Minimum

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a playable but inconsistent experience in Minimum, depending heavily on your resolution and settings expectations. The data shows this combo ranks 1486th out of 1733 tested combinations, placing it in the lower tier of systems for this title. While the 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake processor provides solid headroom with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, the GTX 1660 Ti with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, struggling to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60+ FPS?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 133.6 FPS. For a more visually appealing experience, Medium settings at 1080p still deliver 104.1 FPS, and High settings hold at 83.1 FPS. These are the only configurations in the measured data that clear the 60 FPS threshold comfortably.

Q: Can this system handle 1440p gaming?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 86 FPS, which is smooth. However, bumping to High drops the average to 55 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43.7 FPS. The system can handle 1440p, but you will need to stick to Low or Medium settings for a consistently fluid experience.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: No, not for a playable experience. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages an average of 47.5 FPS. The High preset averages 29.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 22.2 FPS. These frame rates are below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a third-person shooter.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850. This places it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.4% ahead of 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), showing it is essentially performance-equivalent to these options.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti's performance rank among GPUs?

A: The GPU has a percentile rank of 55 among all tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 13925 puts it 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871) and 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (13812). It trails the NVIDIA Tesla K10 by 0.7% (14029) and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile by 0.8% (13821).

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective speed. This memory capacity is a key factor in the performance drop seen at 4K resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the defining component in this pairing for Minimum. Its VRAM capacity and clock speeds directly dictate the frame rates you can expect. The GPU's base clock is 1500 MHz, which boosts up to 1770 MHz under load. This boost behavior is crucial for maintaining performance in less demanding scenes.

However, the 6 GB of GDDR6 memory becomes a severe limitation at higher resolutions. The data shows a stark contrast between 1080p and 4K performance. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 83.1 FPS, but at 4K with the same settings, it collapses to 29.2 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth and capacity, forcing the system to handle data less efficiently. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is simply insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160.

The GPU's architecture, based on the Turing chip (TU116), provides features like DirectX 12 (12_1) support, which the game can utilize. Yet, the raw compute power, measured at 5.437 TFLOPS FP32, is not enough to overcome the memory bottleneck at 4K. The benchmark results clearly show that while the GPU is capable at lower resolutions, it is the limiting factor preventing this combo from achieving higher frame rates as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations for Minimum, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti sits at rank 1486 out of 1733 total combos. This places it in the bottom 15% of all systems tested, indicating that it is not a high-performance configuration for this specific title.

This ranking is a direct result of the GPU's mid-range standing. The GTX 1660 Ti holds a percentile rank of 55 among all GPUs, meaning it performs better than just over half of the graphics cards in the database. In contrast, the CPU is much stronger, with a percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs, placing it in the top quarter. This disparity highlights a significant bottleneck; the CPU is capable of feeding frames much faster than the GPU can render them, especially at higher resolutions. The combo's overall rank of 1486 reflects the weakness of the GPU link in this chain, dragging down what would otherwise be a more competitive system based on CPU strength alone.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling across resolutions and presets.

At 1920x1080, the system performs best:

• Low: 133.6 FPS
• Medium: 104.1 FPS
• High: 83.1 FPS
• Ultra: 67.8 FPS

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly:

• Low: 86 FPS
• Medium: 62.9 FPS
• High: 55 FPS
• Ultra: 43.7 FPS

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to remain playable:

• Low: 47.5 FPS
• Medium: 36.4 FPS
• High: 29.2 FPS
• Ultra: 22.2 FPS

The data shows a clear pattern: the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35-40% of the frame rate, and the jump to 4K costs another 45-50%. The Ultra preset at 4K is nearly unplayable, and even Low settings at 4K fail to hit 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis reveals a system heavily constrained by the GPU. When moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 35%. This is a significant hit, but the system remains functional at Low and Medium settings.

The transition from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing. The average frame rate at 4K is roughly 45% lower than at 1440p. For instance, High settings drop from 55 FPS at 1440p to 29.2 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 47%. This steep decline is a classic symptom of a GPU hitting its memory bandwidth ceiling. The 6 GB frame buffer and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply not enough to handle the pixel data required at 3840x2160.

This data suggests the limiting component is unambiguously the GPU. The CPU's strong performance, evidenced by its high percentile rank and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935, is not the issue. The frame rate is scaling inversely with resolution in a way that points directly to the graphics card's inability to process and output frames fast enough at higher pixel counts. The system is GPU-bound at all resolutions tested, but the bottleneck becomes critical at 1440p and unmanageable at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience balances visual quality with a playable frame rate. For a 60 FPS target, the clear choice is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, which delivers 104.1 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining a high frame rate headroom, ensuring smooth gameplay even in intense third-person shooter action.

If you have a 1440p monitor, the Low preset is the only option that consistently breaks 60 FPS, averaging 86 FPS. The Medium preset at 62.9 FPS is also playable but leaves less margin for frame drops during hectic scenes. For a smoother experience, you could cap the frame rate at 60 FPS with the Medium preset to ensure consistency.

Avoid the Ultra preset at all resolutions except 1080p. At 1080p, Ultra averages 67.8 FPS, which is playable, but the jump to Medium offers a 53% performance increase (from 67.8 to 104.1 FPS) for a likely minimal visual difference in this title. At 1440p and above, Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as the frame rates fall below 44 FPS, which is not suitable for a fast-paced shooter. For the best overall experience, stick to 1080p with Medium or High settings, or 1440p with Low settings.