Overpower

Overpower presents a demanding workload for this Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination, with benchmark results indicating that the system is firmly positioned in the lower percentile of tested configurations. The data shows a clear hierarchy: the GPU is the primary bottleneck, and achieving a smooth experience requires significant compromises in visual quality. The combination ranks 1694 out of 1744 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 3% of systems, which underscores that this is a configuration built for esports-level performance rather than high-fidelity gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to Low settings as the only viable path to a consistently playable experience. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 62.2 FPS, which is the only setting across all resolutions that breaks the 60 FPS threshold. This represents a 67% performance uplift over the Medium preset at the same resolution, which manages only 37.4 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is steep and disproportionate, indicating that the GTX 1650's 4 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are overwhelmed by even modest increases in texture and shading complexity.

For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, High settings at 1080p yields 36.4 FPS, which is borderline playable for slower-paced action but will struggle in fast-moving scenes. The Ultra preset is not recommended, as it drops to 31.9 FPS at 1080p and falls below 25 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that the sweet spot for this combo is Low at 1080p, where the 6-core / 12-thread i5-12400F has enough headroom to feed the GPU adequately. Pushing to Medium or High at any resolution results in frame rates that dip below 40 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for responsive action gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the defining component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the performance ceiling. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth, the card is severely constrained in modern titles like Overpower. The GPU's 896 shading units and 32 ROPs provide a theoretical FP32 throughput of 2.984 TFLOPS, which is modest by current standards. The card's percentile rank of 43 vs all GPUs places it in the lower half of the GPU population, and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, shows a deltaPct of -0.4, meaning the GTX 1650 is essentially on par with that mobile part.

The clock speeds of 1485 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost are relatively low, and the data reveals that the card's performance scales poorly with settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low (62.2 FPS) and Medium (37.4 FPS) is a 40% drop, which is far larger than what would be expected from a purely clock-speed limitation. This indicates that the memory subsystem and VRAM capacity are the primary constraints, not raw compute. The 4 GB VRAM is likely exhausted at Medium settings, causing texture thrashing and stutter that the benchmark captures as lower average FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling pattern confirms that the GTX 1650 is the limiting factor at every step. Moving from 1080p Low (62.2 FPS) to 1440p Low (53.2 FPS) results in a 14.5% performance drop, which is relatively mild and suggests the CPU is still keeping up at this resolution. However, the jump from 1440p Low to 4K Low (48.7 FPS) is only a 8.5% further drop, which is surprisingly small. This non-linear scaling indicates that at 4K, the system is no longer purely GPU-bound at Low settings — the i5-12400F's single-thread performance of 909 in 3dmark_single_thread and 2332 in cinebench_r23_singlecore may be starting to bottleneck the frame delivery.

At higher settings, the scaling is more dramatic. From 1080p High (36.4 FPS) to 1440p High (30.4 FPS) is a 16.5% drop, and then to 4K High (25.2 FPS) is another 17.1% drop. This linear degradation at High settings shows that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are fully saturated, and the card simply cannot maintain playable frame rates beyond 1080p. The data suggests that users should treat 1080p as the native resolution for this combo, with 1440p only viable at Low settings (53.2 FPS), and 4K being a non-starter for any serious gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1694 out of 1744 places this system in the bottom 3% of all tested configurations for Overpower. This is a stark verdict: the combination is fundamentally underpowered for the game's demands. To contextualize, the CPU alone performs well — the i5-12400F has a percentile rank of 77 vs all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 77% of processors. Its average benchmark score of 19221 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210, deltaPct 0.1), a legendary older chip, and it edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364, deltaPct -0.7).

The problem is the GPU. The GTX 1650's average benchmark score of 8713 puts it at the 43rd percentile, and its nearest rivals are all similarly weak: the AMD Radeon 550X (8749, deltaPct -0.4) and the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671, deltaPct 0.5). The deltaPct values are all within 0.5% of zero, meaning the GTX 1650 is essentially tied with these other low-tier cards. This pairing of a strong CPU with a weak GPU creates a massive imbalance, and the combo rank reflects that the system's overall capability is dragged down by the graphics card's inability to translate the CPU's processing power into frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory give it substantial headroom for gaming workloads. The benchmark data shows this is a capable processor: it scores 16518 in cinebench_r23_multicore and 2332 in cinebench_r23_singlecore, with a Passmark multithread score of 19433. These numbers put it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the i7-8700K (deltaPct 0.1) and the Ryzen 5 7533HS (deltaPct -0.7), showing it trades blows with chips from different eras.

In the context of Overpower, the CPU is not the bottleneck at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 62.2 FPS, which suggests the i5-12400F can feed the GTX 1650 adequately at this level. However, the CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 5895 and 3dmark_single_thread score of 909 indicate that while multi-threaded performance is strong, single-thread performance is merely average. This becomes relevant at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed: the fact that 4K Low (48.7 FPS) is only 22% slower than 1080p Low (62.2 FPS) suggests that at 4K, the CPU's per-core performance is starting to limit the frame rate. The 2.50 GHz base clock is low, and while boost hits 4.40 GHz, sustained all-core workloads in games may not hold that frequency.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for playable frame rates?

A: The only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, averaging 62.2 FPS. For 1440p, Low settings drop to 53.2 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Higher settings at any resolution fall below 40 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The GTX 1650 ranks at the 43rd percentile vs all GPUs, while the i5-12400F ranks at the 77th percentile vs all CPUs. The massive gap between the two components' capabilities means the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's output.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar systems?

A: This combo ranks 1694 out of 1744 tested, placing it in the bottom 3%. The CPU's nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-8700K (deltaPct 0.1), and the GPU's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (deltaPct -0.4), showing both components are closely matched to their direct competitors.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Overpower?

A: No. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 48.7 FPS, and Medium drops to 26.8 FPS. High and Ultra settings at 4K are unplayable at 25.2 FPS and 24.5 FPS respectively.

Q: Why is the performance drop from Low to Medium so steep?

A: The 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s memory bandwidth of the GTX 1650 are exhausted at Medium settings. The drop from 62.2 FPS to 37.4 FPS at 1080p (a 40% reduction) indicates the card cannot handle increased texture and shading workloads without significant frame rate loss.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded capability relative to its peers?

A: The i5-12400F scores 16518 in cinebench_r23_multicore and 19433 in Passmark multithread. It outperforms the Intel Core i7-8700K by 0.1% in average benchmark score, showing it matches an older flagship despite having fewer cores.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 62.2 FPS
• Medium: 37.4 FPS
• High: 36.4 FPS
• Ultra: 31.9 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 53.2 FPS
• Medium: 35.1 FPS
• High: 30.4 FPS
• Ultra: 26.6 FPS

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 48.7 FPS
• Medium: 26.8 FPS
• High: 25.2 FPS
• Ultra: 24.5 FPS

The pattern is clear: Low settings are the only tier that provides a playable experience, and even then, only at 1080p does it cross the 60 FPS threshold. The delta between Low and Medium at 1080p is 24.8 FPS, which is the largest single-settings gap in the entire dataset. This suggests that the GTX 1650's architecture, with its 896 shading units and 32 ROPs, is fundamentally designed for light loads and cannot scale with increased graphical complexity. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance (cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16518) does not translate into higher frame rates because the GPU saturates first. For users of this combo, the recommendation is unambiguous: stick to 1080p Low for the best experience, and consider upgrading the GPU before any other component.