The Long Drive

Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a pairing that lands in the middle of the pack for The Long Drive — the combo ranks 1293 out of 1734 tested configurations. The data shows a system that can comfortably handle the game at 1080p and 1440p, but which hits a hard wall at 4K Ultra. Benchmark results indicate that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and the i3-12100F’s four cores produce a balanced experience at lower resolutions, but the demands of 4K expose the GPU’s limits.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate curve from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lives. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 90.2 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440 at High reduces that to 57.4 FPS — a 36% decrease. Moving up to 3840x2160 at High yields just 31 FPS, which is a further 46% drop from the 1440p figure. That steep, consistent decline as pixel count rises strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, not the CPU.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. The system manages 60.7 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which falls to 41 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and then collapses to 20.2 FPS at 4K Ultra. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra — a 51% reduction — shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply insufficient to feed the pixel throughput required by 4K with maximum detail. At 1080p, though, the GPU has headroom, and the data suggests the i3-12100F’s single-thread performance (893 in 3dmark single thread) keeps up adequately.

What is notable is the difference between Low and Ultra at the same resolution. At 4K, Low settings produce 62.6 FPS while Ultra produces 20.2 FPS — a threefold swing. This indicates that The Long Drive’s Ultra preset imposes a massive shading and memory bandwidth load. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is likely the constraining factor at 4K Ultra, as the GPU’s 64 ROPs struggle to output pixels fast enough.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are modest, but benchmark results show it performs well above its low core count. In Cinebench R23, it scores 11912 multicore and 1681 singlecore, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores 13534 — just 0.1% higher — while the Intel Core i7-7700K trails by 1.8% with a score of 13280.

For The Long Drive, a driving simulation, the CPU’s role is primarily physics and game logic rather than raw rendering. The 3dmark 4-thread score of 2859 and 8-thread score of 4026 show that the processor scales well with additional threads, but the 2-thread score of 1659 indicates that single-thread performance is competitive. At 1080p Low, the system hits 169.7 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at that resolution. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 20.2 FPS, which is far below the CPU’s capability — confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck there.

The i3-12100F’s 58 W TDP and lack of integrated graphics mean it relies entirely on the discrete GPU, but that is not a limitation in this test. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is not holding back the GPU significantly, as the FPS scales with GPU load as expected. At 1440p Medium, the system produces 92.8 FPS, which is close to the 1080p High result of 90.2 FPS, showing that the CPU can handle the extra geometry and draw calls without issue.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run The Long Drive at 4K smoothly?*

A: Not at high settings. The data shows 31 FPS at 4K High and 20.2 FPS at 4K Ultra. Only at 4K Low does it reach a playable 62.6 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings ratio for 60 FPS?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 60.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. At 1440p High, it drops to 57.4 FPS, so 1080p Ultra is the highest quality preset that maintains 60 FPS.

Q: How does the i3-12100F compare to its closest rivals in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i3-12100F averages 13516 in benchmark scores, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). It is 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280).

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER better than the RTX 2070 in this game?

A: No. The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, while the RTX 2070 scores 19680, making the 2060 SUPER 0.5% faster. However, this does not translate to better in-game FPS, as the measured data is specific to this combo.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1440p to 4K?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are strained at 4K. At 1440p High, the system hits 57.4 FPS, but at 4K High it drops to 31 FPS — a 46% reduction — indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the system produces 169.7 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 60.7 FPS. This is a 64% reduction, showing that Ultra settings impose a heavy load on the GPU even at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 169.7 FPS, Medium yields 138.5 FPS, High drops to 90.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 60.7 FPS. All of these are playable, with even the most demanding preset staying above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings still provide a very smooth 113.7 FPS, Medium offers 92.8 FPS, High maintains 57.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 38%, which is the largest relative step in this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles. Low settings yield 62.6 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 51.2 FPS, High falls to 31 FPS, and Ultra is unplayable at 20.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 18%, while the gap between Medium and High is 39%, showing that the High preset is a significant step up in GPU load.

The overall pattern is consistent: the system is best suited for 1080p gameplay at any setting, capable at 1440p with reduced settings, and only viable at 4K with Low settings. The data shows that 1440p Medium (92.8 FPS) is a sweet spot for smooth gameplay, while 4K High (31 FPS) is not recommended.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the TU106 chip with 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost of 1650 MHz, and it features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications are reflected in its benchmark scores: 16462 in Passmark G3D and 6721 in Passmark GPU Compute, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs.

In The Long Drive, the GPU’s role becomes more apparent as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU can easily handle the load, as evidenced by 138.5 FPS at Medium and 169.7 FPS at Low. The i3-12100F is not bottlenecking at these settings, as the frame rates are high enough to suggest the GPU is the primary renderer. At 1440p, the GPU still performs well but begins to show strain at Ultra (41 FPS) and High (57.4 FPS), indicating that the 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being fully utilized.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The 20.2 FPS at Ultra and 31 FPS at High are well below playable thresholds, and even Medium (51.2 FPS) is marginal. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 64 ROPs and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth required at 4K with high detail. Compared to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (avg score 19706), the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 0.3% higher, but this does not translate to meaningful gains in this game at 4K.

The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with Ultra settings, it may be close to its capacity. The data shows that reducing settings from Ultra to High at 4K improves FPS by 53% (from 20.2 to 31), which suggests that texture and shading demands are the primary stressors. The RTX 2060 SUPER is a capable 1080p card for this title, a moderate 1440p card, and a poor 4K card — the benchmark results make this hierarchy clear.