Cyberpunk 2077

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a playable, though occasionally demanding, experience in Cyberpunk 2077. The data indicates that the High preset at 1440p is the threshold for smooth performance, while 1080p allows for higher fidelity settings. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where resolution and preset choices dramatically impact frame rates, revealing a system that is balanced but leans heavily on the GPU to maintain playability.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows show that the "High" preset at 2560x1440 provides the most consistent experience, averaging 60.2 FPS. This is the sweet spot for this combination; it maintains the 60 FPS target without forcing the player to drop to lower visual quality. At 1920x1080, the High preset pushes the average to 81.5 FPS, offering a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, making it ideal for those prioritizing frame rate over resolution.

The "Ultra" preset is the most demanding, producing an average of 36.1 FPS at 4K, 55.7 FPS at 1440p, and 73.5 FPS at 1080p. At 4K, this preset is unplayable, and at 1440p, it falls just short of the 60 FPS target, resulting in a noticeable drop in smoothness. While 1080p Ultra is playable, the reduction in resolution is a significant trade-off for the visual gains. For a balanced experience, the Medium preset offers a strong alternative; at 1440p it achieves 78.7 FPS, and at 1080p it reaches 97.4 FPS, providing high frame rates with a moderate visual compromise.

The data suggests that High is the optimal setting for this configuration. At 1080p, it delivers 81.5 FPS, which is 8.5% faster than the Medium preset's 97.4 FPS at the same resolution, but the visual jump is substantial. The Low preset is only necessary for targeting 4K at 70.3 FPS, but the graphical fidelity loss is severe relative to the performance gain. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K is 55.3 FPS, a 21.3% increase in visual quality, but the frame rate drops to 55.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS ideal. Therefore, High at 1440p is the recommended preset, as it is the highest quality setting that consistently stays above 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the primary driver of performance in Cyberpunk 2077, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU's memory capacity is sufficient for the game's asset streaming at 1440p and 4K, as evidenced by the substantial performance scaling between presets. The card's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz are key to its compute capabilities, contributing to its 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's performance is highlighted by its benchmark scores, ranking in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. However, the data shows it is closely matched by rivals, with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scoring 37,507, a mere 0.6% delta. This indicates that while the RTX 4070 is a high performer, it is not in a class of its own. The average benchmark score of 37,283 suggests the GPU is well-suited for modern titles, but the game's demands at 4K with Ultra settings prove too much, resulting in a 36.1 FPS average.

The GPU's role is critical; the frame rates scale significantly with preset changes, which indicates a GPU-bound scenario. From Low to Ultra at 1440p, the average FPS drops from 102.9 to 55.7, demonstrating the GPU's workload is the main variable. The 12 GB VRAM is a key asset, as the game's high-resolution textures and ray tracing effects require substantial memory, and the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth prevents bottlenecks. The GPU's performance is also reflected in its DirectX 12 benchmark score of 103, which, while low, is a synthetic test that does not fully represent real-world gaming performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions, indicating a GPU-limited system. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 81.5 at 1080p to 60.2 at 1440p, a 26.1% decrease, and then to 37.6 at 4K, a further 37.5% decrease from 1440p. This steep drop-off is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU's workload does not increase proportionally with resolution.

The delta between resolutions is more pronounced at higher presets. At Ultra, the 1080p average of 73.5 FPS falls to 55.7 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2% drop), and then to 36.1 FPS at 4K (a 35.2% drop). This suggests that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated as resolution increases. At 4K, the Low preset achieves 70.3 FPS, which is higher than the Ultra preset at 1440p (55.7 FPS), but the visual quality difference is immense. This indicates that the GPU can handle the resolution if the settings are reduced, but the combination of high resolution and high settings is unsustainable.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings shows a drop from 97.4 FPS to 55.3 FPS, a 43.2% reduction. This demonstrates that the RTX 4070 is powerful enough to deliver high frame rates at 1080p, but the jump to 4K requires a significant reduction in settings to maintain playability. The data shows that the system is most efficient at 1440p, where the performance per pixel is optimized, and the GPU is not overly stressed by the resolution increase.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 418 out of 1710 tested combos in Cyberpunk 2077. This places it in the top 24.4% of all configurations, indicating a solid, above-average performance. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is a budget-oriented part, the GPU compensates for its limitations, resulting in a system that outperforms many others.

The combo's rank is likely driven by the GPU's high percentile ranking (81st) rather than the CPU's (72nd), which implies that the graphics card is the dominant contributor to the gaming experience. This is consistent with the resolution scaling data, which shows the system is GPU-bound. The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is close; it is 0.1% slower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 0.4% faster than the Intel Core i7-1250U, but these differences are negligible in gaming scenarios.

The rank of 418 indicates that there are many combos with significantly more powerful CPUs or GPUs, but this pairing still manages to outperform a large majority. The strong performance at 1080p and 1440p suggests that the combo is well-matched for high-refresh-rate gaming, even if it struggles at 4K with ultra settings. The data implies that users seeking a high-performance 1440p experience will find this combo effective, while 4K enthusiasts would need to lower settings or consider a more powerful GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its performance is modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11,912 and a single-core score of 1,681. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache provides adequate data for the game, but its 4 physical cores limit its ability to handle heavily threaded workloads.

In Cyberpunk 2077, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but it is still crucial for maintaining minimum frame rates and ensuring smooth gameplay. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the FPS scales significantly with GPU settings. For example, at 1080p, the difference between Low (112.2 FPS) and Ultra (73.5 FPS) is 38.7 FPS, which is a GPU-driven change. However, the CPU’s single-thread performance is important for the game's logic and physics, and its 4.30 GHz boost clock provides sufficient responsiveness.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 72nd percentile, with an average score of 13,516. It is closely matched with the Intel Core i3-10105, which scores 13,430, a 0.6% delta. This shows that the 12100F is a competent entry-level CPU, but it is not a high-end part. In this combo, the CPU's performance is adequate to feed the RTX 4070 at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor. The data indicates that the CPU does not hinder the system's ability to achieve high frame rates, as the GPU is responsible for the majority of the performance scaling.