Doom

The pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 in Doom produces a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics, where the 2016 FPS title’s engine interacts with a modern flagship GPU and an entry-level quad-core processor. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is decisively limited by the CPU at lower resolutions, yet shifts toward a more balanced profile as the resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 360.8 FPS, but this figure barely improves from the 324.4 FPS recorded at High settings, indicating that the processor is saturating the render thread long before the RTX 5090 can stretch its legs. The data suggests that the game’s Vulkan-based engine is highly efficient, but the i3-12100F’s four physical cores become the primary constraint in these scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern, but the magnitude of the drops tells a clear story about component limitations. Moving from 1080p High (324.4 FPS) to 1440p High (220.6 FPS) results in a 32% reduction, while the step from 1440p High to 4K High (120.8 FPS) cuts performance by another 45%. This progressive decline indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises, but the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high. At 4K Ultra, the combo still delivers 99.8 FPS, which is remarkable for a game released in 2016, but the gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution reveals where the bottleneck resides.

At 1080p, the spread between Low (360.8 FPS) and Ultra (278 FPS) is a relatively modest 23%, suggesting that the CPU is holding the system back from fully utilizing the GPU’s capabilities. The same pattern appears at 1440p, where Low (300.7 FPS) to Ultra (180.6 FPS) spans a 40% range, but the absolute values are still high enough to suggest GPU headroom is being wasted. By 4K, the situation shifts dramatically: Ultra (99.8 FPS) is nearly 38% slower than Low (161.2 FPS), and the gap between Medium (139.9 FPS) and High (120.8 FPS) is a substantial 14%. This widening spread at higher resolutions is the signature of the RTX 5090 finally becoming the dominant factor, as the GPU’s raw throughput — measured at 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 — is being taxed by the increased pixel workload.

The data indicates that for competitive play at 1080p, the CPU limits the experience, while for 4K gaming, the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are the primary drivers. The 4K High result of 120.8 FPS is particularly telling, as it sits well below the 1440p High figure of 220.6 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU’s fill rate — 423.6 GPixel/s — is being consumed by the higher resolution. This is a classic case where resolution scaling exposes the shift from a CPU-bound to a GPU-bound scenario, and the i3-12100F’s limits are most apparent at 1080p, where the frame rates plateau despite the GPU’s immense capability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a Alder Lake-S part with four cores and eight threads, running at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are modest by modern standards, and the benchmark data reflects this. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 11,912 points in multi-core and 1,681 points in single-core, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2,224. These figures place the i3-12100F at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 13,516 sits just 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which is a high-end workstation part.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is critical because the game’s engine is known for being heavily single-threaded in its render path. The 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and 2-thread score of 1,659 suggest that the processor’s two fastest cores are capable, but the 4-thread score of 2,859 and 8-thread score of 4,026 show scaling that is far from linear. The PassMark single-thread score of 3,444 is respectable, but the multi-thread score of 14,015 is only 4x the single-thread figure, indicating that the four physical cores are the ceiling for parallel work. This explains why the 1080p Low result (360.8 FPS) is only 11% higher than the 1080p High result (324.4 FPS) — the CPU is already maxed out, and the GPU is waiting on the processor to submit draw calls.

The boost clock of 4.30 GHz helps in lightly-threaded workloads, but the data shows that the CPU’s limits are reached quickly. Compared to the Intel Core i7-7700K, which has a similar average score of 13,280 (1.8% lower than the i3-12100F), the i3-12100F’s newer architecture provides better single-thread performance, but the core count is identical. In Doom, this means the frame rate at 1080p is essentially capped by the CPU’s ability to process game logic and issue draw commands, regardless of the RTX 5090’s presence. The 4K Low result of 161.2 FPS is still high, but it represents a 55% drop from 1080p Low, which is a far steeper decline than what a purely GPU-bound system would show, confirming that the CPU continues to exert influence even at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2,407 MHz and base clock of 2,017 MHz, combined with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yield a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU’s compute capabilities are staggering: 104.8 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, with a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 achieves a PassMark G3D score of 39,650 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 379,571, placing it in the 94th percentile among all GPUs.

