Revolution Idle

Revolution Idle is not a typical GPU stress test, but the measured frame rates for this Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination reveal a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions. At 1080p, the average frame rates are tightly clustered, with Low settings hitting 110.3 FPS and High settings at 103.9 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at this resolution is only 22.1 FPS, indicating that the CPU is the primary limiting factor. The RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, is far ahead of what this title demands at 1080p, so the i5-9400's six threads become the bottleneck.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates begin to separate more meaningfully. Low settings still deliver 97.6 FPS, but Ultra drops to 74.9 FPS. This 22.7 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is nearly identical to the 1080p gap, suggesting that the CPU is still constraining performance even as resolution increases. The RTX 5090's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 512-bit bus width are capable of handling far more pixel throughput than this idle game generates, so the incremental resolution penalty is modest. The data shows that the GPU is not being saturated until the resolution and settings both scale up.

At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. Ultra settings produce just 41.4 FPS, while Low settings reach 79.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K expands to 37.7 FPS, which is significantly larger than at lower resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU finally begins to matter. The RTX 5090's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are being taxed by the combination of high resolution and Ultra settings, even in an idle game. The 4K High setting at 63.2 FPS represents a reasonable middle ground where the GPU and CPU are more balanced.

The resolution scaling pattern suggests that this game is primarily CPU-bound at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU becoming the limiting component only at 4K Ultra. The i5-9400, with its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, is a mid-range processor from 2018, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 places it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs. This explains why frame rates plateau around 100 FPS at lower resolutions regardless of settings. The RTX 5090, by contrast, sits at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, making it an extreme pairing with this older CPU.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate barely change between Low and High settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the measured data shows only a 6.4 FPS difference between Low (110.3 FPS) and High (103.9 FPS). This narrow spread indicates the Intel Core i5-9400 is the limiting factor, as its six threads and 9 MB of shared L3 cache cannot feed the RTX 5090 fast enough to utilize its full rendering capability.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 worth pairing with the i5-9400 for this game?

A: The benchmark results show that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU restricts performance, with frame rates clustering between 74.9 FPS and 110.3 FPS. The GPU only becomes a meaningful factor at 4K Ultra, where it drops to 41.4 FPS. For this specific title, the CPU is the dominant constraint in most scenarios.

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

A: The data shows 1440p High provides a strong balance at 88.7 FPS, while 1440p Ultra still manages 74.9 FPS. At 4K High, the average drops to 63.2 FPS. The 1440p resolution offers the best combination of visual quality and frame rate for this pairing.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84306 is nearly identical to the RTX 5090 D (84241, 0.1% difference) and the RTX 5050 Mobile (84171, 0.2% difference). It trails the NVIDIA CMP 40HX by 1.6%, which scores 85637, but leads the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 by 1.3%.

Q: Does the i5-9400 bottleneck the RTX 5090 at 4K?

A: At 4K, the frame rate spread between Low (79.1 FPS) and Ultra (41.4 FPS) is 37.7 FPS, which is the largest gap across all resolutions. This indicates the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, while the CPU still constrains performance at lower settings.

Q: What does the combo rank tell us about this pairing?

A: This Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 533rd out of 1774 tested combos for Revolution Idle, placing it in the 70th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the CPU's mid-range standing (50th percentile) dragging down the GPU's high-end potential (94th percentile).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 brings substantial hardware resources to this pairing, even if the game rarely exploits them fully. The GPU features 21,760 shading units, 680 tensor cores, and 170 RT cores, all built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with the 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the RTX 5090 at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84306.

In Revolution Idle, the GPU's role shifts depending on resolution. At 1080p and 1440p, the measured frame rates show that the RTX 5090 is underutilized. The average FPS across all settings at 1080p ranges from 88.2 to 110.3, and at 1440p from 74.9 to 97.6. These numbers suggest the GPU has significant headroom, as the CPU cannot generate enough draw calls or simulation updates to saturate the RTX 5090's rendering pipeline. The i5-9400's 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR4 support further limit the data transfer rate to the GPU.

