Ready Or Not

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU sits at the 75th percentile compared to all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 17181. Its single-thread performance is represented by a 3DMark single-thread score of 868, while its multi-threaded capability is shown in a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372. In the context of Ready Or Not, a tactical shooter where AI-driven enemy behavior and level logic are significant, the CPU is responsible for maintaining a consistent frame rate floor. The benchmark data suggests a strong relationship between this CPU's capabilities and the game's performance at high frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the measured average FPS is 444.8, which is a very high output for a 6-core part. However, this figure is likely the result of the GPU being able to render frames faster than the CPU can process them, indicating that the CPU is providing enough throughput to avoid a hard bottleneck. The i5-11400F's performance relative to its nearest rivals is effectively a statistical tie. Its average benchmark score of 17181 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189), the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212), the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17215), and the Intel Core i5-1240U (17141). This indicates that while the processor is not a top-tier performer, its raw computational power is sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 in this title without being the primary limiting factor at lower resolutions.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are directly relevant to Ready Or Not's performance. The game's simulation of multiple AI agents and environmental interactions can leverage multiple threads, but the data suggests that raw single-thread speed is more critical for achieving high frame rates. The processor's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is the key figure here, as it allows for rapid processing of game logic. This is evident when comparing the 1080p Low preset result of 444.8 FPS to the 1080p Ultra preset result of 290.2 FPS. The gap is 154.6 FPS, which is significant, but the fact that even the Ultra preset exceeds 290 FPS shows that the CPU is not collapsing under load. The 12 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is crucial for a game where quick decisions about AI behavior are made constantly. Benchmark results show a strong multi-threaded foundation: a Passmark multithread score of 16908 and a Geekbench multicore score of 7579 confirm the processor's ability to handle background tasks while maintaining game performance. However, the CPU's percentile rank of 75 and its proximity to much lower-power mobile chips (like the Ryzen 7 5700U and Core i5-1240U) in average score highlight that it is not a high-end part by modern standards. In this specific game, the data shows that this CPU is adequate to push frame rates well above 300 FPS at 1080p, but the scaling from Low to High settings at that resolution is minimal (444.8 to 414.8 FPS), suggesting that the CPU's limits become apparent as GPU load decreases. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5619 is close to the max-thread score of 5652, indicating that the CPU scales well with the 12 threads it has, but it doesn't have the headroom of a higher-core-count part. For a game like Ready Or Not, which is not typically as CPU-intensive as a real-time strategy title, this 6-core 12-thread configuration proves sufficient to avoid significant frame pacing issues, as evidenced by the stable average FPS figures.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications are massive. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The GPU is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a boost clock of 2520 MHz. In terms of raw compute, it delivers 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and has 16384 shading units. The 24 GB of VRAM is far beyond what Ready Or Not requires at any resolution, meaning memory capacity is not a constraint in any of the measured scenarios. The GPU's memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) ensures that texture streaming and asset loading are not bottlenecks. The RTX 4090's percentile rank is 91 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473, placing it in the top tier of graphics hardware. Its Passmark G3D score of 38194 reflects its dominance in rasterization tasks. The benchmark results in this game show the GPU's immense power. At 4K Ultra settings, the combo produces 97 FPS, which is a demanding scenario that relies heavily on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. The GPU's role is clear: it is the primary driver of frame rate at higher resolutions and quality presets. The data shows a clear correlation between the GPU's capabilities and the FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p High, the combo hits 414.8 FPS, but at 4K High, it drops to 138.4 FPS. This 276.4 FPS reduction is a direct result of the GPU having to calculate exponentially more pixels. The RTX 4090's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are not heavily utilized in this game's standard rendering path, but they contribute to the overall DirectX 12 Ultimate support, which ensures compatibility with the game's engine features. The GPU's 24 GB frame buffer allows for the highest resolution textures without any swapping issues, which is why the Ultra preset at 4K still maintains a playable 97 FPS.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Analyzing the average FPS across resolutions reveals a classic scaling pattern that shifts the bottleneck from the CPU to the GPU. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 444.8 FPS. Moving to 1080p Medium yields 424.1 FPS, and 1080p High yields 414.8 FPS. The differences between these presets at 1080p are small, which is a strong indicator that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. The GPU is capable of rendering these frames much faster, but it is waiting on the CPU to submit draw calls and process game logic. This is confirmed by the 1080p Ultra result of 290.2 FPS, which is a significant drop of 124.6 FPS compared to 1080p Low, showing that the increased GPU load (from more complex shaders and effects) finally begins to stress the GPU even at 1080p. As we move to 1440p, the GPU load increases. The 1440p Low result is 327.3 FPS, which is still high, but it is 117.5 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. This shows that the GPU is now doing more work per frame. The 1440p Ultra result is 183.2 FPS, which is a substantial drop from the 1080p Ultra result of 290.2 FPS, indicating a 107 FPS difference purely from the resolution increase. This is the point where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The 4K results confirm this. At 4K Low, the FPS is 172.5, which is less than half of the 1080p Low result. The 4K Ultra result is 97 FPS, a 41.4% reduction from the 4K High result of 138.4 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, with the 4K High result being 66.7% lower than the 1080p High result. This data indicates that the RTX 4090 is the limiting component at 4K, while the i5-11400F becomes the limiting factor at 1080p. The sweet spot for this combo, where neither component is severely choked, appears to be at 1440p, where the frame rates are still exceptionally high (above 183 FPS on Ultra) but the GPU is being utilized more effectively.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 63rd out of 1748 tested combos in Ready Or Not. This places it in the top 3.6% of all configurations tested for this game. This ranking is remarkably high, considering that the CPU is a mid-range part. The data suggests that the game is heavily GPU-bound in most scenarios, allowing the weaker CPU to still achieve a top-tier ranking due to the RTX 4090's immense power. The rank of 63 means there are 62 other configurations that performed better, likely featuring more powerful CPUs such as the latest high-core-count processors that can push even higher minimum frame rates or avoid any potential CPU hiccups. However, for the vast majority of the 1748 combos tested, this pairing is superior. The percentile position reflects the RTX 4090's dominance. The GPU's average benchmark score of 66473 is significantly higher than its nearest rivals, which include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733), the Tesla P40 (66127), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097). These rivals are professional or datacenter cards, and the deltaPct values are minimal (ranging from -1.3% to 0.5%), indicating that the RTX 4090 is at the very top of the consumer GPU hierarchy. The combo's rank of 63 out of 1748 also suggests that while the CPU is not a bottleneck in absolute terms, it does prevent the RTX 4090 from achieving its absolute maximum potential in this game. A top-tier CPU might push this combo to a rank in the top 10, but the data shows that the 6-core i5-11400F is sufficient to keep the frame rates well above the refresh rates of most monitors, making the 63rd rank a very strong result.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the measured FPS rows, the best experience depends on the user's display refresh rate and resolution preference. For a user with a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor (typically 240Hz or 360Hz), the 1440p High preset is the optimal choice, yielding 262.2 FPS. This is a significant improvement over the 1440p Ultra preset, which drops to 183.2 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is 79 FPS, which is a substantial cost for the extra visual fidelity. The 1440p Medium preset gives 287.7 FPS, which is higher than High, but the visual difference between Medium and High is often more noticeable than between High and Ultra. For 4K gaming, the situation is different. The 4K High preset delivers 138.4 FPS, which is ideal for a high-refresh-rate 4K display (120Hz or 144Hz). The 4K Ultra preset drops to 97 FPS, which is still playable but does not fully utilize a 120Hz+ display. The 4K Medium preset offers 151.7 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above 144Hz, but the jump to High adds visual quality for a 13.3 FPS loss. For 1080p users, the choice is less critical, as even the 1080p Ultra preset delivers 290.2 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of almost all 1080p monitors. However, the data suggests that 1080p is a waste of the RTX 4090's potential, as the CPU becomes the limiting factor. The most balanced experience across the board is the High preset at 1440p, where the 262.2 FPS result indicates that both the CPU and GPU are being utilized effectively without one severely throttling the other. The Ultra preset at any resolution incurs a significant FPS penalty (e.g., 97 FPS at 4K vs 138.4 FPS at 4K High) that is not justified by the marginal visual improvements in a tactical shooter where clarity is often more important than extreme effects.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Ready Or Not?

