The Long Drive

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 394th out of 1,734 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the top 23% of all systems. This is a strong position that reflects a balanced pairing capable of delivering high frame rates across most settings, though the data shows that ultra settings at higher resolutions will challenge even this capable hardware. The combo’s ranking suggests it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, with the measured frame rates confirming that the RTX 4070 does the heavy lifting while the i5-12400F provides sufficient support without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 394 out of 1,734 places it well above the median tested system, indicating that this pairing is significantly more capable than roughly 77% of all combos in the database for this game. This is a strong result, especially considering that the individual components also perform well in their respective categories: the CPU sits at the 77th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 81st percentile against all GPUs. The alignment of these percentiles suggests a well-matched system where neither component dramatically outclasses the other, though the measured FPS data reveals that the GPU is the primary driver of performance in The Long Drive.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-12400F delivers an average benchmark score of 19,221, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-8700K at 19,210 (a 0.1% difference) and the Intel Core i5-1335U at 19,167 (0.3% ahead). The AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS scores slightly higher at 19,364, putting the i5-12400F 0.7% behind, while the AMD EPYC 7773X trails at 18,979, making the i5-12400F 1.3% faster. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the CPU’s performance is competitive with its direct peers, but the overall combo ranking is ultimately driven by the RTX 4070’s substantial graphics throughput.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing, equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock runs at 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its memory operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 29.15 TFLOPS. For The Long Drive, a driving simulation that appears to scale heavily with GPU load, this hardware provides the raw throughput needed for high refresh rates at lower resolutions, but the data shows clear limits at 4K ultra settings.

The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score of 37,283 places it at the 81st percentile, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37,507 (0.6% faster), followed by the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at 38,008 (1.9% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38,135 (2.2% faster). Interestingly, the RTX 4070 is 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5300M, which scores 36,371. These rival comparisons are based on aggregate benchmarks, but in The Long Drive specifically, the measured FPS indicates that the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and high bandwidth are sufficient for smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K ultra pushes the card to its limits, dropping to 40.1 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, built on Intel’s 10 nm Alder Lake architecture. It features an 18 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used in testing. The CPU’s multithreaded performance is solid, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16,518 and a single-core score of 2,332, while Geekbench reports 9,138 multicore and 2,221 single-core. In 3DMark tests, the CPU scores 5,912 with max threads and 909 single-thread, indicating that it can handle both lightly threaded and heavily threaded workloads reasonably well.

For The Long Drive, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p low settings, the combo achieves 281.2 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s practical limit for this game, but at higher resolutions the frame rate drops in a pattern consistent with GPU-bound performance. The i5-12400F’s average benchmark score of 19,221 is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-8700K and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U, but 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS and 1.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7773X. These tight margins mean the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo; instead, it provides enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4070 in most scenarios, particularly at 1440p and 4K where GPU load dominates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K) and four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 281.2 FPS on Low, 230.3 FPS on Medium, 144.2 FPS on High, and 100.2 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the GPU’s comfort zone, with even ultra settings exceeding 100 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 181 FPS, showing that the RTX 4070 has ample headroom at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show a clearer impact of increased resolution: Low delivers 182.5 FPS, Medium 153.5 FPS, High 96.8 FPS, and Ultra 67.2 FPS. The high and ultra settings at 1440p are still playable, but the 67.2 FPS on ultra is approaching the threshold where some users might prefer lower settings for smoother motion. At 3840x2160, the results reveal the GPU’s limits: Low produces 105 FPS, Medium 82.6 FPS, High 51.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40.1 FPS. The 4K ultra result is the only measurement below 60 FPS, indicating that this setting is too demanding for consistent high-refresh gameplay, while 4K low remains comfortably above 100 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in The Long Drive?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 281.2 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the ceiling for this pairing, likely limited by the CPU’s single-thread performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Long Drive?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, it averages 105 FPS; at 4K Medium, 82.6 FPS; at 4K High, 51.2 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, 40.1 FPS. Only the Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19,221, which is 0.1% higher than the i7-8700K’s 19,210. This difference is negligible in gaming performance.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 ranks at the 81st percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,283. This places it well above the majority of graphics cards.

Q: What is the performance gap between 1080p and 4K on Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 100.2 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 40.1 FPS. This represents a 60.1 FPS reduction, or roughly 60% lower performance.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a significant bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, where frame rates scale with resolution. However, at 1080p Low (281.2 FPS), the CPU may be limiting, as the GPU could likely push higher frames if the CPU allowed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p, the High preset at 144.2 FPS offers an excellent balance of visual quality and performance, easily supporting 144 Hz monitors, while Ultra at 100.2 FPS is still viable for 100 Hz displays. For 1440p, the Medium preset at 153.5 FPS is the best choice for high-refresh gaming, but High at 96.8 FPS is also suitable for 95 Hz or lower refresh rates; Ultra at 67.2 FPS is playable but may feel less smooth on higher refresh displays. For 4K, the Low preset at 105 FPS is the recommended option for smooth gameplay, while Medium at 82.6 FPS is acceptable for 75-80 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as the 40.1 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most users consider the minimum for a driving simulation.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 281.2 FPS at 1080p to 182.5 FPS at 1440p (a 35% reduction) and then to 105 FPS at 4K (a further 42% reduction from 1440p). This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as resolution increases, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom even at 1080p. At Ultra settings, the scaling is more dramatic: 100.2 FPS at 1080p drops to 67.2 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction) and then to 40.1 FPS at 4K (40% reduction from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the RTX 4070 is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p, while the i5-12400F only becomes a potential constraint at very high frame rates, such as the 281.2 FPS seen at 1080p Low. Overall, the data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring lower settings to maintain acceptable frame rates.