Ready Or Not

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a performance profile in Ready Or Not that is heavily dictated by resolution and preset. This combination sits at rank 1073 out of 1748 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The data indicates a system that is exceptionally capable at 1080p and 1440p, but which struggles to maintain fluid frame rates at 4K with higher graphical presets. The RTX 2070 SUPER clearly dominates the workload at lower resolutions, while the six-core i5-9400 becomes a more significant factor as pixel count drops.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second reveal a classic GPU-bound scaling curve that transitions into a more complex dynamic at 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 195.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 123.9 FPS, a reduction of roughly 36% from the 1080p figure. This sharp decline strongly suggests the GPU is the primary limiting component at these resolutions; the workload is scaling directly with pixel count, and the RTX 2070 SUPER is doing the heavy lifting.

The scaling becomes less linear when comparing 1440p to 4K. At 4K High, the average FPS falls to 66.2, a 47% drop from the 1440p result. While this is still a significant reduction, the margin between High and Low settings at 4K narrows considerably. At 1440p, the difference between Low (157.9 FPS) and High (123.9 FPS) is 34 FPS. At 4K, the gap between Low (83.2 FPS) and High (66.2 FPS) is only 17 FPS. This compression of performance across settings at 4K is a hallmark of a CPU bottleneck beginning to emerge. The i5-9400, with its six cores and six threads, is likely struggling to feed the GPU enough data at higher resolutions, capping the frame rate regardless of the graphics load. The data shows that while the GPU is still the main player, the CPU’s limitations become visible at 4K, preventing the lower settings from yielding the proportional FPS gains seen at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth and responsive experience, the data points to specific presets as the optimal choices for this hardware combination. At 4K, the Ultra preset is not viable, yielding only 44.5 FPS. The High preset at 66.2 FPS is playable, but it is close to the edge of what many consider minimum for a tactical shooter. The Low preset at 83.2 FPS offers a more comfortable margin, but the visual compromise is substantial. Given the minimal FPS gain from High to Low at this resolution, the High preset at 4K is the best balance of visual fidelity and playability, provided the user accepts a 60 FPS target.

The situation is far more favorable at 1440p. The High preset delivers 123.9 FPS, which is excellent for a game requiring quick target acquisition. The Medium preset offers 134.8 FPS, a modest gain over High. The Ultra preset, however, drops significantly to 85.5 FPS. For 1440p, High is the clear recommendation, as it provides a high refresh rate experience without the steep performance penalty of Ultra. At 1080p, the system is overwhelmingly powerful. Even the Ultra preset achieves 135.8 FPS, which is more than adequate for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 195.1 FPS is the sweet spot, but users with 144Hz displays can comfortably run Ultra and still maintain a frame rate above the refresh rate ceiling. The Low preset at 246 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame pacing is prioritized over all else.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1073 out of 1748 places it in the bottom half of all tested configurations for Ready Or Not. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The low percentile position is likely due to the inclusion of many other combos with newer, more powerful CPUs and GPUs that can handle the 4K Ultra preset with ease. The i5-9400 is a processor from the Coffee Lake generation, and its performance ceiling is a clear limiting factor in this game’s most demanding scenarios. While the RTX 2070 SUPER holds its own against comparable cards—it sits within 2.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 and is 0.9% ahead of the older GeForce GTX TITAN Z—the CPU’s age prevents this duo from climbing higher in the rankings. The data suggests that this combo is a capable mid-range performer, but it is outclassed by systems with newer multi-core processors that can sustain higher minimum frame rates in CPU-intensive areas.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of the combo’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the system produces 246 FPS on Low, 218.4 FPS on Medium, 195.1 FPS on High, and 135.8 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is rarely the limiting factor at this resolution; the frame rates are high enough to suggest the CPU is nearing its maximum output for the game’s logic and draw calls.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are 157.9 FPS on Low, 134.8 FPS on Medium, 123.9 FPS on High, and 85.5 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p High result is still very strong, demonstrating the GPU’s 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 2560 shading units are sufficient for a smooth high-refresh experience. The drop to Ultra is steep, highlighting the significant cost of the highest-quality shadows, reflections, and post-processing effects in this game.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls to 83.2 FPS on Low, 71.6 FPS on Medium, 66.2 FPS on High, and 44.5 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show a system under heavy load. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient, but the overall compute power is stretched thin. The data clearly shows that 4K Ultra is outside the playable range for this combo, while 4K High is borderline.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly influence the measured results. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is well-suited for 1440p gaming, allowing the card to maintain high frame rates without texture thrashing. The card’s boost clock of 1770 MHz and its 2560 shading units are the primary drivers of the excellent 1080p and 1440p performance. The data shows that the GPU’s pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are more than adequate for the game’s engine at these resolutions.

The GPU’s role becomes more complex at 4K. While the 8 GB VRAM is not a bottleneck, the card’s raw compute power, measured at 9.062 TFLOPS FP32, is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at Ultra settings. The benchmark results show the card performs within a narrow band of its direct rivals, with a 0.5% deficit against the NVIDIA RTX A400 and a 0.9% lead over the GeForce GTX TITAN Z. This indicates that the 2070 SUPER is a consistent performer, but its architecture is not designed to brute-force 4K Ultra in a demanding title like Ready Or Not. The RT and Tensor cores present on the card are not heavily utilized in this game, as the primary bottleneck at 4K is the sheer fill rate and shader complexity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 plays a supporting yet critical role, and its limitations are exposed at 4K. This processor has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s of dual-channel memory bandwidth are adequate for the game’s logic, but the lack of hyper-threading is a significant handicap in modern titles that can utilize more than six threads. The benchmark results for the CPU show it is a mid-range part, sitting at the 50th percentile versus all CPUs.

The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the i5-9400 is capable of feeding the RTX 2070 SUPER enough data to achieve the high frame rates observed. However, at 4K, the CPU’s role changes. The lower FPS caps at 4K Low (83.2 FPS) versus the massive jump seen at 1080p Low (246 FPS) indicate that the CPU is unable to scale its output with the GPU’s workload. The processor becomes a bottleneck, preventing the GPU from achieving the frame rates it is technically capable of at lower settings. The CPU’s performance is closely matched by rivals like the Intel Core i3-10305, which is just 0.2% faster, and the Intel Core i7-8809G, which is 0.6% faster. This places the i5-9400 in a strange position: it is fast enough for high-refresh 1440p gaming, but its six-thread limit creates a hard ceiling that prevents the system from being a true 4K performer.