Minecraft

Minecraft, with its blocky visuals and deceptively simple rendering, often behaves differently than traditional triple-A titles. This analysis looks at how the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination handles the game across various settings, using measured data to provide concrete guidance. The results show a system with extreme headroom at lower resolutions, but one that still needs careful settings management at the highest visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data tells a clear story about how this CPU and GPU combo scales from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 651. Moving to 1440p on the same Low preset gives 447 FPS, which is a drop of about 31%. Jumping to 4K at Low settings yields 234 FPS, a further 48% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep decline, even at Low settings where the GPU isn't heavily taxed, indicates that the game's render thread and CPU are not the primary bottlenecks at these high frame rates; the GPU still has to work harder to fill more pixels.

The pattern changes with the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra the average is 278, at 1440p Ultra it is 176, and at 4K Ultra it is 92. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 48%. These percentages are quite similar to the Low preset scaling. A game that is purely GPU-bound would typically show a sharper drop from 1080p to 1440p (a 78% pixel increase) than a CPU-bound title. The data suggests the i5-12400's six cores have enough power to feed the RTX 4070 SUPER at all but the most absurd frame rates, and the GPU is doing the heavy lifting.

The most telling data point is the Medium preset. At 1080p, the average is 561 FPS, at 1440p it is 354 FPS, and at 4K it is 185 FPS. The 4K Medium average of 185 FPS is nearly identical to the 4K High average of 147 FPS, but the 1440p Medium is 354 versus 1440p High's 281. This suggests that as resolution increases, the relative cost of High versus Medium shrinks, because the GPU is handling far more pixels and the difference in shading complexity becomes less dominant. The system is not hitting a hard wall at any resolution, but the performance curve is smooth and consistent.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER carries 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, giving it a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. For Minecraft, which generally does not require massive texture arrays, 12 GB is more than sufficient at any resolution. The data supports this: even at 4K Ultra, the average is 92 FPS, which would be significantly lower if the graphics card were running out of memory and spilling into system RAM.

The card's boost clock is 2475 MHz, and its base clock is 1980 MHz. With 7,168 shading units, the RTX 4070 SUPER has the raw compute to push out very high frame rates. The benchmark results at 1080p Low show an average of 651 FPS, which is a figure where the game engine's frame generation becomes the limiter. The card is not the constraint at these refresh rates; the CPU is. The i5-12400, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 18 MB of L3 cache, is fast enough to keep up, but the game's single-threaded nature often caps performance before the GPU can truly stretch its legs.

At 4K Ultra, the GPU's role is much more pronounced. The 92 FPS average is still playable, but the card is clearly working harder. The 12 GB of VRAM is not the issue; the chip's compute capability is the constraint. The RTX 4070 SUPER sits at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs in the database, and its PassMark G3D score of 29995 reflects its performance class. When the resolution climbs to 4K, the 4070 SUPER's 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient to keep the frame buffer fed, but the 92 FPS average shows that even this GPU faces a difficult task with Ultra settings at 4K. This is not a case of memory capacity limiting performance; it is the raw fill rate and shading rate that matter.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination holds the rank of 608 out of 3710 tested combos in Minecraft. This places it in the top 16 percent of all hardware configurations tested for this game. The rank is a combination of the CPU's ability to feed the GPU and the GPU's ability to render the blocks. The CPU is at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 83rd percentile, so the combo's rank is slightly lower than the GPU's percentile, which reflects that Minecraft is often CPU-limited.

The i5-12400's nearest rival in the database is the AMD EPYC 7643, with the Intel chip only 0.1% behind in average score. The i5-12400 also trades blows with the Intel Core i7-1355U (0.3% behind) and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (0.7% behind), while it beats the Intel Core i3-14100F by 0.9%. These are all very close margins, meaning the CPU is not a standout in its class, but it is solidly mid-pack. In contrast, the RTX 4070 SUPER's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, with the RTX 4070 SUPER just 0.1% behind. It also trails the RTX 5050 Mobile by 0.1% and the Quadro M6000 by 0.2%, and it is 1% behind the RTX 4090 Mobile.

