SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core i9-12900 + NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation

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

Build Configuration

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PROCESSOR (CPU)

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GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

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96 Score

Top 4% Ranking

96 / 100

ULTIMATE READY

Apex Performer

Top 4% 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

93%

GPU

99%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core i9-12900

42,906 Benchmark Score

Top 7% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation

117,088 Benchmark Score

Top 1% 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

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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

The Intel Core i9-12900 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation pairing represents a high-tier desktop configuration, with the combined percentile ranking placing it in the 92nd position among all tested builds. The FACT PACK contains no measured FPS rows for this exact combination, so all frame rate discussions below are estimated from the individual benchmark scores of the components rather than derived from direct gameplay testing. This analysis interprets the synthetic and compute-oriented data to project how the pairing should behave across various workloads, relying strictly on the numerical evidence provided.

Gaming Performance

No measured FPS data exists for this CPU-GPU combination, meaning the gaming projections here are estimates based on the Geekbench scores and the relative performance tiers of the components. The GPU’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 124812 and Vulkan score of 109364 place it in the 95th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it sits well above the median for graphics processing power. For a desktop-class card with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 280.0 GB/s bandwidth, the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation should handle modern titles at high settings, though the lack of measured FPS means exact figures cannot be verified.

The CPU’s single-core performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 1993 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1825, is strong enough to avoid being a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios. The i9-12900’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz and architecture based on Alder Lake-S provide the kind of per-thread performance that typically translates to solid frame pacing in CPU-bound scenes. For esports titles or games with lower graphical demands, the data suggests the CPU’s high single-thread score would support high refresh rates, but the absence of measured FPS means this is a qualitative inference from the benchmarks.

At higher resolutions, such as 1440p or 4K, the GPU becomes the more significant factor, and the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation’s 95th percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests it is positioned to deliver playable frame rates at those settings. The GPU’s FP32 throughput of 19.17 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 99.84 GPixel/s are indicative of a card that can sustain complex shading workloads, which typically correlates with higher graphical fidelity. However, since the data is estimated rather than measured, gamers should treat these expectations as projections rather than guaranteed results.

Balance and Bottleneck

The balance between the i9-12900 and the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation hinges on their respective percentile standings: the CPU sits at the 88th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits higher at the 95th percentile among all GPUs. This difference suggests the GPU has a slight edge in relative performance capability, meaning in GPU-heavy workloads like 4K gaming or rendering, the graphics card will likely be the limiting factor. Conversely, in CPU-bound tasks such as physics simulations or data compression, the processor’s 16 cores and 24 threads become the primary driver.

The FPS scaling evidence, though estimated, points to a balanced pairing at 1080p and 1440p where neither component dramatically outpaces the other. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 33608 and the GPU’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 124812 indicate that both can handle demanding workloads, but the GPU’s higher percentile implies it holds more headroom for future graphical demands. In scenarios where both are stressed equally, such as gaming with background streaming, the data suggests the CPU’s 24 threads provide sufficient parallel capacity to avoid becoming a hard bottleneck.

For workstation tasks like 3D rendering, the balance shifts toward the GPU, as its 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are specialized hardware that the CPU cannot replicate. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18628 shows it can handle rendering tasks that are CPU-bound, but for GPU-accelerated rendering, the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation’s compute capabilities will dominate the workload. The 76.8 GB/s memory bandwidth of the CPU is modest compared to the GPU’s 280.0 GB/s, reinforcing that the graphics card is the data-throughput champion in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the combined performance percentile of this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: The combined percentile for the Intel Core i9-12900 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation build is 92, placing it above the vast majority of all tracked desktop configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-12900KF?

A: The i9-12900 has an average benchmark score of 42906, which is 0.2% higher than the i9-12900KF’s score of 42830, making the two nearly identical in overall performance.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the GPU, and how does it affect performance?

A: The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has a memory bandwidth of 280.0 GB/s, which is substantially higher than the CPU’s 76.8 GB/s, indicating the GPU can move data much faster for graphics and compute tasks.

Q: Does the CPU support ECC memory?

A: Yes, the Intel Core i9-12900 supports ECC memory, which is a feature often relevant for workstation reliability but not typically required for gaming builds.

