The Long Drive

# The Long Drive with Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

This combination pairs a 4-core/8-thread Intel Core i3-12100F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, a GPU that sits in the 86th percentile of all tested graphics cards. The data shows a system that delivers playable frame rates across all resolutions, but with a clear pattern: the CPU becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over at 4K. The measured results place this combo at rank 312 out of 3,725 tested combinations, which puts it in the top 8.4% of all pairings tested for this game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of settings presets, and the optimal choice depends heavily on your target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset delivers an average of 127 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on most monitors. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 293 FPS average, with a minimum of 249 FPS, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset pushes to 314 FPS, but the difference between Low and Medium is only 21 FPS, while Medium offers substantially better visual quality. For 1080p, Medium is the recommended starting point.

At 1440p, the picture changes. The High preset delivers 121 FPS average, which is excellent for most gaming monitors. The Medium preset produces 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS, making it the best choice for 144Hz or 165Hz displays. The Ultra preset drops to 84 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant visual quality investment for a 37 FPS loss compared to High. The data suggests that High is the balanced choice at 1440p, offering 121 FPS while maintaining good visual fidelity. For competitive play, Medium at 194 FPS is the performance pick.

At 4K, the settings decision becomes more critical. The High preset produces 67 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset delivers 108 FPS, with a minimum of 91 FPS, making it the clear recommendation for 4K gaming on this hardware. The Ultra preset falls to 47 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold and should be avoided unless visual quality takes absolute priority. The Low preset at 4K produces 131 FPS, but the visual compromise is severe. For 4K, Medium is the definitive recommendation, offering 108 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS that ensures no major frame drops.

The overall pattern suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium gives 293 FPS; at 1440p, 194 FPS; and at 4K, 108 FPS. This consistency makes Medium the safest default choice for this combination, with High as a viable alternative at 1440p where the 121 FPS average still provides smooth gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores show a strong single-thread performance: a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,674. Multi-threaded performance is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11,860 and a 3DMark max-threads score of 4,023.

In The Long Drive, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 314 FPS, which suggests the RTX 4080 is not being fully utilized at this resolution and settings combination. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are likely the limiting factor here, as the GPU is capable of far higher frame rates. The data shows a drop from 314 FPS at 1080p Low to 235 FPS at 1440p Low, which is a 25% decrease. This scaling pattern indicates that even at low settings, the CPU is constraining performance at lower resolutions.

However, the CPU's single-thread strength helps in this driving simulation. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,659 and 4-thread score of 2,859 show that the processor handles lightly-threaded workloads competently. The game likely benefits from the high boost clock of 4.30 GHz and the strong single-core performance, as driving simulations often rely on physics calculations that are not heavily parallelized.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 68th percentile of all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,494. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-9500 (0.3% faster) and the Intel Core 3 N355 (0% difference), showing that this i3 performs competitively with older i5 processors. This suggests that the CPU is not a weak link in most gaming scenarios, though at very high frame rates, the 4-core/8-thread configuration may struggle to keep up with the RTX 4080's potential.

The data indicates that at 4K resolution, the CPU's role diminishes significantly. At 4K High, the system produces 67 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, 47 FPS. These lower frame rates suggest the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, as the RTX 4080's capabilities are being taxed by the higher resolution. The transition from 1440p High (121 FPS) to 4K High (67 FPS) represents a 45% drop, which is consistent with GPU-limited performance scaling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The data shows that Medium settings at 3840x2160 produce an average of 108 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS, making it the recommended choice. High settings drop to 67 FPS, while Ultra falls to 47 FPS. Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and smooth performance.

Q: Can this system handle 1440p at high refresh rates?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 194 with a minimum of 165 FPS, which is sufficient for 144Hz and 165Hz monitors. High settings produce 121 FPS, which still supports 120Hz displays.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F appears to be the limiting factor at 1080p. The system reaches 314 FPS at Low settings, but the scaling from Medium (293 FPS) to Low (314 FPS) shows only a 7% improvement, suggesting the CPU is constraining performance even at these high frame rates.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 being fully utilized in this game?

