Pc Building Simulator

# Pc Building Simulator with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

Pc Building Simulator, a Simulation title released in 2019, presents an unusual challenge for hardware analysis: the game simulates building PCs, but its rendering demands scale across resolutions in a way that reveals clear bottlenecks. The measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER shows a configuration that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions yet surprisingly capable at 1080p. The combination ranks 1571 out of 1769 tested combos, placing it in the lower 11% of all tested configurations, which suggests the pairing is far from optimal for this title. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus become defining constraints as resolution climbs, while the i5-12400F's six cores and twelve threads appear to be more than adequate for the simulation's logic-based gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and exposes a clear GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 171.5 at 1920x1080 to 60 at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 65%. The 4K Low result of exactly 60 FPS is particularly telling; it suggests the GTX 1660 SUPER hits a performance ceiling around that mark when pixel count quadruples, regardless of the relatively light rendering load. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings, the average FPS drops from 56.1 to 31.3, a 44% decrease. This is a larger relative drop than the 1080p-to-1440p transition, where High settings only fall from 85.1 to 56.1 (34% reduction). The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput — rated at 85.68 GPixel/s — becomes the limiting factor at 4K, while at 1080p the same hardware has headroom to push frame rates well beyond 100 FPS.

The data reveals that resolution scaling is not linear. At Ultra settings, 1080p delivers 81.2 FPS, 1440p drops to 53, and 4K falls to 24.5 — each step roughly halves the pixel count increase but the FPS penalty grows disproportionately. The 1440p-to-4K Ultra drop is 53.8%, compared to the 1080p-to-1440p drop of 34.7%. This non-linear degradation points to memory bandwidth saturation. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is strained when rendering 8.3 million pixels at 4K, especially with higher-quality textures and effects that increase memory pressure. The 4K Low result of 60 FPS versus 4K Medium at 37.8 FPS — a 37% difference — further confirms that settings changes have outsized impact at high resolution because the GPU is already near its bandwidth ceiling.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary performance limiter in this configuration for Pc Building Simulator, and its specifications explain the measured results. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, a 192-bit bus, and a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, the card offers moderate memory capacity that becomes a constraint at higher resolutions. The base clock of 1530 MHz and boost clock of 1785 MHz, combined with 1408 shading units, deliver a FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS. These figures place the GPU at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14286 — nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314, -0.2% delta) and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315, -0.2% delta). This close clustering suggests the GTX 1660 SUPER is a middle-tier card that struggles with 4K gaming.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's capabilities clearly. At 1080p Medium, the card achieves 120.7 FPS, indicating solid performance for mainstream gaming. However, at 4K Ultra, it manages only 24.5 FPS — below the 30 FPS threshold often considered playable. The card's 48 ROPs and 157.1 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for 1080p but insufficient for 4K's pixel workload. The Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1) API support means the GPU can handle modern rendering paths, but its 12 nm process node and 125 W TDP suggest it was designed for 1080p-class gaming, not high-resolution simulation titles. The data indicates that players should treat this GPU as a 1080p solution for Pc Building Simulator, with 1440p possible at Medium settings (74.3 FPS) but 4K requiring Low settings to reach 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Why does 4K Low settings hit exactly 60 FPS while 4K Medium drops to 37.8 FPS?

A: The 60 FPS at 4K Low represents the GPU's maximum pixel throughput at that resolution with minimal shading work. The 37.8 FPS at Medium shows that adding even modest texture filtering and shadow effects increases memory bandwidth pressure, causing a 37% performance drop. This indicates the GTX 1660 SUPER's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is the limiting factor at 4K.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming smoothly?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 74.3, which is smooth. High settings drop to 56.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 53. For a game like Pc Building Simulator, where precise mouse movement matters, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for 1440p.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 14286, sitting just 0.2% below the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314) and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315), and 0.5% below the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352). The RX 5500 XT leads at 14389, a 0.7% advantage. These sub-1% differences indicate the GTX 1660 SUPER is statistically tied with these competitors.

Q: Is the CPU holding back performance in this game?

A: No. The i5-12400F scores 19221 on average benchmarks, ranking at the 77th percentile among all CPUs. It outperforms the Intel Core i7-8700K by 0.1% and the i5-1335U by 0.3%. The FPS scaling across resolutions indicates the GPU, not the CPU, is the bottleneck.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 81.2 FPS at 1920x1080 Ultra. This is well above the 60 FPS target and demonstrates that the GTX 1660 SUPER has enough headroom at 1080p to handle the game's highest preset without issue.

Q: Why does the combo rank so low (1571 of 1769) despite decent 1080p performance?

