Undisputed

# Undisputed with Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The pairing of Intel's entry-level Alder Lake quad-core with NVIDIA's flagship Blackwell GPU creates an extreme imbalance that the benchmark data exposes clearly. Across all four settings presets, the RTX 5080 demonstrates massive headroom that the Core i3-12100F struggles to feed, yet the results remain playable at every resolution tested. This combination ranks 76th out of 1580 tested combos for Undisputed, placing it in the top 5% of all configurations despite the apparent CPU bottleneck. The data reveals a system where the GPU's raw capabilities are repeatedly constrained by a processor that sits at the 72nd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516. The measured frames per second tell a story of a GPU waiting on a CPU across nearly every scenario, and the scaling patterns between resolutions and settings provide a clear picture of where the limiting component lies.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is unusually modest in the Low preset, which immediately signals a CPU-bound scenario. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo produces 508.6 FPS, while at 2560x1440 Low it delivers 365.8 FPS — a drop of roughly 28%. Moving to 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 231.5 FPS, which is still a 36% reduction from 1440p. In a purely GPU-bound situation, the transition from 1080p to 4K would typically produce a far steeper decline because the pixel count quadruples. The fact that 4K Low still achieves 231.5 FPS — more than half of the 1080p Low figure — suggests the RTX 5080 is nowhere near its saturation point at lower settings.

The High preset shows a different behavior. At 1080p High, the average is 303.6 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 220.6 FPS; and at 4K High, it falls to 138.6 FPS. The percentage drops are roughly 27% from 1080p to 1440p, then 37% from 1440p to 4K. This steeper decline at higher resolutions indicates the GPU begins to take on more of the workload, yet the 4K High figure of 138.6 FPS still demonstrates substantial performance. The Medium preset follows a similar pattern: 363.7 FPS at 1080p, 264.7 FPS at 1440p, and 167.8 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 194.7 FPS at 1080p, 138.8 FPS at 1440p, and 90.7 FPS at 4K. The Ultra numbers suggest that when the CPU is less of a constraint relative to the GPU workload, the scaling becomes more predictable and resolution-dependent.

The data implies that at Low and Medium settings, the Core i3-12100F is the primary limiter even at 4K. At Ultra settings, the GPU workload grows enough that the RTX 5080 becomes more relevant, yet the CPU still caps the 1080p result at 194.7 FPS — a number that is suspiciously close to the 4K High result of 138.6 FPS, indicating the CPU's ceiling is being approached. The resolution scaling analysis points to a system where the RTX 5080's full potential is only partially realized, especially at lower settings where the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads become the decisive factor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F brings 4 cores and 8 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 3DMark scores show a single-thread result of 893 and a 4-thread score of 2859, which climbs to 4026 at 8 threads and essentially plateaus at 4023 for max threads. This plateau is the signature of a processor that has exhausted its parallel capacity — adding more threads beyond 8 yields no gains because the cores are already saturated. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and single-core score of 1681 place this chip in a specific performance tier that the benchmark data shows is adequate for high frame rates in Undisputed but not sufficient to fully unlock the RTX 5080.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 72 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516, positions it near the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13534 with a delta of -0.1%, and the Intel Core i7-1250U at 13462 with a delta of 0.4%. The Intel Core i3-10105 is 0.6% behind at 13430, and the Core i7-7700K trails by 1.8% at 13280. These close margins indicate that the i3-12100F's performance is competitive with much older or lower-power processors, but the architectural advantages of Alder Lake — including the 10 nm process node and 12 MB of shared L3 cache — do not translate into the kind of multi-threaded headroom that a flagship GPU needs.

In Undisputed specifically, the CPU's role becomes evident when comparing the 1080p Low result of 508.6 FPS to the 4K Low result of 231.5 FPS. The fact that the CPU can push over 500 FPS at 1080p Low shows it is not a weak processor in absolute terms, but the RTX 5080 is capable of far more. The 8-thread 3DMark score of 4026 versus the max-thread score of 4023 shows a negligible difference, meaning the processor's 4 physical cores are fully utilized at 8 threads and there is no additional parallelism to exploit. This explains why the frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium (508.6 and 363.7 FPS respectively) do not scale proportionally with the GPU's capabilities — the CPU is delivering its maximum and waiting for the graphics card to catch up.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F strong enough to run Undisputed at high frame rates?

A: Yes, the data shows the combo achieves 303.6 FPS at 1080p High and 220.6 FPS at 1440p High. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz are sufficient for smooth gameplay at these settings, though the processor's multi-threaded ceiling becomes apparent at lower settings where it produces 508.6 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: How much performance does the RTX 5080 lose when paired with this CPU?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 508.6 FPS, but at 4K Low it still achieves 231.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU constrains the GPU's output more than the resolution does. The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59188 places it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, yet the measured results show it cannot reach its full potential with this processor.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combination?

A: The data suggests 1440p provides the best balance. At 1440p High, the combo delivers 220.6 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra it produces 138.8 FPS. These numbers are high enough for competitive play while allowing the RTX 5080 to engage more meaningfully than at 1080p, where the CPU caps performance at 508.6 FPS on Low settings.

Q: Does the RTX 5080's 16 GB of VRAM matter for Undisputed?

A: The game's measured results show high frame rates across all settings, and the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity. The benchmark data does not indicate any VRAM-related limitations, as even the 4K Ultra preset maintains 90.7 FPS without stutter indicators.

