BenchPair

Core i5-10400F bottleneck & gaming FPS

Ranked 168 of 201 desktop processors for gaming in our database (16th percentile). It can sustain roughly 85 fps in a typical AAA title regardless of resolution — that ceiling is what decides whether a graphics card is worth pairing with it.

SpecificationsComet Lake · 2020
ArchitectureComet Lake
Cores6
Threads12
Boost clock4,300 MHz
L3 cache12 MB
TDP65 W
Released2020
Core i5-10400F FPS in popular games1080p, high

The frame rate this chip could sustain with an infinitely fast graphics card. It is almost the same at every resolution, because rendering more pixels gives the processor no extra work.

GameCPU ceilingWith Titan RTX
Cyberpunk 2077 81 fps 57 fps
Fortnite 108 fps 107 fps
Counter-Strike 2 128 fps 126 fps
Baldur's Gate 3 74 fps 72 fps
Red Dead Redemption 2 96 fps 64 fps
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 48 fps 48 fps
Best GPU for the Core i5-10400F1080p, high

Ranked by how little performance the pairing wastes. Anything much faster than the top entry will sit partly idle at this resolution — though it may still be worth it if you plan to move to 1440p or 4K.

Graphics cardEst. FPSUnused
Titan RTX 83 0.1%
Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB 83 0.9%
Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB 83 0.9%
Radeon RX 6800 83 1.8%
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 79 4.9%
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 77 7.6%
Against its closest neighbours1080p, high
PartEst. FPSDifference
Core i3-12100F 83 fps 0%
Core i5-10400 83 fps 0%
Core i5-10400F 83 fps this part
Ryzen 3 5100 80 fps -4%
Ryzen 5 3500 79 fps -5%

Every row measured against the same graphics card, so the difference shown comes from the parts themselves rather than from unrelated systems.

Is the Core i5-10400F good for gaming?

Not for demanding modern titles. It ranks 168 of 201 for gaming and will be the limiting component in most pairings, capping frame rate before the graphics card runs out of capacity.

What GPU should I pair with a Core i5-10400F?

The closest match at 1080p is the Titan RTX, wasting only 0.1% of the combined potential at around 83 fps. Anything materially faster will sit partly idle at this resolution, though it can still be the right buy if you plan to move to 1440p or 4K.

Living with a Core i5-10400F

This processor sits in the lower part of the range and will be the limiting component in most modern pairings. Frame rates will be capped by the chip well before the graphics card runs out of capacity, and no graphics upgrade will change that.

If frame rates are the problem, this is where the money goes. Raising the resolution will not help here in the way it does for a graphics-limited system.

A small cache holds this chip back

12 MB of L3 is modest by current standards, and it costs this chip more in games than its clock speed suggests. Game engines walk large, scattered data structures, so a small cache means more trips to main memory and more stalls on the render thread. Memory speed and timings matter unusually much on a part like this.

Where it sits

Ranked 168 of 201 desktop processors for gaming. Nearest faster: Core i3-12100F , Core i5-10400 . Just below: Ryzen 3 5100 , Ryzen 5 3500 . Full method on the methodology page.