SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core i9-12900E + Intel Arc A380

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

82 / 100
HIGH-END

Power Build

Top 18% of systems. Excellent for 1440p Ultra or 4K High gaming.

1440p Ultra4K High

System Balance Analysis

CPU vs GPU performance ratio
Well Balanced
CPU
78%
VS
GPU
86%
PROCESSOR

Intel Core i9-12900E

6,611 Benchmark Score
Top 22% Market Ranking
View Full Specs →
GRAPHICS CARD

Intel Arc A380

8,558 Benchmark Score
Top 14% 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

Strong Performance

Excellent for 1440p gaming. Most games will run at high/ultra settings smoothly.

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 i9-12900E paired with the Intel Arc A380 is a desktop combination that sits at the 53rd overall percentile across all CPU-GPU pairings, with a CPU that ranks in the 62nd percentile and a GPU that ranks in the 44th percentile. No measured FPS data exists for this exact combination — the FACT PACK contains no measuredFps data — so all gaming frame-rate discussion is estimated from the benchmark scores rather than derived from direct gameplay testing. The pairing represents a high-core-count, low-power CPU (65W TDP) mated to a compact, end-of-life GPU (75W TDP), producing a system that leans heavily on CPU throughput while the GPU trails in relative standing.

GPU Analysis — VRAM, bandwidth, clocks, RT/tensor hardware, what the benchmark scores mean for rendering

The Intel Arc A380 is built on the Xe-HPG architecture with a DG2-128 chip fabricated on TSMC's 6 nm process, containing 7,200 million transistors across a 157 mm² die. Its memory subsystem is modest: 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus delivers 186.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with memory clocked at 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective). The GPU's base clock is 2000 MHz and boost reaches 2050 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 65.60 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 131.2 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 4.198 TFLOPS, while FP16 reaches 8.397 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio. The card includes 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 ROPs, and 8 ray-tracing cores — there is no dedicated tensor core count listed in the data, so AI-accelerated workloads rely on the shader array.

Benchmark scores for the GPU are varied. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 808, and Geekbench OpenCL returns 38224 while Vulkan reaches 36736. Passmark scores are notably low: DirectX 10 scores 37, DirectX 11 scores 38, DirectX 12 scores 35, and DirectX 9 scores 73. The Passmark G2D score is 610, G3D is 6252, and GPU compute is 2762. These scores place the GPU at the 44th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 8558. The nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5170M (8595, -0.4% delta), the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (8462, +1.1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8458, +1.2% delta), and the AMD Radeon 880M (8436, +1.4% delta). This means the A380 sits just slightly above or below a set of older or lower-tier mobile GPUs, which underscores its position as an entry-level desktop part.

For rendering, the ray-tracing cores are present (8 of them) but the low overall throughput (4.198 TFLOPS FP32) limits ray-tracing workloads to light effects. The 6 GB VRAM and 186 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1080p textures but will constrain high-resolution or high-quality rendering. The DirectX 9 Passmark score of 73 is notably higher than the DirectX 11 (38) and DirectX 12 (35) scores, suggesting legacy API performance is relatively better than modern API performance, which is unusual and likely reflects driver maturity on older paths. The Vulkan score of 36,736 is much higher than the DirectX 12 score of 808 in Steel Nomad, indicating Vulkan is the more favorable API for this GPU. Overall, the GPU is a low-power, low-throughput part that will handle basic rendering tasks but will be the limiting factor in any GPU-heavy workload.

Usage Scenarios

High-refresh gaming: The CPU's single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3321 and boost clock of 5.00 GHz are strong for driving high frame rates, but the GPU's 4.198 TFLOPS and 6 GB VRAM will cap frame output. At 1080p with lower settings, the GPU may deliver playable frame rates, but the 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 808 and the low DirectX 12 Passmark score of 35 suggest that high-refresh (144Hz+) gaming is not achievable. The GPU's low percentile (44th) indicates it is below average for modern gaming, so the CPU would be underutilized in a gaming scenario.

Streaming: The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for encoding and streaming workloads, and the integrated UHD Graphics 770 on the CPU can offload video processing. The GPU's 8 RT cores and Vulkan 1.4 support are available, but the lack of tensor cores means no AI-based upscaling or frame generation. Streaming at 1080p with a software encoder is feasible, but the GPU's low throughput limits any GPU-accelerated streaming features. The CPU's high multi-threaded score (Cinebench R23 MC 23529) ensures smooth encoding while gaming.

Video editing: The CPU's multi-core performance (Geekbench MC 10280, Cinebench R23 MC 23529) handles video encoding and timeline rendering well. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 186 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p previews but will be stressed by 4K timelines or heavy effects. The Passmark G3D score of 6252 is low, so GPU-accelerated effects will be limited. Editing in 1080p with moderate effects is feasible, but 4K or complex compositing will be CPU-bound.

