Ready Or Not

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Ready Or Not with the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 reveals a dramatic scaling pattern as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 106.1 FPS average, which is a playable level for a tactical shooter. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 70 FPS — a 34% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 32.7 FPS, which is a 69% reduction from the 1080p Low baseline. This steep decline suggests the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as pixel count increases.

The scaling between presets at each resolution tells a clearer story about the bottleneck. At 1080p, the spread from Low (106.1 FPS) to Ultra (63 FPS) is 43.1 FPS. At 1440p, the spread from Low (70 FPS) to Ultra (39.9 FPS) is 30.1 FPS. At 4K, the spread from Low (32.7 FPS) to Ultra (19 FPS) is only 13.7 FPS. The shrinking absolute difference between presets as resolution rises indicates that the GPU is saturated at higher resolutions — there is less headroom for settings to matter because the pixel throughput is the hard limit.

Interestingly, at 4K the Medium preset (33.9 FPS) actually slightly edges out Low (32.7 FPS), which is an anomaly that suggests measurement variance or that certain Medium settings are more efficient than the Low preset in this particular game. The Ultra preset at 4K collapses to 19 FPS, making it effectively unplayable for any real-time tactical engagement.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU still has some influence — the i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads can feed frames up to around 106 FPS. But as resolution increases, the GTX 1650’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factors. The 4K results, with all presets clustered between 19 and 33.9 FPS, show that no amount of settings reduction can rescue playability at that resolution. This is a GPU-bound scenario in the purest sense.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combination for this hardware?

A: The data shows 1080p Low delivers 106.1 FPS, while 1080p Medium reaches 94.9 FPS and 1080p High achieves 87.5 FPS. For a tactical shooter where frame consistency matters, 1080p Medium offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Ready Or Not?

A: No. The best 4K result is Medium at 33.9 FPS, with Low at 32.7 FPS and High at 28.6 FPS. Ultra drops to 19 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS threshold that would be considered smooth for this genre.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1650’s average benchmark score is 8713. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 8746 (0.4% higher), the AMD Radeon 550X scores 8749 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 scores 8761 (0.5% higher). The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 scores 8671, which is 0.5% lower.

Q: What is the CPU’s synthetic benchmark standing?

A: The Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, placing it at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores 13534, which is 0.1% higher. The Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13462 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10105 scores 13430 (0.6% lower).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 106.1 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed frames well. At 1440p and 4K, the FPS drops are consistent with GPU limitation. The data does not show a scenario where the CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads create a visible ceiling below GPU capability.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low produces 106.1 FPS, while Ultra produces 63 FPS. That is a 43.1 FPS gap, meaning Ultra is 40.6% slower than Low at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1643 out of 1748 tested combos in Ready Or Not. This places it in the bottom 6% of all configurations tested for this specific game. The ranking is particularly low because Ready Or Not is a modern tactical shooter with demanding visual effects and AI-driven scenarios that stress both CPU and GPU.

The CPU itself sits at the 72nd percentile among all processors, which is respectable for a budget part. The GPU, however, sits at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, which is below the median. When paired together, the GPU’s lower standing drags the overall combo ranking down significantly. The data suggests that this pairing is CPU-heavy relative to the GPU — the i3-12100F has more relative headroom than the GTX 1650.

In practical terms, a rank of 1643 out of 1748 means that the vast majority of tested combos outperform this setup in Ready Or Not. The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (63 FPS) is the only preset that approaches a smooth experience, while 4K Ultra (19 FPS) is far below playable. This ranking reflects the GPU’s age — the GTX 1650 was released on 2019-04-22 and is now end-of-life, while the i3-12100F is a current-generation part.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset (94.9 FPS) is the recommended starting point, as it delivers above 90 FPS while offering better visual fidelity than Low (106.1 FPS). High at 87.5 FPS is also viable, but the 7.4 FPS difference between Medium and High may not justify the visual gains in a fast-paced tactical environment. Ultra at 63 FPS is playable but falls below the 87.5 FPS of High, and the 31.9 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra is substantial.

At 1440p, Low (70 FPS) is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium (62 FPS) is marginally above 60, while High (56.4 FPS) drops below. Ultra (39.9 FPS) is not recommended for any competitive play. For 1440p, the data suggests Low or Medium at most, with a preference for Low to maintain headroom.

At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Medium (33.9 FPS) is the best measured result, but with Low at 32.7 FPS and High at 28.6 FPS, the differences are minor. Ultra (19 FPS) is unusable. The recommendation is to avoid 4K entirely with this hardware, as even the best preset cannot deliver smooth gameplay.

The overall best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium at 94.9 FPS. This provides a high frame rate while still benefiting from intermediate visual settings. For players who prioritize maximum smoothness, 1080p Low at 106.1 FPS is the ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the settings scale as follows: Low averages 106.1 FPS, Medium averages 94.9 FPS, High averages 87.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The step from Medium to High costs 7.4 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 24.5 FPS — a much steeper penalty, indicating that Ultra settings engage particularly heavy effects.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 70 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS, High averages 56.4 FPS, and Ultra averages 39.9 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 5.6 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 16.5 FPS. The pattern repeats: Ultra is disproportionately expensive.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 32.7 FPS, Medium averages 33.9 FPS, High averages 28.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. The Medium preset slightly outperforming Low is notable — this could indicate that some Low settings force the GPU into inefficient rendering paths, or that the difference is within measurement noise. The High to Ultra drop is 9.6 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 1440p and 1080p drops.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset consistently shows the largest penalty relative to High. At 1080p, Ultra is 28% slower than High. At 1440p, Ultra is 29.3% slower than High. At 4K, Ultra is 33.6% slower than High. This consistency suggests that Ultra enables a specific set of effects that scale with resolution, further confirming the GPU as the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It has 12 MB of shared L3 cache, with 80 KB L1 and 1.25 MB L2 per core. Its synthetic benchmarks show a strong single-thread score of 893 in 3dMark single-thread and 1681 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is relevant for a tactical shooter that often relies on single-threaded game logic.

In Ready Or Not, the CPU’s role appears to be sufficient at 1080p, where the combo reaches 106.1 FPS on Low. The 3dMark 4-thread score of 2859 and 8-thread score of 4026 indicate that the CPU can handle moderate multi-threading demands. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 suggests that the 4 cores are efficient for gaming workloads.

However, the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions — the FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU saturation. The CPU’s percentile standing of 72% among all CPUs means it outperforms most processors, yet the combo ranking is low because the GPU holds it back. The data indicates that the i3-12100F is capable of driving the GTX 1650 to its full potential in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1485 MHz with a boost of 1665 MHz, and memory runs at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU’s average benchmark score is 8713, placing it at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs.

In Ready Or Not, the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM is likely a constraint at higher resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K, with all presets between 19 and 33.9 FPS, strongly suggests that the GPU is overwhelmed by pixel fill rate demands. The pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s are modest figures that explain the 4K collapse.

The GTX 1650’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 0.5% of its score, indicating that it is positioned in a tightly competitive segment. However, its end-of-life production status and release date of 2019-04-22 mean it lacks modern features like dedicated ray tracing cores. The data shows that this GPU is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it delivers between 63 and 106.1 FPS depending on the preset. At 1440p, only Low (70 FPS) and Medium (62 FPS) are viable, and 4K is not a realistic option.