SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core i5-12600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

Get a comprehensive performance analysis of your gaming rig with detailed benchmarks, bottleneck detection, and upgrade recommendations

Build Configuration

Select your components

PROCESSOR (CPU)

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GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

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92 Score

Top 8% Ranking

92 / 100

ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 8% of systems. Capable of 4K Ultra gaming and advanced rendering.

4K 60+ FPSVR ReadyRay Tracing

System Balance Analysis

CPU vs GPU performance ratio

Well Balanced

CPU

88%

GPU

97%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core i5-12600K

27,578 Benchmark Score

Top 12% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

60,347 Benchmark Score

Top 3% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

Market Position

How your build compares to others

Budget

0-30

Mid-Range

30-60

High-End

60-85

Enthusiast

85-100

Your Build

Game Performance Benchmarks

Real-world 4K FPS in popular titles

View All Games →

Performance Insights

Tips to maximize your system

Optimal Performance

Your system is in the top tier. You can run any modern game at maximum settings.

4K Gaming Ready

Consider a 4K 144Hz monitor to fully utilize your hardware capabilities.

Compatible Games See what you can play Compare CPUs Find upgrades Compare GPUs Find upgrades

Performance Tiers Explained

90-100

Ultimate

4K Ultra gaming, VR ready, ray tracing enabled, professional workloads

4K 60+ FPS VR Ready

70-89

High-End

1440p Ultra or 4K High settings, excellent for modern AAA titles

1440p Ultra 4K High

50-69

Mid-Range

1080p Ultra or 1440p Medium, great value for most gamers

1080p Ultra 1440p Med

30-49

Entry Level

1080p Medium settings, suitable for eSports and older titles

1080p Med eSports

0-29

Legacy

Basic gaming, older titles, consider upgrading for modern games

720p-1080p Low Older Games

This pairing brings together one of the most popular mid-range CPUs of its generation with the absolute top-tier consumer graphics card of the next. The Intel Core i5-12600K is a 10-core Alder Lake processor, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is NVIDIA's flagship Ada Lovelace GPU. The result is a system with a massive disparity in raw compute power, where the GPU is capable of far more than the CPU can feed it in many scenarios. This analysis relies exclusively on the provided benchmark scores, as no measured FPS data exists for this exact configuration. All frame rate discussions are therefore estimates derived from those scores, not direct measurements.

Gaming Performance

There is no measured FPS data available for this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12600K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The FACT PACK contains no entries for measuredFpsUltraByGame, and the dataIsMeasured flag is false. Consequently, all gaming performance figures discussed here are estimates based on the individual benchmark scores of the CPU and GPU, and should be treated as projections rather than laboratory results.

The RTX 4090's benchmark scores suggest it is an exceptionally fast GPU for traditional rasterization. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, combined with a Passmark G3D score of 38194, places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. In practical terms, this indicates the card can handle demanding titles at high resolutions with ease. The GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth are not limiting factors at any standard gaming resolution. The primary constraint in this system will be the CPU.

The Core i5-12600K's gaming potential is best gauged by its single-threaded performance. Its 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1907 are strong, suggesting it can keep up with the RTX 4090 in many titles, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the GPU load is higher. However, the CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 7975, while respectable, indicates that in CPU-bound scenarios—typically esports titles at 1080p with low settings—the RTX 4090 will be waiting on the processor. At 1080p, expect the GPU to be underutilized in many games, with frame rates limited by the CPU's single-core throughput. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary driver, and the system should deliver very high frame rates in most titles, though the 12600K may still cause occasional dips below what the RTX 4090 could theoretically deliver.

Benchmark Performance

The Core i5-12600K's average benchmark score is 27578, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. This is a strong result for a mid-range processor. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, with an identical average score of 27578 and a delta of 0%. Other close competitors include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535, 0.2% faster) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (27636, 0.2% slower). The 12600K's multi-threaded scores are particularly notable: Cinebench R23 multicore of 17491 and Geekbench multicore of 12599 demonstrate solid all-core performance for tasks like video encoding and 3D rendering.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Arc Pro A60, with an average score of 60326 and a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is 0.3% slower (60140), while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% slower (58657). The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 is a strong indicator of its DirectX 12 gaming performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 38194 reinforces this, showing it is a dominant force in general 3D graphics workloads. The combined percentile for this build is 84, indicating that as a pair, they outperform the majority of systems.