3D rendering: The CPU is the primary renderer here. With 16 cores, 24 threads, and a Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 9882, CPU-based rendering (e.g., Blender, V-Ray) will be strong. The GPU's FP32 4.198 TFLOPS and 6 GB VRAM can handle light GPU-accelerated rendering (e.g., OptiX or OpenCL), but the 8 RT cores are too few for heavy ray-traced scenes. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 38,224 suggests GPU compute is present but not exceptional. For serious 3D work, the CPU is the primary renderer.

Software development: The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads make compilation and multi-threaded builds fast. Cinebench R23 MC 23529 and Geekbench MC 10280 are strong indicators for parallel workloads like code compilation. The GPU is irrelevant here, but the CPU's high single-core score (SC 3321) helps with single-threaded tools. The iGPU (UHD Graphics 630) is sufficient for multiple monitors and development environments.

Student and office work: The CPU is overkill for office tasks, but the 16 cores ensure responsiveness under heavy multitasking. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 186 GB/s bandwidth are more than enough for office applications, web browsing, and light media. The CPU's TDP of 65 W is low for a 16-core chip, and the GPU's 75 W TDP keeps the total system power modest, making it a quiet, low-heat workstation for productivity.

Balance and Bottleneck

The CPU's 62nd percentile and the GPU's 44th percentile indicate a significant imbalance. The combined percentile of 53 reflects the CPU pulling up the average. The CPU's nearest rivals (Intel Core i5-13400E at -0.4% delta, i5-13500E at +0.4% delta, Intel Pentium Gold G6405 at +0.1% delta, and i9-10940X at +0.1% delta) show that the i9-12900E is tightly clustered with mid-range and older high-end parts, meaning its performance is average among CPUs. The GPU's nearest rivals (AMD FirePro W5170M at -0.4%, HD 8870M at +1.1%, MX 865 at +1.2%, Radeon 880M at +1.4%) are all mobile or older GPUs, confirming the A380 is a low-end desktop GPU.

In any workload that scales with GPU performance — gaming, GPU-accelerated rendering, or video effects — the GPU will be the bottleneck. The CPU's strong single-core (3321 Cinebench R23) and multi-core (23529) scores will not be fully utilized in such tasks. Conversely, in CPU-bound workloads like code compilation, 3D rendering in CPU mode, or multi-threaded productivity, the CPU will perform well, and the GPU will sit idle. The FPS scaling (if any) would be limited by the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad 808 and Passmark G3D 6252, which are far below the CPU's performance headroom. The CPU could easily drive a much more powerful GPU, so the GPU is the definitive bottleneck in gaming and GPU-accelerated tasks.

Who Should Build It

This pairing suits users who prioritize CPU performance over GPU capability. A gamer who plays at 1080p with medium-to-low settings and is okay with 30-60 FPS would find the GPU sufficient, but the CPU is far more powerful than needed — a waste of the i9's potential. A more natural fit is a content creator who works on CPU-heavy tasks like video encoding, 3D rendering (with CPU renderers), or software development, where the 16-core/24-thread CPU shines. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 186 GB/s bandwidth are enough for a second monitor and light 2D/3D previews, but not for GPU-accelerated effects. For small business workstations running office suites, virtual machines, or database servers, the CPU's multi-threading is excellent, and the GPU is sufficient for basic display output. Students who need to compile code, run simulations, or use CAD software (which often relies on single-core CPU performance) will benefit from the 5.00 GHz boost and 3321 single-core score. The low TDP of the CPU (65 W) and GPU (75 W) make this a low-power system that runs quietly in a lab or office.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core i9-12900E is a 12th-generation Alder Lake-S desktop part, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It packs 16 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 2.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The cache hierarchy is substantial: 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with no ECC support. It provides 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes (CPU-only), and includes integrated UHD Graphics 770. The TDP is 65 W, and it is socketed in LGA 1700. The multiplier is unlocked, allowing overclocking. Released on 2022-01-03, its launch MSRP is $494.

Benchmark scores show a strong multi-threaded performer. Cinebench R15 multicore scores 2371 and single-core 334; Cinebench R20 multicore scores 9882 and single-core 1394; Cinebench R23 multicore scores 23529 and single-core 3321; Geekbench multicore scores 10280 and single-core 1775. The average benchmark score is 6611, with a 62nd percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals are tightly packed: the Intel Pentium Gold G6405 (6605, +0.1% delta), the Intel Core i9-10940X (6605, +0.1%), the Intel Core i5-13500E (6586, +0.4%), and the Intel Core i5-13400E (6638, -0.4%). This clustering indicates the i9-12900E is neither a standout nor a laggard — it is statistically on par with these parts, with a negligible performance difference. The 5.00 GHz boost clock is high, but the single-core score of 3321 in Cinebench R23 is moderate for a high-end part. The multi-core score of 23529 is impressive for a 65 W part, indicating good efficiency.