The GPU's true impact appears at 4K. The RTX 5090's 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate become relevant when rendering at 3840x2160. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 41.4 FPS, which is a 37.7 FPS reduction from 4K Low. This demonstrates that the GPU's processing capacity is being taxed by the combination of resolution and settings. The 4K Medium setting at 66.6 FPS and 4K High at 63.2 FPS show that the GPU can handle 4K reasonably well when settings are moderated.

The RTX 5090's memory capacity of 32 GB is more than sufficient for this game, which does not require large texture sets. The GDDR7 memory at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) provides ample bandwidth for the frame buffer at 4K. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility are largely irrelevant for an idle game, but the hardware's raw throughput ensures no GPU-side bottlenecks except at the most demanding settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rate data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 103.9 FPS, which is only 6.4 FPS less than Low (110.3 FPS) but offers better visual quality. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 88.2 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 15.7 FPS penalty over High. For 1080p users, High settings offer the best balance, as the frame rate remains above 100 FPS while providing improved visuals.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 88.7 FPS, which is nearly identical to the Medium preset at 86.4 FPS. The Low preset at 97.6 FPS is the only setting that breaks 95 FPS, but the difference between Low and High is only 8.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 74.9 FPS is the clear outlier, showing a 13.8 FPS drop from High. The data suggests that 1440p High is the sweet spot, as it maintains a smooth frame rate without sacrificing visual fidelity.

At 4K, the settings choices become more critical. The Low preset at 79.1 FPS is the only 4K setting that exceeds 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 66.6 FPS and High preset at 63.2 FPS are both playable but show diminishing returns. The Ultra preset at 41.4 FPS is the only setting that falls below 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. For 4K displays, Low or Medium settings are recommended to maintain frame rates above 65 FPS, with High being acceptable if the user prioritizes visuals over frame rate stability.

Comparing across resolutions, the data shows that 1440p High at 88.7 FPS offers a better experience than 4K Medium at 66.6 FPS, despite the lower resolution. The 4K Low setting at 79.1 FPS is also competitive, but the visual clarity of 1440p with higher settings may be preferable for this idle game. The 1080p High setting at 103.9 FPS remains the highest quality option that stays above 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for competitive play or high refresh rate displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 533rd out of 1774 tested combos for Revolution Idle, placing it in the top 30% of all systems tested. This rank is notable because it reflects the CPU's limitations rather than the GPU's capabilities. The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 places it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 5090's average score of 84306 places it at the 94th percentile of all GPUs. The combination of a mid-range CPU and top-tier GPU creates an imbalance that limits the overall ranking.

The CPU's nearest rivals help contextualize its performance. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2300 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i3-1125G4 scores 2299 (0.2% faster), and the Intel Xeon E-2134 scores 2295 (0.4% faster). The Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2319 (0.6% slower), which is the closest competitor below the i5-9400. These tight margins show that the i5-9400 is squarely in the mid-range category, with no significant advantage over its peers.

The GPU's nearest rivals similarly show tight competition. The RTX 5090 D scores 84241 (0.1% faster), the RTX 5050 Mobile scores 84171 (0.2% faster), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scores 83209 (1.3% faster). The NVIDIA CMP 40HX scores 85637 (1.6% slower), which is the only rival that significantly outperforms the RTX 5090 in average benchmark score. This indicates that the RTX 5090 is at the top of its performance tier, with no meaningful competition from adjacent products.

The combo rank of 533 out of 1774 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve better frame rates in Revolution Idle. This is likely because the game is CPU-bound at lower resolutions, and systems with faster single-threaded processors would outperform this combination despite having weaker GPUs. The data shows that the i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125, cannot fully utilize the RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS of compute power. For users seeking higher rankings, a newer CPU with better single-thread performance would provide a more significant improvement than upgrading the GPU.