A: The rank reflects performance across all tested resolutions and settings. The 4K results — 24.5 FPS at Ultra and 31.3 FPS at High — drag the overall ranking down. Most tested combos likely include more powerful GPUs that handle 4K better, pushing this configuration to the bottom 11% overall.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1571 out of 1769 tested configurations places this pairing in the 11th percentile overall, meaning 198 combos perform worse and 1570 perform better. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's limitations at high resolutions. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 55th percentile GPU ranking contrasts sharply with the i5-12400F's 77th percentile CPU ranking, creating a significant imbalance. The CPU is capable of far more work than the GPU can feed it, especially at 4K where the GPU's pixel rate and bandwidth are saturated. In Pc Building Simulator, which likely involves rendering complex PC cases and components with detailed textures, the GPU's 6 GB memory capacity becomes a bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where memory-hungry effects can exceed the available VRAM.

The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.7% of each other, indicating that this performance tier is crowded. The RX 5500 XT, RX Vega 11, and Iris Xe MAX all deliver nearly identical average scores, meaning the GTX 1660 SUPER offers no unique advantage in raw compute. However, the measured FPS data shows real-world differences: at 1440p Low, the GTX 1660 SUPER achieves 111.2 FPS, demonstrating that even at 55% percentile, it can handle lighter loads well. The ranking suggests that for Pc Building Simulator specifically, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p, and the CPU's strength is wasted in this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 81.2 FPS, which is smooth and provides the best visual quality without sacrificing playability. The High preset at 85.1 FPS offers a marginal 4.8% FPS increase but with reduced visual fidelity, so Ultra is the clear choice for 1080p. At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide the best balance at 74.3 FPS, which is comfortable for a simulation game. High settings at 56.1 FPS are playable but may feel less responsive, while Ultra at 53 FPS is borderline. At 3840x2160, only Low settings achieve 60 FPS, but the visual compromise may not be worth it; Medium at 37.8 FPS is smoother than Low's stark appearance but still below 40 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is only viable with Low settings, and even then, the 60 FPS result is exactly at the threshold, leaving no headroom for complex scenes.

For the best overall experience, the 1080p Ultra preset at 81.2 FPS offers the highest quality without performance concerns. Players with 1440p monitors should select Medium to maintain 74.3 FPS. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this GPU, as even Low settings at 60 FPS will likely drop in scenes with many visible components. The measured FPS values show a clear pattern: the GTX 1660 SUPER is a 1080p-class card, and settings should be scaled down as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 171.5 at Low to 81.2 at Ultra, with Medium at 120.7 and High at 85.1. The gap between Low and Medium is 50.8 FPS, indicating that Medium adds substantial visual effects that cost performance. High and Ultra are close, separated by only 3.9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from High to Ultra at 1080p. At 2560x1440, Low hits 111.2 FPS, Medium 74.3, High 56.1, and Ultra 53. The 1440p Medium result is 38.4% lower than 1080p Medium, showing a significant resolution penalty. At 3840x2160, Low achieves 60 FPS, Medium 37.8, High 31.3, and Ultra 24.5. The 4K Ultra result is only 30.2% of the 1080p Ultra FPS, illustrating the GPU's inability to handle the pixel workload.

The settings scaling at 4K is steep: Low to Medium costs 22.2 FPS (37%), Medium to High costs 6.5 FPS (17%), and High to Ultra costs 6.8 FPS (22%). This pattern suggests that Medium settings add memory-intensive effects that disproportionately impact the GPU, while High and Ultra add compute-heavy effects that are less bandwidth-dependent. Across all resolutions, the Low preset always achieves the highest FPS, but the relative performance gap narrows as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a six-core, twelve-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. With a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, it delivers strong single-thread performance — evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2332. The 18 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample capacity for game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's average benchmark score of 19221 places it at the 77th percentile, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i7-8700K at 19210 (0.1% delta), showing this is a mature, well-performing chip.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU's role is to manage the simulation's logic — tracking component compatibility, power draw calculations, and case-fitting algorithms. The 3DMark max-threads score of 5912 and Cinebench R20 multicore score of 6937 indicate strong multi-threaded capability, which is likely underutilized in this title. The measured FPS data shows no CPU-related stuttering at any resolution; even at 4K Ultra with 24.5 FPS, the frame rate is consistent, suggesting the CPU is not the bottleneck. The CPU's 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible platform, but its performance headroom is wasted when paired with the GTX 1660 SUPER at high resolutions. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield larger FPS gains than upgrading the CPU, as the i5-12400F has ample compute reserves for this simulation game.