Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator, a simulation title from 2019, exhibits a distinct performance scaling pattern with the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination. The measured data across three resolutions and four settings presets reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher visual quality levels, but increasingly CPU-limited as resolution drops and settings are lowered. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to show how each component contributes to the final frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and follows a predictable pattern tied to the rendering resolution. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 172.4 at 1920x1080 to 110 at 2560x1440, then to 61 at 3840x2160. This represents a 35.7% performance loss when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 44.5% loss from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, indicating the GPU is the primary limiting factor at these high settings.

The picture changes dramatically at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 364 FPS, which drops to 233.6 at 1440p and 120.2 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35.8%, similar to Ultra, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 48.5%, a larger relative decrease. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU begins to play a more significant role at lower resolutions, while the GPU still dominates at 4K.

The Medium preset shows a middle ground: 261.7 FPS at 1080p, 167 at 1440p, and 85 at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 36.2% reduction, while 1440p to 4K sees a 49.1% reduction. High settings produce 180.4, 115.3, and 63.1 FPS respectively, with a 36.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45.3% drop from 1440p to 4K.

The data indicates that the resolution scaling factor is relatively consistent across settings when moving from 1080p to 1440p, hovering around 36%. However, the 1440p to 4K transition shows more variance, with lower settings experiencing larger relative drops. This behavior points to the RTX 3080 Ti being the dominant bottleneck at 4K across all settings, while the i5-13400F becomes a co-limiting factor at 1080p, particularly at Low and Medium settings where frame rates exceed 260 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is a high-end Ampere architecture card with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. Its benchmark profile places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41224. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 3090, which scores 41441 with a deltaPct of -0.5%, and the RTX 5070, which scores 41687 with a deltaPct of -1.1%. This places the 3080 Ti within 1.6% of the Tesla M40's score of 41897.

In Pc Building Simulator, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K resolution. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 61 FPS, which is exactly half of the 4K Low result of 120.2 FPS. This halving of performance from Low to Ultra at 4K suggests that the pixel fill rate and shading workload are the primary constraints. The card's 10240 shading units and 112 ROPs, combined with its 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 532.8 GTexel/s texture rate, are being fully utilized at this resolution.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this simulation game, as the data shows no anomalous performance cliffs that would indicate memory capacity issues. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed, and the 912.4 GB/s bandwidth appears adequate for the texture and geometry data typical of a simulation title. The card's FP32 performance of 34.10 TFLOPS directly correlates with the frame rates seen at 1440p Medium (167 FPS) and 4K Medium (85 FPS), which are roughly proportional to the shading workload.

The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs means it outperforms the majority of graphics cards, but it still falls behind the RTX 3090 by 0.5% in average score. In practical terms, this small deltaPct does not translate into meaningful FPS differences in Pc Building Simulator, as the measured results show the card delivering playable frame rates at all resolutions except 4K Ultra, where 61 FPS is still technically smooth but close to the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, running at a 2.50 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost clock. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004. The processor's 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236, places it slightly above the Core i7-13620H, which scores 25201 with a deltaPct of 0.1%.

The CPU's role in Pc Building Simulator becomes apparent when examining the 1080p Low results. At 364 FPS, the system is producing frame rates that far exceed typical display refresh rates, and this is where the i5-13400F's single-thread performance matters most. The processor's 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 1261 indicate strong per-core performance. The 4.60 GHz boost clock helps sustain high frame rates in game logic and simulation overhead tasks.

The 10-core configuration with 16 threads provides ample parallel processing capability, as evidenced by the 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and max-thread score of 7307. In a game like Pc Building Simulator, which simulates component interactions and system building, the multi-threaded workload benefits from these cores. The L3 cache of 20 MB shared helps reduce memory latency, and the dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support allows for flexible system memory configurations.