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

A: This pairing ranks 76th out of 1580 tested combos for Undisputed, placing it in the top 4.8% of all configurations. The ranking reflects both the CPU's 72nd percentile standing and the GPU's 89th percentile standing, with the combination performing better than the individual component percentiles might suggest.

Q: Is the 4-core CPU a bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K Low, the combo produces 231.5 FPS, and at 4K High it delivers 138.6 FPS. These numbers are high, but the scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings (508.6 to 231.5 FPS) reveals the CPU still influences performance even at 4K. The CPU's max-thread 3DMark score of 4023 versus its 8-thread score of 4026 confirms there is no untapped parallel capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 508.6 FPS, followed by Medium at 363.7 FPS, High at 303.6 FPS, and Ultra at 194.7 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with Ultra producing roughly 38% of the Low setting's frame rate. At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts: Low achieves 365.8 FPS, Medium reaches 264.7 FPS, High produces 220.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 138.8 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently lower than 1080p, with the Low-to-Ultra ratio remaining similar at about 38%. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 231.5 FPS, Medium delivers 167.8 FPS, High reaches 138.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 90.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 90.7 FPS is the only measured value below 100 FPS across the entire dataset.

The differences between settings at each resolution reveal the GPU's workload scaling. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Medium is 144.9 FPS, between Medium and High is 60.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 108.9 FPS. At 1440p, the gaps are 101.1, 44.1, and 81.8 FPS respectively. At 4K, the gaps narrow to 63.7, 29.2, and 47.9 FPS. The narrowing gaps at higher resolutions indicate that as the GPU becomes more heavily utilized, each settings tier has less relative impact on performance. The data also shows that the 4K Ultra result of 90.7 FPS is only 46.6% of the 1080p Ultra result of 194.7 FPS, which is a more substantial drop than the Low preset's 45.5% ratio (231.5 divided by 508.6), suggesting the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU workload increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 76 out of 1580 tested combos for Undisputed, placing it in the top 4.8% of all configurations. This ranking is notably higher than what the CPU's individual percentile might suggest — the processor sits at the 72nd percentile against all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 13516, while the GPU ranks at the 89th percentile with an average score of 59188. The gap between these percentiles and the combo's top-5% placement indicates that Undisputed is a title where the CPU's performance matters less than the GPU's, or where the specific workload favors this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX with an average score of 13534 and a delta of -0.1%, meaning the i3-12100F essentially matches this high-end workstation processor in average benchmarks. The Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13462 with a delta of 0.4%, the Core i3-10105 scores 13430 with a delta of 0.6%, and the Core i7-7700K scores 13280 with a delta of 1.8%. These tight deltas show that the i3-12100F's benchmark performance is remarkably consistent with a range of other processors, yet its combination with the RTX 5080 produces a top-tier result in Undisputed specifically. The GPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Arc A570M at 58239 with a delta of 1.6%, the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326 with a delta of -1.9%, the Intel Arc A580 at 57756 with a delta of 2.5%, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X at 57661 with a delta of 2.6% — are all substantially weaker cards, yet the RTX 5080's performance advantage in the database does not translate into a higher combo rank because the CPU limits its output.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data points to the High preset as the optimal choice for most users. At 1080p High, the combo produces 303.6 FPS; at 1440p High, it delivers 220.6 FPS; and at 4K High, it maintains 138.6 FPS. These figures are all well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, and the High preset offers a meaningful visual improvement over Medium while sacrificing only 60.1 FPS at 1080p, 44.1 FPS at 1440p, and 29.2 FPS at 4K compared to the Medium settings. The Ultra preset, by contrast, delivers 194.7 FPS at 1080p, 138.8 FPS at 1440p, and 90.7 FPS at 4K — the 4K Ultra result being the only measurement below 100 FPS in the entire dataset.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1440p provides 365.8 FPS, which is competitive with the 1080p High result of 303.6 FPS and offers a higher resolution. However, the Low preset at 1080p achieves 508.6 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of virtually all consumer displays. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 363.7 FPS at 1080p, 264.7 FPS at 1440p, and 167.8 FPS at 4K. Given that the High preset's 4K result of 138.6 FPS remains comfortably playable and the visual quality improvement over Medium is substantial, High emerges as the recommended setting for this combination. The data suggests that the CPU bottleneck at Low and Medium settings means the RTX 5080 is not being fully utilized, whereas at High and Ultra, the GPU's workload increases enough to justify the graphics card's capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB203 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC, containing 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. Its base clock runs at 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2617 MHz, and the 16 GB of GDDR7 memory operates at 1875 MHz with an effective speed of 30 Gbps across a 256-bit bus, yielding 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 10752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units contribute to a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 56.28 TFLOPS. The card ranks at the 89th percentile against all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 59188, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8637 reflects strong modern API performance.

In Undisputed, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as settings increase. The 4K Ultra result of 90.7 FPS demonstrates that the RTX 5080 is capable of handling the game's most demanding configuration, while the 4K Low result of 231.5 FPS shows the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 36565 and compute score of 21789 indicate substantial headroom for the game's physics and rendering workloads. The 16 GB VRAM capacity with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that memory bandwidth is not a constraint, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across all settings. However, the delta between the GPU's individual performance and the combo's measured results suggests that the Core i3-12100F prevents the RTX 5080 from demonstrating its full capability, particularly at 1080p where the CPU caps the Low preset at 508.6 FPS despite the GPU's ability to render frames far faster.