Cyberpunk 2077

The Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B570 combination produces a specific, data-defined experience in Cyberpunk 2077, one that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions. This analysis walks through the processor and graphics card specifications, their measured performance, and how the pairing ranks against other tested configurations.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip includes 18 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. Its integrated graphics are the UHD Graphics 730, though the Arc B570 discrete GPU handles all rendering in this test scenario.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 demonstrates solid multi-threaded and single-threaded capability. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and single-core score of 2257 indicate a balanced performer for gaming workloads. The processor's 3DMark scores scale predictably with thread count: 1692 for 2 threads, 3012 for 4 threads, 4745 for 8 threads, and 5873 for 16 threads, with a max-thread score of 5890. This scaling suggests the CPU handles parallel workloads efficiently up to its physical core count.

The i5-12400 ranks in the 72nd percentile against all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7643 (0.1% lower score), the Intel Core i7-1355U (0.3% lower), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (0.7% lower). Notably, the Intel Core i3-14100F scores 0.9% higher, making it a close competitor. The i5-12400's 6 physical cores provide enough throughput for Cyberpunk 2077's CPU-bound sections, but the measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck—the GPU becomes the limiting factor even at the lowest settings.

The processor's Passmark multithread score of 18747 and single-thread score of 3456 further confirm its adequacy for modern gaming. Data compression (226908), integer math (58366), and floating-point math (45494) scores show robust general-purpose performance. For Cyberpunk 2077, which relies on both physics simulation and AI pathfinding, the CPU's 12 threads provide sufficient headroom to feed the Arc B570 at most settings, though the FPS data indicates diminishing returns once resolution drops to 1080p.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It features 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, alongside 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 10 GB GDDR6 memory sits on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

This memory configuration is critical for Cyberpunk 2077. The game's dense urban environments and high-resolution textures demand significant VRAM, and the 10 GB capacity proves adequate at 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K Ultra settings. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s indicate the GPU's raw fill capabilities, while FP32 performance of 11.52 TFLOPS shows its compute throughput. The card's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface is sufficient for this workload.

The Arc B570's synthetic scores place it in the 65th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% higher), the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% lower), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% lower). The Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844 and OpenCL score of 83514 demonstrate strong compute capability, while the Passmark G3D score of 14195 reflects its gaming-oriented performance.

The GPU's ray tracing cores (18) and DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) are relevant for Cyberpunk 2077's optional ray-traced effects, though the measured FPS data in this pack does not include ray tracing presets. The 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate the card's power requirements, but no wattage figures from testing are available. The 10 GB VRAM is the key specification for understanding the FPS drops at higher resolutions, as the game's texture loads can exceed this capacity at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings for this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 56 FPS, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its closest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400's average benchmark score is 18683, which is 0.9% lower than the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519), but 0.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697).

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain playable FPS?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 76 FPS average. At 2560x1440 with Low settings, it drops to 56 FPS, and at 3840x2160 with Low settings, it falls to 37 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in Cyberpunk 2077?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 + Intel Arc B570 combo ranks 2316 out of 2920 tested configurations.

Q: How much VRAM does the Arc B570 have and what is its bandwidth?

A: The Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The average FPS drops to 20 at High settings and 19 at Ultra settings, while the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration has sufficient headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2316 out of 2920 tested combos in Cyberpunk 2077, placing it in the lower 21% of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier positioning rather than the CPU's capability. The i5-12400 sits in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, suggesting the GPU drags the overall combo rank down relative to the CPU's standalone performance.

The rank of 2316 out of 2920 means 604 combos perform worse, but 2315 perform better. This positioning indicates that users seeking higher frame rates would need to pair a stronger GPU with this CPU to move up the rankings. The CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is not the primary constraint in this pairing, as evidenced by the FPS scaling across resolutions—the GPU's 10 GB VRAM and compute throughput are the limiting factors.

