Revolution Idle

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-12400 compare to its closest rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The i5-12400 posts an average benchmark score of 19850. This places it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771). It trails the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894) by 0.2% and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928) by 0.4%.

Q: What is the single-thread performance of this CPU, and how does it relate to its multi-thread score?

A: The i5-12400 scores 910 in the 3dMark single-thread test and 5890 in the max-threads test. In Cinebench R23, it achieves 2249 single-core and 15935 multi-core. The single-thread score is roughly 15.4% of the max-thread score, indicating strong scaling across its 6 cores and 12 threads.

Q: Where does the RTX 5090 rank among all GPUs in the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84306. Its closest rival, the RTX 5090 D, scores 84241, a delta of just 0.1%. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 trails by 1.3%, while the NVIDIA CMP 40HX leads by 1.6%.

Q: What is the difference in measured FPS between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the combo averages 169.5 FPS. At 3840x2160 High, it drops to 65.3 FPS. That represents a 61.5% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K, highlighting the resolution scaling behavior of this pairing.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 123.5 FPS, while Ultra drops to 75.4 FPS. The Ultra setting costs roughly 38.9% of the frame rate compared to High, making High the more performance-efficient choice at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock runs at 2.50 GHz with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, providing a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency during gameplay.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 demonstrates balanced performance. Its 3dMark scores scale from 910 (single-thread) to 5890 (max-threads), showing efficient utilization of its 12 threads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935 indicates strong sustained throughput, while the single-core score of 2249 proves capable per-thread performance. PassMark tests further detail its strengths: integer math scores 58366, floating-point math hits 45494, and data compression reaches 226908.

The CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all processors places it in the upper tier of gaming CPUs. Its nearest rivals—the i7-9700, i7-8700, and i5-11600K—all fall within 0.4% of its average score, meaning the i5-12400 delivers competitive performance in its class. For Revolution Idle, an idle game, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities ensure that background computations and game logic run smoothly, even if the game itself is not heavily threaded.

The processor's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, along with its dual-channel memory bus, gives system builders flexibility. Its 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it an accessible choice for mainstream builds. While the integrated UHD Graphics 730 is present, the benchmark results in this analysis use the discrete RTX 5090, so the iGPU's impact on gaming is negligible.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. It packs 21,760 shading units, 680 tensor cores, and 170 RT cores, with a die size of 750 mm² and a massive 92,200 million transistors. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, delivering up to 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

Memory is a standout feature: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This enormous memory pool and bandwidth make the RTX 5090 exceptionally well-suited for high-resolution gaming and compute-heavy tasks. The card's 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU requirement indicate its power appetite, while the dual-slot design and 304 mm length demand ample case space.

In benchmark tests, the RTX 5090 scores 39650 in PassMark G3D and 380114 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. The nearest rival, RTX 5090 D, scores nearly identically (84241 vs 84306), confirming that this card sits at the apex of consumer graphics.

For Revolution Idle, the GPU's role is less about raw FPS and more about enabling smooth visual rendering at high resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 38.4 FPS, while 4K Low hits 86.6 FPS. The GPU's massive bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and UI rendering remain fluid even during complex idle-game animations.

How This Combo Ranks

This pairing of Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 52nd out of 1,774 tested combos in Revolution Idle, placing it in the top 2.9% of all configurations. This high rank reflects the GPU's dominant position in the benchmark database, even though the CPU is not a top-tier processor.

The combo's performance demonstrates a clear GPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, frame rates range from 121.7 FPS (Ultra) to 189 FPS (Low), showing that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at high refresh rates. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 67.3 FPS, indicating that the GPU's headroom is being utilized as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues with 75.4 FPS (Ultra) and 162 FPS (Low). The 1440p High setting delivers 123.5 FPS, which is only 46.0 FPS less than 1080p High (169.5 FPS). This suggests that the GPU scales well with resolution, maintaining playable frame rates up to 1440p even at high quality settings.

The 4K results reveal the GPU's limits in this game: 38.4 FPS at Ultra, 65.3 FPS at High, 65.6 FPS at Medium, and 86.6 FPS at Low. The minimal difference between High and Medium at 4K (0.3 FPS) indicates that the GPU is approaching a bottleneck, likely due to the game's rendering demands rather than CPU limitations.

Compared to other combos, this pairing's rank of 52 suggests that most higher-ranked configurations likely use stronger CPUs. However, the i5-12400's 77th percentile CPU score and the RTX 5090's 94th percentile GPU score create a balanced system that excels in GPU-intensive scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

At 1920x1080, the High preset (169.5 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The jump from High to Ultra (121.7 FPS) costs 47.8 FPS, which may not justify the visual improvement in an idle game. For maximum smoothness, Low (189 FPS) provides the highest frame rate, but the visual downgrade is likely unnecessary given the High preset's already excellent performance.

At 2560x1440, High (123.5 FPS) remains the sweet spot. Medium (128.5 FPS) offers only a 5 FPS improvement, while Ultra (75.4 FPS) introduces a significant 48.1 FPS penalty. Users with high-refresh-rate 1440p displays should stick with High or Medium to stay above 120 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. Ultra (38.4 FPS) is only borderline playable, while High (65.3 FPS) and Medium (65.6 FPS) provide nearly identical performance. The Low preset (86.6 FPS) is the only 4K option that exceeds 60 FPS comfortably. For 4K users, High is recommended as a compromise between visual fidelity and playability, while Low should be considered for those prioritizing frame rate.

The data shows that the Medium preset at 4K provides no meaningful advantage over High, making High the better choice at that resolution. At 1440p and below, High consistently outperforms Medium by a small margin, confirming that this combo handles High settings efficiently across most resolutions.