Grand Theft Auto V

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the Intel Arc B390 lands at rank 2604 out of 2954 tested combinations in Grand Theft Auto V, placing it in the lower 12th percentile of all tested systems. This is a decisive indicator that the combo sits firmly in entry-level territory for this title, with the data showing consistent performance limitations across all tested settings and resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2604 out of 2954 places it far behind the median tested system, with the vast majority of other configurations delivering higher average frame rates. The Intel Arc B390’s individual percentile of 9 among all GPUs provides the clearest explanation: this graphics processor is positioned near the very bottom of the performance hierarchy. When the GPU is the primary bottleneck, the entire combo inherits that limitation, and the measured FPS data confirms this pattern.

Looking at the GPU’s nearest rivals, the Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is just 1.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX’s 1463, and 2.7% above the GeForce GT 710’s 1443. These are extremely tight margins, meaning the Arc B390 is competing with legacy entry-level discrete GPUs from over a decade ago. The CPU, by contrast, is far more capable: the Core i3-12100F’s percentile of 68 among all CPUs places it in the upper third, and its average benchmark score of 13494 is nearly identical to the Intel Core 3 N355’s 13492 (0% delta) and just 0.3% above the Core i5-9500’s 13452. This creates a massive imbalance where the CPU has substantial headroom but the GPU cannot translate it into playable frame rates.

The practical consequence of this pairing is that the combo rank is dragged down almost entirely by the GPU. The CPU’s benchmark scores suggest it could support far higher frame rates in CPU-light scenarios, but Grand Theft Auto V’s rendering demands at even moderate settings overwhelm the Arc B390. The data shows that no tested configuration of this combo achieves a 60 FPS average at any resolution, which reinforces the rank’s message: this is a combination for very low expectations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from Intel’s Core 12th Gen family, built on the Alder Lake architecture at a 10 nm process node. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz can boost up to 4.30 GHz, and it carries 12 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks show a well-rounded performer: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 11860, Geekbench multicore hits 7252, and PassMark multithread scores 14015. Single-thread performance is respectable at 1674 in Cinebench R23 and 1932 in Geekbench, which matters for a game like Grand Theft Auto V that relies heavily on a few primary threads.

However, the measured FPS data reveals that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor in this combo. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS is 80, which is the highest score across all tests. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to stay relatively flat as resolution increases, but the data shows a steep decline: 80 FPS at 1080p Low drops to 54 FPS at 1440p Low and then to 31 FPS at 4K Low. This scaling pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior. The CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads are sufficient to feed the Arc B390 at lower resolutions, but as pixel count rises, the GPU’s work per frame increases far faster than the CPU’s workload, exposing the GPU’s severe weakness.

The CPU’s 3DMark scores provide additional context. The 4-thread score of 2859 is close to the 8-thread score of 4026, and the 16-thread score of 4051 is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 4023. This indicates that the processor’s performance scales well up to its physical core count and then plateaus, which is typical for a 4-core part. For Grand Theft Auto V, which typically uses fewer than 8 threads effectively, the i3-12100F’s single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and 1674 in Cinebench R23 suggest it can handle the game’s main simulation thread without issue. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Grand Theft Auto V?

A: The highest average FPS is 80, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only tested configuration that exceeds 70 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX’s 1463, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M’s 1460, and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710’s 1443. These deltas are minimal, placing the Arc B390 in the same performance tier as those legacy parts.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this combo?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. Evidence comes from the FPS scaling: dropping resolution from 4K to 1080p at Low settings increases average FPS from 31 to 80, a 158% gain. If the CPU were the limit, this improvement would be far smaller.

Q: Can this combo run Grand Theft Auto V at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not at playable frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 15, and at 4K High it is 21. Even at 4K Low, the average is only 31 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target most players expect.

Q: How does the Core i3-12100F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i3-12100F’s average benchmark score of 13494 is 0% different from the Intel Core 3 N355’s 13492, 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-9500’s 13452, and 1.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-1250U’s 13351. It also trails the Intel Core 5 120UL’s 13594 by 0.7%.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank among tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2604 out of 2954 tested combinations in Grand Theft Auto V, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems. Its GPU percentile of 9 is the primary driver of this low ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the results are: Low averages 80 FPS, Medium averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 80, High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. This shows a clear downward trend as settings increase, with a 41 FPS gap between Low and Ultra.

