Revolution Idle

# Revolution Idle with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

This combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 64th out of 1774 tested combos in Revolution Idle, placing it comfortably in the top 3.6% of all systems evaluated. The CPU sits at the 77th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 19,221, while the GPU achieves the 91st percentile among all graphics cards with an average score of 66,473. The pairing leverages a six-core, twelve-thread Alder Lake processor with a 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clock, alongside an Ada Lovelace GPU with 16,384 shading units and 24 GB of GDDR6X memory. Measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets demonstrate that this system delivers playable performance even at 4K Ultra, though the data reveals interesting bottlenecks and scaling characteristics worth examining.

How This Combo Ranks

The 64th position out of 1,774 combos represents a strong overall standing, but the rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's exceptional compute capabilities. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 66,473 places it 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733), 0.5% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66,127), and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097). These deltas are remarkably tight—within 1.3% of all nearest rivals—indicating that the 4090's raw performance is well established but not head-and-shoulders above high-end workstation cards in synthetic tests.

The CPU side tells a different story. The Core i5-12400F's average score of 19,221 sits 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-8700K (19,210) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19,167), while trailing the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19,364) by 0.7% and the AMD EPYC 7773X (18,979) by 1.3%. In multithreaded workloads, the CPU's Cinebench R23 score of 16,518 and Geekbench multicore score of 9,138 show solid throughput for a six-core part. However, the single-thread Cinebench R23 result of 2,332 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,221 indicate that this processor is not the primary strength of this combo—the GPU clearly dominates the system's benchmark identity.

In Revolution Idle specifically, the measured FPS data shows that the combo's rank is earned primarily through 1080p and 1440p performance, where the system exceeds 118 FPS even at Ultra settings. At 4K Ultra, the average of 41.4 FPS drops below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that the rank reflects strong but not flawless high-resolution capability.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 187.8 FPS, Medium reaches 169.8 FPS, and High achieves 166.4 FPS—all well above any practical refresh rate ceiling. Ultra at 1080p still produces 118.7 FPS, making it the recommended preset for users with high-refresh displays who prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low hits 165 FPS, while High and Medium both cluster around 121.1 and 121.4 FPS respectively, representing a 26.6% drop from Low. Ultra falls to 74.7 FPS, a 38.4% reduction from High. For 1440p gaming, High is the sweet spot: it offers the same frame rate as Medium but with better visual quality, and it remains 62% faster than Ultra while being only 26.6% slower than Low.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. Low produces 83.9 FPS, Medium 62.7 FPS, and High 62.3 FPS—nearly identical results. Ultra drops sharply to 41.4 FPS. Given that Medium and High are statistically indistinguishable at 4K, High is the recommended preset, providing the best visual experience at a playable frame rate. Users prioritizing smoothness should select Low, which offers a 34% improvement over High. Ultra should be avoided at 4K, as the 41.4 FPS average fails to maintain consistent fluidity.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals significant insight into what limits this system. At High settings, frame rates progress from 166.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 121.1 FPS at 2560x1440, then 62.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 27.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48.6% drop from 1440p to 4K—a total reduction of 62.6% from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling at Low settings is more linear: 187.8 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p (a 12.1% drop), and 83.9 FPS at 4K (a 49.2% drop from 1440p). The fact that Low settings still see a substantial 55.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as reducing CPU load through lower settings does not flatten the curve.

Ultra settings show the steepest decline: 118.7 FPS at 1080p, 74.7 FPS at 1440p (37.1% drop), and 41.4 FPS at 4K (44.6% drop from 1440p, 65.1% total). The GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are sufficient for texture-heavy loads, but the rendering demands of 4K Ultra overwhelm even the 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute. The data indicates that the RTX 4090's 2520 MHz boost clock and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are being fully utilized at 4K, yet frame rates still fall below 60 FPS at Ultra, confirming that this resolution/preset combination exceeds the system's practical capabilities for this idle game's rendering pipeline.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS at High settings?

A: Both 1920x1080 (166.4 FPS) and 2560x1440 (121.1 FPS) comfortably exceed 60 FPS at High settings. At 3840x2160, High settings yield 62.3 FPS, which barely crosses the 60 FPS threshold but leaves minimal headroom for frame time spikes.

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

A: Medium settings produce 169.8 FPS at 1920x1080, 121.4 FPS at 2560x1440, and 62.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 28.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p, a 48.4% drop from 1440p to 4K, and a total 63.1% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM provide any advantage in Revolution Idle?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6X memory operates at 1.01 TB/s bandwidth across a 384-bit bus. While this capacity is far beyond what Revolution Idle requires—as evidenced by the GPU's 91st percentile ranking—the memory bandwidth contributes to consistent frame delivery across resolutions, though the 4K Ultra result of 41.4 FPS shows that memory is not the sole constraint.

Q: How does the Core i5-12400F compare to its closest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400F's average score of 19,221 is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-8700K (19,210) and 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19,364). Its single-thread Cinebench R23 score of 2,332 indicates strong per-core performance, which benefits this combo's 1080p results where the CPU has more influence.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings is 74.7 FPS. This is a 38.4% reduction from High settings at the same resolution (121.1 FPS), making Ultra a questionable trade-off given the visual gains in an idle game.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more responsible for the 4K performance ceiling?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. At 4K Low, the system achieves 83.9 FPS, which drops to 62.3 FPS at High and 41.4 FPS at Ultra. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads provide adequate processing at all resolutions, but the 4090's rendering load at 4K Ultra exceeds its capacity, as shown by the 91st percentile GPU ranking being insufficient for this workload.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 serves as the performance anchor of this combo, with specifications that dominate the measured results. Built on the AD102 chip at TSMC's 5 nm process, the GPU packs 76,300 million transistors across a 609 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 125.3M per mm². Its 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs drive a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute reaching 82.58 TFLOPS. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores provide ray tracing and AI acceleration capabilities that, while not directly measured in this game's FPS data, contribute to the GPU's 91st percentile standing.

The memory subsystem is equally substantial: 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, with memory clocks at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This configuration allows the GPU to handle high-resolution textures without bandwidth constraints, which explains why Medium and High settings at 4K produce nearly identical frame rates (62.7 vs 62.3 FPS)—the memory bandwidth is sufficient, but the shader compute becomes the bottleneck at Ultra.

The GPU's base clock of 2235 MHz and boost of 2520 MHz are relatively modest for a flagship, yet the architecture's efficiency at 450 W TDP enables sustained performance. In synthetic benchmarks, the 4090 scores 38,194 in Passmark G3D and 26,613 in GPU compute, with Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores of 317,684 and 270,615 respectively. Its nearest rivals—the Tesla T4 (0.4% behind), Tesla P40 (0.5% ahead), and Radeon Pro Vega 56 (0.9% behind)—are workstation-oriented cards, highlighting that the 4090's gaming-focused design still competes favorably in compute-heavy workloads.

In Revolution Idle, the GPU's role is most evident in the resolution scaling. The 1080p to 4K frame rate drops of 62.6% at High and 65.1% at Ultra indicate that the rendering pipeline becomes increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises. The fact that the combo ranks 64th out of 1,774 despite the CPU's modest 77th percentile suggests that the 4090's raw throughput is carrying the system's overall position, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is less impactful.