The Long Drive

The Long Drive with an Intel Core i5-12400 and an Intel Arc B390 is a combination that produces playable frame rates only under specific conditions. The data shows a system heavily constrained by the graphics processor, where resolution and settings choices dictate whether the game feels fluid or becomes a slideshow. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across three resolutions and four quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo averages 95 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 63 FPS, a 34% reduction. Pushing to 4K Low yields 35 FPS, which is a 63% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is typical of a system where the graphics card is saturated; as pixel count increases, the GPU workload grows faster than the CPU can compensate.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 78 FPS at 1080p to 51 FPS at 1440p, then to 29 FPS at 4K. High settings show 49 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most punishing, starting at 34 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 22 FPS at 1440p, and collapsing to 12 FPS at 4K. The consistent halving of performance at each resolution step—roughly a 40-50% reduction per tier—indicates that the Arc B390's rendering capabilities, not the i5-12400's processing power, are the limiting factor.

Notably, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K in percentage terms for most presets. For Low settings, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 32 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 28 FPS. This suggests that the GPU hits a wall somewhere between 1440p and 4K where its shading units and memory bandwidth are exhausted. The i5-12400, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but as the pixel workload climbs, the GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance becomes the hard ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and playability depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, Low settings deliver 95 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. Medium settings at 78 FPS also provide a good experience, with a 17 FPS penalty for better visuals. High settings at 49 FPS are acceptable for a driving simulation, though the drop from Medium is significant. Ultra at 34 FPS is borderline; it is playable but not ideal for fast-paced driving where frame timing matters.

At 1440p, the situation tightens. Low settings at 63 FPS are the safe choice, offering fluid gameplay. Medium at 51 FPS is still playable, but the dip below 60 FPS may be noticeable to sensitive users. High at 32 FPS is marginal, and Ultra at 22 FPS is not recommended for active play. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the highest preset that maintains a reasonable frame rate, but Low is the better option if consistency is the priority.

At 4K, the story is grim. Low settings at 35 FPS is the only preset that approaches playability, and even then, it is below the 60 FPS threshold most drivers prefer. Medium at 29 FPS and High at 18 FPS are slideshows, and Ultra at 12 FPS is unusable. The measured minimum FPS for 4K Medium is 24, with a maximum of 33, indicating significant frame pacing issues. For 4K, the only practical advice is to use Low settings and accept the compromised experience, or drop to a lower resolution altogether.

The data indicates that the "best experience" for this combo is 1080p Medium, which delivers 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS. This preset offers a good balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, staying above 60 FPS even in the worst measured frames. If the user prioritizes maximum fluidity, 1080p Low at 95 FPS is superior, but Medium provides a more visually rich environment without sacrificing playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10nm process node. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz, boosting to 4.40 GHz. The chip has 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 per core. These specifications place it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18683.

In synthetic tests, the i5-12400 shows strong multi-threaded performance, scoring 15989 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6715 in Cinebench R20 multicore. Single-thread performance is solid as well, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1848. The 3DMark results demonstrate scaling from 1692 with 2 threads to 5890 with max threads, indicating the CPU can leverage its full thread count when needed.

However, in The Long Drive, the CPU's role appears secondary. The frame rate scaling with resolution—dropping from 95 FPS at 1080p Low to 35 FPS at 4K Low—suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the i5-12400 were the bottleneck, we would expect similar frame rates across resolutions, as the CPU workload would remain constant while the GPU handles more pixels. Instead, the sharp decline points to the GPU being saturated.

The nearest CPU rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7643 (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i7-1355U (deltaPct -0.3), AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (deltaPct -0.7), and Intel Core i3-14100F (deltaPct 0.9). These comparisons are within a 1% performance band, indicating the i5-12400 is competitively positioned for general workloads. For this game, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep up with the GPU's demands at 1080p, but the data shows that even a stronger CPU would not improve frame rates at higher resolutions because the GPU is the constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-12400 and Arc B390 ranks 2594 out of 2934 tested combos for The Long Drive. This places it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, which aligns with the measured performance. The GPU's percentile ranking is 9, meaning it performs worse than 91% of all GPUs in the database. This low GPU percentile is the primary driver of the combo's poor overall ranking.

