Doom

The data for Doom paired with an Intel Core i3-12100F and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti reveals a configuration where the graphics card is the overwhelming performance bottleneck. The measured frames per second at 1080p and 1440p are respectable for a lower-tier GPU, but the extreme drop at 4K highlights the limitations of the 4 GB memory buffer and the Pascal architecture's compute capabilities. The CPU, while modest by modern standards, provides sufficient headroom to keep the GPU fully engaged at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 74 FPS, which drops to 48.6 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 34% reduction) and further to 28.1 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 62% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario. The GTX 1050 Ti's raw fillrate and shading capacity are simply not sufficient to maintain playable frame rates at higher pixel counts.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (74 FPS) and Ultra (45.3 FPS) is 28.7 FPS. At 1440p, that spread grows to 17.7 FPS (48.6 vs 30.9), and at 4K it narrows to 9.7 FPS (28.1 vs 18.4). This convergence at 4K indicates that the GPU is saturated regardless of quality settings—the pixel throughput demand overwhelms the shading units, making the preset choice less impactful than the resolution itself.

The data suggests that the limiting component is almost entirely the GPU. The i3-12100F's four cores with eight threads, running at a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, would not be expected to bottleneck a graphics card that sits in the 30th percentile of all GPUs in this database. The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 places it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-7700K with a deltaPct of 1.8. This indicates the processor is far stronger than the graphics solution, so the FPS degradation from 1080p to 4K must be attributed to the GPU's memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s and its 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

Settings Recommendations

For a fluid experience at 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 53.2 FPS, which is acceptable for a fast-paced shooter. However, the Low preset at 1080p yields 74 FPS, providing a 39% improvement over High. Given that Doom is an FPS where reaction time matters, the Low preset offers the best balance of visual clarity and responsiveness, especially considering the GPU's modest capabilities.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 44.7 FPS, which is on the edge of playability. The Low preset at 48.6 FPS is the only 1440p option that approaches 60 FPS, but it falls short. For users with a 1440p display, the data suggests that dropping to Low is mandatory, and even then, the experience will be suboptimal compared to 1080p. The High preset at 1440p (33.7 FPS) and Ultra (30.9 FPS) are both below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a shooter.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets produce playable results. The best case is Low at 28.1 FPS, which is still well below 30 FPS and would result in noticeable stuttering. The Ultra preset at 18.4 FPS is effectively a slideshow. The recommendation is clear: this combination should be used exclusively at 1080p, where the Low preset gives the best measured performance, or the High preset if the user prioritizes visual fidelity over frame rate. The data shows no viable path to 4K gaming with this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the primary determinant of this combo's performance. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is insufficient for high-resolution textures in a modern game like Doom. The GPU's base clock of 1291 MHz and boost clock of 1392 MHz are modest, and the 768 shading units are simply outmatched by the demands of 4K rendering.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its position. The PassMark G3D score of 6340 places it in the 30th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (deltaPct of 0) and the AMD Radeon R7 240 (deltaPct of 0.7). This means the 1050 Ti is statistically indistinguishable from entry-level laptop parts, and its performance in Doom reflects that classification. The Vulkan score of 19851 and OpenCL score of 20638 suggest the GPU can handle compute workloads, but the actual game rendering relies on the fixed-function units, which are limited.

The memory clock of 1752 MHz (7 Gbps effective) combined with the 128-bit bus creates a bandwidth wall that becomes evident at 1440p and above. The 1080p results, where the GPU can stay within its memory footprint, show reasonable scaling from Low to Ultra (74 down to 45.3 FPS). At 4K, the memory bandwidth becomes the critical constraint, and the FPS collapses across all presets. The 4 GB capacity also means texture quality must be reduced, as the Ultra preset at 4K would likely exceed the VRAM, causing additional stutters beyond the low average FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the i3-12100F and GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1654 out of 1681 total combos for Doom. This places it in the bottom 2% of all tested configurations, which aligns with the GPU's low percentile ranking. The combination is near the absolute bottom of the performance spectrum, outperforming only 27 other combinations in this game.

The rank is heavily skewed by the GPU. The i3-12100F, when paired with a stronger graphics card, would rank significantly higher, but the 1050 Ti drags the overall score down. The data shows that the combo's measured FPS at 1080p Low (74 FPS) is competitive with some older mid-range cards, but the inability to scale to higher resolutions is what relegates it to this low position. The rank of 1654 out of 1681 indicates that this is a strictly entry-level configuration, suitable only for 1080p gaming at lower quality presets.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's rivals (ranging from -0.1% to 1.8%) indicate that the i3-12100F is a solid performer in synthetic benchmarks, but those scores do not translate to gaming dominance when paired with such a weak GPU. The combo's rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's 30th percentile standing, and the data suggests that any upgrade to the graphics card would yield a disproportionately large improvement in the combo's ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing adequate processing power without becoming a bottleneck. Its four cores and eight threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, deliver a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11912 and a single-core score of 1681. The single-thread performance is crucial for game logic and draw call submission, and the data shows it is more than sufficient for Doom's engine.

The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4/DDR5 memory (dual-channel) ensure that memory latency is not a limiting factor. The PassMark single-thread score of 3444 places it well above the minimum requirements for modern games. Given that the GPU is the performance limiter, the CPU's utilization in Doom would likely be low, with the i3-12100F waiting on the GPU to render frames.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (deltaPct of -0.1) and the Intel Core i7-7700K (deltaPct of 1.8), which shows that the i3-12100F is within 2% of much more expensive processors in average benchmark scores. This indicates that the CPU has headroom for a GPU upgrade in the future. The 10 nm process node and 58 W TDP make it an efficient choice, but the data does not suggest the CPU is contributing to any performance issues in Doom. The measured FPS across all resolutions is entirely consistent with GPU-bound behavior, confirming that the i3-12100F is not a limiting factor in this specific game.