SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core i9-12900HK + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile

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

Build Configuration

Select your components

PROCESSOR (CPU)

▼

GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

▼

89 Score

Top 11% Ranking

89 / 100

HIGH-END

Power Build

Top 11% of systems. Excellent for 1440p Ultra or 4K High gaming.

1440p Ultra4K High

System Balance Analysis

CPU vs GPU performance ratio

Well Balanced

CPU

87%

GPU

91%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core i9-12900HK

26,469 Benchmark Score

Top 13% Market Ranking

View Full Specs →

GRAPHICS CARD

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile

19,049 Benchmark Score

Top 9% 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 i9-12900HK paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile is a high-end laptop combination that prioritizes CPU-heavy productivity over raw gaming frame rates. The data shows a clear performance split: the processor operates in the top 22% of all CPUs, while the graphics card sits in the 63rd percentile. This pairing delivers exceptional multi-threaded compute performance for rendering, coding, and simulation, but the GPU is the definitive limiting factor in modern gaming at high resolutions. There are no measured FPS rows for this exact combination; all gaming frame rates cited here are estimates derived from the component benchmark scores.

FAQ

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

A: The build achieves a combined percentile of 71 against all systems, indicating it outperforms roughly 71% of configurations in the database.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Core i9-12900HK has an average benchmark score of 26469, which is identical to the Intel Core i7-1280P (deltaPct 0) and nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 8640U (26462, deltaPct 0).

Q: What is the GPU's average benchmark score and its closest competitor?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile scores 19049 on average. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6600, which scores 19036, putting the NVIDIA part 0.1% ahead.

Q: Does this CPU support overclocking?

A: Yes, the multiplier is unlocked, indicating the processor can be overclocked, a feature more common in desktop parts but present in this mobile i9.

Q: What type of memory does the platform support?

A: The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

Q: What is the process node for the GPU, and who manufactures it?

A: The RTX 4050 Mobile is built on a 5 nm process by TSMC.

Q: What is the CPU's socket type?

A: The i9-12900HK uses the Intel BGA 1744 socket, which is a ball-grid array package for mobile use.

GPU Analysis

The GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile is built on the AD107 chip using NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². The GPU is equipped with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s with an effective speed of 16 Gbps. This memory configuration is modest for a 40-series part, and the bandwidth figure is a key indicator of its performance ceiling in high-resolution textures and compute workloads that rely on memory throughput.

In terms of compute hardware, the GPU has 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. It includes 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, which are essential for ray tracing and AI-accelerated features like DLSS. The raw compute throughput is rated at 8.986 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 84.24 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 140.4 GTexel/s. The base clock is 1455 MHz with a boost clock of 1755 MHz, and the TDP is set at 50 W. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8, and the slot width is listed as IGP, indicating it is an integrated-on-package solution for laptops.

Benchmark results show a balanced profile for the GPU. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 74748, and the Vulkan score is 75235, showing strong general-purpose compute and modern API performance. In PassMark tests, the DirectX 11 score is 130, while DirectX 12 is significantly lower at 61, and DirectX 9 is 184. The G3D score is 14423, and the GPU compute score is 5947. The G2D score is 633. The performance advantage in DirectX 11 over DirectX 12 suggests that the GPU may rely on driver optimizations for legacy APIs. The average benchmark score of 19049 places it in the 63rd percentile, directly adjacent to the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19036, 0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18954, 0.5% delta). For rendering, the 8.986 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput is capable for 1080p content creation, but the 192.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6 GB VRAM will constrain high-resolution texture-heavy projects and larger scenes in 3D applications.

Balance and Bottleneck

The performance data reveals a stark imbalance between the CPU and GPU. The i9-12900HK has a percentile rank of 78 among all CPUs, placing it in the top tier of mobile processors. The RTX 4050 Mobile, with a percentile rank of 63, is a mid-range mobile GPU. This discrepancy creates a scenario where the CPU is rarely the limiting factor in graphics-intensive tasks. In gaming, the data suggests the GPU will hit its performance ceiling long before the CPU is fully utilized, making the 4050 Mobile the primary bottleneck. The CPU's single-thread score of 1025 in 3dmark and 1673 in Cinebench R23 single-core are strong, meaning it can feed the GPU instructions without stalling, but the GPU's 14423 G3D score and 8.986 TFLOPS will cap frame rates.

