Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator, a simulation title focused on assembling and benchmarking virtual hardware, presents an unusual workload where the CPU and GPU interact in ways that differ from typical action games. The measured data for the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination reveals a configuration that is heavily front-end bound, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the processor as the primary constraint across most settings and resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates, component roles, and optimal configurations based solely on the provided benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic CPU-bound scenario, particularly at lower settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 349 FPS average, but this drops to 250 FPS at 1440p and 131 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and an additional 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The sheer magnitude of these drops—over 60% total from 1080p to 4K—indicates that while the GPU is being tasked harder at higher resolutions, the initial ceiling at 1080p is set by the CPU's ability to feed frames.

The pattern shifts when examining High settings. At 1080p High, the average is 198 FPS, which falls to 125 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 65 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop from 1440p). The more substantial drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings compared to Low settings suggests that the GPU begins to take on more responsibility as the pixel count increases, but the CPU still imposes a significant cap. The fact that 1080p High (198 FPS) is lower than 1080p Low (349 FPS) confirms that the GPU is not the bottleneck at this resolution; otherwise, the settings change would have a negligible impact on frame rate.

At Ultra settings, the trend continues with 189 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 62 FPS is notably close to the 4K High result of 65 FPS, suggesting that at this resolution, the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the difference between High and Ultra is only 3 FPS. Conversely, at 1080p, the difference between High (198 FPS) and Ultra (189 FPS) is just 9 FPS, reinforcing that the CPU is the primary limiter at lower resolutions. The data indicates that the RX 7900 XT has ample headroom at 1080p and 1440p, but the i5-12400's six cores and twelve threads prevent the GPU from being fully utilized, particularly at lower graphical presets.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations for Pc Building Simulator, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT holds a combo rank of 714 out of 3723 combos. This places it in the top 19% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing. However, the rank reflects the overall average performance across all settings and resolutions, and the resolution scaling analysis suggests that this rank is likely held back by the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions where the GPU cannot express its full potential.

The CPU's percentile ranking versus all CPUs is 72nd percentile, with an average benchmark score of 18683. Its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the AMD EPYC 7643 (scoring 18697, a delta of -0.1%), the Intel Core i7-1355U (scoring 18730, a delta of -0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (scoring 18811, a delta of -0.7%). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the i5-12400's compute performance is essentially on par with these very different processors. Interestingly, the Intel Core i3-14100F scores 18519, which is 0.9% lower than the i5-12400, showing that the i5 maintains a slight edge over its lower-tier sibling.

The GPU's percentile ranking versus all GPUs is just 55th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 13745. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 660M (scoring 13812, a delta of -0.5%), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (scoring 13821, a delta of -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon RX 570X (scoring 13871, a delta of -0.9%). The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT scores 13543, which is 1.5% lower. This percentile ranking is surprisingly low for a card with the raw specifications of the RX 7900 XT, but it reflects the average benchmark score which may not be fully representative of gaming performance. The combo's 714th rank out of 3723 suggests that while the individual components have their own standings, their interaction in this specific simulation game produces a result that is better than most, but far from the top tier.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this CPU and GPU combination in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The highest average frame rate is 349 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the performance at 4K Ultra compare to 1440p Ultra?

A: The average frame rate drops from 119 FPS at 2560x1440 Ultra to 62 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra, a reduction of 57 FPS or approximately 48%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The data strongly suggests the CPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Medium, the average is 281 FPS, which is only 68 FPS lower than the Low preset's 349 FPS. This relatively small drop when increasing settings indicates the processor is capping performance, as a GPU-bound scenario would typically show a sharper decline.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combo, and at what settings?

A: The only recorded minimum frame rate is 79 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. The maximum for that same configuration is 106 FPS.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top half of all tested configurations for this game?

