Doom

# Doom: Intel Core i5-12600KF + AMD Radeon RX 570

This combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 1606 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 5% of all configurations. The ranking reflects a pairing where a strong modern CPU is saddled with an aging GPU, and the benchmark data confirms that the graphics card becomes the primary constraint across almost every resolution and settings level tested.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1606 out of 1681 tested configurations places it near the very bottom of the database for Doom. This low standing is not surprising when examining the individual component percentiles: the GPU sits at the 74th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU achieves the 84th percentile among all CPUs. The gap between these two positions—10 percentile points—suggests a meaningful imbalance in capability, with the processor holding a distinct advantage over its graphics counterpart in general benchmark terms.

The CPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scoring include the Intel Core i9-10900K with an average score of 27829 and a delta of 0%, the Intel Core i5-12600K at 27851 with a -0.1% delta, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H at 27872 with a -0.2% delta. The Core i7-13700H trails at 27716 with a 0.4% delta. These deltas are all within one percentage point, indicating that the i5-12600KF's raw compute performance is essentially indistinguishable from those other processors in synthetic tests. The GPU's nearest rivals tell a different story: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 scores 30109 (0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 30097 (0.2% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 29969 (0.6% delta). The RX 570's average benchmark score of 30158 places it marginally above these contemporaries, yet the actual in-game frame rates in Doom reveal a far less competitive picture than the aggregate benchmark scores would suggest.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip with a GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, with a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². The card operates with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, while its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

The GPU's compute resources include 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. Its pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s, texture rate is 159.2 GTexel/s, and FP32 throughput reaches 5.095 TFLOPS (with FP16 at a 1:1 ratio of 5.095 TFLOPS). The card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which includes the APIs most relevant to Doom's operation. With a TDP of 150 W requiring a single 6-pin power connector and a suggested 450 W power supply, the RX 570 is an end-of-life product released on 2017-04-17.

In Doom specifically, the GPU's 4 GB VRAM capacity and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth appear sufficient for the game's demands at 1080p, where the frame rates scale meaningfully with settings changes. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's raw shader throughput becomes the limiting factor—the 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 figure is modest by modern standards, and the 32 ROPs constrain pixel output at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU.

The processor's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23444 multi-core and 3309 single-core. Geekbench results are 12373 multi-core and 2529 single-core. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1016 single-thread to 7956 with 16 threads, with 3806 at 4 threads and 6128 at 8 threads. PassMark results include a multi-thread score of 27575 and single-thread of 3925.

For Doom, a game originally released in 2016, the CPU's capabilities vastly exceed what the title requires. The i5-12600KF's single-thread performance—as evidenced by its 1016 3DMark single-thread score and 3309 Cinebench R23 single-core score—is more than adequate for the game's engine. The 10 cores and 16 threads provide enormous headroom, meaning the CPU should never be the bottleneck in this pairing. The data confirms this: the measured frame rates are consistently constrained by the GPU, not the processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the resolution where this combo performs best, the measured average FPS varies significantly by settings preset. Low settings yield 95.8 FPS, Medium produces 82.7 FPS, High drops to 65.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 41.8 FPS, representing a 43.6% performance reduction when maxing out settings. These numbers show a playable experience at all presets for 1080p on a 60 Hz display, with Low and Medium offering comfortable margins above refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decline substantially. Low settings average 61.4 FPS, Medium drops to 50.3 FPS, High produces 42 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34.2 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings maintain an average above 60 FPS; Medium is borderline for 50 Hz displays, while High and Ultra dip below smooth-play territory for most users. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 27.2 FPS, a 44.3% reduction, nearly identical to the percentage drop seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the combination struggles across all settings. Low averages 31.6 FPS, Medium 28.3 FPS, High 26.9 FPS, and Ultra 21.3 FPS. None of these figures approach a playable threshold for most gamers, and even Low settings fall below 32 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 10.3 FPS, a 32.6% reduction—the smallest absolute spread of any resolution, suggesting the GPU is so heavily loaded at 4K that settings changes have diminished relative impact.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound scenario at every settings level. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rate from 95.8 to 61.4 FPS, a 35.9% drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings brings the average down from 61.4 to 31.6 FPS, a further 48.5% reduction. The cumulative drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 67.0%.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but with slightly different magnitudes. From 1080p (65.6 FPS) to 1440p (42 FPS) represents a 36.0% decrease. From 1440p to 4K (26.9 FPS) is a 36.0% decrease again—a remarkably consistent scaling factor. The total reduction from 1080p High to 4K High is 59.0%.

Ultra settings show the steepest absolute declines. The 1080p to 1440p transition drops from 54 to 34.2 FPS, a 36.7% reduction, while 1440p to 4K falls from 34.2 to 21.3 FPS, a 37.7% decrease. These consistent percentage drops across resolutions point squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. If the CPU were the constraint, the frame rate would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU workload stays constant while the GPU workload grows. Instead, the clear scaling relationship with pixel count indicates the RX 570 is saturated at all tested settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that Low settings provide the most balanced experience for this combination. At 1080p, Low delivers 95.8 FPS, which is 30.2 FPS higher than Medium and 41.8 FPS higher than Ultra. At 1440p, Low still averages 61.4 FPS, making it the only preset that stays above the 60 FPS threshold at that resolution. At 4K, Low produces 31.6 FPS, which remains below playable standards but is nonetheless the highest frame rate achievable.

For users targeting 1080p, the Medium preset at 82.7 FPS offers a reasonable middle ground—it is 13.1 FPS lower than Low but likely provides visibly improved visual quality. High at 65.6 FPS remains viable for 60 Hz displays, though with less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 54 FPS should be avoided on standard 60 Hz monitors, as the average falls below the refresh rate.

At 1440p, Low settings are the only viable option for smooth gameplay, with Medium at 50.3 FPS being marginal for 50 Hz displays or adaptive sync users. High and Ultra at 42 and 34.2 FPS respectively are not recommended for action-oriented play. At 4K, no settings level achieves playable frame rates—even Low at 31.6 FPS is insufficient for a fast-paced FPS, so users should either reduce resolution or accept a slideshow-like experience.

The data supports a simple conclusion: this combination is best suited to 1080p gaming with Medium or High settings, or 1440p with Low settings. The CPU's substantial headroom means future GPU upgrades would yield immediate frame rate improvements without requiring a processor change, but as configured, the RX 570 defines the performance ceiling across all tested configurations.