Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance tier of the Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combo in Minimum?

A: The combo ranks 2000th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This is a modest ranking, indicating that while the hardware is capable, it does not sit near the top for this specific title.

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

A: The Core i5-12400's average benchmark score is 18683. It sits within 0.9% of the Intel Core i3-14100F (which scores 18519) and is essentially tied with the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, -0.1% delta). It trails the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811) by 0.7%.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming based on the data?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 202 FPS. However, the Medium preset offers a balanced experience at 155 FPS average with a minimum of 131 FPS, which is still far above the 60 FPS threshold and provides improved visual quality.

Q: Is the GPU's performance more consistent with its direct rivals or is there a wide gap?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639, and its nearest rivals are very close: the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, -0.2% delta), AMD Radeon 780M (17588, +0.3% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, +0.5% delta). The performance deltas are under one percent, indicating a tight cluster.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its single-threaded performance?

A: The CPU shows strong scaling. In Cinebench R23, the multicore score is 15989, while the single-core score is 2257, a ratio of roughly 7:1. The 3DMark tests show a similar trend, with a single-thread score of 910 and a max-thread score of 5890.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 130 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 64 FPS. This represents a 66 FPS drop, or roughly a 50% reduction in performance, when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across resolutions. For players prioritizing a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience, the Low preset is the safest choice. At 1920x1080, Low yields an average of 202 FPS, and at 2560x1440 it still maintains 130 FPS. Even at 3840x2160, Low produces 70 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

The Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, it delivers 155 FPS average with a minimum of 131 FPS, ensuring no noticeable stutter. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS standard for most displays. The jump from Low to Medium costs about 47 FPS at 1080p but provides a substantial improvement in image quality.

The High preset is a viable option for 1440p, where it averages 84 FPS, but it drops to 45 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is only recommended for owners of 1080p displays, where it achieves 99 FPS, or for those willing to accept 34 FPS at 4K. For the best experience across all resolutions, Medium is the recommended starting point, with Low as a fallback for 4K or high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which are the key figures for understanding its single-threaded responsiveness. The processor's TDP is 65 W, and it is built on Intel's 10 nm process node.

Benchmark results show that the CPU's single-threaded performance is solid, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 910. This is crucial for Minimum, which is a Third-Person Shooter that typically relies on strong per-core performance for game logic and physics. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257 reinforces this capability.

Multi-threaded performance is also respectable, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989. However, the game's frame rates at lower resolutions (e.g., 202 FPS at 1080p Low) suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck when paired with this GPU. The 12 threads handle background tasks and streaming efficiently, but the data indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution and settings increase.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide adequate bandwidth for game assets. The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the memory type is not specified in the measured results. The 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the CPU are more than sufficient for the RTX 4060, which uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 2000th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, meaning slightly more than half of the tested combinations perform better. This ranking is a direct result of the hardware's mid-tier positioning.

The CPU itself is in the 72nd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18683. This suggests that the processor is above average in general tasks. The GPU, however, is in the 61st percentile against all GPUs, with an average score of 17639. The GPU's lower percentile relative to the CPU indicates that the graphics card is the weaker link in this pairing.

When compared to its nearest CPU rivals, the i5-12400 is nearly identical in performance to the AMD EPYC 7643 and Intel Core i7-1355U, with deltas of -0.1% and -0.3% respectively. The Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% slower, while the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 is 0.7% faster. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Radeon 780M, which is 0.3% slower. The tight clustering around the 17639 average score suggests that the RTX 4060 is firmly in a specific performance tier, and the combo's rank is more influenced by the GPU's position than the CPU's.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with a memory clock of 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective).

The GPU's 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs are responsible for its rasterization performance. It also includes 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, which are relevant for ray tracing and DLSS features, though these are not directly measured in the FPS data. The FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s.

In Minimum, the GPU's role is dominant. The measured FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern with resolution and settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the GPU produces 202 FPS, which drops to 99 FPS at Ultra. At 3840x2160, the GPU manages 70 FPS at Low but only 34 FPS at Ultra. This indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher settings, as the CPU's performance remains constant.

The GPU's 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the stable performance at 4K Ultra (34 FPS), which would be lower if memory were overflowing. The 128-bit memory bus is narrow, but the 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game's texture loads. The GPU's TDP of 115 W and suggested PSU of 300 W make it an efficient choice for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 202 FPS, which is the highest in any configuration. The Medium preset averages 155 FPS, with a minimum of 131 FPS and a maximum of 178 FPS, indicating smooth frame pacing. The High preset drops to 130 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 99 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 103 FPS, demonstrating a significant visual quality cost.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset averages 130 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset delivers 100 FPS average, with a minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 115 FPS. The High preset averages 84 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 64 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 66 FPS, showing that the GPU is more stressed at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the limits of the hardware are reached. The Low preset averages 70 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, indicating some frame dips. The High preset drops to 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS. At 4K, only the Low preset maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS, making it the only viable option for smooth gameplay.

The data reveals that the RTX 4060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p, all presets are playable, with even Ultra exceeding 90 FPS. At 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot, while High and Ultra are still above 60 FPS. At 4K, the hardware struggles to maintain 60 FPS, and users should stick to Low or Medium settings for a playable experience. The Medium preset consistently shows a minimum FPS that is within 85% of the average, suggesting stable performance across all resolutions.