FAQ

Q: What is the combined performance percentile of this CPU+GPU build?

A: The combined percentile is 53, placing it slightly above the median of all desktop CPU+GPU pairings in the benchmark database.

Q: How much VRAM does the Intel Arc A380 have?

A: The GPU has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 96-bit bus and 186.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the Intel Core i9-12900E support overclocking?

A: Yes, the multiplier is unlocked, and the CPU has a TDP of 65 W with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz.

Q: What is the suggested power supply for this GPU?

A: The suggested PSU for the Arc A380 is 250 W, and the GPU TDP is 75 W.

Q: Does the CPU have integrated graphics?

A: Yes, the i9-12900E includes Intel UHD Graphics 770, which can be used for display output and basic video encoding.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU?

A: The Arc A380 had a launch MSRP of 149 USD.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the Intel Core i5-13400E?

A: The i5-13400E has an average benchmark score of 6638, which is 0.4% higher than the i9-12900E's 6611.

Benchmark Performance

The CPU's best scores are its multi-core results: Cinebench R23 MC 23529, Cinebench R20 MC 9882, and Geekbench MC 10280. The single-core scores are also strong: Cinebench R23 SC 3321, R20 SC 1394, and Geekbench SC 1775. The CPU's average benchmark score is 6611, placing it at the 62nd percentile. The GPU's average score is 8558 (44th percentile), with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 808 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 38,224. The Passmark G3D score is 6252, but the DirectX 12 score is only 35, indicating poor modern API performance. The combined percentile of 53 suggests the system is slightly above average overall, but the CPU is clearly the stronger component. The GPU's low DirectX 12 and DirectX 11 scores (35 and 38) are particularly weak, while the DirectX 9 score (73) is relatively better. The Vulkan score (36,736) is the strongest API score, suggesting the GPU works better with Vulkan than DirectX. This means that any game using DirectX 11/12 will be slower than expected, while Vulkan-based games may see better performance.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1700 platform, which supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configurations. The CPU provides 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes (CPU-only), while the GPU uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. The GPU's TDP is 75 W with a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the CPU's TDP is 65 W, so the total system power is low. The GPU is listed as end-of-life, so a future upgrade would likely be to a newer GPU (the successor is listed as Battlemage, but no specs are given). Given that the CPU is at the 62nd percentile and the GPU is at the 44th, the most sensible next upgrade is a more powerful GPU to balance the system. The CPU is not the bottleneck in any GPU-bound workload, so a higher-end GPU would dramatically improve gaming and GPU-accelerated rendering. The platform itself is not limiting — it supports DDR5 and PCIe Gen 5 — so the CPU could be paired with a high-end GPU without issue. The 250 W PSU headroom is low, so a more powerful GPU would require a PSU upgrade, but the CPU's 65 W TDP leaves room for a mid-range GPU within a 250 W budget.

Build Overview

This build pairs the Intel Core i9-12900E (Alder Lake-S, 16 cores, 24 threads) with the Intel Arc A380 (Alchemist, 6 GB GDDR6). The build class is desktop, and the combined performance percentile is 53. The CPU is in the 62nd percentile, which is above average, while the GPU is in the 44th percentile, below average. The CPU's average benchmark score is 6611, and the GPU's is 8558. The CPU has a launch MSRP of $494, and the GPU had a launch MSRP of 149 USD. The system is a balanced-at-the-low-end desktop that is best suited for CPU-heavy tasks, with the GPU serving as a capable entry-level display and light gaming solution. The CPU's strong multi-core and single-core performance makes it a good fit for content creation, development, and productivity, while the GPU is limited to lower settings and 1080p gaming.

Gaming Performance

No measured FPS data exists for this exact combination — the FACT PACK contains no measuredFps data — so all frame rate discussion is estimated from the benchmark scores. Based on the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 808 and Passmark G3D of 6252, the Arc A380 is expected to handle 1080p gaming at low-to-medium settings in modern titles, with frame rates around 30-60 FPS depending on the game. The CPU's strong single-core (3321 Cinebench R23) and multi-core (23529) performance ensures that the CPU will not limit frame rates at 1080p. However, the GPU's low DirectX 12 Passmark score (35) suggests that DX12 titles may perform worse than Vulkan titles, which have a much higher score (36,736). The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p textures, but the 186 GB/s bandwidth may cause stuttering in high-texture settings. At 1440p, the GPU will be the clear bottleneck, likely dropping to below 30 FPS in demanding games. For esports titles (e.g., those using DirectX 9 or Vulkan), the GPU may achieve higher frame rates, but the DirectX 9 score (73) is relatively higher, so older or lighter games could run smoothly. Overall, the system is not suited for high-refresh or high-resolution gaming; it is a 1080p medium-settings gaming rig at best.