Doom

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1490th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places the combination in the lower 11.4% of all tested configurations, indicating that while the hardware can run the game, it sits well below the median experience in terms of overall performance headroom.

The CPU component of this pairing is comparatively strong. The i5-12400F achieves an average benchmark score of 19221 across all tests, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, scores 19210 with a deltaPct of 0.1%, meaning the i5-12400F is essentially performance-equivalent to that older flagship. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS scores 19364, which is only 0.7% higher, while the AMD EPYC 7773X trails by 1.3% at 18979. The data suggests the processor is not the limiting factor in this combination.

The GPU tells a different story. The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, scores 14314, which is 0.2% higher, while the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics scores 14315 with a 0.2% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT scores 14389, a 0.7% advantage. This clustering around the same performance tier confirms that the GPU is the performance anchor in this build, and the overall combo rank reflects that imbalance.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU116 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It carries 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The memory clock operates at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. These specifications determine how the card handles Doom's texture and geometry workloads across different settings.

The GPU's base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and it delivers 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The card has 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, producing a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s. In Doom, which is a fast-paced FPS, the texture rate and pixel throughput directly influence how quickly frames can be rendered, especially at higher resolutions where fill-rate demands increase.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which are all relevant for Doom since the game can use Vulkan for improved CPU overhead. However, the measured FPS data in this pack does not specify which API was used, so the results reflect the overall capability of the hardware rather than API-specific gains. The card's 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra settings the memory and compute resources are stretched thin, as seen in the frame rate data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS across all resolutions and presets, the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance varies by target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 111.6 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset drops to 89.6 FPS, still playable but with diminishing visual returns for the 22 FPS cost. The Medium preset at 128.6 FPS offers a comfortable margin above High, making it the best choice for users who prioritize frame rate stability over minor visual upgrades.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 70.2 FPS, which is acceptable for most players, while Medium hits 85 FPS for a more responsive experience. The Ultra preset falls to 59.2 FPS, just below the 60 FPS target, so it is not recommended for competitive play. The Low preset at 94.2 FPS provides the highest headroom but sacrifices too much visual quality for a game like Doom, where environmental details matter for immersion.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a consistent 60 FPS. The Low preset averages 49.8 FPS, Medium 46.3 FPS, High 36.8 FPS, and Ultra only 29 FPS. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only viable option for near-playable frame rates, but even then the experience is suboptimal. The data suggests that 1440p Medium or High is the sweet spot for this hardware, delivering a good balance of image quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates scale predictably with settings. The Low preset averages 147.5 FPS, Medium 128.6 FPS, High 111.6 FPS, and Ultra 89.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 57.9 FPS, representing a 39.3% reduction in performance when maxing out the settings. This scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU can clearly feed frames well beyond 147 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 94.2 FPS for Low, 85 FPS for Medium, 70.2 FPS for High, and 59.2 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 35 FPS, or 37.2%, which is slightly less severe than at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU is becoming more saturated as resolution increases, but the relative cost of each setting tier remains consistent.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 49.8 FPS for Low, 46.3 FPS for Medium, 36.8 FPS for High, and 29 FPS for Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra is 20.8 FPS, or 41.8%, which is the largest percentage drop across all resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are heavily taxed, and the higher settings impose a proportionally larger penalty.

Resolution Scaling

Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the High preset drops from 111.6 FPS to 70.2 FPS, a 41.4 FPS reduction or 37.1% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, the same preset drops from 70.2 FPS to 36.8 FPS, a 33.4 FPS reduction or 47.6% decrease. The scaling is not linear; the 4K penalty is proportionally larger, which points to the GPU hitting memory bandwidth and fill-rate limits.

For the Low preset, the scaling is 147.5 FPS at 1080p, 94.2 FPS at 1440p, and 49.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47.1% drop from 1440p to 4K. The consistent pattern across settings suggests that the limiting component is the GPU, as the i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than capable of handling Doom's engine at these frame rates.

The 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS is particularly telling. It shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER simply does not have the raw throughput to maintain playable frame rates at that resolution with max settings. The 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the texture and shading workloads at 4K Ultra, confirming that this configuration is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 offers the highest frame rates, with the High preset averaging 111.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset still maintains 70.2 FPS, making it viable, but 3840x2160 fails to reach 60 FPS even on Low settings.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F scores 19221 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-8700K and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-1335U. It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7% but beats the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3%.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER scores 14286 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and 0.2% lower than the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics. It also trails the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT by 0.7%.

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 49.8 on Low settings, and the Ultra preset only reaches 29 FPS. Neither is consistently playable for a smooth experience, so 4K is not recommended.

Q: What setting preset gives the best experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 85 FPS, which is 14.8 FPS higher than High and 25.8 FPS higher than Ultra. This provides the best balance of visual quality and performance for that resolution.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The i5-12400F ranks in the 77th percentile of CPUs, while the GTX 1660 SUPER ranks in the 55th percentile of GPUs. The resolution scaling data also shows that frame rates drop more sharply at higher resolutions, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound system.