A: Yes, the combo rank is 714 out of 3723 combos, placing it in the top 19% of all tested pairings.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low preset compared to the 1080p Ultra preset?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves an average of 349 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra preset achieves an average of 189 FPS. This means the Low preset is 160 FPS faster, or approximately 85% higher frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 349 FPS; Medium settings yield an average of 281 FPS, with a minimum of 238 and a maximum of 323; High settings yield an average of 198 FPS; and Ultra settings yield an average of 189 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 68 FPS, while the delta between High and Ultra is only 9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from High to Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 250 FPS, Medium at 177 FPS (with a minimum of 150 and maximum of 204), High at 125 FPS, and Ultra at 119 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant across all settings, with the Low preset losing 99 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 70 FPS. The pattern remains consistent: the gap between Medium and High is 52 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is just 6 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 131 FPS, Medium at 93 FPS (with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 106), High at 65 FPS, and Ultra at 62 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 38 FPS, and the gap between Medium and High is 28 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to just 3 FPS, indicating that the GPU is nearing its limit at this resolution. The 4K results are the first where the difference between Low and Ultra (69 FPS) becomes smaller than the difference seen at 1080p (160 FPS), confirming the shift from CPU to GPU bottleneck as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card with a 20 GB GDDR6 memory pool, a 320-bit memory bus, and 800.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Its boost clock is rated at 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. The card is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture and the Navi 31 chip, which contains 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. These specifications provide immense raw throughput, which is reflected in the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions, but the data shows that the GPU's full potential is only approached at 4K.

In Pc Building Simulator, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as the resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU is clearly not the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with decreased graphical load. The 349 FPS at Low settings versus 189 FPS at Ultra demonstrates that the GPU can handle the workload, but the CPU cannot feed it enough data to push higher. At 4K, the situation reverses. The 65 FPS at High and 62 FPS at Ultra are very close, suggesting that the GPU is now the limiting resource, as the additional settings complexity in Ultra cannot be fully processed without dropping below the High preset's frame rate.

The GPU's 55th percentile ranking versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13745, is a point of interest. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon 660M and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, which are far less powerful in gaming scenarios. This suggests that the average benchmark score may be skewed by compute workloads that do not reflect gaming performance, or that the RX 7900 XT's specific strengths are not fully captured by those aggregate tests. In this game, the 20 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for any resolution, and the 800.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures no memory-related stutters, but the CPU limitation at 1080p and 1440p prevents the GPU from achieving its maximum possible frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear recommendation for users who prioritize high frame rates. For 1080p displays, the Medium preset offers an exceptional balance, with an average of 281 FPS and a minimum of 238 FPS. This is only 68 FPS lower than Low, but provides a substantially better visual experience. The step up to High drops the average to 198 FPS, which is still very smooth, but the 83 FPS difference between Medium and High is significant, and the additional visual fidelity may not justify the performance loss for competitive play.

For 1440p, the Medium preset again proves to be the sweet spot, delivering an average of 177 FPS with a minimum of 150 FPS. This is a 73 FPS drop from the Low preset's 250 FPS, but the visual quality improvement is substantial. High settings at 1440p yield 125 FPS, which is still highly playable on most high-refresh monitors, but the 52 FPS gap from Medium to High suggests that users with 144Hz displays should stick to Medium to maintain a consistent frame rate above their monitor's refresh rate.

At 4K, the situation is different. The Medium preset achieves an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution with recorded minimum and maximum values. The High preset drops to 65 FPS, and Ultra to 62 FPS. For a 60Hz 4K display, the High preset offers the best visual quality while staying above the refresh rate threshold. The Ultra preset's 62 FPS is technically playable but marginal, and the 3 FPS difference from High is not worth the potential for frame drops below 60 FPS. The data indicates that for 4K, High is the optimal choice, as it provides the best balance of visuals and performance without risking a sub-60 FPS experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It is built on the Alder Lake architecture and uses a 10 nm process node. The processor has 18 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. Its 3DMark scores show a single-thread score of 910 and a max-thread score of 5890, which are modest figures that reflect its mid-range positioning.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's role is clearly dominant at resolutions below 4K. The evidence is in the frame rate scaling: at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 160 FPS, which is a 46% reduction. If the GPU were the bottleneck, this difference would be much smaller, as the GPU would struggle to render the more complex scenes at Ultra. Instead, the CPU is the limiting factor, and the frame rate is capped by how fast it can process the simulation's logic, which includes physics, component interactions, and benchmark calculations.

The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18683, places it just behind the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697) and Intel Core i7-1355U (18730), but slightly ahead of the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519). The near-identical scores with the EPYC and i7-1355U are notable, as those are very different processors, but in this game, the i5-12400's six performance cores are sufficient to handle the computational load. However, the data shows that the CPU is the bottleneck, as the GPU's performance headroom is not fully utilized at 1080p and 1440p. Upgrading to a faster CPU with higher single-thread performance would likely yield higher frame rates at those resolutions, but the current combo still delivers an excellent experience, particularly at 1440p Medium where the 177 FPS average is more than adequate for any high-refresh monitor.