Undisputed

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces a fascinating dataset in Undisputed, a sports title that is clearly more forgiving on the GPU than many modern releases. The measured frames per second (FPS) across all resolutions and settings reveal a system where the graphics card is rarely the limiting factor, even at 4K. This analysis walks through the specific numbers to understand where the bottleneck lies, how the combo ranks among 3,718 tested configurations, and what settings provide the best experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is the first clear indicator of where this system’s limits reside. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 268 at 1920x1080 to 206 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 62 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 130 FPS. This scaling pattern—a 23% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 37% decrease from 1440p to 4K—shows that the RTX 4080 has substantial headroom even as pixel count increases.

The Low settings data reinforces this trend. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 324 FPS, which is already an extraordinarily high refresh rate. At 1440p Low, it still manages 290 FPS, and even at 4K Low, it produces 219 FPS. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 105 FPS, which is a 32% drop. This is a smaller relative decline than what is seen at High settings, suggesting that the CPU becomes more of a factor at lower graphical loads.

The most revealing data point for bottleneck analysis is the Medium preset, where min and max FPS values were recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 286 FPS with a minimum of 243 FPS and a maximum of 329 FPS. This wide spread indicates that the Intel Core i5-9400 is struggling to feed the RTX 4080 consistently, as the GPU is capable of far higher output. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 249 FPS (min 212, max 286), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 158 FPS (min 134, max 181). The fact that the minimum FPS at 1080p (243) is higher than the average at 4K (158) shows that resolution scaling is working, but the CPU’s six threads are constantly working to keep up.

At Ultra settings, the pattern shifts dramatically. The average FPS drops to 184 at 1080p, 133 at 1440p, and 84 at 4K. This is a much steeper scaling curve, with a 54% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This indicates that at Ultra, the graphical load finally becomes significant enough to engage the RTX 4080 more fully, though the CPU still prevents it from reaching its full potential. Overall, the data shows a system that is GPU-limited only at the highest settings and highest resolutions, while being clearly CPU-limited at lower settings and resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 brings an immense amount of hardware to this test, and its specifications explain why it handles Undisputed so easily. The card features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for a sports game, and the benchmark results confirm that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting tested.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also notable. The base clock is 2205 MHz, with a boost clock of 2505 MHz. These high frequencies, combined with the Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process, contribute to the card’s raw compute capabilities. The RTX 4080 has 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. Its FP32 performance is 48.74 TFLOPS, which is a staggering amount of compute for a sports title. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s further illustrate the card’s ability to push pixels.

When looking at the GPU’s synthetic benchmarks, the data supports its high performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6,567, and the Geekbench Vulkan score is 263,779. The Passmark G3D score is 34,457, and the GPU compute score is 20,671. These numbers place the RTX 4080 in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54,209 (a delta of 0.1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (a delta of -1.1%).

Despite this immense power, the measured FPS in Undisputed shows that the GPU is often idle. For example, at 1080p Low, the card produces 324 FPS, but the maximum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium is 329. This suggests that the ceiling is not the GPU’s capability but rather the CPU’s ability to issue draw calls. The RTX 4080’s role in this combo is to provide a massive safety margin, ensuring that even in the most demanding scenes at 4K Ultra (84 FPS), the frame rate remains playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database places this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 at rank 615 out of 3,718 tested combos in Undisputed. This places it in the top 16.5% of all configurations tested for this game, which is a strong showing. However, given the caliber of the GPU, one might expect a higher rank.

The rank is dragged down by the CPU. The Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, released in late 2018. Its benchmark scores tell a story of a mid-range chip: Cinebench R23 multi-core is 6,629, single-core is 935, and Geekbench multi-core is 5,141 with a single-core score of 1,389. The CPU’s percentile vs all CPUs is 47, meaning it sits roughly in the middle of the pack. Its average benchmark score is 2,254, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2,259, delta -0.2%), the Intel Core i7-10710U (2,248, delta 0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2,246, delta 0.4%).

The fact that this combo ranks 615th, despite having a GPU in the 86th percentile, indicates that many other configurations with better CPUs achieve higher frame rates. The RTX 4080 is being held back, and the rank reflects the system’s overall balance. If the GPU were paired with a faster processor, this combination would likely sit much higher in the rankings. As it stands, the rank of 615 out of 3,718 reflects the RTX 4080’s raw strength, but it also clearly signals a CPU bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The detailed FPS measurements provide a complete picture of performance across all tested settings and resolutions. The data is broken down by resolution, with each resolution having four quality presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 324 FPS average
• Medium: 286 FPS average, with a minimum of 243 FPS and a maximum of 329 FPS
• High: 268 FPS average
• Ultra: 184 FPS average

The jump from Low to Ultra is a 140 FPS drop, which is a 43% reduction. The Medium preset’s max FPS of 329 is only 5 FPS higher than the Low average, confirming that the CPU is the limiting factor. The Ultra preset’s 184 FPS is still very high for a sports title, but the significant drop from High (268 FPS) suggests that the ultra settings activate effects that load the GPU more heavily.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 290 FPS average
• Medium: 249 FPS average, with a minimum of 212 FPS and a maximum of 286 FPS
• High: 206 FPS average
• Ultra: 133 FPS average

