Overpower

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT in Overpower produces a compelling dataset that reveals a system capable of high refresh rates across all tested resolutions, yet the data also exposes distinct bottlenecks that shift depending on the graphical load. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions show a system with significant headroom, but the scaling patterns indicate that the CPU is a limiting factor at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes the primary constraint as pixel count increases. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes the scores against nearest rivals, and offers practical guidance based strictly on the provided figures.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 tells a clear story about where the performance ceiling lies for this combo. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 211 at 1080p to 188 at 1440p, a decline of 23 FPS, and then to 160 at 4K, another 28 FPS drop. This pattern is consistent with the GPU becoming progressively more stressed as the pixel count multiplies, but the relatively modest percentage drops—roughly 11% from 1080p to 1440p and another 15% from 1440p to 4K—suggest that even at 4K Low, the system is not fully saturating the graphics card's capabilities.

However, the scaling becomes more revealing when examining the Ultra preset. Here, the average FPS declines from 102 at 1080p to 91 at 1440p, a 10.8% reduction, and then to 77 at 4K, a further 15.4% drop. The fact that the Ultra preset at 1080p (102 FPS) is only slightly higher than the High preset at 4K (93 FPS) indicates that the GPU is handling a significant portion of the workload at higher settings, but the CPU is starting to throttle the frame rate at lower resolutions. The data implies that at 1080p, the Intel Core i5-12400's six cores and 12 threads are struggling to feed the Radeon RX 9070 XT fast enough, as evidenced by the smaller FPS gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p (211 vs 102) compared to the gap at 4K (160 vs 77).

The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, shows the most stable performance across resolutions. At 4K Medium, the average is 100 FPS with a min of 85 and max of 115, while at 1440p Medium, the average rises to 118 FPS with a min of 100 and max of 135. At 1080p Medium, the average is 132 FPS with a min of 112 and max of 152. The increasing min FPS values as resolution decreases—from 85 at 4K to 112 at 1080p—suggest that the CPU is able to maintain more consistent frame delivery when the GPU has less work to do, but the variance between min and max FPS (30 FPS at 4K, 35 FPS at 1440p, 40 FPS at 1080p) indicates that the CPU is introducing more frame-time variability at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a six-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores provide context for its performance in Overpower. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15,989 and single-core score of 2,257 highlight its balanced capability, while the 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,873 and 2-thread score of 1,692 suggest that the CPU handles both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads reasonably well. The PassMark multithread score of 18,747 and single-thread score of 3,456 further confirm its competence.

In the context of Overpower, the CPU's role becomes apparent when comparing the Low preset FPS across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 211 FPS, but this drops to 188 FPS at 1440p Low and 160 FPS at 4K Low. The fact that the 4K Low score is still very high indicates that the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings—the CPU is likely capping performance. The i5-12400's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache may be sufficient for this game's logic, but the 10 nm process node and 65 W TDP suggest it is a mid-range part that can deliver high frame rates but not unlimited ones.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD EPYC 7643 with an average score of 18,697 (0.1% higher), the Intel Core i7-1355U with 18,730 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 with 18,811 (0.7% higher). The Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% lower with an average score of 18,519. These comparisons show that the i5-12400 is positioned in a tight cluster of processors, and its performance in Overpower is likely consistent with this grouping, meaning it is neither a standout nor a laggard among its peers.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, based on the Navi 48 chip with RDNA 4.0 architecture, brings substantial graphical horsepower to this pairing. Its boost clock of 2970 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz, combined with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provide a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 48.66 TFLOPS.

