Pc Building Simulator

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the Intel Arc B390 lands at rank 2650 out of 3002 tested combinations for Pc Building Simulator. That places this pairing in the bottom 12th percentile of all tested combos, a position that reflects the GPU's limited capabilities rather than the CPU's. The combo rank of 2650 suggests that most other hardware pairings will deliver a smoother experience, but the data also reveals this configuration is not without its usable spots, particularly at lower resolutions and settings.

The Arc B390's standalone benchmark percentile sits at 9, meaning it outperforms only roughly 9% of all GPUs in the database. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX's 1463, a delta of just 1.3%. This close grouping with legacy entry-level cards like the GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% delta) and the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% delta) sets expectations: this is a component for basic tasks, not high-refresh gaming. The fact that the B390 is an integrated graphics solution on a Panther Lake chip with a 3nm process does not change its output—the measured FPS data confirms the ranking.

On the CPU side, the Core i3-12100F fares far better. Its average benchmark score of 13494 places it at the 68th percentile among all CPUs. It trades blows with the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta), edges out the Core i5-9500 (13452, 0.3% delta), and slightly trails the Core 5 120UL (13594, -0.7% delta). This 4-core, 8-thread Alder Lake processor with a 4.30 GHz boost clock is clearly not the bottleneck in most scenarios. The ranking data suggests that if the GPU were swapped for something stronger, this combo's position would improve dramatically—the CPU has headroom to spare in this simulation title.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo playable at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured FPS shows 125 avg at 1080p Low, 88 avg at Medium, 62 avg at High, and 59 avg at Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is substantial, but the drop from Medium to High and Ultra is steep, indicating the GPU struggles as quality increases.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX's 1463, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M's 1460, and 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM's 1446. These are all sub-1500 scores, confirming entry-level performance territory.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: Low at 79 avg FPS is the only smooth option at 2560x1440. Medium drops to 56 avg, High falls to 39, and Ultra bottoms out at 38. For a target of 60 FPS or higher, Low is the only viable preset at this resolution.

Q: Does the Core i3-12100F hold this combo back?

A: Benchmark data says no. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674 are robust for a quad-core. Its 68th percentile ranking relative to all CPUs contrasts sharply with the GPU's 9th percentile, indicating the CPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K at any setting?

A: Barely. At 3840x2160, the best result is 41 avg FPS on Low. Medium yields 29 avg with a minimum of 25, High drops to 21, and Ultra falls to 20. None of these hit 60 FPS, so 4K is only for casual play or static scenes.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 2650 out of 3002 mean for buyers?

A: It means this pairing is in the lower tier of tested combinations. The data suggests that for Pc Building Simulator, most other combos will outperform it. However, the 1080p Low result of 125 FPS shows the combo is not useless for light gaming or older titles.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern: as resolution increases, performance collapses. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 125 avg FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 79 avg, a reduction of 46 FPS or roughly 37%. Going all the way to 4K Low yields only 41 avg, which is a 67% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep scaling curve points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component.

The same trend holds across all settings. At Medium, 1080p hits 88 avg, 1440p falls to 56, and 4K drops to 29. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Medium is 59 FPS, or a 67% reduction. At High, the numbers go from 62 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p to 21 at 4K—a 66% decline from the lowest to highest resolution. Ultra follows suit: 59, 38, and 20. The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly two-thirds lost from 1080p to 4K—indicates a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count directly throttles output.

The CPU's influence here is minimal. The i3-12100F's single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and its Cinebench R23 single-core result of 1674 suggest adequate processing power for simulation games, which often rely on single-thread performance. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between resolutions or a plateau at higher settings. Instead, the FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count, which is a classic symptom of GPU limitation. The Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply not enough to feed higher resolution displays without significant frame drops.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data offers a clear hierarchy for this combo. At 1080p, the Medium preset provides the best balance: 88 avg FPS with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 102. This is above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the smoothest option that still offers visual quality beyond Low. Low at 125 avg is faster but sacrifices too much detail for a simulation game where reading component stats matters. High at 62 avg is playable but barely, and Ultra at 59 avg dips below the 60 FPS line.

For 1440p, the recommendation shifts to Low. The 79 avg FPS on Low is the only setting that clears 60 FPS at this resolution. Medium at 56 avg is borderline, with a minimum of 47 that will cause noticeable stutter during busy scenes. High at 39 and Ultra at 38 are both too slow for comfortable play, though they remain technically playable for turn-based or menu-heavy moments.

