Doom

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a very capable 1080p experience in Doom, with performance scaling predictably as resolution increases. The data shows this combo sits in the 1363rd position out of 1681 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all possible pairings, though its actual frame rates tell a more nuanced story depending on your target resolution and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080, where the combo achieves a minimum of 103.5 FPS on Ultra settings and peaks at 175.1 FPS on Low. At 2560x1440, performance drops to a range of 69.2 FPS (Ultra) to 114.8 FPS (Low), while 3840x2160 yields 37.6 FPS (Ultra) to 61.3 FPS (Low).

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19221, placing it 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210) and 0.3% above the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167). It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7% (19364) and sits 1.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7773X (18979).

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile?

A: The RX 6600 ranks in the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25235. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon 890M (25246, 0% delta), followed by the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180, 0.2% higher).

Q: Does the CPU hold back the GPU in this game?

A: The CPU's 77th percentile ranking (average score 19221) suggests it is not a bottleneck. The GPU's 69th percentile is lower, indicating that the graphics card is the more limiting component, especially at higher resolutions where frame rates drop substantially.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance?

A: The i5-12400F scores 2332 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 909 in 3DMark single-thread. These figures are consistent with a modern 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake processor designed for gaming workloads.

Q: Is this combo suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: At 1080p, yes. The combo exceeds 100 FPS on all tested settings, with High (127.2 FPS) and Medium (154.6 FPS) being particularly strong. At 1440p, only Low (114.8 FPS) and Medium (97.3 FPS) approach 100 FPS, while Ultra drops to 69.2 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1626 MHz, with a boost clock of 2491 MHz and a game clock of 2044 MHz. The GPU's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s.

In Doom, the GPU's role is critical, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (175.1 FPS) and Ultra (103.5 FPS) is 71.6 FPS, showing that the GPU's raw compute power (8.928 TFLOPS FP32) handles even the heaviest settings well. However, at 4K, the same settings gap narrows to 23.7 FPS (61.3 vs 37.6), indicating that memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for this title, as even at 4K Ultra the combo maintains playable frame rates. The RDNA 2.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which aligns with Doom's Vulkan-based rendering, allowing the GPU to leverage its full feature set.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear progression: from 1080p to 1440p, frame rates drop by roughly 33-40% depending on settings, and from 1440p to 4K, they drop by another 45-50%. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 127.2 FPS; at 1440p High, it falls to 85.5 FPS; at 4K High, it reaches only 42.8 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

The scaling is consistent across all settings presets. On Low, the transition from 1080p (175.1 FPS) to 1440p (114.8 FPS) represents a 34.4% drop, while 1440p to 4K (61.3 FPS) is a 46.6% drop. This suggests that the RX 6600's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 128-bit bus are insufficient for maintaining high frame rates at 4K, regardless of graphical fidelity.

For Ultra settings, the resolution penalty is steep: 1080p yields 103.5 FPS, 1440p drops to 69.2 FPS, and 4K collapses to 37.6 FPS. The data indicates that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combo if you want to maintain 60+ FPS on higher presets, while 4K is only viable on Low settings (61.3 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance. At 1080p, every settings preset exceeds 100 FPS, making the choice purely about visual preference. Ultra delivers 103.5 FPS, which is still smooth for fast-paced FPS gameplay, while High (127.2 FPS) offers a better balance for competitive play.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. Ultra drops to 69.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for twitch shooters. High (85.5 FPS) and Medium (97.3 FPS) both maintain comfortable frame rates, with Medium offering the best headroom for demanding scenes. Low (114.8 FPS) is the only preset that keeps this resolution firmly in high-refresh territory.

For 4K, the options are limited. Low (61.3 FPS) is the only preset that clears 60 FPS, while Medium (56.6 FPS) and High (42.8 FPS) fall short. Ultra at 37.6 FPS is not recommended for this resolution. The data suggests that users targeting 4K should accept Low settings or consider a different GPU.

Overall, the sweet spot is 1080p High or 1440p Medium, depending on your monitor's native resolution. These settings provide the best combination of visual quality and performance headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1363rd out of 1681 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the 19th percentile of all pairings. This ranking reflects the RX 6600's mid-range status, as the CPU's 77th percentile ranking is significantly higher than the GPU's 69th percentile. The i5-12400F is clearly not the limiting factor; the GPU's performance ceiling defines this combo's position.

Relative to its nearest CPU rivals, the i5-12400F's average score of 19221 is essentially tied with the i7-8700K (19210) and i5-1335U (19167), and just behind the Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364). This means that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would yield negligible changes in Doom's frame rates, as the GPU would still be the bottleneck.

For the GPU, the RX 6600's average score of 25235 places it in a virtual tie with the Radeon 890M (25246) and Radeon RX 6700M (25180), while trailing the RTX 3060 Ti (25120) by only 0.5%. This tight grouping suggests that the RX 6600's performance tier is well established, and the difference between these GPUs in Doom would be minimal.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 175.1 FPS, Medium reaches 154.6 FPS, High hits 127.2 FPS, and Ultra manages 103.5 FPS. All four presets maintain triple-digit frame rates, making 1080p the most versatile resolution for this pairing.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but drops noticeably. Low yields 114.8 FPS, Medium 97.3 FPS, High 85.5 FPS, and Ultra 69.2 FPS. The 42.9 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is slightly narrower than the 71.6 FPS gap at 1080p, reflecting the GPU's increasing load.

At 3840x2160, frame rates fall below 60 FPS for most presets. Low achieves 61.3 FPS, Medium 56.6 FPS, High 42.8 FPS, and Ultra 37.6 FPS. The 23.7 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of any resolution, indicating that the GPU is saturated regardless of settings. This data confirms that 4K is only viable on Low for this combo.