Doom

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is an unusual combination that pits a mid-range 2022 processor against a flagship 2025 graphics card. Benchmark data for Doom shows this pairing delivers extremely high frame rates, but the performance ceiling varies dramatically depending on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system averages 360.7 FPS on Low settings, while at 3840x2160 on Ultra it drops to 96.5 FPS. Every single tested configuration clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, making this a universally capable setup for this title, though the CPU begins to show its limitations at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measuredFps data provides average frame rates only, with no minimum or maximum values recorded for any configuration. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all presets. The Low preset yields 360.7 FPS, Medium produces 346.5 FPS, High reaches 327.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 279.2 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 81.5 FPS, representing a 22.6% reduction from the lowest to highest settings. This indicates the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution, as even the most demanding preset remains well above 200 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain elevated but show a clearer separation between presets. Low settings average 298.2 FPS, Medium achieves 258.5 FPS, High delivers 216.3 FPS, and Ultra produces 180.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 117.3 FPS, or 39.3% lower than the Low preset. Compared to 1080p, the Ultra preset drops by 98.3 FPS (35.2%), while the Low preset falls by 62.5 FPS (17.3%). This larger percentage drop for Ultra settings suggests that both CPU and GPU are being taxed more evenly as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls into a range that is still very fast but shows the GPU beginning to assert its dominance. Low settings average 164 FPS, Medium reaches 138.1 FPS, High produces 116.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 96.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 67.5 FPS, a 41.2% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the Ultra preset drops by 84.4 FPS (46.7%), while the Low preset falls by 134.2 FPS (45.0%). This near-uniform percentage drop across presets when moving to 4K is a strong indicator that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear shift in component responsibility as resolution changes. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are so high that the RTX 5090 is likely being held back by the i5-12400’s six-core, twelve-thread configuration. The 360.7 FPS at Low settings versus 279.2 FPS at Ultra represents only an 81.5 FPS difference, which is modest compared to what the GPU could theoretically deliver. The CPU’s single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 910 and passmark_single_thread score of 3456, becomes a limiting factor when the GPU can render frames faster than the processor can issue draw calls.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts toward the GPU, but the CPU still plays a significant role. The 117.3 FPS spread between Low and Ultra shows that settings changes have a larger impact than at 1080p, meaning the GPU is becoming more engaged. However, the fact that Low settings still produce 298.2 FPS suggests the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU adequately at this resolution. The i5-12400’s 3dmark_16_threads score of 5873 and cinebench_r23_multicore score of 15989 indicate sufficient multi-threaded throughput for a game like Doom, which is optimized for high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the dominant factor. The 67.5 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest absolute spread across all resolutions, but the percentage drop is similar to 1440p. More tellingly, the 4K Ultra result of 96.5 FPS is 84.4 FPS lower than the 1440p Ultra result, a 46.7% decline. This scaling aligns with the pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K (roughly 2.25x), indicating the RTX 5090’s rendering throughput is now the constraint. The CPU’s role diminishes because at 4K, each frame takes longer to render, giving the processor ample time to prepare the next frame.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, provide context for its performance ceiling. The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697, which is 0.1% higher than the i5-12400’s 18683 average. This server-class chip is not a direct gaming comparison, but the benchmark similarity suggests the i5-12400’s multi-threaded capability is comparable to a high-core-count EPYC part in synthetic workloads. The Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730, 0.3% higher, and represents a mobile alternative that would likely perform worse in sustained gaming due to thermal constraints. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 18811, 0.7% higher, indicating a newer mid-range option with slightly better average performance. The Intel Core i3-14100F scores 18519, which is 0.9% lower, showing that the i5-12400’s extra cores and threads provide a modest advantage over the i3 in this benchmark context.

For the GPU, the RTX 5090’s nearest rivals are all data center or mobile parts, which is unusual. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605, 0.3% lower than the RTX 5090’s 79842 average. This is a compute-oriented card without gaming optimizations, so its similarity in synthetic benchmarks does not translate to gaming performance. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396, 0.6% lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940, 1.1% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959, which is 1.4% higher than the RTX 5090. These rivals are not realistic gaming alternatives, but they indicate that the RTX 5090’s raw compute performance sits in a similar range to these specialized parts.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Doom at 60 FPS on all settings?

A: Yes. The data shows every tested configuration exceeds 60 FPS. The lowest result is 96.5 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra, which is still 36.5 FPS above the playable threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K?

A: Ultra settings at 3840x2160 produce an average of 96.5 FPS, which is the highest preset available and remains above 60 FPS. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 4K.

Q: How much performance is lost from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 360.7 FPS while Ultra averages 279.2 FPS. This is an 81.5 FPS reduction, or 22.6% lower performance when moving from the lowest to highest settings.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes a limiting factor at 1920x1080, where the frame rates exceed 300 FPS on lower presets. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the 46.7% drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 overkill for this game?

A: Based on the benchmark results, yes. Even at 4K Ultra, the system averages 96.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 360 FPS, far beyond what most displays can show.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This CPU and GPU combination ranks 125th out of 3712 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the top 3.4% of all configurations in the database.

The Verdict

The verdictByResolution data confirms that all three resolutions are fully playable. At 3840x2160, the playable settings include High, Low, Medium, and Ultra, with the best settings being Ultra at 96.5 FPS. This means even the most demanding 4K preset clears the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable margin of 36.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, with Ultra achieving 180.9 FPS. This is more than triple the playable threshold, providing headroom for higher refresh rate monitors. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 279.2 FPS, which is over 4.6 times the 60 FPS minimum. The only caveat is that the CPU may limit the GPU at lower resolutions, but this does not affect playability since the frame rates remain exceptionally high.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 96.5 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and it still delivers frame rates suitable for smooth gameplay. For 2560x1440, Ultra is again the best choice, averaging 180.9 FPS. This provides a significant margin above the 60 FPS threshold and would be ideal for 144Hz or 165Hz displays. For 1920x1080, Ultra averages 279.2 FPS, which is the best possible preset and offers performance suitable for 240Hz or even 360Hz monitors. In all cases, the recommendation is to use Ultra settings, as the system has sufficient performance headroom to run the game at maximum quality without dropping below 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 configuration at rank 125 out of 3712 tested combos. This places it in the 96.6th percentile of all systems tested for Doom, meaning it outperforms 3587 other configurations. The ranking reflects the GPU’s massive compute power, as the RTX 5090’s passmark_g3d score of 39650 and 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 18355 are among the highest in the database. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 72 is modest, but in a game like Doom that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, the GPU’s dominance carries the overall ranking. The 125th position out of 3712 is an impressive result, though it is not the top spot, which would likely require a higher-end CPU to fully utilize the RTX 5090’s potential at lower resolutions.