Moving to 1440p, the averages drop substantially: Low averages 54 FPS, Medium averages 47 FPS (minimum 40, maximum 54), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 27 FPS, but the overall performance is firmly in the 30-50 FPS range for most presets. At 4K, the numbers become marginal: Low averages 31 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS (minimum 23, maximum 31), High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. No 4K preset reaches even 40 FPS average.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones that include minimum and maximum FPS values, providing additional insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 59 FPS is close to the average of 70, suggesting relatively stable performance. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 40 FPS against a 47 average indicates more variance. At 4K Medium, the minimum of 23 FPS with a 27 average shows the GPU struggling to maintain consistent frame delivery. These ranges suggest that the Arc B390’s performance becomes less stable as resolution increases, likely due to memory bandwidth constraints.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 80 at 1080p to 54 at 1440p (a 32.5% reduction) and then to 31 at 4K (a 42.6% reduction from 1440p). At High settings, the drop is from 55 at 1080p to 37 at 1440p (32.7% reduction) and then to 21 at 4K (43.2% reduction). The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 39 at 1080p, 27 at 1440p (30.8% reduction), and 15 at 4K (44.4% reduction).

This scaling behavior is a textbook indicator of a GPU-bound system. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively constant across resolutions, because the CPU’s workload (draw calls, physics, AI) does not increase proportionally with pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly one-third when moving from 1080p to 1440p and then by another 40% when moving to 4K. This aligns closely with the pixel count increase: 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p.

The Arc B390’s memory configuration, listed as "System Shared" with "System Dependent" bandwidth, explains why resolution scaling is so punishing. The GPU has no dedicated VRAM, so it relies on system memory bandwidth, which is shared with the CPU and can become a severe bottleneck at high resolutions. The data indicates that even at 1080p Ultra, the GPU is already struggling (39 average FPS), and the additional pixel load at 1440p and 4K pushes it to the point of unplayability. The CPU’s performance headroom is irrelevant because the GPU cannot accept more frames to render.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience this combo can offer is at 1080p Low settings, where the average FPS of 80 provides smooth, responsive gameplay. The 1080p Medium preset, with an average of 70 FPS and a minimum of 59, is also viable for players who want slightly better visual quality while staying above 60 FPS. Any settings above Medium at 1080p will result in average frame rates below 60, with Ultra dropping to 39 FPS.

At 1440p, the recommendation is strictly Low settings, which averages 54 FPS. This is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action, and the Medium preset at 47 FPS (with a 40 FPS minimum) may cause noticeable stutter in demanding scenes. At 4K, no settings preset is truly playable: even Low averages only 31 FPS, and the minimum for Medium is 23 FPS. Players should avoid 4K entirely with this combo unless they accept significant compromises in frame smoothness.

The data suggests that the optimal configuration is 1080p Medium if visual fidelity is a priority, as the 70 FPS average with a 59 FPS minimum keeps the experience within a reasonable range. For competitive play or maximum smoothness, 1080p Low is the safest choice. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 10 FPS (80 vs. 70), which is a modest trade-off for improved graphics. However, the jump to High costs another 15 FPS (down to 55), making it a poor value in terms of performance per visual gain.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process node with the Panther Lake chip. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s.

The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from the early 2010s. The GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% lower), the GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% lower), the GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% lower), and the GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% lower). This puts the Arc B390 in the company of GPUs that were entry-level a decade ago, and the measured FPS in Grand Theft Auto V reflects that positioning.

Crucially, the Arc B390 has "System Shared" memory with no dedicated VRAM. Its memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning performance relies entirely on the system’s RAM and memory controller. This is a significant disadvantage for a game like Grand Theft Auto V, which benefits from fast, dedicated video memory. The GPU’s TDP of 80 W and IGP slot width indicate it is designed for integrated use, likely in a portable or low-power device, rather than as a discrete gaming solution. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, the GPU is working near its limits, and the 4K results (15-31 FPS) are consistent with a part that lacks the raw throughput and memory bandwidth for high-resolution gaming.