Pc Building Simulator

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a fascinating performance profile in Pc Building Simulator, a simulation title that is far more demanding on the processor than one might expect given its genre. The measured data reveals a system where the GPU is rarely the primary constraint, especially at lower resolutions. This combination ranks 29th out of 1769 tested combos, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to understand how this pairing behaves across resolutions, settings, and what the CPU’s role truly is in this specific workload.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 397.3 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 325.8 FPS, and finally at 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 173.7 FPS. This represents a 56% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-limited, as the GPU could theoretically produce far more frames. The fact that 1080p Low (397.3 FPS) is only 22% faster than 1440p Low (325.8 FPS) suggests the CPU is already near its limit at the lower resolution.

At High settings, the scaling becomes more linear. The system achieves 262 FPS at 1080p, 162.5 FPS at 1440p, and 84.2 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 38%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 48%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions indicates the GPU begins to take on a more significant role as the pixel count increases, though even at 4K High, the RTX 4090 is still delivering a highly playable 84.2 FPS.

The most telling data point is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 4K, Low produces 173.7 FPS while Ultra produces 85 FPS — a 51% reduction. At 1080p, the same setting change yields 397.3 FPS versus 246.8 FPS, a 38% reduction. This smaller percentage difference at 1080p reinforces that the CPU is the limiting component at lower resolutions, preventing the GPU from fully flexing its muscles. The RTX 4090, with its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth, is clearly capable of far more than the CPU can feed it at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-12600KF and RTX 4090 secures a combo rank of 29 out of 1769 tested configurations in Pc Building Simulator. This places the pairing in the 98.4th percentile of all tested combos, an exceptionally strong showing. However, given the raw power of both components, one might expect an even higher ranking. The CPU’s 84th percentile score among all processors and the GPU’s 91st percentile score among all GPUs suggest a slight mismatch, with the CPU being the weaker link in this pairing.

When examining the CPU’s benchmark performance relative to its nearest rivals, the picture becomes clearer. The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27827, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K’s 27829 (0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12600K’s 27851 (-0.1% delta). The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H scores 27872 (-0.2% delta), while the Intel Core i7-13700H scores 27716 (0.4% delta). These rivals are all within a fraction of a percent of each other, indicating that the i5-12600KF is performing exactly as expected for its class.

The GPU’s benchmark performance shows a similar story. The RTX 4090’s average score of 66473 is remarkably close to the NVIDIA Tesla T4’s 66733 (-0.4% delta) and the NVIDIA Tesla P40’s 66127 (0.5% delta). The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 67097 (-0.9% delta), and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 scores 67320 (-1.3% delta). These are professional workstation cards, not gaming GPUs, which suggests the RTX 4090’s raw compute power is being compared against a different class of hardware. The fact that this gaming-focused GPU ranks so high in synthetic benchmarks alongside professional Tesla and Quadro cards speaks to its massive compute capability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes available from the CPU itself.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU’s role is crucial. The game simulates the assembly and operation of PCs, which involves constant calculations related to component compatibility, power draw, and thermal dynamics. These calculations are largely single-threaded or lightly threaded, which is where the i5-12600KF’s strong single-core performance shines. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and Geekbench single-core score of 2529 indicate robust per-core performance. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3309 further confirms this strength.

The multi-threaded performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 12373. However, for a game like this, the single-thread performance is more relevant. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1995, which is nearly half of the 4-thread score of 3806, suggests that the game may not fully utilize all available threads. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7956 is barely higher than the 8-thread score of 6128, indicating diminishing returns beyond 8 threads. This aligns with the FPS data showing CPU limitation at lower resolutions — the game simply cannot push enough work to the GPU to saturate it.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of performance across all resolution and setting combinations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 397.3 FPS on Low settings, 348.6 FPS on Medium, 262 FPS on High, and 246.8 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is a 12% drop, while Medium to High is a 25% drop, and High to Ultra is a 6% drop. The relatively small difference between High and Ultra at 1080p suggests the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU can handle the extra load without much penalty.