A: At lower resolutions, likely not. The FPS drop from 1080p Low (314 FPS) to 1440p Low (235 FPS) is only 25%, which is less than the resolution's pixel count increase of 78%. This indicates the CPU limits performance at 1080p. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as shown by the significant FPS drops across settings.

Q: What is the worst settings preset for this combo?

A: Ultra settings at 4K produce the lowest average of 47 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1080p, Ultra still manages 127 FPS, but at 4K, the combination struggles to maintain playable frame rates.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 312 out of 3,725 tested combinations for The Long Drive, placing it in the top 8.4%. This indicates that despite the CPU's modest core count, the combination performs well overall in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 312 out of 3,725 tested combos for The Long Drive. This position, which places it in the top 8.4% of all tested pairings, reflects a strong overall performance. The ranking suggests that the RTX 4080's high benchmark scores (86th percentile among GPUs) compensate for the CPU's more modest standing (68th percentile among CPUs).

The GPU's average benchmark score of 54,247 places it near the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% faster) and ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% slower). This high-performing GPU is the primary driver of the combo's strong ranking. The CPU's average score of 13,494 is competitive with the Intel Core i5-9500 (0.3% faster) and the Intel Core 3 N355 (0% difference), showing that the i3-12100F is not a significant drag on the system's overall capability.

In practical terms, this rank of 312 out of 3,725 means that the combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems in The Long Drive. The data indicates that the 4-core CPU does not prevent the system from achieving high frame rates, especially at 1440p and 4K resolutions where the GPU's capabilities are more fully utilized. The ranking also suggests that this combination is well-balanced for this specific game, despite the apparent mismatch between a budget-oriented CPU and a high-end GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals distinct scaling patterns across resolutions. At Low settings, the system produces 314 FPS at 1080p, 235 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 4K. This represents a 25% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 58% drop from 1440p to 4K. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p (25%) compared to the pixel count increase (78%) indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more consistent: 293 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 34%, and from 1440p to 4K is 44%. This pattern suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly important as resolution increases, with the 4K results showing a more traditional GPU-limited scaling.

High settings show a similar trend: 184 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 34% and 45% respectively. Ultra settings produce 127 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, with drops of 34% and 44%.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K across all settings shows a consistent 44-58% reduction, which aligns with the pixel count increase of 125% (from 3.7 million to 8.3 million pixels). This consistency indicates that at 4K, the RTX 4080 is the primary bottleneck, and the CPU's influence is minimized.

The data suggests that the system is GPU-limited at 4K, CPU-limited at 1080p, and in a balanced state at 1440p. At 1080p, the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration prevents the system from reaching even higher frame rates, as evidenced by the modest gains from Medium to Low settings (293 to 314 FPS). At 1440p, the system achieves a good balance, with the Medium preset delivering 194 FPS, which is high enough to satisfy most gaming needs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low settings: 314 FPS average
• Medium settings: 293 FPS average, with a minimum of 249 FPS and maximum of 337 FPS
• High settings: 184 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 127 FPS average

The 1080p results show that the system is capable of extremely high frame rates at lower settings. The Medium preset's minimum of 249 FPS ensures no noticeable stuttering, even during intense scenes. The gap between Medium and High (109 FPS) is substantial, suggesting that High settings impose a significant additional load on the system.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low settings: 235 FPS average
• Medium settings: 194 FPS average, with a minimum of 165 FPS and maximum of 223 FPS
• High settings: 121 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 84 FPS average

At 1440p, the Medium preset continues to provide excellent performance with a minimum of 165 FPS, which is the threshold for 165Hz monitors. High settings still deliver 121 FPS, which supports 120Hz displays. The Ultra preset's 84 FPS is playable but represents a significant drop from the other settings.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low settings: 131 FPS average
• Medium settings: 108 FPS average, with a minimum of 91 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS
• High settings: 67 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 47 FPS average

The 4K results show that Medium settings are the only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS while maintaining visual quality. The Medium preset's average of 108 FPS and minimum of 91 FPS make it the clear choice for 4K gaming. High settings at 67 FPS are borderline acceptable, but the minimum FPS is not recorded, which may indicate frame time variance. Ultra settings at 47 FPS are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience, with FPS values of 293, 194, and 108 at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. This consistency makes Medium the reliable default for this combination.