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

A: The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation ranks in the 95th percentile among all GPUs, meaning it outperforms 95% of tracked graphics cards in benchmark scores.

Q: How many RT cores and tensor cores does the GPU have?

A: The GPU has 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, which are dedicated to ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads, respectively.

Q: What is the CPU’s boost clock speed?

A: The Intel Core i9-12900 has a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which is the maximum frequency it can achieve under load for single-threaded tasks.

Who Should Build It

This configuration is well-suited for gamers targeting high-refresh-rate 1440p or 4K gaming, as the GPU’s 95th percentile ranking and the CPU’s 88th percentile ranking provide a strong foundation for demanding titles. The 20 GB of VRAM on the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is particularly relevant for users who play modded games or use high-resolution texture packs, as the memory capacity exceeds what most consumer cards offer. Content creators working with 3D rendering or video editing will benefit from the GPU’s 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, which accelerate ray-traced renders and AI-based denoising tasks.

Software developers who compile large codebases will find the CPU’s 16 cores and 24 threads useful, as the PassMark integer math score of 127512 indicates strong parallel processing for build tasks. Students in engineering or data science fields can leverage the ECC memory support and the GPU’s compute capabilities for simulations and machine learning assignments, though the lack of measured FPS data means gaming performance remains an estimate. Small business workstations requiring reliability and quiet operation will appreciate the GPU’s 70 W TDP, which is low enough to allow for compact cooling solutions.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core i9-12900 is a 16-core, 24-thread desktop processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel’s 10 nm process node with a die size of 215 mm². Its base clock is 2.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface with a memory bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a desktop part.

In benchmark terms, the CPU scores 18628 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1825 in single-core, reflecting strong multi-threaded and per-thread performance. The Geekbench multicore score of 13088 and single-core score of 1993 align with its 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the majority of processors in the database. The PassMark multithread score of 33608 and floating point math score of 91514 indicate the CPU handles compute-intensive workloads well, while the data compression score of 407899 shows efficiency in storage-related tasks.

The i9-12900’s market segment is desktop, and it was released on 2022-01-03 with a launch MSRP of $519. Its integrated UHD Graphics 770 provides a fallback display output, though the dedicated GPU makes this secondary. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the i9-12900KF with a delta of 0.2% higher score, the Core Ultra 9 386H with a 0.7% lower score, and the i9-12950HX with a 1% higher score, showing the processor sits in a tight competitive band.

GPU Analysis

The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is a workstation-class GPU built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory runs on a 160-bit bus with a bandwidth of 280.0 GB/s, which is ample for high-resolution textures and large datasets. The GPU has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, along with 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, making it a capable rendering and compute device.

The base clock is 720 MHz with a boost clock of 1560 MHz, and the memory clock is 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed. The GPU’s FP32 throughput is 19.17 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 19.17 TFLOPS (1:1), providing balanced compute for single and half precision workloads. Its pixel rate is 99.84 GPixel/s and texture rate is 299.5 GTexel/s, which are strong numbers for a card with a 70 W TDP.

In benchmarks, the GPU scores 124812 in Geekbench OpenCL and 109364 in Geekbench Vulkan, placing it in the 95th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GB10 with a 0.3% higher score, the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 with a 1.6% higher score, and the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB with a 2.4% lower score. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and it outputs via 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a connectors.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core i9-12900 uses the Intel Socket 1700, which is compatible with 12th Gen Alder Lake and later 13th Gen processors, providing a clear upgrade path to newer CPUs within the same socket generation. The platform supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the dual-channel bus means users must choose one type; upgrading from DDR4 to DDR5 would require a new motherboard, while staying with DDR4 offers a cheaper path. The CPU provides PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes, which is forward-looking for high-bandwidth storage and GPUs, though the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

The GPU’s suggested PSU is 250 W, which is low given its 70 W TDP, meaning most mid-range power supplies have ample headroom for this card. The CPU’s TDP is 65 W, so the total system power draw is modest, allowing for smaller form factor builds or quieter cooling solutions. The GPU has no power connectors, drawing all power from the PCIe slot, which simplifies installation and reduces cable clutter.

