Fortnite

# Fortnite with Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

This combination pairs a 4-core, 8-thread Alder Lake processor with an Ada Lovelace GPU featuring 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 192-bit bus. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that scales predictably, with the RTX 4070 SUPER's 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost clocks driving most of the headline numbers, while the i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost becomes a factor only at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but consistent with a GPU-bound workload at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, 1080p delivers 374.6 FPS, which falls to 239 FPS at 1440p (a 36.2% reduction) and then to 123.6 FPS at 4K (a 48.3% drop from 1440p). This pattern—roughly halving each step up in resolution—indicates the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s) are the limiting factors once pixel count rises, not the CPU.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 206 FPS at 1080p, 130.5 FPS at 1440p (a 36.7% drop), and 67.2 FPS at 4K (a 48.5% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets suggests the rendering pipeline is uniformly stressed by resolution, regardless of quality level. However, at Ultra settings, the 4K result of 47.3 FPS is less than half of the 1440p figure of 88.8 FPS, hinting that Ultra's additional effects compound the resolution penalty.

The data implies that at 1080p, the i3-12100F's 4 cores are likely the bottleneck, especially at Low settings where 374.6 FPS approaches the CPU's practical limit for game logic and draw calls. At 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER's 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput becomes the clear constraint, as even Low settings only reach 123.6 FPS—a figure that reflects pixel throughput more than CPU capability.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The maximum measured average is 374.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p Low result of 374.6 FPS is 327.3 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result of 47.3 FPS, representing roughly a 7.9x difference in frame rate.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM limit performance in Fortnite?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related stutters or min-FPS anomalies (all min and max FPS fields are null), and the 12 GB capacity is never exceeded at any tested setting, so memory size is not a limiting factor here.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The i3-12100F ranks in the 72nd percentile, with an average benchmark score of 13516, placing it slightly below the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, -0.1%) and above the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462, +0.4%).

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 42576 is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653) and 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723).

Q: Is the combo rank in the top quarter of tested systems?

A: Yes, with a rank of 242 out of 1564 combos, this system sits in the top 15.5% of all tested configurations for Fortnite.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications align with the measured FPS patterns. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for Fortnite's art style but not excessive—the game's vibrant, low-poly aesthetic doesn't demand the texture loads of more photorealistic titles. The 7168 shading units and 224 TMUs process the game's geometry and effects efficiently, as evidenced by the 4K High result of 67.2 FPS staying above playable thresholds.

Clock speeds tell a story of boost behavior: the 1980 MHz base clock jumps to 2475 MHz under load, and this 25% headroom helps maintain frame rates across presets. The 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the theoretical ceiling, and the measured results suggest Fortnite doesn't fully saturate it—even at 4K Ultra, the bottleneck is more likely the 56 RT cores or 80 ROPs handling post-processing. The GPU's 84th percentile ranking (average score 42576) confirms it's a high-tier part, though its nearest rival, the RTX A6000, scores nearly identically at 42653 (-0.2%), indicating that Fortnite's workload doesn't differentiate between these two cards.

The 220 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU are not performance factors in the data, but the 1x 16-pin power connector and dual-slot design are physical constraints. The GPU's end-of-life production status and 2024-01-07 release date suggest it's a mature product, and the measured FPS numbers reflect a stable, well-optimized driver stack.

Settings Recommendations

The data reveals a clear sweet spot at Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 264.3 FPS—a 29.7% reduction from Low's 374.6 FPS but a 28.1% improvement over High's 206 FPS. The jump from Medium to Ultra at 1080p costs 126.2 FPS (a 47.8% drop), which is a steep penalty for marginal visual gains. At 1440p, Medium's 169.5 FPS is only 29.0% below Low's 239 FPS but 30.0% above High's 130.5 FPS, making it the best balance of fluidity and fidelity.

At 4K, Medium's 91.9 FPS is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably; High's 67.2 FPS is playable but not ideal, while Low's 123.6 FPS sacrifices too much quality for a screen size where details matter. Ultra at 4K (47.3 FPS) is the only setting that dips below 60 FPS, and the data suggests avoiding it unless visual fidelity takes precedence over smoothness. For competitive play, 1080p Low's 374.6 FPS is the clear choice, but for most users, Medium at any resolution offers the best experience per the measured rows.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range shows a wide spread: Low hits 374.6 FPS, Medium 264.3 FPS, High 206 FPS, and Ultra 138.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 236.5 FPS, indicating that Fortnite's low-end settings dramatically reduce GPU load, likely by disabling shadows and post-processing. The 1080p results are consistently the highest in the dataset, confirming that this resolution is where the RTX 4070 SUPER's raw power shines.

At 2560x1440, the numbers compress: Low 239 FPS, Medium 169.5 FPS, High 130.5 FPS, and Ultra 88.8 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 150.2 FPS, a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p but a similar relative pattern. The 1440p results suggest the GPU is still the primary driver, as the CPU's 4 cores aren't yet saturated at these frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 123.6 FPS, Medium 91.9 FPS, High 67.2 FPS, and Ultra 47.3 FPS. The 4K data shows the most dramatic per-preset drops, with Ultra falling below the 60 FPS mark. The step from Low to Medium at 4K (31.7 FPS) is the smallest absolute gap across all resolutions, implying that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a hard limit at this pixel count, regardless of quality settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a 3.30 GHz base clock and 4.30 GHz boost clock, built on Intel's 10 nm Alder Lake-S architecture. Its 12 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provide adequate data flow for Fortnite, which is not a heavily threaded title. The CPU's benchmark scores—Cinebench R23 multicore 11912 and single-core 1681—place it in the 72nd percentile, with an average score of 13516, nearly matching the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, -0.1%).

In Fortnite, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where 374.6 FPS likely approaches the limit of what 4 cores can feed to the GPU. The 8-thread count helps maintain consistency, but the single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread 3444) is what drives the game's main loop. The data shows that at 1080p, dropping from Low to Medium only reduces FPS by 110.3 FPS, while at 4K, the same settings change costs just 31.7 FPS—this asymmetry suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at low resolution, while the GPU takes over at high resolution.

The CPU's 58 W TDP and 163 mm² die size indicate modest power requirements, but its lack of an unlocked multiplier and the absence of integrated graphics are notable for a budget-oriented part. The launch MSRP of $97 is a single data point, not a performance metric, and the benchmark results show the i3-12100F holding its own against much more expensive processors in this game's context.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 242nd out of 1,564 tested combos for Fortnite, placing it in the top 15.5% of all configurations. This is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU, and it reflects the game's scaling behavior. The rank suggests that most of the 1,322 combos above it use more powerful CPUs, which would only matter at 1080p Low where the i3-12100F's 4 cores might cap performance. At 1440p and 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER's 84th percentile GPU score (average 42576) is the primary driver, and the combo's rank indicates that the GPU is well-utilized.

The nearest rival comparisons are instructive: the GPU's avgBenchmarkScore of 42576 is within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723) and 1.6% above the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897), yet the combo rank shows that Fortnite-specific optimization matters more than raw benchmark scores. Similarly, the CPU's avgScore of 13516 is 1.8% above the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280), but the 4-core/8-thread design of both parts means they'd likely perform similarly in this game. The rank of 242 out of 1564 (top 15.5%) reflects the RTX 4070 SUPER's capability, and it suggests that users seeking higher rankings would need to upgrade the CPU to eliminate the 1080p bottleneck, though the gains would be marginal at higher resolutions.