The combined picture is one of extreme imbalance. The GPU is in the 88th percentile, while the CPU is in the 79th. This 9-point gap suggests that in many workloads, particularly those that are GPU-intensive, the system will perform exceptionally. However, in CPU-bound tasks, the 12600K will be the limiting factor, preventing the RTX 4090 from reaching its full potential.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It houses 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 125.3 million per mm². The GPU is equipped with 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. It features 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, making it exceptionally well-suited for ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads.

The memory subsystem is formidable: 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The memory clock is 1313 MHz, with an effective data rate of 21 Gbps. This vast memory pool and bandwidth are not just for gaming; they make the card highly capable for 3D rendering, video editing, and large dataset manipulation. The GPU clock speeds are a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz, which are high out of the box and suggest significant overclocking headroom.

In terms of raw compute, the RTX 4090 delivers 82.58 TFLOPS for FP32 and FP16 (1:1). Its pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 1,290.2 GTexel/s. The benchmark scores reflect this power: the 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 9223 and Passmark G3D of 38194 are top-tier results. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 255416 and Vulkan score of 271631 further confirm its compute prowess. For rendering, the 128 RT cores will accelerate ray-traced scenes in applications like Blender, while the 512 tensor cores provide substantial acceleration for AI denoising and other neural network tasks. The Passmark GPU compute score of 26613 indicates strong general-purpose compute performance, though it is lower than the G3D score, suggesting the card is more optimized for graphics than raw compute.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core i5-12600K uses the Intel Socket 1700 platform. This socket supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, but note that the memory bus is dual-channel and the specific memory type supported depends on the motherboard chosen. The CPU provides 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, which is sufficient for a single high-end GPU. The platform is mature, and while the 12600K is active in production, the socket is not forward-compatible with newer generations of Intel processors that utilize different sockets.

The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450 W and a suggested PSU of 850 W. This is a significant power draw, and the system builder must ensure their power supply can handle the combined load of the CPU (125 W TDP) and the GPU. The GPU uses a triple-slot cooling solution and a single 16-pin power connector. Its dimensions are 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 61 mm in width, so case compatibility is a consideration.

A sensible next upgrade path for this system would be to replace the CPU with a higher-core-count processor on the same LGA 1700 socket, such as a 12th or 13th generation Core i7 or i9, to better match the RTX 4090's capabilities. Alternatively, one could upgrade the memory to a faster DDR5 kit if the motherboard supports it. The GPU itself is end-of-life, so the next major upgrade would involve a new platform and a next-generation graphics card. For now, the RTX 4090 is not the bottleneck; the CPU is, so upgrading the processor would yield the most significant performance gains in CPU-bound tasks.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core i5-12600K is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, fabricated on a 10 nm process at Intel. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The cache hierarchy consists of 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory, but does not support ECC memory.

The benchmark results paint a clear picture of a strong all-rounder. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17491 and Geekbench multicore score of 12599 show that it can handle multi-threaded workloads like video encoding and 3D rendering competently. The single-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 1907 is excellent, indicating strong per-core performance that is crucial for gaming and lightly-threaded applications. Its Passmark scores are also comprehensive: integer math at 87776, floating point math at 67217, and data compression at 344071. The Passmark multithread score of 27608 reinforces its multi-core capability.

In real workloads, the 12600K is a capable processor for a wide range of tasks. It can handle 3D rendering in applications like Blender or Cinebench, though not as fast as higher-core-count parts. It is also well-suited for software development, where compilation tasks benefit from its 16 threads. The CPU's performance is competitive with its nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and Ryzen 5 7600X, with a delta of 0% and -0.2%, respectively, in average benchmark score. This means the 12600K holds its own against those competitors, making it a balanced choice for a build where the GPU is the primary investment.

Who Should Build It

This specific combination of an Intel Core i5-12600K and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is unusual. The RTX 4090 is a professional-grade and enthusiast-tier GPU, while the 12600K is a mid-range processor. This system is for users who prioritize GPU-accelerated tasks over CPU-bound work.

The primary target users are gamers who play at 4K resolution or on high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. At these resolutions, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, and the RTX 4090 will deliver extremely high frame rates in most titles. The 12600K will be less of a bottleneck at 4K, making this a viable, if lopsided, gaming rig. Content creators who work with video editing or 3D rendering will benefit from the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 82.58 TFLOPS of compute power, which will accelerate renders and exports significantly. The CPU's 16 threads will not hold back GPU-accelerated rendering pipelines.

