Hearts of Iron IV
Known to slow down in the late game due to the exponential number of unit calculations. Single-core CPU speed is the most important factor for performance.
Actual FPS may vary based on RAM speed, background processes, and other system factors
Performance Report
At 1080p, frame rates range from 58 to 119 FPS depending on quality settings. At 1440p, frame rates range from 51 to 94 FPS. At 4K, frame rates range from 41 to 69 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 5090 is 889% above the recommended GPU (GeForce GTX 570) for Hearts of Iron IV. The Core i5-1038NG7 is 247% above the recommended CPU (Core i5-750).
No major FPS-ceiling mismatch detected. The GeForce RTX 5090 and Core i5-1038NG7 stay close in effective frame-generation ceiling across the tested resolutions and quality settings.
This chart answers a simple question: which upgrade is more likely to increase FPS first? In this case, there is no clear winner.
The largest gap still appears at 1080p Medium, where the GeForce RTX 5090 reaches about 92 FPS, while the Core i5-1038NG7 still has headroom up to roughly 98 FPS.
That means neither part is consistently hitting its ceiling far ahead of the other. Across all tested settings, this pairing is GPU-limited in 0 out of 12 cases, CPU-limited in 0, and balanced in 12.
Overall, this is a balanced combination in this game.
Neither the Core i5-1038NG7 nor the GeForce RTX 5090 stands out as the consistent limiter in this game, so the better upgrade depends more on your target settings than on one obvious bottleneck.
This chart shows which upgrade is more likely to unlock more FPS in each tested setting. The lower line represents the part that reaches its limit first. When the CPU and GPU lines stay close together, the system is more balanced. When the gap widens, one component is more clearly holding the other back. Hover any setting to inspect it.
The lower line is the current limiter. The closer the two lines are, the more balanced the CPU and GPU are for this game.
Each line represents an estimated FPS ceiling for one component, rather than live usage alone.
To estimate the CPU ceiling, we pair the Core i5-1038NG7 with GeForce RTX 5090, our current GPU anchor. To estimate the GPU ceiling, we pair the GeForce RTX 5090 with Ryzen 9 9950X3D, our current CPU anchor.
The lower line indicates the current limiter, since that component reaches its FPS ceiling first. In most scenarios, that is also the part most likely to deliver the bigger performance uplift if upgraded first.
The percentage shown represents the gap between the two ceilings. In practical terms, it shows how much of the stronger component's potential is left unused because the weaker one becomes the bottleneck first.
See how your processor and graphics card compare against the game official minimum and recommended system specs. The placement of your hardware is calculated using relative synthetic performance scores to help you gauge overall playability.
Your CPU is 247% above and your GPU is 889% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+247%vsrecommended
+889%vsrecommended
+146%vsminimum
+1136%vsminimum
The Core i5-1038NG7 and GeForce RTX 5090 will struggle to run Hearts of Iron IV at smooth framerates. At 1080p Ultra, you can expect around 58 FPS which is classified as "playable". Consider lowering settings or upgrading your hardware.
Price data is not currently available for this combination. In general, look for setups where the CPU and GPU are balanced - this ensures you're not overspending on one component that the other can't keep up with.
This setup is already well-balanced for Hearts of Iron IV. In the Performance Limiter Analysis, neither side consistently defines the maximum FPS across the tested presets. Across all tested settings, the distribution is 0/12 GPU-limited, 0/12 CPU-limited, and 12/12 balanced. In practice, this pairing behaves as a well-balanced combination in this game. Because of that, upgrading only one component would usually bring smaller gains than improving the overall pairing.
Hearts of Iron IV does not currently support Frame Generation technologies like DLSS 3 or FSR 3. Your performance is based entirely on native rendering. If the game adds support in a future update, newer GPUs will benefit the most.
Hearts of Iron IV requires at minimum a Core 2 Quad Q9400 (CPU) and GeForce GTX 470 (GPU) with 4 GB RAM and 2 GB storage. For the recommended experience, you need a Core i5-750 and GeForce GTX 570 with 4 GB RAM. Your Core i5-1038NG7 and GeForce RTX 5090 both exceed the recommended specs, so you're well-positioned for a great experience.
These Hearts of Iron IV FPS results are not arbitrary numbers. They come from calculations informed by thousands of real gaming benchmarks, and the typical accuracy range is around 10% to 15%. That makes them far more useful than generic FPS calculators that simply invent values without a benchmark foundation. Actual in-game performance can still vary with drivers, updates, RAM configuration, cooling, and the exact scene being rendered.
Performance estimates are based on synthetic benchmarks and hardware capabilities.
Results may vary based on drivers, OS, and background processes.
