Minecraft: Java Edition

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip carries 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. Its single-thread performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong: the Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2249, while the 3DMark single-thread test returns 910 points. Multi-threaded results are equally relevant: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 15935, and 3DMark max-threads scores 5890.

In Minecraft: Java Edition, the CPU's role is substantial because the game's world generation, entity logic, and chunk updates are heavily single-threaded. The i5-12400's single-core boost of 4.40 GHz and its 2249 Cinebench R23 single-core score directly feed into how quickly the game can process these tasks. The 6 physical cores with 12 threads also help with background simulation and rendering overhead, but the data shows that single-thread capability is the primary driver of frame pacing in this title.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the i5-12400 sits within a tight band. Its average benchmark score of 19850 is 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.4% above the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771). It trails the Intel Core i7-8700 by 0.2% (19894) and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX by 0.4% (19928). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the i5-12400's CPU performance is essentially on par with those four chips. The percentileVsAllCpus of 77 indicates it outperforms 77% of all CPUs in the database, placing it in the upper quartile but not the extreme high end.

The 18 MB shared L3 cache is notable for Minecraft, as the game frequently re-reads block and entity data. Larger cache helps reduce memory latency, which can smooth out frame time spikes. The dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 gives flexibility, though the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used in the measured FPS runs. The lack of an unlocked multiplier means overclocking is not an option, but the stock clocks are sufficient to drive high frame rates as the measured data demonstrates.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It packs 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, along with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The boost clock runs at 2550 MHz, and the memory operates at an effective 23 Gbps. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory sits on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This is a high-end GPU, as its percentileVsAllGpus of 88 indicates it outperforms 88% of all GPUs in the database.

For Minecraft: Java Edition, the GPU's role is primarily to render the scene at high resolutions and with advanced graphics settings. The 16 GB VRAM is far more than the game needs, even at 4K with high-resolution texture packs, so memory capacity is unlikely to be a bottleneck. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth and 2550 MHz boost clock ensure that texture fetching and fragment shading proceed at high speed. The GPU's average benchmark score of 53610 places it 0.2% above the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 0.4% above the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414). It leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 2.1% (52505) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 2.9% (52086).

In the measured FPS data, the RTX 4080 SUPER shows its strength at lower resolutions where the CPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS reaches 648.2, which is far beyond any monitor's refresh rate. The GPU's raw compute power (52.22 TFLOPS FP32) is more than sufficient for Minecraft's relatively simple shaders, so the primary constraint at 1080p is the CPU's single-thread performance. At 4K Ultra, however, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck, with average FPS dropping to 104.6. This pattern is classic for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU in a CPU-bound game.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 648.2. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 507.9, a reduction of 21.6%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 265.3, which is 59.1% below the 1080p Low figure. This steep decline at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as doubling the pixel count from 1440p to 4K roughly doubles the rendering load.

For High settings, the progression is similar but with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 505.6. At 1440p High, it drops to 320, a 36.7% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 169.7, which is 66.4% below the 1080p High figure. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is larger for High settings (36.7%) than for Low settings (21.6%), suggesting that the GPU is doing more work per pixel at higher settings, which amplifies the resolution penalty.

The Medium and Ultra settings show the same trend. At 1080p Medium, the average is 598, dropping to 404 at 1440p (32.4% lower) and 213.8 at 4K (64.2% lower). At 1080p Ultra, the average is 317.4, falling to 203.2 at 1440p (36.0% lower) and 104.6 at 4K (67.0% lower). The consistent pattern across all settings — where the 1080p-to-1440p drop is in the 21-37% range and the 1080p-to-4K drop is in the 59-67% range — indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K.