At 2560x1440, the numbers scale down predictably: 325.8 FPS on Low, 233.7 FPS on Medium, 162.5 FPS on High, and 158.9 FPS on Ultra. The Medium to High drop of 30% is significant, but the High to Ultra drop of only 2% is negligible. This pattern repeats at 4K, where the system produces 173.7 FPS on Low, 120.1 FPS on Medium, 84.2 FPS on High, and 85 FPS on Ultra. Interestingly, at 4K, High and Ultra produce nearly identical frame rates, with Ultra actually being 1% faster than High (85 FPS versus 84.2 FPS). This anomaly suggests measurement variance or that the Ultra preset at 4K is not adding additional load beyond what High already requires.

The most striking observation is the 1080p Low result of 397.3 FPS. This is the highest recorded frame rate in the dataset and represents an extraordinary level of performance. Even at 4K Low, the system maintains 173.7 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate that most high-end monitors offer. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus width are more than sufficient for this game’s modest visual requirements, even at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play this game with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High (162.5 FPS) and 4K High (84.2 FPS) both offer excellent experiences. For the smoothest gameplay, 1080p High delivers 262 FPS, while 4K Ultra at 85 FPS is perfectly playable for those prioritizing visual fidelity.

Q: Why is the FPS difference between High and Ultra so small at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor. The difference between High (262 FPS) and Ultra (246.8 FPS) is just 6%, suggesting the i5-12600KF cannot feed the RTX 4090 enough data to fully utilize the GPU’s capabilities at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This configuration ranks 29th out of 1769 tested combos, placing it in the top 2% of all tested systems in Pc Building Simulator.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: At 4K, the GPU becomes more of a factor. The 4K Low result of 173.7 FPS versus 4K Ultra at 85 FPS shows a 51% reduction, indicating the RTX 4090 is working harder. However, the CPU’s single-thread performance still plays a role, as evidenced by the 84.2 FPS at 4K High, which is lower than one might expect from a GPU with 82.58 TFLOPS of compute.

Q: What are the CPU’s benchmark scores compared to its rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF scores 27827 on average, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829, 0% delta), Intel Core i5-12600K (27851, -0.1% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (27872, -0.2% delta). The Intel Core i7-13700H scores 27716 (0.4% delta), all within a fraction of a percent.

Q: Does the game use all 16 threads of the CPU?

A: The benchmark data suggests limited scaling beyond 8 threads. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 6128 is significantly higher than the 4-thread score of 3806, but the 16-thread score of 7956 is only 30% higher than the 8-thread score, indicating diminishing returns for this workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the best settings for different priorities. For maximum frame rate, 1080p Low delivers an extraordinary 397.3 FPS, making it ideal for competitive play or for users with high refresh rate monitors. However, this setting sacrifices visual quality for performance that is far beyond what any display can show.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, 1440p High at 162.5 FPS is the sweet spot. This resolution offers a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining frame rates that exceed 144Hz, ensuring smooth gameplay on high refresh rate displays. The step up to 1440p Ultra (158.9 FPS) costs only 2% performance and is recommended for those who want maximum quality without sacrificing playability.

For 4K users, the choice between High (84.2 FPS) and Ultra (85 FPS) is effectively a wash, as the frame rates are nearly identical. Given that Ultra is technically faster in the measured data, there is no reason not to select Ultra at 4K. This yields a solid 60+ FPS experience, though users with 120Hz or 144Hz displays will need to consider dropping to 1440p to fully utilize their monitor’s refresh rate.

The Medium settings at 1440p (233.7 FPS) and 4K (120.1 FPS) offer intermediate options, but the data suggests that the jump from Medium to High at 1440p (30% drop) is more substantial than the jump from High to Ultra (2% drop). This makes High the most efficient setting for image quality per frame at both 1440p and 4K. Ultimately, the RTX 4090 is so powerful in this game that even the most demanding settings at 4K remain playable, making the choice primarily about display capabilities and personal preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate headroom.