This build is less suitable for users who rely heavily on CPU compute, such as software developers compiling large projects or data scientists running CPU-bound simulations. The 12600K's 79th percentile performance is good, but the system's overall balance is off. Students and small business workstations that require occasional gaming or light creative work would be better served by a more balanced build, as the RTX 4090 is overkill for office tasks. The combined percentile of 84 indicates that this system outperforms most others, but the specific use case must justify the GPU's presence.

Balance and Bottleneck

The data clearly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing. Its 88th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 79th percentile creates an imbalance. The bottleneck is the CPU in most workloads.

In gaming, the bottleneck manifests at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1016) will limit frame rates, as the GPU waits for the processor to submit draw calls. The RTX 4090's massive compute power (82.58 TFLOPS) will be underutilized. At 1440p, the bottleneck shifts toward the GPU, but the CPU can still cause frame time inconsistencies in demanding scenes. At 4K, the GPU is almost always the limiting factor, and the system will perform as expected for a high-end 4K rig.

In productivity, the bottleneck depends on the task. For GPU-accelerated rendering (e.g., Blender Cycles with OptiX), the RTX 4090 will be the primary engine, and the 12600K will be sufficient. For CPU-based rendering (e.g., Cinebench), the 12600K's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17491 will be the limiting factor, and the system will perform like a mid-range workstation. The Passmark multithread score of 27608 confirms that the CPU is adequate but not exceptional for multi-threaded tasks. The GPU's Passmark GPU compute score of 26613 is high, but the CPU's integer math score of 87776 shows it is no slouch. The balance is heavily skewed toward the GPU, and any upgrade to the CPU would yield significant gains in CPU-bound scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the combined percentile of this build?

A: The combined percentile for this desktop build is 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of all systems in the database.

Q: How does the Core i5-12600K compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X?

A: The two processors have identical average benchmark scores of 27578, resulting in a delta of 0%. They are effectively tied in overall performance.

Q: What is the RTX 4090's average benchmark score and percentile?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Does this system have measured FPS data for games?

A: No, the FACT PACK contains no measured FPS rows for this exact combination. All frame rate discussions are estimates based on benchmark scores.

Q: What is the TDP of the RTX 4090 and the suggested PSU wattage?

A: The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450 W, and the suggested power supply for the system is 850 W.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 4090?

A: The RTX 4090 has a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, using 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus.

Q: What socket does the Core i5-12600K use, and what memory does it support?

A: The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1700 and supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

Usage Scenarios

High-refresh gaming: At 1440p and 4K, this system is exceptionally capable. The RTX 4090's 88th percentile GPU score and high memory bandwidth ensure very high frame rates in most titles. The 12600K's single-thread score of 1016 is sufficient for high-refresh gaming, though at 1080p the CPU may limit the GPU's potential.

Streaming: The RTX 4090's 512 tensor cores can accelerate the NVENC encoder, taking the load off the CPU. The 12600K's 16 threads can handle the game and streaming software simultaneously, though its 79th percentile CPU score is adequate, not overkill.

Video editing: The GPU's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are excellent for 4K and 8K timelines. The 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute will accelerate effects and renders. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 27608 is sufficient for standard editing tasks.

3D rendering: In GPU-accelerated renderers like Blender Cycles, the RTX 4090's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores will provide a massive speedup. The 12600K's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17491 is adequate for scene preparation but will not be the primary rendering engine.

Software development: The 12600K's 16 threads and Passmark integer math score of 87776 are good for compilation and testing. The RTX 4090 is unnecessary for most development tasks but can be used for GPU computing or local AI model training.

Student and office work: This system is far more powerful than needed for typical office tasks, document editing, and web browsing. The RTX 4090's power draw and cost are not justified for these workloads, and the 12600K alone would suffice. The system is better suited for specialized or enthusiast use cases.

Rate My PC: Intel Core i5-12600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

Apex Performer

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core i5-12600K

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

Market Position

Game Performance Benchmarks

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

Performance Insights

Optimal Performance

4K Gaming Ready

Performance Tiers Explained

Ultimate

High-End

Mid-Range

Entry Level

Legacy

Gaming Performance

Benchmark Performance

GPU Analysis

Upgrade Path and Platform

CPU Analysis

Who Should Build It

Balance and Bottleneck

FAQ

Usage Scenarios

4K Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

1440p Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

1080p Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

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