Undisputed

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers a high-refresh-rate experience across the board in Undisputed, but the data reveals a clear and predictable shift in system bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the processor is the star, pushing frame rates to extreme levels that the GPU can barely keep up with. At 4K, the tables turn, and the graphics card becomes the definitive limiting factor.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic scaling curve that tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 372 FPS. This is an enormous number, indicating that the CPU is feeding frames far faster than the GPU can render them, and that the game's engine is highly responsive at lower resolutions. Moving to Medium at 1080p, the average drops to 268 FPS, a 28% reduction from Low. High settings at 1080p yield 222 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 143 FPS. This scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is steep, dropping by 61.5%, which points to a workload that is heavily taxing the GPU's shading and texture units as settings increase.

Stepping up to 1440p, the scaling pattern remains consistent but the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings at 1440p average 269 FPS, which is 27.7% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium settings at 1440p see an average of 194 FPS, while High drops to 160 FPS. Ultra at 1440p averages 103 FPS. The delta between 1080p and 1440p for each setting is significant, showing that pixel count is already a major factor. For instance, the 1440p High result of 160 FPS is 27.9% lower than the 1080p High result of 222 FPS.

The most significant scaling occurs when moving to 4K. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates drop considerably. Low settings at 4K produce 170 FPS, which is 36.8% lower than the 1440p Low result and 54.3% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium at 4K averages 122 FPS, High averages 101 FPS, and Ultra falls to just 65 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is much steeper than the scaling from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the RTX 3080 Ti's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are being saturated. The jump from 1080p High (222 FPS) to 4K High (101 FPS) represents a 54.5% reduction in performance, highlighting how resolution is the primary governor of frame rate in this configuration.

The data suggests that 1080p is firmly CPU-bound, as evidenced by the massive frame rates that far exceed what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. At 4K, the workload becomes heavily GPU-bound, with the Core i5-12400's six performance cores providing enough headroom to keep the GPU fed, but the RTX 3080 Ti's architecture struggling to maintain high frame rates at the increased pixel count.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the central component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the performance envelope observed in the measured FPS data. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. This substantial memory subsystem is crucial for 4K gaming, where texture data and frame buffers are vast. The measured results at 4K Ultra (65 FPS) and 4K High (101 FPS) show that while the memory bandwidth is sufficient to avoid stuttering, it is not enough to maintain the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1365 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, are relatively modest for a high-end card, but the architecture compensates with raw compute power. The RTX 3080 Ti has 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. This massive shader count translates to a FP32 performance of 34.10 TFLOPS, which is directly responsible for the strong performance in rasterized scenes. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that increasing settings from Low to Ultra at 4K results in a 61.8% performance drop (from 170 FPS to 65 FPS).

The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but do not play a significant role in the standard rasterized benchmark data provided. The PassMark G3D score of 26,896 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,077 reflect the card's overall capability in modern APIs. The RTX 3080 Ti's percentile ranking of 83 against all GPUs indicates that it sits in the upper echelon of graphics hardware, but the measured in-game results show that even this card can be brought to its knees by 4K Ultra settings in Undisputed. The VRAM size of 12 GB appears sufficient for the game at these settings, as there are no anomalies in the frame time data to suggest memory capacity issues, but the 912.4 GB/s bandwidth is likely the limiting factor at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti achieves a combo rank of 989 out of 3,718 tested combinations in Undisputed. This places the pairing in the 73rd percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms nearly three-quarters of the other configurations in the database for this specific title. This rank is a composite measure that incorporates all the measured FPS data across resolutions and settings.

While the rank is respectable, it is not at the very top, which makes sense given the CPU's position in the market. The Core i5-12400 is a solid mid-range processor that holds its own, but it does not have the multi-threaded horsepower of top-tier CPUs that might be paired with the RTX 3080 Ti in other combos. The GPU's percentile ranking of 83 is higher than the combo's overall rank, suggesting that the processor is holding the combination back slightly in the overall standings. However, in a game like Undisputed, which is a sports title that may not be heavily CPU-threaded, the i5-12400's six cores and 12 threads are likely adequate for maintaining high frame rates, as evidenced by the 1080p results.