In Doom, the GPU’s role is to render frames as fast as the CPU allows, and the data shows that at 4K, the RTX 5090 is finally able to show its strengths. The 4K Ultra result of 99.8 FPS is notable because it demonstrates that the GPU can handle the game’s most demanding settings while still maintaining near-100 FPS, which reflects the architecture’s efficiency. The 4K Medium result of 139.9 FPS and 4K High result of 120.8 FPS show that the GPU scales well with settings, but the jump from Low (161.2 FPS) to Medium (139.9 FPS) is a 13% drop, indicating that the GPU is sensitive to the increased shading and texture work. The RTX 5090’s nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, has an average score of 84,241 (0.1% higher), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 sits 1.3% lower with 83,209, but none of these comparisons matter in Doom because the CPU is the primary limiter at lower resolutions.

The GPU’s 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are irrelevant for a 2016 game like Doom, which does not use ray tracing or DLSS, but the raw rasterization power is what drives the 4K results. The 32 GB VRAM is overkill for this title, but it ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there is no texture thrashing. The data shows that the RTX 5090 is capable of exceeding 100 FPS at 4K Ultra, but the i3-12100F prevents the system from reaching the GPU’s full potential at 1080p, where the frame rates remain below 400 FPS despite the GPU’s theoretical capability.

FAQ

Q: Why is the 1080p Low frame rate (360.8 FPS) only slightly higher than 1080p High (324.4 FPS)?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F is the limiting factor at this resolution. The CPU’s four cores and eight threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are saturated by the game’s render thread, so lowering settings does not proportionally increase frame rate. The GPU is waiting on the CPU to submit work, resulting in a plateau.

*Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance affect Doom?*

A: The i3-12100F’s Geekbench single-core score of 2,224 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,681 indicate solid per-core performance, but Doom’s engine relies heavily on a single thread for draw calls. The 3DMark single-thread score of 893 shows that this processor can handle the load, but only up to a point, as evidenced by the 1080p frame rates capping near 360 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 wasted in this combo at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p, the GPU is severely underutilized. The RTX 5090’s PassMark G3D score of 39,650 is in the 94th percentile, but the combo’s 1080p Ultra result of 278 FPS is limited by the CPU. The GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 capability is not fully exercised until the resolution increases to 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo based on the data?

A: The 4K High setting (120.8 FPS) provides a good balance, but the 4K Medium result (139.9 FPS) shows the GPU is more active there. The data suggests that 1440p High (220.6 FPS) is the sweet spot, as it offers high frame rates while allowing the RTX 5090 to contribute more meaningfully than at 1080p.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of average score?

A: The i3-12100F’s average benchmark score of 13,516 is just 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13,534) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13,462). This places the i3-12100F in competitive territory for its price, but in Doom, the core count is the limiting factor.

*Q: Does the GPU’s 32 GB VRAM matter for Doom?*

A: No, Doom does not require that much memory, and the data shows no VRAM-related performance drops. The 32 GB GDDR7 capacity is overkill for this game, but the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth helps maintain high frame rates at 4K, where the GPU’s pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s is more relevant.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combo ranks 35th out of 1,681 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the top 2% of all systems. This ranking is impressive given the CPU’s entry-level status, but it reflects the game’s age and the GPU’s overwhelming power. The combo’s rank is driven almost entirely by the RTX 5090’s ability to maintain high frame rates at 4K, where the CPU’s limitations are less pronounced. At 1080p, the combo is likely outperformed by systems with faster CPUs, as the RTX 5090 cannot overcome the i3-12100F’s four-core bottleneck.

The 94th percentile GPU ranking and 72nd percentile CPU ranking combine to produce a system that is exceptional for 4K gaming but leaves performance on the table at lower resolutions. The nearest CPU rivals — such as the Intel Core i7-7700K with a 1.8% higher average score — would likely provide better 1080p performance in Doom due to their higher clock speeds and similar core counts. However, the combo’s 35th place overall ranking out of 1,681 systems demonstrates that the RTX 5090’s raw power can compensate for CPU weaknesses in this specific title, making it a viable option for gamers prioritizing 4K resolution over competitive 1080p frame rates.