Core i5-12490F bottleneck & gaming FPS

Ranked 112 of 201 desktop processors for gaming in our database (44th percentile). It can sustain roughly 118 fps in a typical AAA title regardless of resolution — that ceiling is what decides whether a graphics card is worth pairing with it.

SpecificationsAlder Lake · 2021

Architecture	Alder Lake
Cores	6
Threads	12
Boost clock	4,600 MHz
L3 cache	20 MB
TDP	65 W
Released	2021

Processor ceiling by game1080p, high

The frame rate this chip could sustain with an infinitely fast graphics card. It is almost the same at every resolution, because rendering more pixels gives the processor no extra work.

Game	CPU ceiling	With Radeon RX 9070 GRE
Cyberpunk 2077	112 fps	78 fps
Fortnite	151 fps	149 fps
Counter-Strike 2	178 fps	176 fps
Baldur's Gate 3	102 fps	101 fps
Red Dead Redemption 2	134 fps	87 fps
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024	67 fps	66 fps

Best matched graphics cards1080p, high

Ranked by how little performance the pairing wastes. Anything much faster than the top entry will sit partly idle at this resolution — though it may still be worth it if you plan to move to 1440p or 4K.

Graphics card	Est. FPS	Unused
Radeon RX 9070 GRE	113	2.6%
GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB	112	3.7%
Radeon RX 6900 XT	116	4.1%
Radeon RX 7800 XT	110	5%
GeForce RTX 5070	116	5.4%
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 20 GB	116	5.9%

What a Core i5-12490F is good for

This chip is capable at 1080p with a mid-range card, but it will become the limit if you pair it with something substantially faster. If you are considering a large graphics upgrade, check the pairing first — you may find most of the new card sitting idle.

Moving to a higher resolution is the cheapest way to get more out of it, because it shifts work onto the card and away from the chip.

Where it sits

Ranked 112 of 201 desktop processors for gaming. Nearest faster: Core Ultra 3-205, Ryzen 5 7400. Just below: Ryzen 7 5700, Ryzen 5 5600. Full method on the methodology page.