The combo rank of 989 indicates that there are 988 combinations that perform better, likely including those with more powerful CPUs like the Core i7 or Ryzen 7 series paired with similar or better GPUs. The data suggests that while this combo is capable of excellent performance, it is not the absolute pinnacle of what the RTX 3080 Ti can achieve in Undisputed. The bottleneck at 4K is clearly the GPU, but at 1080p, a faster CPU could potentially push the frame rates even higher than the 372 FPS average seen at Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a granular look at performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional results. Low settings produce an average of 372 FPS, Medium averages 268 FPS with a minimum of 228 FPS and a maximum of 308 FPS, High averages 222 FPS, and Ultra averages 143 FPS. The 1080p results show that the game runs at extremely high frame rates, suitable for the fastest high-refresh monitors, regardless of quality preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but loses some of the headroom seen at 1080p. Low settings average 269 FPS, Medium averages 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 223 FPS, High averages 160 FPS, and Ultra averages 103 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo is still capable of exceeding 100 FPS on Ultra settings, which is a solid result for a demanding resolution. The Medium setting's minimum of 165 FPS indicates that frame pacing is consistent, with no significant dips.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops to more console-like levels. Low settings average 170 FPS, Medium averages 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS, High averages 101 FPS, and Ultra averages 65 FPS. The 4K results show a clear hierarchy: the game is playable at high refresh rates only on Low settings, while Ultra settings require a 60 FPS target. The fact that the Medium preset at 4K has a minimum FPS of 104 shows that the GPU can maintain a stable experience above 100 FPS, but the Ultra preset's average of 65 FPS suggests that the most demanding settings will test the limits of the hardware.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Undisputed with this combo for a high-refresh monitor?*

A: At 2560x1440, the combo can average 160 FPS on High settings and 103 FPS on Ultra, making it suitable for 144Hz and 100Hz monitors respectively. For 4K, only Low settings (170 FPS) and Medium settings (122 FPS) exceed 100 FPS averages.

Q: Is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti the bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the data indicates a GPU bottleneck at 4K. The frame rate drops from 170 FPS on Low to 65 FPS on Ultra at 3840x2160, while the CPU's performance is sufficient to drive much higher frame rates at 1080p, showing the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 989th out of 3,718 tested combinations, placing it in the 73rd percentile for Undisputed. This indicates it outperforms the majority of other pairings in the database.

Q: What is the maximum FPS achievable with this setup?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 372 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the ceiling for this pairing in the measured data.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU have a higher benchmark percentile?

A: The GPU has a percentile ranking of 83 against all GPUs, while the CPU has a percentile of 72 against all CPUs. This suggests the GPU is a stronger component relative to its peers than the CPU.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K on High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average FPS is 222. At 4K High, the average FPS is 101. This represents a 54.5% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 plays a crucial role in enabling the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. This processor features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It is built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process node. The CPU has an 18 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its benchmark scores show a strong single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1,848, which is essential for gaming. The multi-threaded performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,989 and a PassMark multithread score of 18,747.

In Undisputed, the CPU's performance is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates are exceptionally high. The 372 FPS average at Low settings and 222 FPS at High settings suggest that the i5-12400 is not a limiting factor at this resolution. The processor's boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides the single-threaded speed needed to process game logic and physics quickly. The data shows that the CPU is capable of feeding the RTX 3080 Ti with enough data to saturate it at 1080p, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 72 against all CPUs indicates it is a mid-to-high-tier performer, but its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 and the Intel Core i7-1355U, which have similar average benchmark scores. The i5-12400's performance is sufficient for a game like Undisputed, which likely does not require an excessive amount of multi-threaded processing. The 12 threads provide enough parallelism for background tasks and game engine threads, while the high single-thread performance ensures low latency for input and simulation. The data confirms that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration, except possibly at the very lowest settings and resolution, where the GPU is simply unable to match the CPU's frame generation capability.