Pc Building Simulator

# Pc Building Simulator — Intel Core i3-12100F + Intel Arc B370

Pc Building Simulator, a simulation title from 2019, presents a peculiar challenge for this hardware pairing. The Intel Core i3-12100F, a 4-core/8-thread Alder Lake desktop processor, is paired with the Intel Arc B370, an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is decisively limited by its graphics component, with the CPU demonstrating significant headroom across all tested configurations. The data shows a combination that can achieve playable results only at lower resolutions and settings, while 4K remains largely out of reach.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck resides. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 113 at 1920x1080 to 71 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 37%, and then further to 37 at 3840x2160, which represents a 67% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload at higher pixel counts overwhelms the graphics processor.

At High settings, the scaling pattern is similar but the absolute numbers are much lower. The system delivers 56 FPS at 1080p, drops to 36 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction), and bottoms out at 19 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the same trend: 54 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K. The fact that High and Ultra produce nearly identical results at each resolution suggests that the graphics hardware is saturated even before the highest quality settings are applied.

The Medium preset offers the most complete picture, as it includes minimum and maximum frame rate data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 50 FPS with a range of 43 to 58 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average collapses to 26 FPS with a range of 22 to 30 FPS. The consistent spread between minimum and maximum frames indicates stable frame pacing, but the overall trajectory confirms that pixel count is the dominant factor in performance.

What is telling is the scaling factor between 1440p and 4K. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count roughly doubles, and the frame rates at Low settings drop from 71 to 37, which is almost exactly half. This near-perfect inverse relationship with pixel count is the hallmark of a pure GPU limitation. The CPU is clearly not the constraint here, as the frame rate scales precisely with the rendering load.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor with 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, and it draws its memory from the system pool, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, indicating that this is a very low-performing graphics solution.

The benchmark results confirm this assessment. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 18 FPS, and at 4K High it achieves 19 FPS, both of which are essentially unplayable. Even at 4K Low, the 37 FPS result is borderline at best. The GPU's pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in this game.

The nearest rivals to this GPU, based on average benchmark scores, are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4%). The delta percentages are all within 1.4% of the Arc B370's score, which means this integrated solution performs at the level of entry-level discrete graphics cards from over a decade ago. This context is crucial for understanding why the frame rates are so constrained.

The GPU's 25 W TDP and integrated nature mean it shares system memory, and the "System Dependent" bandwidth suggests that performance could vary based on the host system's RAM configuration. The 10 ray tracing cores present on this GPU are irrelevant for Pc Building Simulator, as the measured data shows no ray tracing workload being applied.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2761 out of 3002 tested combos for Pc Building Simulator. This places the pairing in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations, which aligns with the GPU's low overall percentile ranking. The combo rank of 2761 means that 241 other combinations perform worse, but the vast majority of systems tested deliver better frame rates in this game.

The CPU itself is far from the limiting factor. The Core i3-12100F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta), Intel Core i5-9500 (13452, 0.3% delta), Intel Core 5 120UL (13594, -0.7% delta), and Intel Core i7-1250U (13351, 1.1% delta). This places the i3-12100F in the mid-to-upper tier of CPU performance, a stark contrast to the GPU's bottom-tier standing.

The disparity between CPU and GPU performance tiers explains the combo ranking. A CPU at the 68th percentile paired with a GPU at the 5th percentile results in a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound. The measured frame rates reflect this imbalance, with the CPU having substantial headroom to spare. If the GPU were replaced with a more capable part, the frame rates would likely improve dramatically, as the CPU would not be a bottleneck at any of the tested settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable frame rate this combo can achieve in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 113 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At Medium settings, the 1080p average drops to 80 FPS, which is still comfortably playable.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The data suggests not. At 4K Ultra the average is 18 FPS, at 4K High it is 19 FPS, at 4K Medium it is 26 FPS, and at 4K Low it is 37 FPS. None of these results meet typical playability thresholds.

