Revolution Idle

Revolution Idle is not a typical graphics showcase, but the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination reveal a clear performance curve that is heavily influenced by resolution. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 113 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 101 FPS on High, a modest 12 FPS penalty. Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset produces 86 FPS, while the Low preset yields 97 FPS, showing a narrowing gap of just 11 FPS. At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more pronounced: High settings manage 56 FPS, Low settings reach 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 36 FPS. The data indicates that the gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings is 45 FPS (101 down to 56), which suggests that the graphics card is becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, while the CPU maintains enough headroom to keep frame rates playable even at lower resolutions.

The most telling aspect of the resolution scaling is the difference between Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 28 FPS (113 to 85), but at 1440p, that spread widens to 29 FPS (97 to 68). At 4K, the spread expands dramatically to 42 FPS (78 to 36), which demonstrates that the RTX 4080's rendering load grows exponentially with resolution, while the i5-9400's six cores become less of a limiting factor. The 4K Medium preset, at 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, is the only 4K setting that stays consistently above a 60 FPS target, while 4K High sits just below at 56 FPS. This pattern confirms that the combo is GPU-bound at 4K, but at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's six threads are sufficient to feed the GPU without causing major frame drops.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression across resolutions tells a story of a system that is well-balanced at lower resolutions but becomes increasingly GPU-limited as pixel density rises. At 1920x1080, the average FPS for High settings is 101, which is only 12 FPS lower than the Low preset's 113 FPS. This small delta indicates that the RTX 4080 is not being fully utilized at 1080p, and the i5-9400's 2.90 GHz base clock, boosting to 4.10 GHz, is capable of keeping up with the GPU's output. The 1440p results reinforce this: High settings drop to 86 FPS, a 15 FPS reduction from 1080p, while Low settings only fall by 16 FPS to 97. The relative consistency between Low and High at 1440p suggests that the CPU is still delivering frames at a rate that exceeds what the GPU can process at higher quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset's 56 FPS is a 45 FPS drop from 1080p High, and the Ultra preset's 36 FPS is less than half of the 1080p Ultra score of 85 FPS. This steep decline is expected for a game that stresses pixel throughput, but the data also shows that the Low preset at 4K, at 78 FPS, is still higher than the 1440p Ultra preset's 68 FPS. This suggests that the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 4K, but the rendering workload at higher settings overwhelms the GPU's 9728 shading units. The measured 4K Medium preset, with a minimum FPS of 50, indicates that frame times can spike, but the average of 59 FPS is close to the 60 FPS threshold, making it the optimal choice for 4K play.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience for this combo. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 101 FPS, which is only 1 FPS lower than Medium's 102 FPS and 12 FPS higher than Ultra's 85 FPS. Since the visual difference between High and Ultra is often marginal in idle games, the High preset is the sensible choice for 1080p, as it provides near-maximum quality without sacrificing the smoothness that comes from staying above 100 FPS. The Low preset's 113 FPS is only 12 FPS higher, so there is little reason to drop quality for such a small gain.

At 2560x1440, the High preset's 86 FPS is the best balance, as it is only 2 FPS lower than Medium's 88 FPS but 18 FPS higher than Ultra's 68 FPS. The Low preset at 97 FPS offers a 11 FPS advantage over High, but the visual downgrade is not justified given that High remains comfortably above 60 FPS. For 4K, the Medium preset is the standout recommendation: its 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum is the only setting that approaches a stable 60 FPS experience, while High drops to 56 FPS and Ultra falls to 36 FPS. The Low preset at 78 FPS is playable, but Medium provides a substantial visual upgrade for only 19 FPS less, making it the best overall experience for 4K on this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks at 1209 out of 3712 tested combos in Revolution Idle, placing it in the 67th percentile of all systems tested. This is a respectable position, but it reflects the CPU's age rather than the GPU's capability. The RTX 4080 alone sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, while the i5-9400 is in the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 2254. The mismatch is evident: the GPU is a top-tier part, but the CPU's six cores and six threads, without hyper-threading, hold the combo back from reaching the upper echelons of the ranking.

Compared to the RTX 4080's nearest rivals, the combo's performance is consistent with the GPU's raw power. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 0.1% higher on average, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 2.6% higher, indicating that the GPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. On the CPU side, the i5-9400 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 0.2% lower, and the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 0.4% higher. This means that swapping the CPU for a marginally better part would not significantly alter the combo's rank, as the bottleneck at lower resolutions is likely the six threads, not the clock speed.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Revolution Idle?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on High settings provides the best balance, with 86 FPS, while 4K Medium offers a playable 59 FPS. At 1080p, High settings reach 101 FPS, but the visual upgrade to 1440p is worth the 15 FPS drop.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's six threads are sufficient, as frame rates remain high. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with the High preset dropping to 56 FPS, which is a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How does the RTX 4080's memory affect 4K performance?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 4K, as the Low preset achieves 78 FPS, but the GPU's compute units are overwhelmed at higher settings, leading to 36 FPS on Ultra.

Q: Is the i5-9400 a good match for the RTX 4080?

A: The CPU ranks in the 47th percentile, and its six cores are adequate for this game, but the combo ranks in the 67th percentile overall, suggesting that a stronger CPU would improve the rank at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 75 and a maximum of 101, with an average of 88 FPS, showing stable frame delivery.

Q: How does the combo's rank compare to the GPU's individual percentile?

A: The RTX 4080 is in the 86th percentile among GPUs, but the combo ranks in the 67th percentile, indicating that the CPU reduces the overall standing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the 4K performance ceiling. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for feeding the 9728 shading units at high resolutions. The base clock of 2205 MHz, boosting to 2505 MHz, drives the 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, and the 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores handle any advanced rendering features in the game. The measured frame rates show that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is fully saturated, producing only 36 FPS, while at 1080p Low, it delivers 113 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU's performance scales with pixel load.

The RTX 4080's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, confirms its high-end status. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores only 0.1% higher, which means the standard 4080 is nearly identical in performance. The GPU's 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU are not reflected in the frame data, but the power delivery is sufficient for sustained boost clocks. In Revolution Idle, the GPU's role is to handle the increasing pixel workload at 4K, and the data shows that it can manage 59 FPS on Medium, but the Ultra preset's 36 FPS indicates that the game's effects are too heavy for even this high-end card to maintain smooth frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 42.7 GB/s provide adequate bandwidth for feeding the RTX 4080 at lower resolutions. The CPU's benchmark scores are modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, placing it in the 47th percentile among all CPUs. This mid-pack positioning means that it can keep up with the GPU at 1080p and 1440p, but its lack of hyper-threading limits its ability to handle multiple background tasks while gaming.

In Revolution Idle, the CPU's role is to process game logic and input, which is not particularly demanding. The measured FPS at 1080p High (101) and 1440p High (86) are high enough to indicate that the CPU is not causing major frame drops, but the combo's rank of 1209 out of 3712 suggests that a faster CPU could push the system higher. The i5-9400's nearest rivals, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, score within 0.4% of it, so any upgrade would need to be significant to change the combo's ranking. The CPU's 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status indicate that it is an older part, but for this idle game, its six cores are sufficient to avoid being the primary bottleneck.