High On Life

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a stark picture in High On Life: this is a combo that is almost entirely GPU-limited at every resolution tested. The data shows a linear and predictable collapse in frame rates as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a graphics card that has hit its ceiling. At 1080p Low, the combo produces a playable 78 FPS average, but this quickly erodes to 50 FPS at High settings. Moving to 1440p drops the High preset average to 35 FPS, and at 4K, the system struggles to maintain 30 FPS on any preset, with the Ultra preset bottoming out at just 16 FPS. The scaling pattern is consistent: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and shading power are the primary constraints, not the CPU's ability to feed the renderer.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from 1080p to 4K is a textbook example of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 78 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combo. Dropping down to 2560x1440 Low yields 55 FPS, a 29.5% reduction, and at 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 33 FPS, which is 57.7% below the 1080p Low figure. This is not a CPU bottleneck; the i5-12400F with its 6 cores and 12 threads is more than capable of driving high frame rates in this title, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and the Cinebench R23 single-core result of 1680.

The scaling on the High preset is even more revealing. At 1080p High, the average is 50 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 35 FPS (a 30% loss), and at 4K High, it falls to 21 FPS (a 58% loss from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the most severe degradation: 38 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. The consistent percentage drops between resolutions indicate that the Arc B390's fixed-function units—the 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs—are being saturated. The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in this game, regardless of the preset. The limiting component is definitively the GPU, as the CPU's performance headroom is not being taxed.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position in the database is grim. It ranks 2608 out of 2958 tested combos for High On Life, placing it in the bottom 11.8% of all systems measured. This is a poor showing, and it aligns directly with the GPU's individual percentile. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, meaning 91% of graphics cards tested are faster. The CPU, by contrast, is at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, showing that the processor is not the weak link in this pairing.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database are all legacy or entry-level parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% faster), GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% faster), and GeForce GT 710 (2.7% faster). These are not modern gaming GPUs; they are fundamentally low-end parts from a different era. The fact that the Arc B390 benchmarks just slightly above these parts in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test (score of 1482) confirms its position at the absolute bottom of the performance stack. This combo's rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations, not a mismatch between CPU and GPU. The i5-12400F is a competent mid-range processor; it is being held back by a GPU that is not designed for demanding FPS titles like High On Life at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is a mobile-part-turned-IGP with specifications that explain its poor showing. It is built on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip) and has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The memory is "System Shared" with a bus width that is also "System Shared," and the bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent." This is the critical flaw: the GPU has no dedicated VRAM and relies on system memory, which introduces latency and bandwidth constraints that are catastrophic for a game like High On Life that requires frequent texture and geometry access.

The clocks are a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz. While the boost clock is reasonable, the 80 W TDP for the entire IGP is a hard cap on sustained performance. The FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, which sounds competent on paper, but the memory architecture negates this. The benchmark data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the same performance tier as GPUs that were low-end over a decade ago. The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s is insufficient for 4K, and the texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s is similarly limited. For High On Life, the GPU's lack of dedicated VRAM is likely the primary reason for the severe frame rate drops at 1440p and 4K, as the system memory bus becomes a bottleneck. The 12 RT cores are irrelevant here, as the game's rasterization demands alone overwhelm the GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run High On Life at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured 1080p results show 78 FPS on Low, 61 FPS on Medium, 50 FPS on High, and 38 FPS on Ultra. For a smooth experience, the Low or Medium presets are necessary, as the High preset's 50 FPS average may feel inconsistent.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in High On Life?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo achieves a consistently playable frame rate. At 2560x1440, the best average is 55 FPS on Low, but the High preset drops to 35 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, no preset exceeds 33 FPS.

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

A: The GPU's benchmark score is nearly identical to several legacy NVIDIA parts. The GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% faster, the GeForce 800M is 1.5% faster, the GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% faster, and the GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% faster. This places the Arc B390 at the very bottom of the GPU performance hierarchy.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F the bottleneck?

A: No. The CPU ranks at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, with strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1680) and multi-thread capability (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380). The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is purely GPU-bound, as the CPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: What is the expected performance at 4K Ultra?

A: The data shows an average of 16 FPS at 4K Ultra. This is unplayable. The combo is not capable of handling this game at 4K at any setting, with the highest 4K average being 33 FPS on Low.

Q: Does the combo have a chance of hitting 60 FPS at any settings?

A: No. The maximum measured average FPS is 78 at 1080p Low. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 61 FPS, which is just above 60. However, this is the only setting combination that approaches 60 FPS, and it is at the lowest resolution with a mid-tier preset. There is no 1440p or 4K setting that reaches 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The data is clear: the only viable way to play High On Life with this combo is at 1080p with the Low or Medium preset. The Low preset yields 78 FPS, which is the smoothest experience available. The Medium preset produces 61 FPS, which is still playable and offers better visual quality, but it comes with a 21.8% performance penalty compared to Low. The High preset at 1080p drops to 50 FPS, which is a significant downgrade in smoothness, and the Ultra preset at 38 FPS is not recommended for a game that benefits from responsive controls.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 43 FPS, but this is a substantial drop from the 1080p Medium result of 61 FPS. Given the GPU's limitations, 1440p is only viable on Low (55 FPS), and even then, the experience is marginal. The 4K resolution is effectively a non-starter for this combo. The Low preset at 4K provides 33 FPS, and the Medium preset provides 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS, which will cause noticeable stutter. The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p Medium, as it balances visual fidelity with a playable 61 FPS average. If a higher frame rate is prioritized, 1080p Low is the only setting that provides comfortable headroom above 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 18 MB of shared L3 cache. In the context of High On Life, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the benchmark data suggests it performs this task admirably. The CPU's 3DMark scores are 909 for single-thread and 5912 for max threads, indicating a balanced design. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 is strong for a 6-core part, and the single-core score of 1680 is above average.

However, the CPU's performance is entirely wasted in this pairing. The frame rate data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution. At 1080p Low, the system produces 78 FPS, but this is not limited by the CPU; it is limited by the GPU's ability to render frames. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see similar frame rates across different resolutions, as the CPU would be unable to produce more frames regardless of resolution. Instead, the data shows a clear resolution-dependent decline, which confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's percentile rank of 73rd versus the GPU's 9th percentile underscores the mismatch. The i5-12400F is a capable gaming CPU that would perform well with a significantly faster GPU, but with the Arc B390, it is left waiting for the GPU to catch up. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes are irrelevant to the outcome; the bottleneck is purely on the graphics side.