Doom

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a classic mid-range pairing that delivers a very playable experience in Doom, though the data clearly shows where the bottlenecks lie. This combo ranks 1451 out of 1681 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The benchmark results indicate a system that is consistently GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but surprisingly capable at 1080p, making it a solid choice for 1080p gaming with room to adjust settings for higher fidelity.

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

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, this chip scores 23,444 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,309 points in single-core, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 27,827 is virtually identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K, which scores 27,829, a delta of 0%. It is also 0.1% ahead of the Core i5-12600K and 0.4% ahead of the Core i7-13700H.

For a game like Doom, which is known for its id Tech engine efficiency, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. The data supports this: at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 152.5 FPS, a figure that is far beyond what most displays can show. Even at Ultra settings at 1080p, the system holds 88.9 FPS. The processor’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3,925 Passmark single-thread score, ensures that the game’s main thread is never starved. The 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for Doom's workload, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The CPU’s performance headroom means that frame rates are almost entirely dictated by the graphics card, especially as resolution scales up.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across presets. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 152.5 FPS, Medium 131.1 FPS, High 111.6 FPS, and Ultra 88.9 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 21 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs another 19.5 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is the most punishing, dropping 22.7 FPS. For a 60 Hz display, the High preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, delivering 111.6 FPS with a substantial visual upgrade over Medium. For 144 Hz panels, the Low preset is the only one that truly saturates the refresh rate, though Medium at 131.1 FPS is still acceptable for high-refresh gaming.

At 1440p, the story changes. The High preset delivers 70 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset drops to 56.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 85.4 FPS is the best balance, offering smooth gameplay while maintaining decent visual quality. At 4K, no preset is truly playable. The Low preset manages 53.1 FPS, but Medium drops to 44 FPS, High to 37.6 FPS, and Ultra to 33.5 FPS. The data suggests that for the best experience, users should stick to 1080p with High settings, or 1440p with Medium settings, depending on their monitor’s refresh rate.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a textbook GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p High, the system produces 111.6 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 70 FPS, a reduction of 41.6 FPS or roughly 37%. At 4K High, the frame rate collapses to 37.6 FPS, which is just 33.7% of the 1080p figure. This severe drop is indicative of the GTX 1660 Ti being the primary bottleneck. The CPU’s performance is essentially static across these resolutions; it is the GPU’s pixel-pushing capability that degrades.

The same pattern holds for other presets. At Low settings, 1080p yields 152.5 FPS, 1440p drops to 97.4 FPS, and 4K falls to 53.1 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 65%, which is slightly less severe than at High (66%), but still substantial. This indicates that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is struggling to fill 4K pixels. The GTX 1660 Ti’s 6 GB of VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are simply not designed for 4K gaming. The data strongly suggests that the CPU has ample headroom; it is the graphics card that dictates the performance ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 1451 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the bottom 14% of all tested systems, which is a poor showing for a CPU that is in the 84th percentile. The discrepancy highlights that the GPU is holding back the overall system. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Core i9-10900K, would likely perform nearly identically in this game when paired with the same GPU, as the processor is not the limiting factor.

The low combo rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s 55th percentile standing. The GTX 1660 Ti’s average benchmark score of 13,925 is only 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 570X and 0.8% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile. This means that swapping the GTX 1660 Ti for a more powerful GPU would dramatically improve the combo’s rank. The data indicates that this system is a prime candidate for a GPU upgrade, as the CPU has significant untapped potential. In its current state, it is a 1080p machine that struggles beyond that resolution.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process. It has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. The GPU features 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, delivering 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. It scores 12,871 in the Passmark G3D benchmark and 5,226 in GPU compute, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs.

In Doom, the GPU is the clear limiting factor. The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the sheer compute power is insufficient for 4K. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 88.9 FPS, which is respectable. However, at 4K Ultra, it falls to 33.5 FPS, which is unplayable. The memory bandwidth of 288 GB/s is a bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the GPU cannot feed the shaders fast enough. The boost clock of 1770 MHz is decent, but it cannot compensate for the limited memory bandwidth and raw compute throughput. The GPU’s performance is consistent with its mid-range positioning, making it a capable 1080p card that is out of its depth at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system’s capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the system is highly playable across all presets. The Low preset delivers an average of 152.5 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset drops to 131.1 FPS, still comfortably above 120 FPS. The High preset yields 111.6 FPS, which is ideal for 100 Hz displays. The Ultra preset produces 88.9 FPS, which is smooth for 60 Hz panels but leaves some headroom for faster displays. The performance drop from Low to Ultra is 63.6 FPS, a 42% reduction, showing that visual fidelity comes at a significant cost.

At 2560x1440, the system begins to show strain. The Low preset averages 97.4 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset drops to 85.4 FPS, maintaining a smooth experience. The High preset falls to 70 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for competitive play. The Ultra preset is the weakest, hitting 56.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The drop from Low to Ultra is 41.1 FPS, a 42% reduction, mirroring the 1080p scaling.

At 3840x2160, the system is not viable for serious gaming. The Low preset averages 53.1 FPS, which is barely playable. The Medium preset drops to 44 FPS, High to 37.6 FPS, and Ultra to 33.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 19.6 FPS, a 37% reduction. These figures are all below the 60 FPS target, and even the Low preset will suffer from noticeable stutter in fast-paced scenes. The data conclusively shows that 4K is out of reach for this combo, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for the best experience.