Ready Or Not

Ready Or Not, a tactical shooter released in December 2021, exhibits a distinct performance scaling pattern for the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT combination. The measured data reveals a system that transitions from being heavily GPU-bound at 4K to increasingly CPU-bound at 1080p. The benchmark results show an average frame rate of 60.2 FPS at 4K High settings, which rises to 119.6 FPS at 1440p High, and finally to 187.7 FPS at 1080p High. This scaling indicates that as resolution decreases, the GPU's workload lightens, allowing the processor's capabilities to become the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling curve for this configuration is steep and informative. Moving from 4K to 1440p at High settings yields a substantial 98.7% performance increase, jumping from 60.2 FPS to 119.6 FPS. This near-doubling of frame rate suggests that at 4K, the Radeon RX 7600 XT is the primary bottleneck, as the pixel throughput demand exceeds what the GPU can deliver. The gap narrows when moving from 1440p to 1080p, where the frame rate increases by 57.0% to 187.7 FPS. The diminishing returns at 1080p indicate that the Intel Core i5-13400F is beginning to assert its influence on performance.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced. The 4K Low result of 79.8 FPS is respectable, but 1440p Low reaches 148.7 FPS, and 1080p Low achieves 234.1 FPS. The delta between 1440p and 1080p at Low is 57.4%, which is similar to the High setting delta. However, the absolute frame rates at 1080p Low approach the CPU's practical limit for this game, as evidenced by the smaller relative gains compared to the 4K-to-1440p transition. The Ultra preset tells a different story, with 4K Ultra dropping to 41.3 FPS, 1440p Ultra at 84.8 FPS, and 1080p Ultra at 130.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this preset is too demanding for the GPU at this resolution.

The data suggests that the most balanced experience occurs at 1440p, where the frame rates range from 84.8 FPS at Ultra to 148.7 FPS at Low. This resolution provides enough GPU headroom to avoid the severe bottleneck seen at 4K while still presenting a sufficient pixel load to keep the CPU from becoming the sole limiting factor. At 1080p, the system is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings, as the frame rate differences between Medium (203.6 FPS) and High (187.7 FPS) are relatively small, suggesting that the processor's single-thread performance is the constraining element.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT plays a critical role in this system, particularly at higher resolutions. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the GPU offers a memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The card's boost clock of 2755 MHz and game clock of 2470 MHz provide the compute throughput necessary for the 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 performance. These specifications are directly relevant to the 4K results, where the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become the determining factors.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20146. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600, scores 20258, a delta of -0.6%, indicating that the XT variant is essentially on par with the base model. The RX 7600 XT sits 1.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, which scores 19774, and 1.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20534. This positioning explains why the 4K Ultra preset at 41.3 FPS is the only configuration that fails to reach playable frame rates; the GPU is simply not powerful enough to handle the combined load of 4K resolution and Ultra settings.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is a notable asset for Ready Or Not, a game that can be memory-intensive at high resolutions. However, the 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth may limit performance in scenarios that require rapid texture streaming. The 4K High result of 60.2 FPS indicates that the GPU can maintain playable frame rates at this resolution when settings are moderated, but the 4K Ultra result shows a 31.5% drop, confirming that the GPU's compute resources, rather than VRAM capacity, are the limiting factor at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. With a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, the CPU delivers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3004. The processor's multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 25032.

The CPU's role in Ready Or Not becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 234.1 FPS, which is 57.0% higher than the 4K Low result of 79.8 FPS. However, the jump from 1440p Low (148.7 FPS) to 1080p Low (234.1 FPS) represents a 57.4% increase, which is actually larger than the 1440p-to-4K increase of 86.3%. This pattern suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough frames at 1080p, but the frame rate ceiling is approaching the processor's limits. The 1080p Ultra result of 130.7 FPS, while lower than Low, still demonstrates that the CPU can maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is more heavily loaded.

The Core i5-13400F's percentile ranking of 82 among all CPUs places it in the upper quartile of processors. Its average benchmark score of 25236 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H, which scores 25201 with a delta of 0.1%. The CPU is also 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, which scores 25365. These comparisons indicate that the i5-13400F is a capable gaming processor, and its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support with DDR4 and DDR5 provide adequate bandwidth for game logic and AI computations typical of tactical shooters. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting component, as the frame rates across different settings at this resolution are more tightly clustered than at 1440p or 4K, with the spread from Low to Ultra being 103.4 FPS compared to 63.9 FPS at 1440p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset at 1440p provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, yielding 128.9 FPS. This configuration offers a significant improvement over the 4K Medium result of 66.0 FPS while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the 1080p Low preset at 234.1 FPS is the fastest option, but the 1080p Medium result of 203.6 FPS offers a better visual experience with only a 13.0% performance penalty.

At 4K, the High preset at 60.2 FPS is the only viable option for players with 4K displays, as the Ultra preset drops to 41.3 FPS, which is likely too low for a fast-paced tactical shooter. The 1440p Ultra preset at 84.8 FPS is a strong alternative for those seeking maximum visual quality without sacrificing playability. The data indicates that the system is best utilized at 1440p, where it can deliver between 84.8 FPS and 148.7 FPS depending on the preset, providing flexibility for different player preferences. The 4K resolution should only be used with High settings or lower, as the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest frame rate achievable with this system in Ready Or Not?

A: The highest measured frame rate is 234.1 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 203.6 FPS, and at 1080p High, it reaches 187.7 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Ready Or Not?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The 4K High preset delivers 60.2 FPS, which is playable, while 4K Medium achieves 66.0 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 41.3 FPS, which is below the ideal playable threshold.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data indicates that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p. The frame rate differences between settings at this resolution are smaller than at higher resolutions, with the spread from Low (234.1 FPS) to Ultra (130.7 FPS) being 103.4 FPS, suggesting the processor's performance ceiling is being approached.

Q: How does the Radeon RX 7600 XT compare to its closest rival?

A: The RX 7600 XT scores 20146 in average benchmarks, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (20258) and 1.9% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER (19774).

Q: What is the recommended preset for a 1440p display?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p offers 128.9 FPS, providing a good balance between visual quality and performance. For higher visual fidelity, the 1440p Ultra preset delivers 84.8 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threading capability matter for this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F's 16 threads provide strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279. However, the single-thread score of 3004 in the same test is likely more relevant for game logic, as the 1080p results suggest the CPU's single-thread performance is the limiting factor at lower resolutions.