Fortnite

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the Intel Arc B580 lands at rank 1203 out of 1564 tested combinations for Fortnite. That places it in the lower third of all combos, which might surprise given the hardware's individual merits. The data suggests this pairing is not optimized for Fortnite's specific demands, despite the CPU and GPU each holding respectable positions in their own benchmark hierarchies.

Looking at the CPU, the i5-12400 sits at the 77th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 19850. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the Intel Core i7-9700 scores 19831 (a mere 0.1% behind), the Intel Core i7-8700 scores 19894 (0.2% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX scores 19928 (0.4% ahead). The i5-11600K trails at 19771, putting the 12400 just 0.4% ahead. This clustering indicates the CPU is competitive but not exceptional.

The GPU side tells a similar story. The Arc B580 holds the 66th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon 760M at 22999 (0.1% behind), followed by the NVIDIA P106-100 at 22950 (0.3% behind). Interestingly, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 scores 23181, placing it 0.7% ahead, while the RTX 4060 Mobile sits at 22729, meaning the B580 leads it by 1.3%. The B580 is competitive with mainstream options, yet the combo ranking reveals something else is limiting Fortnite performance.

The combination rank of 1203/1564 suggests that while both components are individually capable, their interaction in Fortnite produces results below what their separate benchmarks would predict. This could stem from driver overhead, engine-specific scaling, or the game's preference for certain hardware architectures. The measured FPS data will clarify where the bottleneck manifests.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p compared to higher resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves 199.3 FPS on Low settings, dropping to 143 FPS on Medium, 107.4 FPS on High, and 71.4 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 127.9 FPS, indicating the GPU is heavily utilized at lower settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in Fortnite?

A: The data shows the CPU has a passmark multi-thread score of 18747 and single-thread score of 3456, while the GPU's passmark G3D score is 15748. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 199.3 FPS, which is close to typical high-refresh targets, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower settings, but at 4K Ultra the FPS collapses to 21.4, indicating GPU limits become dominant.

Q: What is the best settings preset for competitive play?

A: The 1080p Low preset delivers 199.3 FPS, which is the highest measured across all resolutions and settings. This provides the smoothest experience for fast-paced gameplay, though the Medium preset at 143 FPS offers a balance between visual quality and performance.

Q: How does the combo's Ultrawide performance compare to 4K?

A: At 1440p, the combo reaches 123.4 FPS on Low, 91 FPS on Medium, 71.5 FPS on High, and 48 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results are significantly lower: 69 FPS on Low, 45 FPS on Medium, 34.2 FPS on High, and 21.4 FPS on Ultra, showing a steep drop as resolution increases.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity affect Fortnite performance?

A: The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth. Fortnite's measured results show the GPU handles 1080p Ultra at 71.4 FPS, suggesting the memory configuration is sufficient for this title at mainstream resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank relative to other tested systems?

A: With a rank of 1203 out of 1564 combos, the system falls in the lower 23% of tested configurations for Fortnite. This is despite the CPU being at the 77th percentile and GPU at the 66th percentile, indicating poor game-specific optimization.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy of performance across presets. For players prioritizing frame rate, the 1080p Low preset at 199.3 FPS is the standout choice, offering the highest measured average. This is closely followed by 1440p Low at 123.4 FPS, which remains above the 120 FPS threshold that many competitive players target.

The Medium preset provides a compelling middle ground. At 1080p, it delivers 143 FPS, which is a 28.3% reduction from Low but still comfortably above 120 FPS. At 1440p, Medium drops to 91 FPS, which is playable but less ideal for high-refresh displays. The High preset at 1080p yields 107.4 FPS, just below the 120 FPS mark, while 1440p High falls to 71.5 FPS.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 1080p producing 71.4 FPS, 1440p dropping to 48 FPS, and 4K collapsing to 21.4 FPS. These figures suggest Ultra is only viable at 1080p for players willing to accept sub-75 FPS, and the preset should be avoided at higher resolutions.

