Undisputed

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a fascinating bottleneck dynamic in Undisputed. The data shows that this combination is capable of extreme frame rates, but the scaling pattern across resolutions reveals that the CPU, not the GPU, is the primary limiter at lower settings and resolutions. This pairing ranks 5th out of 1580 tested combos, placing it in the top 0.3% of all configurations, yet the performance curve is anything but linear.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rates scale dramatically with resolution, but the pattern is not smooth. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 538.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 400.1 FPS, a 25.7% reduction. At 4K, the Low preset falls to 252.4 FPS, which is a 53.1% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5090 is being held back at lower resolutions; the CPU cannot feed the GPU enough data to saturate its capabilities.

The Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the combo delivers 212.8 FPS. At 1440p, this drops to 154.5 FPS, a 27.4% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 99.1 FPS, a 53.4% drop from 1080p. The similarity in percentage drops between Low and Ultra presets is revealing: even at the highest graphical load, the scaling penalty from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical. This suggests the bottleneck shifts from the CPU at low settings to a more balanced constraint at Ultra, but the CPU still exerts a significant influence.

The High preset shows the most moderate scaling. From 326.4 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 237.7 FPS at 1440p, a 27.2% drop. At 4K High, the result is 149.4 FPS, a 54.2% decline from 1080p. The consistency of these drops across all presets — roughly 27% from 1080p to 1440p and 54% from 1080p to 4K — indicates that the game's engine is highly sensitive to pixel count, but the absolute frame rates remain exceptionally high. The data shows that this combo never drops below 99 FPS even at 4K Ultra, which is a remarkable floor for a 4-core processor.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz provide substantial compute power, with 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs. The GPU's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate it is more than capable of handling high-resolution rendering.

In this game, the GPU's role is most evident at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 99.1 FPS, which is only 46.6% of the 4K Low result of 252.4 FPS. This massive gap demonstrates that the Ultra preset is heavily GPU-bound, leveraging the RTX 5090's raw throughput. The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is being utilized more fully at 4K Ultra, where the CPU bottleneck is less pronounced.

The GPU's memory subsystem is also critical. With 32 GB of VRAM, there is no capacity constraint at any resolution tested. The 512-bit bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not create a performance ceiling. Benchmark results indicate that the RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84,306 places it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 D with a deltaPct of 0.1%. This confirms that the GPU is operating near the top of its class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11,912 and single-core score of 1,681 reflect its entry-level positioning. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 14,015 and single-thread score of 3,444 show that it has decent single-thread performance but limited multi-thread capacity.

The data reveals that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p and Low settings. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 538.4 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 212.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 325.6 FPS, while at 4K, the gap is 153.3 FPS (252.4 vs 99.1). This compression of the settings gap at higher resolutions is the classic signature of a CPU bottleneck: at 1080p, the CPU cannot keep up with the GPU's frame generation, so lowering graphical settings does not yield proportional gains.

The CPU's 4 cores are a constraint in a modern game. Its 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,051 and 8-thread score of 4,026 show that it does not scale well beyond 4 threads, which is expected given its physical core count. The processor's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX with a deltaPct of -0.1%, but that comparison is based on average benchmark scores, not gaming performance. In Undisputed, the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R20 single-core score of 706) is sufficient to drive high frame rates, but its multi-thread limits cap the maximum FPS at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimal settings. The Low preset at 1080p delivers 538.4 FPS, but this is overkill for almost any display and likely CPU-bound. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 398.1 FPS, which is still excessive but represents a 26.1% reduction in frame rate compared to Low. The High preset at 1080p yields 326.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 212.8 FPS.

For the best experience based on the data, the High preset at 1440p offers a strong balance. It produces 237.7 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, while providing better visual fidelity than Low or Medium. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 154.5 FPS, which is still very smooth, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 83.2 FPS (a 35% reduction). At 4K, the High preset at 149.4 FPS is the recommended choice, as it stays above 144 FPS while the Ultra preset drops to 99.1 FPS, which may be below the target for high-refresh displays.

The data suggests that Medium is the least attractive preset, as it consistently sits close to High in frame rates. At 4K, Medium produces 184.1 FPS versus High's 149.4 FPS, a 23.2% difference. The visual uplift from Medium to High is likely worth the frame rate trade-off. The Low preset is only recommended for maximum frame rate chasing at 1080p, where 538.4 FPS represents the absolute ceiling of this combination.

FAQ

*Q: What is the maximum frame rate this combo achieves in Undisputed?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 538.4 at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, the results show the combo achieves 149.4 FPS at 4K High and 99.1 FPS at 4K Ultra, confirming playable performance at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the small frame rate gap between Low (538.4 FPS) and Medium (398.1 FPS) settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its closest rival?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 84,306, while the RTX 5090 D scores 84,241, a deltaPct of 0.1% — essentially identical performance.

Q: What is the best preset for high-refresh 1440p monitors?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers 237.7 FPS, making it ideal for 240Hz displays, while Ultra at 1440p still produces 154.5 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU's 4-core design limit performance at 4K?

A: Yes, even at 4K Ultra, the CPU imposes a ceiling, as shown by the 99.1 FPS result, which is far below the GPU's theoretical capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 538.4 FPS on Low, 398.1 FPS on Medium, 326.4 FPS on High, and 212.8 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 140.3 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 113.6 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are 400.1 FPS on Low, 286.3 FPS on Medium, 237.7 FPS on High, and 154.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets: 138.3 FPS for Low, 111.8 FPS for Medium, 88.7 FPS for High, and 58.3 FPS for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are 252.4 FPS on Low, 184.1 FPS on Medium, 149.4 FPS on High, and 99.1 FPS on Ultra. From 1440p to 4K, the reductions are 147.7 FPS for Low, 102.2 FPS for Medium, 88.3 FPS for High, and 55.4 FPS for Ultra.

The Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute drops between resolutions, while Low shows the largest. This pattern confirms that the Ultra preset is more GPU-bound, while the Low preset is CPU-bound. The Medium and High presets sit between these extremes, with Medium showing a 241.5 FPS spread from 1080p to 4K and High showing a 177 FPS spread. The overall data indicates that this combo is exceptionally fast at every resolution and setting, with no configuration falling below 99 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 5th out of 1,580 tested combos in Undisputed, placing it in the top 0.3% of all systems. This ranking is remarkable given the CPU's entry-level status; the RTX 5090 is clearly the dominant factor. The GPU's percentile ranking of 94% against all GPUs and the CPU's percentile of 72% against all CPUs combine to create a system that is far faster than its CPU component would suggest.

The rank is driven by the RTX 5090's exceptional performance. Its average benchmark score of 84,306 dwarfs the CPU's average of 13,516, meaning the GPU contributes roughly 86% of the combined benchmark weight. The combo's 5th-place finish indicates that only four other configurations in the database generate higher frame rates in this specific game. The nearest GPU rival, the RTX 5090 D, has a deltaPct of 0.1%, but the CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, also has a deltaPct of 0.1%, showing that both components are tightly grouped with their closest competitors. This rank reflects the RTX 5090's raw power, which overcomes the i3-12100F's modest specifications to deliver elite-level performance in Undisputed.