Undisputed

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptional performance in Undisputed, placing in the 96th percentile of all tested combos. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly CPU-limited at 1080p, creating a nuanced performance profile that favors high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming over maximum fidelity at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Undisputed?*

A: This combo ranks 96th out of 1,580 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 66,473 is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4, 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P40, and 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 395.7 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all tested configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 93.7, and the GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth become the defining performance factors, indicating a clear GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4090 at 1080p High compared to 4K High?

A: The 1080p High average of 319.1 FPS is more than double the 4K High average of 147.6 FPS, representing a 116% performance advantage at the lower resolution.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded capability according to Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F scores 10,297 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, with a single-core score of 1,453, indicating a strong 6-core/12-thread processor for gaming workloads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. With 16,384 shading units, 128 RT cores, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, the GPU has immense raw compute power. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the AD102 chip at high resolutions. The GPU's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS allows it to handle the physics and visual effects in Undisputed without breaking a sweat at most settings.

The RTX 4090's benchmark scores reinforce its position. Its Passmark G3D score of 38,194 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 317,684 place it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. However, the data shows a curious trend: at 1080p, the GPU's potential is not fully utilized, as frame rates cap out around 395.7 FPS at Low settings. This indicates that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions, where the GPU can produce frames faster than the processor can issue draw calls. At 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s become the deciding factors, with performance scaling more predictably with settings changes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for different priorities. For maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 395.7 FPS, which is overkill for any display and suggests the CPU is the bottleneck. At 1440p, the Low preset still delivers an excellent 356.4 FPS, while the High preset offers 231.7 FPS — a more balanced choice for competitive play with better visuals.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 1440p is the standout recommendation. It delivers 231.7 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, while providing significantly better graphical fidelity than Low. Moving to 4K, the High preset drops to 147.6 FPS, which is still playable on high-refresh-rate 4K displays, but the Ultra preset at 93.7 FPS is the only configuration that dips below the 100 FPS threshold. For 4K gaming, Medium settings (175.6 FPS) offer a better experience than Ultra, as the visual difference is less impactful than the 81.9 FPS gap between the two presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 96 out of 1,580 tested configurations places it firmly in the top 6% of all systems benchmarked for Undisputed. This is an exceptional result, but it is important to contextualize it. The RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, and its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are professional-grade workstation cards like the Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000, not consumer gaming GPUs. This suggests that the ranking is more a reflection of the GPU's raw compute power than its gaming-specific optimization.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 73% against all processors is more modest, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C and Intel Core i5-8500. This indicates that while the i5-10400F is a capable gaming CPU, it is not in the top tier of processors. The combination of a top-10% GPU with a mid-range CPU creates a system that excels in GPU-bound scenarios but leaves performance on the table in CPU-bound situations. The data shows that at 1080p, the FPS difference between High (319.1) and Low (395.7) settings is only 76.6 FPS, whereas at 4K, the difference between High (147.6) and Low (244.7) is 97.1 FPS. This larger spread at 4K confirms that the GPU has more headroom to scale with settings when it is not artificially limited by the CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores show a processor that is competent but not exceptional: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10,297, Geekbench single-core score of 1,454, and Passmark multi-thread score of 12,115. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking places it above average, but its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552, which is a server-class chip, highlighting the i5's desktop-focused design.

In Undisputed, the CPU's role becomes apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the FPS jumps from 319.1 at High to 395.7 at Low, a 24% increase that indicates the CPU is the primary limiter. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 single-core (1,453) and 3DMark single-thread (688), becomes the bottleneck when the GPU is capable of producing frames faster than the CPU can process game logic. However, at 4K, the CPU's load decreases relative to the GPU, and the FPS differences between settings become more pronounced, showing that the GPU is now the limiting factor. This is a classic example of a high-end GPU being paired with a mid-range CPU, where the CPU's 12 threads are sufficient for modern games but its lower clock speeds and older architecture prevent it from fully tapping the RTX 4090's potential at high frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 395.7 FPS, while Medium hits 349.5 FPS, High reaches 319.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 201.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 194.2 FPS, showing that even at the most demanding 1080p settings, the system remains well above playable thresholds.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low averages 356.4 FPS, Medium 275.7 FPS, High 231.7 FPS, and Ultra 144.9 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at Ultra settings, where the FPS falls by 56.6 FPS, while Low only drops by 39.3 FPS. This suggests that the GPU's pixel fill rate becomes more critical at higher settings and resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the system still performs admirably. Low averages 244.7 FPS, Medium 175.6 FPS, High 147.6 FPS, and Ultra 93.7 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only configuration that falls below 100 FPS, and the drop from High to Ultra is 53.9 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects are particularly demanding on the GPU's resources. The data shows a clear pattern: the system is capable of maintaining high frame rates at 4K with most settings, but the Ultra preset pushes the GPU to its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 395.7 at 1080p to 356.4 at 1440p (a 10% decrease) and then to 244.7 at 4K (a 31% decrease from 1440p). This relatively modest scaling at Low settings indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without significant performance degradation.

At High settings, the scaling is more dramatic. The FPS drops from 319.1 at 1080p to 231.7 at 1440p (a 27% decrease) and then to 147.6 at 4K (a 36% decrease from 1440p). This steeper decline suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly taxed as resolution increases, with the 4K resolution requiring substantially more memory bandwidth and pixel processing. The RTX 4090's 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is sufficient, but the sheer number of pixels at 3840x2160 — over 8 million — means that even this powerful GPU must work harder.

The most telling data point is the Ultra preset. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 201.5 FPS, which drops to 144.9 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 93.7 FPS at 4K (a 35% decrease from 1440p). The fact that the 4K Ultra performance is less than half of the 1080p Ultra performance (93.7 vs. 201.5 FPS) confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this settings level. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is capable of handling the game's logic at up to 200 FPS, but the GPU's rendering workload at 4K Ultra exceeds its capabilities, resulting in the lowest measured FPS of any configuration. This analysis shows that for 4K gaming, the High preset is the sweet spot, while for competitive play at 1080p, even the Ultra preset provides ample frame rates.