Don't Starve Together

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a GPU-bound scenario at higher settings, but one that transitions toward CPU limitation at lower presets. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 229.5 FPS, which drops to 159.5 FPS at 1440p Low and 93.9 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 30.5% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 41.1% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern is steep, indicating that even at Low settings, the GeForce RTX 4060 is being pushed hard as resolution climbs.

Moving to High settings, the pattern shifts. The 1080p High result is 133.2 FPS, falling to 93.5 FPS at 1440p High (a 29.8% drop) and then to 56.8 FPS at 4K High (a 39.3% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows a similar trajectory: 105 FPS at 1080p, 75.8 FPS at 1440p, and 45.7 FPS at 4K. The consistent ~30% penalty from 1080p to 1440p across all settings suggests the GPU's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count.

The 4K numbers are telling. At Ultra, the combo manages only 45.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many games target. Even at High, 4K yields 56.8 FPS, still short of that mark. The data indicates that 4K Ultra is not a viable experience for this pairing in Don't Starve Together, while 4K High is borderline. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface struggle with the pixel throughput demanded at 3840x2160.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across presets. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 67.6 FPS (from 229.5 to 161.9), while Medium to High costs another 28.7 FPS (to 133.2). High to Ultra drops a further 28.2 FPS to 105. The data shows that Medium at 1080p delivers 161.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay while retaining visual quality over Low.

At 1440p, Medium yields 109.8 FPS, which remains comfortably above 60 FPS. High at 1440p drops to 93.5 FPS, still excellent. Ultra at 1440p falls to 75.8 FPS, which is playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame drops become noticeable in fast-paced scenarios. For the best balance, the data supports Medium at 1440p as the sweet spot: it retains 109.8 FPS while offering substantially better visuals than Low's 159.5 FPS.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. Low yields 93.9 FPS, Medium drops to 67.6 FPS, and High falls to 56.8 FPS. Ultra is the outlier at 45.7 FPS. For 4K users, Medium at 67.6 FPS is the recommended preset, as it stays above 60 FPS while High and Ultra do not. Low at 4K provides more headroom but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that emphasizes atmosphere and readability of the environment.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings six cores and twelve threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The processor's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark, which translates to strong per-core performance for a game that often relies on a primary simulation thread. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2332 and multi-core score of 16518 indicate balanced capability across both lightly and heavily threaded workloads.

In Don't Starve Together, the CPU's role becomes evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 229.5 FPS, which approaches the practical ceiling for many displays. The fact that 1080p Low only reaches 229.5 FPS rather than higher suggests the CPU is beginning to limit frame rates at this extreme setting, as the GPU has less work to do. The L3 cache of 18 MB shared across six cores helps with the game's world simulation and entity tracking.

The processor's percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs places it in the upper quartile, meaning it outperforms roughly three-quarters of tested processors. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% higher average score) and AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (0.7% lower), showing that the i5-12400F sits in a competitive performance band. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and max-thread score of 5912 indicate that the CPU's twelve threads are well-utilized when the game engine can parallelize tasks, but the single-thread score of 909 is what matters most for the game's core logic.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 925 out of 1667 tested combos in Don't Starve Together. This places the pairing in the 55th percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of tested systems but sits below the median's upper half. The rank reflects a balance: the CPU is strong for its class, but the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit performance at higher resolutions.

The ranking suggests that this combo is not among the elite performers for this game, but it is far from inadequate. The 1080p results across all settings (105 to 229.5 FPS) demonstrate that the pairing handles the game's most common resolution with ease. The 1440p results (75.8 to 159.5 FPS) are also strong, with even Ultra clearing 75 FPS. The 4K results are the weak point, with only Low and Medium exceeding 60 FPS.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing's rank of 925 out of 1667 indicates that many systems with higher-end GPUs or CPUs achieve better frame rates at 4K, but the combo's 1080p and 1440p performance is competitive. The GPU's percentile rank of 66 among all GPUs and the CPU's percentile rank of 77 suggest that the CPU is the relatively stronger component, but the game's GPU demands at high resolutions mean the RTX 4060 becomes the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a chip designated AD107, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The memory clock is rated at 2125 MHz with 17 Gbps effective speed. The GPU's boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz provide the computational throughput for the measured results.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s indicate solid rasterization capability, but the 128-bit memory bus is a limiting factor. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the combination of resolution and settings pushes memory demands higher, contributing to the 45.7 FPS result. The GPU's pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but struggles to fill the 8.3 million pixels of a 4K display at high settings.

The RTX 4060's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. The PassMark G3D score of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% higher average score) and Intel Arc B580 (0.7% lower), indicating that the RTX 4060 sits in a tightly contested performance tier. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 101030 and Vulkan score of 98095 show capable compute performance, but the game's rendering workload is more dependent on raw fill rate and memory bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Don't Starve Together at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K Medium, the combo delivers 67.6 FPS, which is above 60 FPS. At 4K High, it drops to 56.8 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 45.7 FPS. For consistent smoothness, 4K Medium is the highest viable preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The data shows 1440p Medium provides 109.8 FPS, which balances visual quality and performance. At 1440p High, the combo still hits 93.5 FPS, making either preset excellent. 1080p offers higher frame rates (up to 229.5 FPS at Low) but with diminished visual returns.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the 229.5 FPS result suggests the CPU may be nearing its limit, as the GPU has less workload. At 4K Ultra, the 45.7 FPS result clearly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The bottleneck shifts from CPU at low resolutions and settings to GPU at higher ones.

Q: How does the i5-12400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-12400F scores 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-8700K and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-1335U in average benchmark scores. It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7%. These are all within a narrow performance band.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 scores 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti. It scores 0.7% higher than the Intel Arc B580 and 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon 760M. The differences are marginal.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p High is 133.2. This is well above 60 FPS and provides a smooth experience. For higher performance, 1080p Medium yields 161.9 FPS, while 1080p Ultra drops to 105 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates. Low settings deliver 229.5 FPS, Medium 161.9 FPS, High 133.2 FPS, and Ultra 105 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 54.2% reduction, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (67.6 FPS).

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but steps down. Low yields 159.5 FPS, Medium 109.8 FPS, High 93.5 FPS, and Ultra 75.8 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 52.5%, slightly less severe than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a factor.

At 3840x2160, the results show the GPU's limits. Low produces 93.9 FPS, Medium 67.6 FPS, High 56.8 FPS, and Ultra 45.7 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra is 51.3%. Notably, the gap between Medium and High at 4K is 10.8 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 11.1 FPS, showing consistent scaling.

Across all resolutions, the delta between Low and Medium is consistently the largest single-setting jump, suggesting that the Medium preset includes significant visual enhancements that cost performance. The Ultra preset at every resolution delivers the lowest frame rate, but at 1080p it still clears 100 FPS, making it viable for competitive play. At 1440p, Ultra's 75.8 FPS remains playable, while at 4K, Ultra's 45.7 FPS is the only result below 50 FPS in the entire measured set.