For Minecraft specifically, this rank of 608 out of 3710 means that in the database, there are 607 other combinations that manage to outperform this one. The data suggests that this is a very capable pairing. The CPU is not holding the GPU back in most scenarios, and the GPU is not being overwhelmed by the load. It is a balanced combination, though the 4K Ultra result of 92 FPS shows that the system is not overkill for the most demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results across all settings are extremely high. The Low preset delivers a 651 FPS average. The Medium preset produces a 561 FPS average, with a minimum of 477 FPS and a maximum of 645 FPS. The High preset gives 445 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 278 FPS. In every case, these numbers are above the 144Hz refresh rate of most monitors, meaning the system is entirely overkill for 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains very strong. Low settings average 447 FPS. The Medium preset achieves a 354 FPS average, with a minimum of 301 FPS and a maximum of 407 FPS. High settings average 281 FPS. Ultra settings average 176 FPS. At 1440p, all settings remain well above 60 FPS, and even Ultra is extremely playable.

At 3840x2160, the performance starts to show some strain. Low settings average 234 FPS. Medium settings average 185 FPS, with a minimum of 157 FPS and a maximum of 213 FPS. High settings average 147 FPS. Ultra settings drop to an average of 92 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium settings maintain averages above 180 FPS, while High is still playable at 147 FPS, but Ultra is the only preset that dips near the 60 FPS threshold.

The Medium preset is the only one where the FPS has a recorded minimum and maximum. At 1080p, the range is 477 to 645 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 301 to 407 FPS. At 4K, the range is 157 to 213 FPS. This indicates that Medium settings produce the most variable frame times, which could be due to the way dynamic lighting and shadows are handled. The minimums are still high enough to avoid stutter, though.

Settings Recommendations

The most efficient setting for this combo appears to be High settings, especially at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p High, the average is 445 FPS, which is more than enough for any monitor. At 1440p High, the average is 381 FPS. These numbers show that High settings are not punishing the GPU too much, and the visual improvements over Low are substantial. The 1080p Ultra average of 278 FPS is still high, but the difference between High and Ultra is only a 37% reduction in FPS, while the visual difference might be minor in the game.

At 4K, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. The 185 FPS average at 4K Medium is a significant jump from the 147 FPS of High, and the minimum of 157 FPS ensures smooth play. The Medium preset also has a higher minimum than the High preset. The 4K Ultra is the only setting that seems to challenge the system, with a 92 FPS average. For players who want the best visual experience at 4K, Ultra is playable, but it does require a high-refresh monitor to be appreciated.

For a 60Hz display, the user can play at 4K Ultra without issue, since the average is 92 FPS. For a 144Hz display, 4K Medium is the best choice, since it averages 185 FPS. For 240Hz displays, 1440p Ultra offers 176 FPS, which is close to the refresh rate, but 1440p High is the sweet spot. The data shows that the system is capable of running the game at very high frame rates, but the settings should be chosen based on the monitor's capabilities.

The data shows a clear trend: the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, and the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p, even the Low preset's 651 FPS is likely CPU-limited, as the rendering engine's draw calls and game logic often become the bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU's 92 FPS at Ultra is definitely the limit. Therefore, the best experience is to set the game to the highest preset that maintains a high frame rate, and then adjust the resolution to match the monitor.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS is 92 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Which resolution and settings combo gives the highest frame rate?

A: The highest average is 651 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The high frame rates at 1080p (such as 651 FPS at Low) indicate that the CPU is the limiting factor, since the game's engine typically cannot feed the GPU fast enough.

Q: How does the 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in terms of GPU score?

A: It is 0.1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB in average score.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS for 2560x1440 at Medium is 301 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to the Core i3-14100F in CPU score?

A: The i5-12400 is 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i3-14100F in average score.