The fact that 1080p Low achieves 648.2 FPS while 4K Ultra achieves 104.6 FPS — a 6.2x reduction — further confirms that the GPU's rendering throughput is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance caps the frame rate, as evidenced by the relatively small gap between Low (648.2) and Medium (598) settings. The CPU simply cannot feed frames to the GPU fast enough at that resolution. At 4K, the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity become the constraint, which is why the FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 136th out of 1727 tested combos in Minecraft: Java Edition. This places it in the top 7.9% of all combinations in the database, which is a strong showing given that the CPU is a mid-range part. The rank reflects the game's sensitivity to both CPU single-thread performance and GPU rendering capability.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 77 and the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 88 both contribute to this high ranking. However, the combo rank of 136 out of 1727 suggests that the pairing is well-balanced for this specific game. The i5-12400's single-thread score of 2249 in Cinebench R23 is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 SUPER at most settings, except at 1080p Low where the CPU limits FPS to 648.2. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking ensures that at 4K, the combo still delivers playable frame rates even at Ultra settings.

The deltaPct values from the nearest rivals provide context for how close the CPU and GPU are to their competitors. The CPU is within 0.4% of its nearest rivals, meaning any of those four CPUs would produce nearly identical results. The GPU is within 2.9% of its nearest rivals, with the RTX 5070 Ti trailing by 2.9% and the RX 7700S trailing by 2.1%. This tight clustering means the combo's rank of 136 is more sensitive to the game's specific engine behavior than to small hardware differences.

Given that the data is measured (dataIsMeasured: true), the rank of 136 out of 1727 is a reliable indicator of real-world performance. The combo outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations, and only 135 combinations achieve higher average FPS in this game. This places the i5-12400 + RTX 4080 SUPER in the upper echelon of tested hardware for Minecraft, even though neither component is the absolute fastest in its class.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings is as follows: Low settings produce 648.2 FPS, Medium settings produce 598 FPS, High settings produce 505.6 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 317.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is only 50 FPS (7.7% difference), indicating that the CPU is the limiting factor at these lower settings. The jump from High to Ultra is more significant, with a 188.2 FPS drop (37.2% lower), showing that Ultra settings impose a substantial GPU load even at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are: Low at 507.9, Medium at 404, High at 320, and Ultra at 203.2. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: Low drops by 140.3 FPS (21.6%), Medium drops by 194 FPS (32.4%), High drops by 185.6 FPS (36.7%), and Ultra drops by 114.2 FPS (36.0%). The similar percentage drops for Medium, High, and Ultra suggest that the GPU is handling the extra pixels uniformly, while Low's smaller drop indicates that the CPU is still partially constraining performance.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 265.3, Medium at 213.8, High at 169.7, and Ultra at 104.6. The drop from 1440p to 4K is significant across all settings: Low falls by 242.6 FPS (47.8%), Medium by 190.2 FPS (47.1%), High by 150.3 FPS (47.0%), and Ultra by 98.6 FPS (48.5%). The near-uniform 47-49% reduction across all settings at 4K confirms that the GPU is the sole bottleneck at this resolution, as the CPU's frame generation capacity is no longer the limiting factor.

The highest measured FPS in the entire dataset is 648.2 at 1080p Low, while the lowest is 104.6 at 4K Ultra. The ratio between these extremes is 6.2x. At any given resolution, Ultra settings consistently produce the lowest FPS, with 4K Ultra at 104.6 being the only configuration that dips below 200 FPS. All other configurations exceed 169.7 FPS, meaning the combo delivers smooth gameplay in virtually every scenario. The data shows that for competitive play at high refresh rates, 1080p with Low or Medium settings is optimal, while for visual fidelity, 4K with High settings (169.7 FPS) provides a better balance than Ultra (104.6 FPS).

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minecraft: Java Edition?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 648.2, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: At what resolution and settings does the combo drop below 120 FPS?

A: Only one configuration falls below 120 FPS: 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which produces an average of 104.6 FPS. All other settings and resolutions stay above 169.7 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249. Its average benchmark score of 19850 is 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-9700, 0.4% above the Intel Core i5-11600K, and 0.2% below the Intel Core i7-8700.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how does it affect performance?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for Minecraft's texture demands, and the data shows no memory-related bottlenecks even at 4K Ultra.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested hardware combinations?

A: The combo ranks 136th out of 1727 tested combinations in Minecraft: Java Edition, placing it in the top 7.9% of all configurations.

Q: Which is the limiting component at 1080p Low settings?

A: The CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as evidenced by the 648.2 FPS cap. The GPU's rendering capability exceeds what the CPU can feed at that resolution, which is why the FPS does not increase further with lower settings.