CPU and GPU pairings

Does the Core i5-12400 bottleneck the RTX 3060?

At 1080p, the graphics card sets the pace. At 1440p and 4K, the graphics card sets the pace, by a wide margin.

Intel Core i5-12400 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

  1. 1080p

    The graphics card sets the pace

    The processor could keep up with a graphics card about 30% faster.

  2. 1440p

    The graphics card sets the pace, by a wide margin

    The processor could keep up with a graphics card about 90% faster.

  3. 4K

    The graphics card sets the pace, by a wide margin

    The processor could keep up with a graphics card about 3.2 times as fast.

The processor has capacity to spare at every resolution, so a faster graphics card is the upgrade that would raise frame rates. At 1080p this processor could keep up with one about 30% faster.

  • The RTX 3060 is sold with 8 GB or 12 GB of graphics memory. With 8 GB, some recent games need their texture quality lowered at 1440p and 4K, and a few at 1080p. Stutter and textures loading late are the sign.

An estimate for a typical game at high settings. Strategy, simulation and large multiplayer games lean on the processor more; lower settings and upscaling do too.

Change either part in the calculator

Does your PC deliver this?

Before buying a faster graphics card, make sure your PC gets what it should from the one it has: a setting left wrong can cost as many frames as the upgrade would add. On a PC with these parts, Bottleneck checks, free:

  • Resizable BAR. Both parts support it, and it is often left switched off in the BIOS.
  • The monitor’s refresh rate. A 144 Hz monitor left at 60 Hz holds every game to 60 frames a second.
  • Memory at its rated speed, in dual channel. Memory left at a slow default speed costs frames whichever part sets the pace.
  • Heat. A processor or graphics card that slows down to stay cool falls short of these figures.

Then play a game while it measures, and it tells you which part really set the pace, and for what share of the frames: measured on your PC, where this page can only estimate.

Download free for Windows How to check it yourself

The free version has no time limit and needs no account. Pro, $9 once, explains each problem and how to fix it, makes the common fixes in one click, and costs out the upgrade for your own PC. Compare the versions

Graphics cards the Core i5-12400 keeps up with

Current cards that are well matched with the Core i5-12400 at 1440p, fastest first.

Power supply

A 450 W power supply covers this pair: at full load the Core i5-12400, the RTX 3060 and the rest of the PC can draw up to about 347 W. The power supply page for the RTX 3060 has the size with other processors.

More pairings

How this is worked out

Each part gets one figure for games from the reference dataset the Bottleneck app uses to judge the hardware it measures, and the two are compared at each resolution. The calculator explains the model; this page is its answer for the Core i5-12400 and the RTX 3060. It is an estimate from the part names: memory speed, settings, heat and the monitor decide what a real PC delivers.