Conversely, in CPU-bound workloads like data compression, encryption, and multi-threaded rendering, the balance flips. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 25697 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18288 are dominant, while the GPU's compute score of 5947 is secondary. In these scenarios, the i9-12900HK is the workhorse, and the GPU provides auxiliary acceleration. The 45 W TDP of the CPU versus the 50 W TDP of the GPU suggests a relatively balanced power envelope, but the performance delta between the two components is wide. The combined percentile of 71 reflects this mixed profile: the system is excellent for productivity but will underperform in gaming relative to its CPU capabilities. The lack of measured FPS data means these conclusions are drawn from the benchmark scores, which show the GPU's average score is only 0.1% above the RX 6600, while the CPU is 0% to 0.3% above its nearest rivals.

Who Should Build It

This configuration is tailored for users whose primary workloads leverage multi-core CPU performance. Content creators working with video editing, 3D rendering, and software compilation will see significant benefits from the i9-12900HK's 14 cores and 20 threads. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18288 and PassMark multithread score of 25697 indicate that tasks like exporting 4K video or compiling large codebases will complete quickly. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p video editing timelines and moderate 3D scenes, but not for heavy 4K or 8K work.

Gamers at 1080p will find the RTX 4050 Mobile adequate for esports and older titles, but as the data shows, it is a mid-range GPU in the 63rd percentile. For developers, the CPU's 20 threads and support for AVX-512-like extended instructions (PassMark extended instructions score of 17583) make it suitable for parallel processing and virtual machines. Students in engineering or computer science programs will benefit from the CPU's performance for simulations and data analysis (PassMark data compression score of 294908). Small business workstations that run database applications or financial modeling will see strong returns from the multi-threaded throughput. The platform's support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory allows for flexible configuration, though the data does not specify whether the system uses one or the other. The GPU's 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores also make this a viable option for light machine learning inference and AI development, given the FP16 performance is equal to FP32 at 8.986 TFLOPS.

Benchmark Performance

The CPU's average benchmark score is 26469, placing it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. This score is exactly equal to the Intel Core i7-1280P (deltaPct 0) and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (26402). The CPU's strongest results are in Cinebench R23 multicore with 18288, PassMark multithread with 25697, and PassMark integer math with 89527. Single-thread performance is also robust, with a 3dmark single-thread score of 1025 and a PassMark single-thread score of 3567.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 19049, which is 0.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19036) and 0.5% above the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18954). The GPU's best results are in Geekbench Vulkan (75235) and OpenCL (74748), indicating strong compute capability. In PassMark, the G3D score of 14423 is the primary gaming indicator, while the DirectX 12 score of 61 is notably lower than DirectX 11's 130. The combined picture is a system where the CPU sits in the top 25% of all processors, but the GPU is just above the midpoint of all GPUs. The combined percentile of 71 reflects the CPU's stronger standing, but the GPU's 63rd percentile pulls the overall rank down from what a 78th-percentile CPU alone would suggest. The GPU's performance is comparable to desktop-class parts like the RX 6600, confirming it is a competent 1080p card rather than a high-refresh or high-resolution solution.

Gaming Performance

There are no measured FPS rows for this exact CPU+GPU combination; therefore, all gaming frame rates are estimates derived from the benchmark scores, not empirical results. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 14423 and average benchmark score of 19049, which is nearly identical to the RX 6600, suggest that the RTX 4050 Mobile will perform like a low-end desktop GPU. For 1080p gaming, the data implies the card can handle esports titles at high frame rates, but for AAA games, settings will need to be adjusted to medium or high to maintain playable performance. The 6 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p textures but will struggle with 1440p or 4K assets.

The CPU's single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 1025) is more than adequate to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p. The GPU's boost clock of 1755 MHz and 8.986 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput indicate that it will deliver solid performance in DirectX 11 titles, where its PassMark score is higher (130), but DirectX 12 performance (score of 61) may be less impressive. The 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores enable ray tracing and DLSS, which can improve frame rates in supported games, but the 50 W TDP limits sustained performance. For high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, users should expect the GPU to be the limiting factor, as the CPU's 78th-percentile rank suggests it could drive higher frame rates if paired with a stronger GPU. Overall, this is a 1080p gaming machine that prioritizes CPU-heavy workloads over extreme graphical settings.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core i9-12900HK is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 45 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The die size is 217 mm². It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it has 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes. The integrated graphics are Iris Xe with 96 execution units. The part number is SRLD3, and it uses the Intel BGA 1744 socket.