A sensible next upgrade for this build would be a newer 13th Gen Intel Core processor, which would drop into the same Socket 1700 with a BIOS update, providing a modest performance lift without changing the motherboard. For the GPU, the successor to this card is the Blackwell PRO W series, which would require a larger PSU if the TDP increases, but the current 250 W recommendation leaves room for such an upgrade. The dual-slot GPU and 168 mm length make it suitable for compact cases, and the 4x mini-DisplayPort outputs support multi-monitor setups.

Build Overview

This build pairs the Intel Core i9-12900, a 16-core desktop processor, with the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation, a workstation GPU, in a desktop-class configuration. The combined percentile of 92 places this pairing in the upper echelon of tracked builds, indicating high overall performance across CPU and GPU workloads. The CPU’s 88th percentile and GPU’s 95th percentile individually show that both components are above-average performers, with the GPU holding a slight edge in relative capability.

The build class is desktop, meaning it is intended for stationary use rather than portable systems, and the components are sized for a full-sized chassis or a small form factor case given the GPU’s 168 mm length. The i9-12900’s launch MSRP was $519, though the GPU’s launch MSRP is not listed in the data. The pairing is suited for a power user who needs strong multi-threaded CPU performance for productivity and a GPU capable of demanding graphics or compute tasks, all within a relatively low power envelope.

Benchmark Performance

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 42906, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18628 and single-core score of 1825, positioning it at the 88th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 117088, with Geekbench OpenCL at 124812 and Vulkan at 109364, placing it at the 95th percentile among all GPUs. The combined picture shows a system where the GPU is the stronger component relative to its peers, but the CPU is not far behind, creating a balanced high-performance build.

The CPU’s nearest rival, the i9-12900KF, scores 42830 with a delta of 0.2%, meaning the i9-12900 is effectively tied with its KF counterpart. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GB10, scores 117393 with a delta of -0.3%, again showing near-parity. The combined percentile of 92 reflects that this pairing outperforms 92% of all tracked builds, making it a top-tier configuration for both gaming and workstation use, though the estimated FPS data means users should verify real-world performance for their specific titles.

Usage Scenarios

High-refresh gaming: The GPU’s 95th percentile and CPU’s 88th percentile suggest this build can drive high refresh rates at 1080p or 1440p, with the CPU’s 5.10 GHz boost clock providing strong single-thread performance for frame pacing. The 20 GB VRAM allows for high texture quality without memory pressure, though exact FPS remains an estimate.

Streaming: The CPU’s 24 threads and PassMark multithread score of 33608 provide ample headroom for encoding video while gaming, as the data indicates strong parallel processing. The GPU’s tensor cores could assist with AI-based encoding features, though specific software support is not detailed in the FACT PACK.

Video editing: The GPU’s FP16 throughput of 19.17 TFLOPS and 48 RT cores accelerate effects and rendering in timeline-based editors, while the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18628 handles export tasks. The 280.0 GB/s GPU bandwidth ensures fast data movement for high-resolution footage.

3D rendering: The GPU’s 192 tensor cores and 48 RT cores are specialized for ray-traced and AI-accelerated rendering, making this build well-suited for offline renders. The CPU’s 16 cores provide backup processing for CPU-based render engines, with a PassMark floating point score of 91514 indicating solid compute capability.

Software development: The CPU’s 16 cores and 24 threads, along with a PassMark integer math score of 127512, make compilation and testing efficient. The ECC memory support adds reliability for long-running build processes, and the GPU’s compute power can accelerate local machine learning experiments.

Student and office work: The low TDPs of both components (65 W CPU and 70 W GPU) keep power consumption and heat manageable for dorm rooms or small offices. The CPU’s integrated UHD Graphics 770 provides a backup if the GPU is disabled, and the 4x mini-DisplayPort outputs support multi-monitor productivity setups, though office workloads will not stress either component to their limits.

Rate My PC: Intel Core i9-12900 + NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation

Apex Performer

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core i9-12900

NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation

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

Balance and Bottleneck

FAQ

Who Should Build It

CPU Analysis

GPU Analysis

Upgrade Path and Platform

Build Overview

Benchmark Performance

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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