Doom

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread desktop processor built on the Alder Lake architecture, using Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz, boosting up to 4.40 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The chip includes an 18 MB shared L3 cache, with 80 KB L1 and 1.25 MB L2 per core. This configuration places it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs tested in the database, with an average benchmark score of 19,221.

In Doom, a 2016 FPS title, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The i5-12400F's 6 physical cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for this engine, as evidenced by the measured frame rates. The processor's single-thread performance, measured at 909 in 3dmark_single_thread and 2,332 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is a key factor. Doom's Vulkan and OpenGL render paths are known for scaling well with strong single-core throughput, and the 4.40 GHz boost clock supports that need.

Multi-threaded results are also strong: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 16,518, and 3dmark_max_threads reaches 5,912. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 225.4 FPS average, which is high enough that CPU overhead can become a limiting factor. However, the data shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes. The processor's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, provides adequate bandwidth for the game's asset streaming. The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% higher) and AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (0.7% lower), indicating the i5-12400F sits in a very competitive mid-range tier.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 953rd out of 1,681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all system pairings. This rank reflects the balance between the two components. The CPU ranks at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank of 953/1,681 is lower than what either component achieves individually, which indicates that the pairing is not optimally matched for this specific game, or that there are many higher-end combos in the database that push this configuration down.

The nearest GPU rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 0.6% higher in aggregate benchmarks, while the Intel Arc B580 trails by 0.7%. These margins are small, meaning the RTX 4060 is tightly clustered with its peers. The combo's rank suggests that in Doom, the system performs adequately but does not stand out among the 1,681 tested configurations. The measured FPS data, however, shows strong absolute performance, so the rank is more a reflection of the competitive field than a deficiency. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, is essentially tied in average score (19,210 vs 19,221), yet the i5-12400F benefits from newer architecture and efficiency. The combination's rank of 953 is a mid-pack result, meaning there are 728 combos that perform better and 952 that perform worse, positioning this system as a solid mainstream choice rather than a high-end outlier.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the system scales across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions at four settings levels. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 171.1; at 1440p High, it drops to 108.7; and at 4K High, it falls to 61.5. This represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting component as resolution rises.

At Low settings, the scaling is steeper: 225.4 FPS at 1080p, 149.5 at 1440p, and 78.3 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 34%, and from 1440p to 4K is 48%. This larger percentage drop at 4K Low suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is the primary constraint, since the CPU has less work to do at Low settings. At Ultra settings, the pattern shifts: 137.3 FPS at 1080p, 88.8 at 1440p, and 45.7 at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 35%, but the 1440p to 4K drop is 49%, the steepest of all settings.

This scaling behavior reveals that the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the load becomes heavy. The 4K Ultra result of 45.7 FPS is the only measurement below 60 FPS, indicating that this combination is not ideal for 4K Ultra gaming in Doom. The GPU's 128-bit memory bus and 17 Gbps effective memory clock are the limiting factors at high resolutions. The data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, with all settings except Ultra exceeding 88 FPS, and Ultra still playable at 88.8 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all settings. Low settings average 225.4 FPS, Medium 200.2 FPS, High 171.1 FPS, and Ultra 137.3 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 88.1 FPS, a 39% reduction in performance as settings increase. This indicates that the GPU has ample headroom at 1080p, and even the most demanding preset remains well above the 100 FPS mark.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 149.5 FPS for Low, 130.5 FPS for Medium, 108.7 FPS for High, and 88.8 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 60.7 FPS, or 41%, showing that the setting-dependent load is consistent. All 1440p results exceed 88 FPS, making this resolution viable for high refresh rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the results are 78.3 FPS for Low, 70.0 FPS for Medium, 61.5 FPS for High, and 45.7 FPS for Ultra. The transition from 1440p to 4K is substantial: High settings drop from 108.7 to 61.5 FPS, a 43% reduction. Ultra settings drop from 88.8 to 45.7 FPS, a 49% reduction. The only sub-60 FPS result in the entire dataset is 4K Ultra, which averages 45.7 FPS. This is the clear boundary of the system's capability.

The scaling between settings at each resolution is also informative. At 1080p, Ultra is 39% slower than Low; at 1440p, Ultra is 41% slower; and at 4K, Ultra is 42% slower. This consistency suggests that the GPU's compute and memory resources are the limiting factor across all resolutions, rather than a sudden CPU constraint. The RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key metrics driving these results. The 4K Ultra result of 45.7 FPS is the only measurement below the 60 FPS threshold, making it the only setting where the system falls short of smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. It features 3,072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation units. The GPU has 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and the memory clock runs at 2125 MHz, translating to 17 Gbps effective.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is the most likely constraint in Doom at 4K Ultra, where the 45.7 FPS average suggests the GPU is struggling with memory bandwidth and capacity. The RTX 4060's 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,181, places it in the upper-mid range. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% higher) and the Intel Arc B580 (0.7% lower), showing that the 4060 is competitively positioned.

In Doom, the GPU's role is dominant at all resolutions tested. The measured FPS data shows that frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution changes, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p Low, the 225.4 FPS result indicates the GPU is not fully taxed, but as resolution increases, the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors. The RTX 4060's 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra pushes the GPU beyond its comfort zone.

The GPU's 115 W TDP and suggested 300 W PSU indicate a power-efficient design, but the 128-bit memory bus is a notable compromise. The 4K Ultra result of 45.7 FPS is 26% lower than the 4K High result of 61.5 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset's additional effects are particularly demanding. The RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM is adequate for Doom at all tested settings, as the game is not known for high VRAM usage, but the bandwidth limitation is evident in the 4K scaling. The data confirms that this GPU is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring reduced settings to maintain playable frame rates.