Ready Or Not

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a striking performance profile in Ready Or Not, where the data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at high resolutions but transitions into a CPU-limited state at 1080p. The measured frame rates across the three resolutions and four quality presets paint a clear picture of where the bottleneck shifts, and the numbers suggest that this combination is capable of exceptional performance, though the scaling behavior raises questions about how the game utilizes the hardware at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a dramatic and predictable drop, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 539.8 at 1080p to 339.6 at 1440p and then to 177.7 at 4K. This represents a reduction of 37.1% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 47.7% drop when stepping up to 4K. The pattern is similar at High settings, where the 1080p result of 427 FPS drops to 269.6 at 1440p (a 36.9% reduction) and then to 138.4 at 4K (a 48.7% reduction from 1440p).

The scaling behavior at Ultra settings tells a slightly different story. At 1080p, the average is 300.3 FPS, which drops to 191.8 at 1440p and then to 97.4 at 4K. The percentage drops are 36.1% and 49.2% respectively, which is consistent with the other presets. However, the absolute numbers at 1080p Ultra are significantly lower than at 1080p Low, which suggests that the GPU is already working harder at the higher quality settings even before resolution increases. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the RTX 5090 has headroom to render more frames, but the i7-12700K's processing capacity caps the output. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as the massive increase in pixel count demands more from the graphics card, and the frame rates align with what one would expect from a high-end GPU under heavy load.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K, High produces an average of 138.4 FPS, which is significantly higher than the Ultra preset's 97.4 FPS, yet only slightly lower than Medium's 152.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 41 FPS, indicating that Ultra demands a substantial performance cost for what is likely a marginal visual improvement. At 1440p, High delivers 269.6 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate displays, while Ultra drops to 191.8 FPS. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates at every resolution, likely compromises visual fidelity to a degree that is unnecessary given the hardware's capabilities.

For players seeking the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p yields 539.8 FPS, but this seems excessive for most display technologies. The Medium preset at 1440p, with 294.4 FPS, represents a reasonable middle ground for competitive play, while High at 4K offers a strong balance for those prioritizing visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The Ultra preset, despite being the most demanding, still manages to exceed 60 FPS at 4K, but the 97.4 FPS result indicates that it may be reserved for those who prioritize maximum visual fidelity over raw performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a formidable piece of hardware, and its specifications in the data explain its performance in Ready Or Not. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This substantial memory allocation is more than sufficient for the game's demands, even at 4K Ultra settings, where texture and geometry data can be extensive. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz, combined with its 21,760 shading units, contribute to its raw compute capability, which is reflected in its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance.

The RTX 5090's percentile ranking of 94 against all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 84,306, indicate that it sits near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals in the data — the RTX 5090 D with a delta of 0.1%, the RTX 5050 Mobile with 0.2%, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 with 1.3% — all have similar average scores, suggesting that the 5090 is not significantly ahead of its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks. However, in Ready Or Not, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions, where the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (97.4) is still nearly double what many lower-tier GPUs would achieve. The data indicates that the RTX 5090 is never the primary constraint at 1080p, as frame rates exceed 300 FPS even at Ultra, but at 4K, the GPU's workload increases substantially, and the frame rates reflect that shift.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 16th out of 1,748 tested combos in Ready Or Not. This placement in the top 1% of all configurations demonstrates that this pairing is exceptionally well-suited for the game, though it is not the absolute best. The rank suggests that there are 15 other combinations that achieve higher average FPS, which could indicate that a more powerful CPU would further unlock the RTX 5090's potential, particularly at lower resolutions where the processor becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35,684, places it in the upper echelon of CPUs, but not at the very top. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 with a delta of -0.3%, the Intel Core i7-13700T with 0.6%, and the Intel Core i5-14500HX with -0.7% — all have comparable average scores, indicating that the i7-12700K is part of a tightly clustered group of high-performing processors. The fact that this CPU-GPU combo still achieves rank 16 out of 1,748 suggests that the i7-12700K provides sufficient performance to avoid severely bottlenecking the RTX 5090 in most scenarios, even if it may not maximize the GPU's potential at 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K's specifications provide insight into its performance in Ready Or Not. With 12 cores and 20 threads, the CPU offers substantial multi-threaded capability, which is supported by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29,241 and Passmark multithread score of 34,404. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz, combined with a 25 MB shared L3 cache, contribute to its strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,128 and Passmark single-thread score of 4,013.

In Ready Or Not, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at 1080p, where the frame rates at Low settings reach 539.8 FPS. This extremely high number suggests that the game is not heavily taxing the CPU's single-threaded performance, but the fact that the FPS does not scale as much as expected when moving from 1080p to 1440p indicates that the CPU is likely the bottleneck at the lower resolution. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and the Passmark physics score of 1,790 provide additional context, suggesting that the CPU's processing power is sufficient for the game's physics and AI calculations. The data shows that the i7-12700K, while not the most powerful CPU available, is more than capable of feeding the RTX 5090 with enough frames to maintain high performance, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU takes on a larger share of the workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 138.4.

Q: How does the 1080p Low preset compare to the 4K Ultra preset?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves 539.8 FPS, while the 4K Ultra preset achieves 97.4 FPS, representing a difference of 442.4 FPS.

Q: What is the combo rank for this CPU-GPU pairing in Ready Or Not?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 16th out of 1,748 tested combos.

Q: What is the RTX 5090's memory bandwidth?

A: The GPU has a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, utilizing 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus.

Q: What is the boost clock of the i7-12700K?

A: The CPU has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz.

Q: How many FPS does the Medium preset achieve at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 294.4.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full set of measured results is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 539.8 FPS, Medium delivers 469.9 FPS, High delivers 427 FPS, and Ultra delivers 300.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 339.6 FPS, Medium delivers 294.4 FPS, High delivers 269.6 FPS, and Ultra delivers 191.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 177.7 FPS, Medium delivers 152.9 FPS, High delivers 138.4 FPS, and Ultra delivers 97.4 FPS.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: Low settings offer the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being the most demanding. The differences between presets are more pronounced at lower resolutions, with the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p being 239.5 FPS, while at 4K the gap narrows to 80.3 FPS. This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, reducing the impact of quality preset changes on overall performance. The measured FPS values indicate that this combination is capable of exceeding 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, and easily surpasses 144 FPS at 1440p on any preset, making it a strong choice for high-refresh-rate gaming across a wide range of display resolutions.