A: The data shows that the CPU becomes a limiting factor at 1080p, where the FPS difference between Low (444.8) and High (414.8) presets is minimal. However, at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as the 4K High result (138.4 FPS) is significantly lower than the 1080p High result (414.8 FPS). The combo achieves a high rank of 63 out of 1748, indicating the CPU is adequate for most scenarios.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo to balance load?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1440p provides the best balance. At 1440p Ultra, the combo still achieves 183.2 FPS, which is high, while the 1080p results (e.g., 290.2 FPS on Ultra) are CPU-limited, and the 4K results (e.g., 97 FPS on Ultra) are GPU-limited.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: The drop is significant. At 4K High, the average FPS is 138.4, while at 4K Ultra, it is 97. This represents a reduction of 41.4 FPS, or approximately 30%, making the Ultra preset a heavy load for even the RTX 4090.

Q: Does the 24 GB VRAM of the RTX 4090 matter in Ready Or Not?

A: The 24 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game. The measured data does not indicate any memory-related performance dips, and the GPU's 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures stable texture streaming at all resolutions and presets.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 63rd out of 1748 tested combos in Ready Or Not. This places it in the top percentile, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of other CPU-GPU pairings, despite the CPU being a mid-range model.

Q: What is the highest FPS achieved by this combo in the data?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 444.8, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset. This is the only preset where the FPS exceeds 440, showing that the CPU can push very high frame rates when the GPU load is minimal.