Ready Or Not

Ready Or Not is a tactical shooter that demands precise target acquisition and situational awareness, making frame rate consistency a key factor in player performance. The data for the Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but transitions to a CPU-bound state at 1080p. The measured results indicate that the RTX 4090 provides an exceptional experience across all tested configurations, but the scaling patterns reveal exactly where the balance of power shifts between the processor and the graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited workload. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 414.4 FPS, but this falls to 261.1 FPS at 1440p and further down to 135.7 FPS at 4K. That represents a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a clear indication that the graphics card is doing the heavy lifting as pixel count increases. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of VRAM and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth are being pushed harder at each step up in resolution, and the data reflects that stress.

The scaling pattern changes character at the lowest settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 519.2 FPS, but at 1440p Low it drops to 331 FPS, and at 4K Low it lands at 172 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, which is larger than the 31% drop seen when moving from High settings at 1080p to 1440p. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is starting to flex its muscles at 1080p, allowing the GPU to run freer, but the resolution increase still overwhelms the graphics pipeline quickly.

At Ultra settings, the story is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The 4K Ultra result of 96.6 FPS is the lowest in the entire dataset, while 1440p Ultra hits 181.4 FPS and 1080p Ultra reaches 288 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra is 107 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 84.8 FPS. This non-linear drop indicates that the RTX 4090 is still capable at 4K Ultra, but the performance headroom is shrinking, and the game’s more demanding effects are starting to bite.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark results place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35355. The data shows it sits almost exactly level with its nearest rivals: it is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14400, 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900HX, and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600T, while trailing the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.2%. This is a tight cluster of performance, meaning the 12700KF is not leaving anything on the table compared to its direct competition.

In Ready Or Not, the CPU’s role becomes most apparent at 1080p, where the frame rates are extremely high. At 1080p Low, the 519.2 FPS result is almost certainly limited by the processor’s single-thread performance, as the GPU is nowhere near its ceiling at that resolution. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4091 indicate strong per-core performance, which is what allows the system to push past the 500 FPS mark. The CPU’s 20 threads and 25 MB of shared L3 cache also help maintain stability when the game spawns AI enemies or processes gunfire physics.

At higher resolutions, the CPU’s influence wanes. The frame rate differences between 4K Low (172 FPS) and 4K High (135.7 FPS) are much smaller than the differences between 1080p Low and 1080p High, confirming that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as pixel count rises. The 12700KF is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 at 1440p and 4K, but at 1080p it is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 519.2 FPS ceiling at Low settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the flagship of the GeForce 40-series, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 Tensor cores. The GPU’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory runs on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, and its boost clock is rated at 2520 MHz. The benchmark data shows this GPU sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473, which places it 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4, 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40, and 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56.

In Ready Or Not, the RTX 4090’s raw compute power is on full display. At 4K High, it produces 135.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and even at 4K Ultra it manages 96.6 FPS. The GPU’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are clearly sufficient to handle the game’s environments at maximum settings, though the frame rate does drop by 29% when moving from High to Ultra at 4K. That drop is substantial, and it points to Ultra settings introducing effects that heavily tax the GPU’s shading and rasterization units.

The RTX 4090’s memory subsystem is also a key asset. The 24 GB VRAM capacity means there is no risk of running out of memory at 4K with High or Ultra textures, and the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is never a bottleneck. The data shows that the GPU is the dominant component at 1440p and 4K, with frame rates scaling predictably with resolution and settings changes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 519.2 FPS, Medium settings hit 454.3 FPS, High settings reach 414.4 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 288 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 231.2 FPS, which is a 44% reduction, indicating that the game’s higher settings have a significant impact even at a resolution where the CPU is more involved.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but start to show more GPU influence. Low settings yield 331 FPS, Medium settings produce 286.7 FPS, High settings hit 261.1 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 181.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 149.6 FPS, a 45% drop, which is consistent with the 1080p scaling and suggests the settings have a similar relative impact.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Low settings produce 172 FPS, Medium settings reach 148.8 FPS, High settings hit 135.7 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 96.6 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 75.4 FPS, a 44% reduction, which mirrors the percentage drops at lower resolutions. This consistency indicates that the settings scaling is uniform across resolutions, even though the absolute frame rates are much lower at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Ready Or Not with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High delivers 261.1 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, while 4K High still provides 135.7 FPS. For the highest frame rates, 1080p High hits 414.4 FPS, but 1440p is the sweet spot for balancing visual fidelity and speed.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 414.4 FPS at 1080p to 261.1 FPS at 1440p, and then to 135.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a total reduction of 67% from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 519.2 FPS ceiling at Low settings. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck, and the 12700KF is sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 without holding it back.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, Low settings produce 172 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 96.6 FPS. This is a difference of 75.4 FPS, or a 44% reduction in performance when enabling the highest settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 66473, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4, 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P40, and 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra settings for a smooth experience?

A: Yes, the measured 4K Ultra result is 96.6 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. However, it is the lowest result in the dataset, so players seeking maximum frame rates may prefer High settings at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For players using the Intel Core i7-12700KF with the RTX 4090, the data suggests that High settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 4K, High settings deliver 135.7 FPS, which is 39.1 FPS higher than Ultra and only 36.3 FPS lower than Medium. The jump from High to Ultra costs 39.1 FPS at 4K, which is a significant hit for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a tactical shooter where clarity is more important than eye candy.

At 1440p, High settings hit 261.1 FPS, which is more than enough for any current monitor, and the jump to Ultra only costs 79.7 FPS, bringing it to 181.4 FPS. This makes Ultra a viable option at 1440p for players who want maximum detail without sacrificing smoothness. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that even Ultra settings at 288 FPS are unlikely to be a limiting factor, so players can crank everything up without worry.

The only scenario where Ultra settings are not recommended is at 4K, where the 96.6 FPS result, while playable, leaves less headroom for demanding scenes or future content updates. In summary, the data points to High settings at 4K as the optimal configuration, with Ultra being a reasonable choice at 1440p and below. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of VRAM ensures that texture quality is never a concern at any setting, so the choice comes down to frame rate preference versus visual fidelity.