Based on the data, the optimal experience balances visual fidelity with responsiveness. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 143 FPS, which is a 39.2% improvement over High while still providing enhanced visuals compared to Low. For players with 1440p monitors, the Low preset at 123.4 FPS is the only measured option that exceeds 120 FPS, making it the recommended choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its strongest performance. Low settings produce 199.3 FPS, which drops to 143 FPS on Medium, 107.4 FPS on High, and 71.4 FPS on Ultra. The progression shows a 56.3 FPS decrease from Low to Medium, a 35.6 FPS decrease from Medium to High, and a 36 FPS decrease from High to Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers decline substantially. Low settings yield 123.4 FPS, Medium produces 91 FPS, High reaches 71.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is 75.9 FPS, representing a 38.1% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is 23.4 FPS, a 32.8% reduction.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low settings achieve 69 FPS, Medium drops to 45 FPS, High falls to 34.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.4 FPS. The 4K Low figure is barely above the 60 FPS threshold, while all other presets fail to reach playable levels for most users.

The data reveals that the combo's sweet spot is 1080p, where even Ultra maintains 71.4 FPS. The 1440p results are usable but require Low settings for smooth gameplay. The 4K results are largely unsuitable for Fortnite, with only the Low preset approaching playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the underlying bottleneck. At Low settings, performance declines from 199.3 FPS at 1080p to 123.4 FPS at 1440p (a 38.1% reduction) and then to 69 FPS at 4K (a 44.1% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 130.3 FPS, or 65.4% of the original frame rate.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more severe. The combo produces 71.4 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p (a 32.8% drop), and 21.4 FPS at 4K (a 55.4% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 50 FPS, or 70% of the original performance.

This scaling pattern indicates the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution increases. The Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS compute and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain frame rates at higher pixel counts, particularly with more demanding presets. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads at up to 4.40 GHz boost clock appear adequate for Fortnite's engine at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep pace as pixel workload grows.

The fact that 1080p Low achieves nearly 200 FPS while 4K Low only reaches 69 FPS suggests the GPU is saturated by the increased resolution, not the CPU. This is consistent with Fortnite being a GPU-bound title at higher resolutions, where the B580's 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs struggle to fill the larger frame buffer.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture on Intel's 10 nm process provides a 3dmark single-thread score of 910 and a multi-thread score of 5890. In Cinebench R23, the CPU achieves 2249 single-core and 15935 multi-core.

In Fortnite, the CPU appears sufficient for the workload at 1080p, where Low settings hit 199.3 FPS. This suggests the game engine can leverage the 12 threads effectively. However, the combo's rank of 1203/1564 indicates the CPU may not be optimally paired with this GPU for this title, as other configurations with similar CPU scores perform better.

The CPU's nearest rivals show how close the performance margins are. The i7-9700 at 0.1% behind and i7-8700 at 0.2% ahead demonstrate that the 12400 is in a tight cluster of mid-range processors. The fact that these CPUs achieve similar benchmark scores but potentially different Fortnite results points to game-specific optimizations or thermal/power characteristics that the raw benchmarks don't capture.

The 65W TDP and dual-channel memory support (DDR4, DDR5) position the CPU as an efficient choice, but the measured FPS data shows it doesn't translate to top-tier Fortnite performance. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient data bandwidth, yet the game's results suggest the CPU is not the primary driver of the combo's mid-pack ranking.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation), is built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors. It features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 20 ray tracing cores. The GPU runs at a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, delivering 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for mainstream gaming. However, the measured Fortnite results show the GPU struggling at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo only achieves 21.4 FPS, indicating the GPU is severely limited by the pixel workload.

The GPU's passmark G3D score of 15748 places it at the 66th percentile, with the RTX 4060 just 0.7% ahead. Despite this competitive standing, the Fortnite results reveal that the B580's architecture may not be fully optimized for this game. The 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3068 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 109672 suggest the GPU is capable in synthetic tests, but real-world Fortnite performance lags.

The 190W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are reasonable for the performance class, but the data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 1440p and 4K. The 1080p Low result of 199.3 FPS indicates the GPU can deliver high frame rates when the pixel count is manageable, but the steep scaling to 69 FPS at 4K Low highlights its limitations in demanding scenarios.

The B580's nearest rivals show it is competitive with the RTX 4060 (0.7% behind) and RTX 4060 Mobile (1.3% ahead), yet the Fortnite combo ranking suggests the GPU's driver maturity or game-specific optimization may be holding back overall performance at this resolution range.