Doom

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, with measured frame rates that far exceed the 60 FPS playability threshold across every tested resolution and preset combination. The benchmark data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the powerful CPU ensures the GPU is fully utilized, resulting in frame rates that approach and exceed 400 FPS at lower settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080 demonstrates its 4K capability with an average of 104 FPS on High settings. The Low preset produces a 141 FPS average, while Medium sits between them at 123 FPS with recorded minimum and maximum values of 104 and 141 FPS respectively. The most demanding Ultra preset still maintains a strong 85 FPS average, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale significantly. The Low preset achieves a 260 FPS average, Medium delivers 226 FPS with a minimum of 192 FPS and a maximum of 260 FPS, and High reaches 191 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution produces a 156 FPS average, which represents a substantial improvement over the 4K Ultra result.

At 1920x1080, the combination truly excels. The Low preset records a 401 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium achieves 350 FPS with a minimum of 297 FPS and a maximum of 402 FPS. High settings produce 295 FPS, and even the Ultra preset maintains a 241 FPS average. These numbers indicate that the system has significant headroom at 1080p, with the minimum frame rates at Medium (297 FPS) still exceeding the average frame rates at 4K High (104 FPS).

The scaling pattern across resolutions shows a clear trend: dropping from 4K to 1440p improves average frame rates by roughly 80-85% across all presets, while the move from 1440p to 1080p yields another 50-55% improvement. The data indicates consistent performance scaling with no anomalies or bottlenecks appearing at any resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is the best playable setting, maintaining an 85 FPS average. This is notable because it means the system can run the game at maximum visual quality at 4K while still exceeding the 60 FPS playability threshold by a comfortable margin.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again emerges as the best setting with a 156 FPS average. This provides an excellent balance for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, as the frame rate is more than double the 60 FPS baseline.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers a 241 FPS average, which is the best result across all resolutions. This frame rate is suitable for the highest refresh rate gaming monitors available, demonstrating that the system has substantial performance reserves at this resolution.

The pattern is consistent across all three resolutions: the most demanding preset remains playable, and in every case the average frame rate at Ultra exceeds 60 FPS by at least 40%. This indicates that users can prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing smooth gameplay.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a shift in system bottleneck behavior across resolutions. At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the frame rate drop from 141 FPS at Low to 85 FPS at Ultra—a 40% reduction. This sensitivity to graphical settings indicates that the RTX 4080's compute and memory resources are being fully exercised at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the system shows more balance. The frame rate spread between Low (260 FPS) and Ultra (156 FPS) represents a 40% gap, similar to 4K, but the absolute frame rates suggest that the CPU is beginning to play a larger role. The i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads provide sufficient processing power to feed the GPU, but the diminishing returns between 1440p and 1080p indicate the CPU is approaching its limits at lower resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the CPU becomes the primary constraint. The difference between Low (401 FPS) and Ultra (241 FPS) is still significant, but the absolute frame rates suggest that the CPU's single-thread performance is limiting the system's ability to exceed the 400 FPS mark. The i7-12700K's single-thread benchmark score of 1043 in 3dmark and 4013 in Passmark indicates strong per-core performance, but the data shows that even this capable processor cannot fully saturate the RTX 4080 at 1080p with lower settings.

The scaling between resolutions confirms this analysis. The jump from 1080p Low (401 FPS) to 1440p Low (260 FPS) is a 35% reduction, while the jump from 1440p Low to 4K Low (141 FPS) is a 46% reduction. This increasing performance drop as resolution rises is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions and a CPU-bound workload at lower resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The i7-12700K's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core i5-13600T, which scores 35305 in average benchmarks—a negligible 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 35365, just 0.2% higher, indicating that the KF variant without integrated graphics performs nearly identically. The Intel Core i7-13700T and Intel Core 5 213PE complete the rival set with scores of 35403 and 35428 respectively, representing 0.3% and 0.4% advantages.

These small deltas suggest that any of these CPUs would produce virtually identical frame rates in Doom, as the performance differences are well within measurement noise. The i7-12700K's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces its position as a high-performance processor that will not be the limiting factor in most gaming scenarios.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209—just 0.1% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, a 1.1% advantage, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S score 55698 and 55757 respectively, representing 2.6% and 2.7% advantages. These differences are small enough that in-game performance would be nearly indistinguishable, with all of these GPUs capable of producing similar frame rates in Doom.

The RTX 4080's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with its 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth, positions it as a top-tier graphics card that will deliver consistent high frame rates in this game regardless of which rival it is compared against.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i7-12700K and RTX 4080 ranks 215th out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the top 6% of all systems. This high ranking reflects the balanced performance of the two components, with neither one significantly bottlenecking the other at most resolutions.

The rank of 215 out of 3712 indicates that there are 214 combinations that perform better, but the vast majority of systems—over 94%—are slower. This positioning suggests that the system is well above average for this game, with only the most extreme hardware configurations outperforming it.

Given that the RTX 4080 is marked as end-of-life and the i7-12700K uses the Alder Lake architecture, this ranking represents the performance ceiling for this generation of hardware. The fact that this combination still ranks in the top 6% demonstrates its longevity and capability for demanding games like Doom.

The Verdict

This PC can run Doom at maximum settings across all tested resolutions. The verdict data confirms that at 3840x2160, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with Ultra achieving an 85 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the same holds true, with Ultra delivering a 156 FPS average. At 1920x1080, Ultra reaches a 241 FPS average.

The system clears the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution and preset combination tested, with the smallest margin being at 4K Ultra where the 85 FPS average still provides a 42% buffer above the playability threshold. This means users can confidently select the Ultra preset at any resolution without worrying about performance drops below playable levels.

The data shows that this combination is not just playable, but provides substantial headroom for future game updates or additional background tasks. The minimum frame rate recorded at 4K Medium (104 FPS) and 1440p Medium (192 FPS) and 1080p Medium (297 FPS) indicates that even the lowest dips remain well above the 60 FPS threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average frame rate at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 85 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the highest frame rate this combination achieves?

A: The maximum recorded frame rate is 402 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, while the Low preset at 1080p produces a 401 FPS average.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p compared to 4K?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 156 FPS, which is 84% higher than the 85 FPS achieved at 3840x2160 Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: At 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor, as shown by the 40% frame rate drop between Low and Ultra presets. At 1080p, the CPU becomes the constraint, with frame rates approaching 400 FPS but unable to exceed that mark.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded at any resolution?

A: The lowest measured minimum frame rate is 104 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. All other recorded minimums are higher.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combination ranks 215th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6% of all systems tested for Doom.