Assetto Corsa

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a compelling dataset for Assetto Corsa, a racing simulation from 2014. The measured frames per second across resolutions and settings reveal a system that scales predictably with workload, though the relationship between the CPU and GPU shifts dramatically depending on the target resolution. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, examines the combo’s standing among tested configurations, and interprets the roles of both the processor and graphics card in shaping the final experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating a transition from a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound one at higher ones. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 204.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 142.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 30%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 brings the average down to 88.5 FPS, which is a 57% decrease from the 1080p figure. This pattern suggests that at 1080p Low, the i5-12400F is the limiting factor, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly, but the CPU cannot feed it data fast enough to reach even higher numbers.

At High settings, the scaling is less aggressive but still pronounced. The 109.7 FPS average at 1080p drops to 74.4 FPS at 1440p, a 32% decline, and then to 47.2 FPS at 4K, a 57% drop from the 1080p baseline. The Ultra preset shows a similar trajectory: 91 FPS at 1080p falls to 62 FPS at 1440p and finally to 36.2 FPS at 4K. The fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical across all settings (roughly 55-60%) indicates that the rendering load is scaling primarily with pixel count, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation at the higher resolutions. The data shows that the Arc B580 is the bottleneck at 4K across all presets, while the CPU’s influence is most visible at 1080p with lower graphical demands.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and the Intel Arc B580 ranks 1338 out of 1721 tested combos for Assetto Corsa. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all possible pairings, which is a notable finding given the individual components’ performance. The rank suggests that while this combo is capable of running the game, many other hardware pairings deliver higher average frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs that reduce the bottlenecking seen here.

The i5-12400F itself sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19221. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, scores 19210, a negligible delta of 0.1%. This indicates that the processor’s raw compute power is solid for its generation, but it is not a top-tier part. The GPU, the Intel Arc B580, is at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 23021. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon 760M, which scores 22999, a 0.1% difference. The combo’s rank of 1338 out of 1721, despite these mid-pack component scores, implies that the pairing is slightly less efficient in this specific title than its parts might suggest, possibly due to driver overhead or the game’s engine preferring other architectures.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC, and features 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2375 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective. These specifications allow the GPU to handle the texture and geometry loads of Assetto Corsa, but the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (36.2 FPS) shows that the card is stretched thin at those settings.

The GPU’s boost clock is 2670 MHz, which is also its base clock, indicating a fixed operating point. With 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, the card’s pixel rate is 213.6 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 427.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 13.67 TFLOPS. In the context of this game, the data shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, as even at Medium settings, the average FPS is only 60.7, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. At 1440p, the GPU provides a more comfortable experience, with High settings hitting 74.4 FPS and Low settings reaching 142.4 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for this title, as no VRAM-related stutters are indicated in the data, but the raw compute power is what caps performance at higher resolutions. The GPU’s benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3068 and a Passmark G3D score of 15748, align with its mid-range positioning, and the measured FPS confirms that it is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but not a 4K performer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides average FPS for four settings presets across three resolutions. Starting with 1080p, the Low preset achieves an average of 204.7 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates a CPU-bound scenario where the Arc B580 is not being fully utilized. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 143.6 FPS, a 30% decrease, showing that the increased graphical load is starting to engage the GPU more. High settings yield 109.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 91 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 113.7 FPS, demonstrating that while the CPU can push high frame rates, the GPU’s workload scaling has a significant impact on the final output.

At 1440p, the averages are more balanced. Low settings reach 142.4 FPS, which is still very high and suggests that the CPU is still a factor, but the GPU is doing more work. Medium settings drop to 102.5 FPS, High to 74.4 FPS, and Ultra to 62 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 80.4 FPS, a smaller gap than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the more dominant constraint. At 4K, the scaling becomes severe. Low settings average 88.5 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 60.7 FPS, High to 47.2 FPS, and Ultra to just 36.2 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is not suitable for competitive play, and even High settings struggle to maintain a smooth 60 FPS. These numbers show that for a 144Hz monitor, the combo is best used at 1080p with Medium or High settings, while for 60Hz displays, 1440p with High or Ultra settings is achievable, and 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake generation, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 18 MB L3 cache. Its TDP is 65 W, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 16518 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2332 in single-core, which places it at the 77th percentile overall. These scores are nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K, which has an average score of 19210 versus the i5-12400F’s 19221, a delta of only 0.1%.

In Assetto Corsa, the CPU’s role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 204.7 suggests that the processor is the limiting factor, as the GPU could likely render more frames if the CPU could supply them faster. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz is crucial for this game, as it relies heavily on single-thread performance for physics and AI calculations. The 12 threads help with background tasks, but the game’s engine is not heavily multi-threaded, which is why the single-core Cinebench score of 2332 is more indicative of its gaming performance. As resolution increases, the CPU’s influence wanes. At 4K, the FPS is nearly identical across different CPU-bound scenarios, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck. The data shows that the i5-12400F is a strong match for the Arc B580 at 1080p and 1440p, but it holds back the system at 1080p Low settings, preventing the GPU from reaching its maximum potential output.