The CPU's limitation shows at 1080p Low, where the 364 FPS average is likely approaching the maximum frame rate the processor can generate for the game's simulation logic. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (364 to 233.6 FPS) is 35.8%, which is similar to the GPU-bound scaling at Ultra settings. However, the fact that 1080p Low achieves a higher frame rate than 1080p Ultra (364 vs 172.4) demonstrates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at High and Ultra settings, where GPU workload dominates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows a wide spread across settings: Low achieves 364 FPS, Medium delivers 261.7 FPS, High produces 180.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 172.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 81.3 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 8 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns from High to Ultra, where the visual quality increase costs relatively little performance.

The 2560x1440 results follow a similar pattern but with lower absolute values: Low at 233.6 FPS, Medium at 167 FPS, High at 115.3 FPS, and Ultra at 110 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to 5.3 FPS at this resolution, reinforcing that Ultra settings provide minimal frame rate impact over High in this title.

At 3840x2160, the results compress further: Low at 120.2 FPS, Medium at 85 FPS, High at 63.1 FPS, and Ultra at 61 FPS. The High to Ultra delta is just 2.1 FPS, making Ultra essentially free in performance terms at 4K. The Low to Medium drop of 35.2 FPS is the largest single-step reduction, indicating that Medium settings introduce significant GPU workload.

The overall combo rank of 408 out of 1769 combinations places this hardware pairing in the top 23% of tested configurations. The data shows consistent performance across all 12 measured scenarios, with no anomalies or unexpected dips. The system never drops below 60 FPS in any configuration, making even the most demanding setting combination playable.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination achieves in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 364 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration exceeding 300 FPS, with the next highest being 261.7 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti the bottleneck at 1080p Ultra?

A: No, the data suggests it is not. The 1080p Ultra result of 172.4 FPS is only 8 FPS lower than High (180.4 FPS), while the jump from Medium (261.7) to High (180.4) is 81.3 FPS. This indicates the CPU begins to limit frame rates above 180 FPS, not the GPU.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to its closest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41224, which is 0.5% lower than the RTX 3090's score of 41441. It also trails the Radeon Pro 5300 by 0.9% and the RTX 5070 by 1.1%.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High settings produce 63.1 FPS while Ultra produces 61 FPS, a difference of only 2.1 FPS. This makes Ultra effectively free in performance cost at 4K.

Q: Does the i5-13400F outperform its closest rival in average score?

A: Yes, the i5-13400F has an average score of 25236, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-13620H's score of 25201. It also exceeds the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D by 0.5% in the opposite direction (the rival scores 25365, which is 0.5% higher).

Q: Can this system maintain 60+ FPS at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes. All four settings presets at 3840x2160 exceed 60 FPS. The lowest result is 61 FPS at Ultra, while Low achieves 120.2 FPS, Medium reaches 85 FPS, and High hits 63.1 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice for visual quality, delivering 172.4 FPS. This frame rate is far above the 144 Hz refresh rate common in gaming monitors, and the 8 FPS difference from High is negligible. Since the system is CPU-limited above 180 FPS in this title, there is no benefit to selecting High over Ultra at this resolution.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset at 110 FPS is the recommended choice. The difference between High (115.3 FPS) and Ultra (110 FPS) is only 5.3 FPS, which is imperceptible in a simulation game. The 110 FPS result comfortably exceeds 60 FPS and approaches 120 Hz refresh rates, providing smooth gameplay without sacrificing visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset at 61 FPS is the best option. The High preset delivers 63.1 FPS, which is within 2.1 FPS of Ultra, making the performance cost of Ultra essentially zero. The 61 FPS result is just above the 60 FPS threshold, so users with VRR displays will experience consistent frame pacing. The Medium preset at 85 FPS is also playable, but the visual quality reduction from Ultra to Medium is significant enough that the 24 FPS gain is not worth the trade-off.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p (364 FPS) is the only configuration exceeding 300 FPS. However, given that the game is a simulation where visual feedback is important for component inspection, the Ultra preset at any resolution provides the best balance of performance and visual fidelity. The data consistently shows that Ultra settings cost very little performance over High, making it the clear recommendation for all three resolutions.