The gap between CPU percentile (72) and GPU percentile (65) suggests the i5-12400 has headroom for a more powerful graphics card. However, the measured FPS data shows the current pairing delivers playable performance only at 1080p with lower settings, which aligns with its sub-80% rank. The combo's position relative to the 2920 total tests indicates it is a budget-oriented configuration, though no pricing data informs this assessment beyond the CPU's launch MSRP of $199 and GPU's launch MSRP of 219 USD.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160). At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best performance: 76 FPS average on Low, 56 FPS on Medium, 41 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 47 FPS and maximum of 64 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally stable performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly: 56 FPS on Low, 42 FPS on Medium, 31 FPS on High, and 29 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 48 FPS, representing a 25% reduction from the 1080p Medium average. This scaling suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s) and shading unit count (2304) begin to strain at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, performance falls below playable thresholds for most presets: 37 FPS on Low, 27 FPS on Medium, 20 FPS on High, and 19 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 23 FPS and maximum of 32 FPS, with the average of 27 FPS representing a 52% drop from 1080p Medium. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is likely a constraint here, as Cyberpunk 2077's 4K textures can exceed this allocation, causing the GPU to swap data from system memory.

The data shows no min/max FPS values for Low, High, or Ultra presets at any resolution, only for Medium. This indicates that the Medium preset was the only configuration with complete frame time data recorded. The averages across all settings show a consistent pattern: Low settings provide the highest FPS, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being only marginally worse than High at each resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 56 FPS average with a minimum of 47 FPS, which is the best balance between visual quality and smoothness. The Low preset at 76 FPS provides a significant margin for competitive play but sacrifices visual fidelity. The High preset at 41 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS threshold, making them less desirable for fast-paced action.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 56 FPS is the only configuration that approaches playable smoothness. The Medium preset at 42 FPS (minimum 35 FPS) may be acceptable for slower moments, but the High (31 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) presets are too choppy for a game requiring precise timing. The data suggests users at 1440p should use Low settings to maintain frame rates above 50 FPS.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve playable frame rates. The Low preset at 37 FPS is the highest average, but even this falls below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 27 FPS (minimum 23 FPS) is borderline, while High (20 FPS) and Ultra (19 FPS) are effectively unplayable. For 4K, users would need to reduce resolution or rely on upscaling technologies, though no such data is present in this pack.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, offering 56 FPS average with a 47 FPS minimum. This preset provides a 25% increase over High settings while maintaining visual quality above the Low preset. The Medium preset's complete frame time data (min/max/avg) suggests it was the most stable configuration tested.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K reveal the limiting component in this combo. At Medium settings, the average FPS decreases from 56 at 1920x1080 to 42 at 2560x1440 (a 25% reduction) and then to 27 at 3840x2160 (a 52% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load increases disproportionately with pixel count.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar: 76 FPS at 1080p drops to 56 FPS at 1440p (26% reduction) and 37 FPS at 4K (51% reduction). The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate the GPU's compute and memory resources are the bottleneck, not the CPU. If the CPU were limiting, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions as the GPU work increases, but the data shows clear resolution-dependent scaling.

The High and Ultra presets show even steeper drops: High goes from 41 FPS at 1080p to 31 FPS at 1440p (24% drop) and 20 FPS at 4K (51% drop), while Ultra goes from 39 to 29 to 19 (26% and 51% drops respectively). This uniformity suggests the GPU's 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints, as higher resolutions require more memory bandwidth and capacity.

The CPU's role becomes apparent at 1080p Low settings, where 76 FPS represents a reasonable ceiling for a 6-core/12-thread processor feeding a mid-range GPU. The i5-12400's 3DMark max-thread score of 5890 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 indicate it can sustain high frame rates, but the Arc B570's compute throughput (11.52 TFLOPS FP32) limits the overall output. The resolution scaling confirms that users should target 1080p for this combo, as the FPS penalty for moving to 1440p or 4K is substantial across all settings presets.