The CPU's percentile of 72 is respectable, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's weakness. The combo rank reflects the system's overall capability in this specific game, and the data shows that the Arc B390 is the anchor. The nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (deltaPct 1.3), GeForce 800M (deltaPct 1.5), GT 625 OEM (deltaPct 2.5), and GT 710 (deltaPct 2.7). These are all entry-level or legacy parts, which contextualizes the Arc B390's performance tier.

Given that the combo ranks in the 2594th position out of 2934, it is clear that this is not a high-performance gaming setup. The ranking suggests that most other tested configurations, even those with modest CPUs, outperform this pair in The Long Drive. The only saving grace is that the game is a driving simulation, which may be more forgiving of lower frame rates than a competitive shooter, but the data does not support this combo for serious gaming beyond low-resolution, low-settings play.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3nm process node. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines. The GPU has 12 ray tracing cores and operates at a base clock of 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz. Its FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s.

Critically, the Arc B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." This is a fundamental limitation, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth. The 80W TDP and IGP slot width confirm this is an integrated solution, not a discrete card.

The GPU's benchmark score is 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, placing it in the 9th percentile. This is an extremely low score, and the nearest rivals are all older or low-end NVIDIA parts, such as the GT 710 and GT 625 OEM. The deltaPct values show the Arc B390 is only 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX and 2.7% faster than the GT 710.

In The Long Drive, the GPU's limitations are evident. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 12, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average is 34 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The lack of dedicated VRAM likely causes texture thrashing and memory bandwidth bottlenecks, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The system shared memory means the GPU's performance is also dependent on the CPU's memory controller and the system RAM speed, which can introduce variability.

The GPU's clock speeds are not the issue; the boost clock of 2500 MHz is respectable. The problem is the raw compute throughput and memory subsystem. With only 1536 shading units and a 24 ROPS count, the Arc B390 is simply not designed for demanding 3D workloads. The data shows that it can handle The Long Drive at 1080p Low (95 FPS) and Medium (78 FPS), but it struggles beyond that. The 4K results, ranging from 12 to 35 FPS across settings, confirm that this GPU is not suitable for high-resolution gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings average 95 FPS, Medium averages 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 90, High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 66 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS measurement at 1080p, and even that is above the minimum threshold for playability.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings average 63 FPS, which is still smooth. Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 59, indicating some frame drops below 45 FPS. High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is the highest preset that maintains an average above 50 FPS, but the minimum of 44 FPS suggests occasional stutter.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal. Low settings average 35 FPS, which is barely playable. Medium averages 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 33, showing tight but low frame rates. High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. None of the 4K presets achieve the 60 FPS target, and even the best case (Low at 35 FPS) is below the 40 FPS threshold that many consider the absolute minimum for a driving game.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each resolution drop of one tier (from 1080p to 1440p to 4K) roughly halves the frame rate at each settings level. The only exception is the 1080p-to-1440p transition at Low settings, where the drop is from 95 to 63 FPS (a 34% reduction rather than 50%). This suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU may be providing a slight bottleneck, but once the GPU is fully utilized at 1440p, the scaling becomes more predictable.

For users, the practical takeaways are clear. At 1080p, Medium settings provide the best balance of visuals and performance, with an average of 78 FPS. At 1440p, Low settings are the only option that consistently stays above 60 FPS. At 4K, the system should be avoided unless the user accepts 35 FPS at Low settings as the playable ceiling. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at all resolutions, with the best result being 34 FPS at 1080p. This combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with modest settings, and the data strongly suggests that users should not attempt 4K gaming with this hardware.