At 4K, no setting is truly recommended. Low at 41 avg is the best case, but it falls well short of 60 FPS. Medium at 29 avg with a 25 minimum is a slideshow, and High at 21 or Ultra at 20 are only useful for screenshots. For this resolution, the data suggests either lowering the resolution or accepting a compromised experience. The combo's rank of 2650 out of 3002 reinforces that this is not a high-end setup, so settings should be tuned for playability over fidelity.

The pattern across all resolutions is that Medium offers the best FPS-per-visual-quality ratio at 1080p, while Low becomes necessary at higher resolutions. The Arc B390's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are the likely culprits—these are low counts that struggle with the fill rate demands of higher resolutions, regardless of the CPU's capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings hit 125 avg FPS, which is smooth and responsive. Medium drops to 88 avg with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 102, still well within playable range. High falls to 62 avg, and Ultra bottoms out at 59 avg. The step from Low to Medium costs 37 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 26, and High to Ultra only costs 3. This suggests diminishing returns at the top end, where the GPU is already near its limit.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers compress. Low delivers 79 avg FPS, a solid result for this resolution. Medium yields 56 avg with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 64, which is playable but with occasional dips. High drops to 39 avg, and Ultra is close behind at 38. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is just 1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is completely saturated at these settings. The gap between Low and Medium is 23 FPS, larger than the gap between Medium and Ultra (18 FPS), showing that the first quality step is the most taxing.

At 3840x2160, performance falls off a cliff. Low produces 41 avg FPS, which is the only playable result. Medium hits 29 avg with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 34, barely above the threshold for stutter-free video. High manages 21 avg, and Ultra falls to 20. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is just 21 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU is the absolute bottleneck—increasing settings has little additional impact because the resolution itself is already overwhelming the hardware.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently shows the widest min-max FPS range (e.g., 75-102 at 1080p, 47-64 at 1440p, 25-34 at 4K), which suggests variable scene complexity in Pc Building Simulator. The Low and High presets lack min/max data, but the averages tell a consistent story of GPU-bound performance that degrades predictably with pixel count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide solid single-thread performance, which is critical for simulation games that often rely on a single main thread for game logic. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core offer sufficient bandwidth for this genre.

Benchmark data confirms the CPU's strength. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674 are respectable for a quad-core part. The Geekbench scores of 7252 multicore and 1932 single-core reinforce this. The 3DMark results show a 4-thread score of 2859 and an 8-thread score of 4026, with max-threads at 4023—indicating the CPU is well-utilized at 8 threads and gains little beyond that. This suggests that Pc Building Simulator, which is unlikely to use more than 8 threads, is well-matched to this CPU's thread count.

The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, compared to the GPU's 9th percentile, makes it clear that the processor is not the weak link in this combo. The nearest rivals—Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta), Core i5-9500 (13452, 0.3% delta), and Core 5 120UL (13594, -0.7% delta)—all perform within 1% of the i3-12100F, confirming it sits in a competitive mid-pack position. The fact that the CPU maintains 125 FPS at 1080p Low while the GPU drops to 21 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates the processor has headroom that the GPU cannot exploit.

The 58W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make this an efficient, accessible CPU. Its DDR4 and DDR5 memory support, along with dual-channel memory bus, ensure it can feed the GPU adequately. The data suggests that in a different pairing with a stronger GPU, this CPU could push significantly higher frame rates without becoming a bottleneck.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process as part of the Panther Lake chip. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with system-shared memory. The GPU's 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs are modest numbers that align with its entry-level positioning.

Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, directly alongside legacy parts like the GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% delta), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% delta), and GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% delta). This is telling: the B390 performs like a GPU from a decade ago, despite being a modern integrated solution. The 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are theoretical figures that the measured FPS data shows are not sufficient for demanding workloads.

The GPU's 80W TDP and IGP slot width mean it shares system memory, which is a significant limitation. The "System Dependent" bandwidth and "System Shared" memory size indicate that performance will vary based on the host system's RAM configuration. In this combo, the measured FPS reflects a GPU that is constantly bandwidth-constrained, particularly at higher resolutions where memory pressure increases.

The measured FPS data tells the real story. The 125 FPS at 1080p Low drops to 41 at 4K Low—a 67% reduction purely from resolution scaling. The GPU's 12 RT cores and 24 ROPs are insufficient for 4K workloads, and even at 1440p, only Low settings maintain 60+ FPS. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 support are modern, but the hardware cannot leverage them effectively in this title. The B390 is a capable integrated solution for basic computing, but for Pc Building Simulator, it is the definitive bottleneck, capping the combo's potential and keeping it at rank 2650 out of 3002.