Doom

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a highly capable 1080p experience in Doom, where the combination of the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and the CPU’s 4.30 GHz boost clock keeps frame rates well above playable thresholds across all settings. The data shows that while the combo ranks in the 71st percentile of tested configurations, its performance profile is defined by a steep resolution cliff, making 1440p the practical ceiling for high-refresh-rate play and 4K viable only at reduced presets.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the High preset is the clear recommendation at both 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, High delivers 140.4 FPS, which is 24.6% faster than Ultra’s 117.4 FPS but only 15.3% slower than Medium’s 165.8 FPS, making it the sweet spot for maintaining high refresh rates without sacrificing image quality. At 2560x1440, High produces 92.8 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and only 14.7 FPS behind Medium’s 107.5 FPS, while Ultra drops to 76.6 FPS — still playable but with diminishing returns.

The Ultra preset is only advisable for 1080p owners with 120 Hz displays, as the 117.4 FPS result remains fluid. However, at 1440p, the gap between High and Ultra is 16.2 FPS, and at 4K the Ultra preset falls to 38.5 FPS, which is below the 40 FPS playability floor for fast-paced action. The data indicates that Low settings provide the highest frame rates (192.7 FPS at 1080p, 126.2 FPS at 1440p, 64.6 FPS at 4K) but sacrifice too much visual detail for a game where the art direction benefits from higher presets. Medium serves as a compromise for 4K, delivering 58.7 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that stays above 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is the primary driver of Doom’s performance scaling. At 4K Ultra, the GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is insufficient to maintain fluid motion, producing 38.5 FPS, while dropping to Low settings yields 64.6 FPS — a 67.8% improvement that reflects the texture and shading load reduction. The GPU’s 1650 MHz boost clock and 2176 shading units handle the game’s id Tech 6 engine efficiently at lower resolutions, evidenced by the 192.7 FPS result at 1080p Low.

The GPU’s 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, and the benchmark data shows it outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN by 0.3% and the RTX 2070 by 0.5% in average score. This narrow margin indicates that the 2060 SUPER is well-matched to Doom’s requirements, but the 4K Ultra result of 38.5 FPS exposes its VRAM and compute limits under maximum load. The 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs contribute to the texture fill rate, but the 175 W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are not bottlenecks in this game’s measured results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate degradation from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern that identifies the GPU as the limiting component. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (140.4 FPS) to 2560x1440 (92.8 FPS) represents a 33.9% drop, and further to 3840x2160 (50.5 FPS) is a 45.6% drop from 1440p. This compounding loss is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios where pixel count doubles while compute resources remain fixed. The Low preset shows a similar trend: 192.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 126.2 FPS at 1440p (34.5% drop) and then to 64.6 FPS at 4K (48.8% drop).

The scaling behavior reveals that the i3-12100F is not the primary constraint at any resolution. The 4K Low result of 64.6 FPS is 33.5% higher than the 4K High result of 50.5 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors rather than the CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads. At 1080p, the difference between Low (192.7 FPS) and Ultra (117.4 FPS) is 75.3 FPS, which is a 64.1% spread that further confirms the GPU’s dominance in determining frame rates across the resolution spectrum.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i3-12100F and RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1201 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 71st percentile of all configurations. This ranking is respectable for a mid-range pairing, but the data shows it is not a top-tier performer. The CPU’s 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs (avgBenchmarkScore 13516) is nearly identical to the combo’s overall placement, while the GPU’s 63rd percentile ranking is slightly lower, suggesting the GPU is the more limiting factor in this specific game.

The combo’s rank is influenced by the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM being sufficient for Doom’s requirements at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result of 38.5 FPS drags the overall standing down compared to combos with higher-end GPUs. The i3-12100F’s performance relative to rivals is tight: it is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U, 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10105, and 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K. This clustering indicates that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo’s rank.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, provide sufficient processing power for Doom’s single-threaded engine. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache deliver the low-latency access that the game’s physics and AI systems require. Benchmark results show a single-thread score of 893 in 3dmark and 1681 in Cinebench R23, which are competitive for a modern quad-core.

The CPU’s 58 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are modest, but the data shows no CPU bottleneck in the measured FPS. At 1080p Low, the 192.7 FPS result is high enough that even a faster CPU would not meaningfully improve the score, as the GPU is already saturating its output. The 3dmark 4-thread score of 2859 and 8-thread score of 4026 indicate that the CPU can handle the game’s multi-threaded load, which is minimal in Doom’s id Tech 6 engine. The 10 nm process node and Alder Lake architecture provide efficient instruction execution that keeps frame pacing consistent.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers the following average frame rates: Low settings produce 192.7 FPS, Medium produces 165.8 FPS, High produces 140.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 117.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 75.3 FPS, representing a 64.1% performance range. All settings exceed 100 FPS, making 1080p the ideal resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low at 126.2 FPS, Medium at 107.5 FPS, High at 92.8 FPS, and Ultra at 76.6 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with Low losing 66.5 FPS, Medium losing 58.3 FPS, High losing 47.6 FPS, and Ultra losing 40.8 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result of 76.6 FPS remains playable, but the High preset’s 92.8 FPS is the more balanced choice.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal: Low at 64.6 FPS, Medium at 58.7 FPS, High at 50.5 FPS, and Ultra at 38.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only setting that falls below 40 FPS, making it unsuitable for fast-paced gameplay. The 4K Medium result of 58.7 FPS is the most viable 4K option, while High at 50.5 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced play but not ideal for Doom’s frantic combat.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: High settings at 1920x1080 produce 140.4 FPS, which is 24.6% faster than Ultra’s 117.4 FPS and only 15.3% slower than Medium’s 165.8 FPS. High offers the best visual-to-performance ratio.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but only at lower presets. Low settings yield 64.6 FPS, Medium yields 58.7 FPS, and High yields 50.5 FPS at 3840x2160. Ultra drops to 38.5 FPS, which is below the playability threshold.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary limiter. The 4K Low result of 64.6 FPS is 33.5% higher than 4K High’s 50.5 FPS, while the CPU’s single-thread score of 1681 in Cinebench R23 shows it is not a bottleneck at any resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1201 out of 1681 combos, placing it in the 71st percentile. The CPU is 0.1% behind the Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 0.4% ahead of the Core i7-1250U, while the GPU is 0.3% ahead of the GTX TITAN.

Q: What is the best resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: 1080p is the only resolution where all settings exceed 100 FPS. The lowest 1080p result is Ultra at 117.4 FPS, while 1440p Low is the only 1440p setting above 120 FPS at 126.2 FPS.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause any limitations in this game?

A: No, the 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for Doom’s requirements. The GPU’s 4K Ultra result of 38.5 FPS is due to compute limits, not VRAM capacity, as the 64.6 FPS Low result at 4K demonstrates adequate memory handling.