In Overpower, the GPU's dominance is clear at higher resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra average of 77 FPS, while lower than other settings, still represents playable performance, and the 4K High average of 93 FPS shows the GPU handling demanding loads effectively. The 4K Low average of 160 FPS demonstrates that the RX 9070 XT has enormous headroom, even at 4K, when not constrained by CPU-bound scenarios. The GPU's 4 nm process node from TSMC and 53,900 million transistors indicate a modern, power-hungry part (304 W TDP), but its performance in this game validates its high-end positioning.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its raw power. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7,260 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 65,879 are strong indicators of DirectX 12 and Vulkan performance, which are relevant for Overpower. The PassMark G3D score of 26,795 and GPU compute score of 15,864 further confirm its capabilities. However, its percentile ranking of 55 versus all GPUs suggests that while it is a powerful card, it is not at the absolute top of the hierarchy. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (0.1% higher average score), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (0.2% higher), NVIDIA P106-090 (0.5% higher), and AMD Radeon Pro 555 (1% higher), which are all older, lower-tier cards, indicating that the RX 9070 XT's benchmark average is being pulled down by some tests but its gaming performance in Overpower is clearly superior.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 102 FPS, while High yields 123 FPS, Medium 132 FPS (min 112, max 152), and Low 211 FPS. The progression from Ultra to Low shows a 109 FPS difference, indicating that the GPU has significant scaling headroom at this resolution, but the CPU's limitations are evident in the fact that even the Low preset does not exceed 211 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 91 FPS, High 109 FPS, Medium 118 FPS (min 100, max 135), and Low 188 FPS. The gap between Ultra and Low narrows to 97 FPS, suggesting the GPU is becoming more of a bottleneck. The Medium preset's min FPS of 100 is notably lower than the 1080p Medium's min of 112, indicating that frame drops become more pronounced at higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 77 FPS, High 93 FPS, Medium 100 FPS (min 85, max 115), and Low 160 FPS. The Ultra-to-Low gap shrinks to 83 FPS, confirming that the GPU is the dominant constraint at 4K. The Medium preset's min FPS of 85 is the lowest recorded, highlighting that even at Medium settings, 4K can cause noticeable frame hitches. The data shows that this combo can handle 4K at playable frame rates across all settings, with Low providing a high-refresh experience and Ultra still maintaining a smooth 77 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall ranking of tested combos for Overpower, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT achieves a rank of 890 out of 3,713 combos. This places it in the top 24% of all tested configurations, indicating that it is a strong performer but not among the elite. The rank of 890 suggests that there are many combos with higher-end CPUs or GPUs that outperform this pairing, but it also means that this combo beats the majority of systems tested.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 72 versus all CPUs and the GPU's percentile ranking of 55 versus all GPUs provide additional context. The CPU is above the 70th percentile, meaning it outperforms most processors, while the GPU is only slightly above the median, suggesting that the RX 9070 XT is a mid-to-upper tier card but not a flagship. This combination of a strong CPU and a solid GPU results in a system that ranks well in Overpower but leaves room for improvement, likely with a more powerful GPU or a higher-core-count CPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For users with a 1080p display, the Medium preset at 132 FPS (min 112, max 152) provides an excellent balance of visual quality and performance, outpacing the High preset by 9 FPS and the Ultra preset by 30 FPS. The Low preset at 211 FPS is ideal for competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized, but it sacrifices visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 118 FPS (min 100, max 135) is again the sweet spot, offering smooth gameplay with a 100 FPS minimum. The High preset at 109 FPS is also viable, but the 9 FPS difference between Medium and High may not justify the additional graphical load. The Ultra preset at 91 FPS is playable but may dip below 90 FPS in demanding scenes, making Medium the recommended choice for a consistent experience.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 100 FPS (min 85, max 115) is the best option for maintaining a high frame rate, as it delivers 7 FPS more than High (93 FPS) and 23 FPS more than Ultra (77 FPS). The Low preset at 160 FPS is available for users seeking very high refresh rates, but the visual downgrade is significant. The data suggests that Medium settings across all resolutions provide the most balanced performance, ensuring that the minimum FPS stays above 85 while maximizing the average frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS at 1080p is 211, achieved with the Low preset. The Medium preset delivers 132 FPS, High 123 FPS, and Ultra 102 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 77, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 4K offers a better experience with an average of 100 FPS and a minimum of 85 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor. The FPS difference between Low (211) and Ultra (102) is 109 FPS, and the relatively high minimum FPS at Medium (112) suggests the GPU is not fully utilized. The CPU's six cores and 12 threads appear to cap frame delivery below 211 FPS.

Q: What is the rank of this combo among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 890 out of 3,713 tested combos for Overpower, placing it in the top 24% of all configurations.

Q: Which preset provides the best balance of performance and stability at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers an average of 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 135 FPS. This is the most stable option, as the High preset averages 109 FPS and Ultra averages 91 FPS, both with no min/max data provided.

Q: Does the GPU's memory bandwidth affect performance in Overpower?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The high bandwidth likely contributes to the strong performance at higher resolutions, as the 4K Medium preset maintains a 100 FPS average, but the data does not specify a direct correlation between memory bandwidth and FPS in this game.