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

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494. The Intel Core 3 N355 scores 13492 (0% delta), the Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452 (0.3% delta), the Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594 (-0.7% delta), and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351 (1.1% delta).

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile and what does it mean?

A: The Intel Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184. This means 95% of tested GPUs perform better, which explains the low frame rates observed in Pc Building Simulator.

Q: Does the frame rate scale linearly with resolution?

A: The data indicates a near-linear relationship. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 113 at 1080p to 71 at 1440p and 37 at 4K. The 1440p to 4K transition shows an almost exact halving of performance, consistent with the doubling of pixel count.

Q: How much frame rate variation exists at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the range is 68 to 92 FPS around an 80 FPS average. At 1440p Medium, the range is 43 to 58 FPS around a 50 FPS average. At 4K Medium, the range is 22 to 30 FPS around a 26 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The 80 FPS average at this configuration provides a smooth experience, and the measured range of 68 to 92 FPS indicates consistent frame delivery without major dips. The minimum of 68 FPS is still well above the threshold for playable performance in a simulation title.

At 1080p Low, the 113 FPS average offers the highest performance, but the visual quality trade-off may not be worthwhile for a game like Pc Building Simulator, which is heavily UI-based and benefits from higher detail settings. The jump from Low to Medium costs 33 FPS (a 29% reduction) but likely delivers substantially better visual fidelity. The jump from Medium to High costs an additional 24 FPS (a 30% reduction), which is a steeper penalty for a smaller visual gain.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides 50 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom. The Low preset at 1440p gives 71 FPS, making it the better choice if resolution is prioritized over visual quality. At 4K, no preset achieves a comfortable frame rate, and the data suggests this resolution should be avoided entirely with this hardware.

For users willing to accept lower visual quality, 1440p Low at 71 FPS may be the best balance, offering a higher resolution with acceptable performance. However, the 1080p Medium configuration appears to be the sweet spot, delivering the best combination of frame rate, frame consistency, and visual quality among all measured configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 58 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it offers PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-threaded performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674. Its multi-threaded capabilities are respectable for a 4-core part, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 7252. The Passmark multi-thread score of 14015 and single-thread score of 3444 further confirm that this CPU is well-equipped for gaming workloads.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's role is clearly secondary to the GPU. The frame rate scaling with resolution is nearly perfect, which would not be the case if the CPU were a limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions at the same settings, as the CPU workload would not change significantly with pixel count. Instead, we see frame rates that halve when moving from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is doing all the heavy lifting.

The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494, places it well above the GPU's 5th percentile ranking. This imbalance suggests that the CPU has significant headroom in this game and could support a much more powerful GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The fact that the combo ranks 2761 out of 3002 is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's performance limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression from Low to Ultra. The Low preset delivers the highest average at 113 FPS. Medium settings reduce performance to 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. High settings further reduce the average to 56 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 54 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds little visual benefit for the performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges but at lower absolute values. Low settings achieve 71 FPS, which remains playable. Medium settings drop to 50 FPS, with a range of 43 to 58 FPS. High settings fall to 36 FPS, and Ultra reaches 34 FPS. The 1440p results show that only Low and Medium settings provide acceptable performance for most users.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low settings achieve 37 FPS, Medium drops to 26 FPS (with a range of 22 to 30 FPS), High falls to 19 FPS, and Ultra reaches 18 FPS. None of these configurations provide a satisfactory gaming experience, and the data strongly suggests that 4K is not a viable option for this hardware combination.

The Medium preset is the only configuration that includes minimum and maximum frame rate data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 68-92 FPS range shows a spread of 24 FPS around the 80 FPS average. At 1440p, the 43-58 FPS range shows a spread of 15 FPS around the 50 FPS average. At 4K, the 22-30 FPS range shows a spread of 8 FPS around the 26 FPS average. This narrowing range at higher resolutions further supports the conclusion that the GPU is the primary constraint, as frame time consistency improves when the GPU is fully saturated.