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with roughly a 10-20% drop in performance. The Ultra preset at 133 FPS is the first sign of the GPU starting to work harder, but it is still far from a struggle. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 212 is higher than the Ultra average, showing that the CPU can still hold the frame rate up at lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 219 FPS average
• Medium: 158 FPS average, with a minimum of 134 FPS and a maximum of 181 FPS
• High: 130 FPS average
• Ultra: 84 FPS average

This is where the GPU’s workload finally becomes significant. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 105 FPS (a 32% reduction), while at Ultra settings, the drop is 100 FPS (a 54% reduction). The 4K Ultra result of 84 FPS is the only measurement in the entire dataset that dips below 100 FPS, and it is still a perfectly playable frame rate. The 4K High result of 130 FPS shows that the RTX 4080 has plenty of headroom even at this resolution, provided the CPU can keep up.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is the bottleneck in this pairing. With 6 cores and 6 threads, it lacks the multi-threading capabilities of its competitors. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The architecture is Coffee Lake, built on a 14 nm process. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 on a dual-channel bus, providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth.

The CPU’s benchmark scores are modest. Cinebench R15 multi-core is 668, and single-core is 94. Cinebench R20 multi-core is 2,784, and single-core is 392. The R23 multi-core score of 6,629 and single-core score of 935 are indicative of a processor that was mid-range at its launch in 2018. The Geekbench scores of 5,141 (multi) and 1,389 (single) place it squarely in the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

In Undisputed, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s simulation and physics, which are not particularly demanding for a sports title. However, the 6-thread limit becomes apparent in the FPS data. At 1080p Low, the system only achieves 324 FPS, which is high, but the RTX 4080 is capable of much more. The variation in the Medium preset’s min and max FPS (243 to 329 at 1080p) demonstrates frame pacing issues that are typically caused by CPU thread saturation.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-9400 performs almost identically. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 has an average score of 2,259 (0.2% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 has a score of 2,246 (0.4% lower). This means that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would produce nearly identical results in Undisputed. The data suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor, and no amount of GPU power can overcome this constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user’s display refresh rate and resolution preference. The goal is to select a preset that provides a smooth, consistent experience without wasting the GPU’s potential.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is the best choice. It delivers an average of 184 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that most gaming monitors offer. The jump from High (268 FPS) to Ultra (184 FPS) is significant, but the Ultra preset provides better visual fidelity while still maintaining a frame rate that is high enough for competitive play. The Medium preset’s 286 FPS is overkill for most displays and does not offer a meaningful advantage over Ultra.

For 1440p displays, the High preset is the recommended starting point. It produces an average of 206 FPS, which is excellent for a 144 Hz monitor. The Ultra preset drops to 133 FPS, which is still smooth but sacrifices some of the headroom needed for 144 Hz gaming. The High preset strikes the best balance between visual quality and performance, as the 206 FPS average leaves room for demanding scenes without dropping below 60 FPS.

For 4K displays, the High preset is the clear winner. It delivers an average of 130 FPS, which is superb for 4K gaming on a high-refresh-rate panel. The Ultra preset drops to 84 FPS, which is playable but below the 100 FPS threshold that many gamers prefer. The Medium preset at 158 FPS is also an option, but the visual upgrade from Medium to High is substantial for only a 28 FPS cost. The data shows that High at 4K is the sweet spot, as it keeps the RTX 4080 engaged while avoiding the CPU bottleneck that plagues lower settings.

Across all resolutions, the Low and Medium presets offer no benefit. The Low presets provide extremely high frame rates (324-219 FPS) that exceed the refresh rate of almost any display, but they do so at a significant visual cost. The Medium presets have inconsistent frame times, as shown by the min FPS values, which can lead to stuttering. The High and Ultra presets are the only ones that provide a stable and visually pleasing experience.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in Undisputed?

A: Yes. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 324 FPS, but the RTX 4080 is capable of far more. The CPU’s 6-core/6-thread configuration limits frame rates, as evidenced by the Medium preset’s wide min-max FPS spread (243-329 at 1080p).

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data suggests that 1440p High (206 FPS) or 4K High (130 FPS) are the best choices. Both provide high frame rates and excellent visual quality. 1080p Ultra (184 FPS) is also viable but may be CPU-limited.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems?

A: It ranks 615th out of 3,718 tested combos in Undisputed. This places it in the top 16.5%, but the rank is held back by the CPU, which sits in the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Does the RTX 4080’s 16 GB of VRAM matter in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that VRAM is not a limiting factor. The card has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a sports title at any resolution or setting tested.

Q: What is the weakest setting preset?

A: The Low presets are the weakest in terms of value. They provide frame rates up to 324 FPS at 1080p, which exceeds any display’s refresh rate, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. The Medium presets also have inconsistent frame pacing.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54,247 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209). The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828, which is 1.1% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698, which is 2.6% higher.