported minimum FPS drops. The Ultra preset at 1080p (88 FPS) offers only a marginal 4 FPS improvement over High, which does not justify the additional GPU load. Conversely, the Low preset at 1080p (184 FPS) is unnecessary for this game, as the visual fidelity loss is not worth the frame rate increase when High already exceeds 90 FPS.

At 4K, the data is less favorable. The Low preset (61 FPS) is the only setting that provides a comfortable frame rate, while Medium (43 FPS) is borderline and High (30 FPS) or Ultra (29 FPS) are not recommended for consistent gameplay. Given that the game is a simulation title where precise clicking and menu navigation are more important than fast-paced action, the Medium preset at 4K may be acceptable, but the Low preset is the safest choice for maintaining a stable experience.

The pattern across all resolutions shows that the Ultra preset is never worth the performance cost. At 1080p, it is only 4 FPS faster than High; at 1440p, it is 3 FPS slower than High; and at 4K, it is 1 FPS slower than High. This indicates that the Ultra preset adds graphical effects that the GTX 1070 cannot handle efficiently, making it a poor choice for this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 3083 out of 3723 tested combos in Pc Building Simulator, placing it in the bottom 17% of all configurations. This low ranking is unsurprising given the age of both components—the CPU released in late 2018 and the GPU in mid-2016—but it also reflects the game's relatively modest hardware requirements, where newer GPUs can achieve much higher frame rates at 4K.

The combo's rank is driven by the GPU's 47th percentile standing among all GPUs and the CPU's 47th percentile among all CPUs. Neither component is a standout performer, and their combination does not create any synergistic advantage. The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 9780 is very close to its rivals—the FirePro W5000, Quadro M2000M, Tesla M10, and Tesla C2070—with all deltas within 0.7%, meaning the GPU is statistically tied with several professional-grade cards.

In practical terms, this ranking means that the combo will handle Pc Building Simulator at 1080p and 1440p with ease, but it will struggle at 4K with higher settings. The data shows that the combo is in the bottom fifth of all tested combos, which suggests that most modern gaming PCs, even those with mid-range parts from the last few years, will outperform it. However, the rank does not account for the fact that the game is a simulation, and the FPS results are still playable at most settings.

The CPU's nearest rivals—the i7-1068NG7, i7-10710U, Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, and i3-10305—all have average scores within 0.4% of the i5-9400, indicating that the CPU is not the reason for the low combo rank. The GPU is the more significant factor, as its 47th percentile ranking places it in the lower half of all GPUs, and its 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is modest by current standards.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p:

• Low: 184 FPS average
• Medium: 131 FPS average (min 111, max 150)
• High: 92 FPS average
• Ultra: 88 FPS average

1440p:

• Low: 116 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average (min 70, max 95)
• High: 58 FPS average
• Ultra: 55 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 61 FPS average
• Medium: 43 FPS average (min 37, max 50)
• High: 30 FPS average
• Ultra: 29 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: every resolution step from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by roughly 37-40% across all settings, and every step from 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by roughly 47-48%. This linear scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the GTX 1070's memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

Notably, the Ultra preset at 1080p (88 FPS) is slower than the High preset at 1440p (58 FPS), but the gap narrows at higher resolutions. At 4K, the Ultra preset (29 FPS) is only 1 FPS slower than High (30 FPS), which suggests that the Ultra settings are not adding significant GPU load at that resolution—the GPU is already saturated. The Medium preset consistently provides the largest FPS buffer between Low and High, making it the most predictable setting for users who want to avoid frame rate dips.