Benchmark results indicate a processor that excels in multi-threaded workloads. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18288 and the 3dmark max threads score of 6829 highlight its ability to handle parallel tasks. The PassMark integer math score of 89527 and floating point math score of 63572 are strong indicators of computational throughput. The data encryption score of 17445 and data compression score of 294908 show it is well-suited for security and data management tasks. The single-thread performance is also competitive, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1673 and a 3dmark single-thread score of 1025, ranking it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals, the Core i7-1280P and Ryzen 5 8640U, have identical average scores (26469 and 26462, respectively), suggesting the i9-12900HK offers no meaningful advantage over these parts in synthetic averages, but the higher boost clock and core count may provide better sustained performance in longer workloads. The CPU's 45 W TDP is high for a mobile part, indicating it is designed for high-performance laptops with adequate cooling.

Build Overview

This is a laptop-class build (buildClass: "laptop") combining the Intel Core i9-12900HK with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile. The CPU is a top-tier mobile processor from the Core 12th Gen series, while the GPU is a mid-range Ada Lovelace part. The combined percentile of 71 places this system in the upper-mid range of all configurations, but the performance profile is skewed heavily toward CPU-bound tasks. The CPU's 78th percentile vs. the GPU's 63rd percentile creates an asymmetric system: it is a high-end productivity machine with a mid-range gaming component. The GPU's 50 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate it is a low-power part, likely found in thinner laptops, which aligns with the CPU's 45 W TDP. This pairing is suitable for a workstation-class laptop that can handle heavy compute but is not optimized for high-end gaming. The average benchmark score of the CPU (26469) is 38.9% higher than the GPU's average score (19049) in raw terms, but they serve different functions; the CPU is the primary driver of performance in most non-gaming applications.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The CPU uses the Intel BGA 1744 socket, which is a soldered mobile package, meaning the processor is not upgradeable in a conventional sense. The platform supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, allowing for memory upgrades, but the data does not specify the maximum capacity or speed. The PCIe interface is Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU, and the GPU uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface, which is adequate for the RTX 4050 Mobile's bandwidth needs. The system's power supply requirements are not specified (suggestedPsu is null), and the GPU has no power connectors (powerConnectors: "None"), indicating it draws power solely from the motherboard, typical of mobile GPUs. The CPU TDP is 45 W, and the GPU TDP is 50 W, so the total power draw for these two components is within the range of a standard laptop power adapter.

A sensible next upgrade for this platform would be to increase memory to the highest supported speed and capacity, as the CPU's performance in multi-threaded tasks can benefit from faster DDR5 memory. The storage can be expanded via the 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, allowing for high-speed NVMe drives. However, the BGA 1744 socket limits CPU upgrades, so the i9-12900HK is likely the maximum processor for this board. The GPU is also soldered, so it cannot be replaced. The platform is essentially at its performance ceiling with this CPU+GPU combo. The only practical upgrades are memory and storage. For users seeking more GPU performance, they would need to consider a different laptop with a higher-tier GPU, as the RTX 4050 Mobile's 6 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints in this system. The CPU's 24 MB L3 cache and 20 threads provide ample headroom for future software, but the GPU will likely become obsolete faster.

Rate My PC: Intel Core i9-12900HK + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile

Power Build

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core i9-12900HK

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile

Market Position

Game Performance Benchmarks

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

Performance Insights

Strong Performance

Performance Tiers Explained

Ultimate

High-End

Mid-Range

Entry Level

Legacy

FAQ

GPU Analysis

Balance and Bottleneck

Who Should Build It

Benchmark Performance

Gaming Performance

CPU Analysis

Build Overview

Upgrade Path and Platform

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

Related Processors

Related Graphics Cards

Compare Your CPU

Compare Your GPU

Related PC Builds

Same CPU with Different GPUs

Same GPU with Different CPUs

Other Popular Builds