Doom

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a benchmark profile in Doom that is characterized by extreme headroom at lower resolutions and a predictable shift toward GPU limitation at 4K. The measured frame rates across all four settings presets and three resolutions show a configuration that is overwhelmingly capable of pushing this 2016 title well beyond standard display refresh rates, though the scaling behavior between presets reveals specific insights into where the bottleneck resides.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for this configuration, provided the display can exploit the frame rates. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset produces an average of 210 FPS, which is a 16.7% reduction from the High preset's 257 FPS but still provides a fluid experience. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 136 FPS, which remains well above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate gaming, while High at this resolution delivers 166 FPS. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 is the only configuration that drops below 100 FPS, averaging 74 FPS, but this is still comfortably playable.

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation at 1080p and 1440p, as the frame rate penalty is modest relative to the visual upgrade. The data shows that the gap between Medium and High is generally smaller than the gap between High and Ultra, suggesting that Ultra extracts the full visual potential without disproportionate performance loss. At 4K, however, the High preset with 90 FPS average is the better balance, as the Ultra preset's 74 FPS average introduces a noticeable dip that may not justify the incremental visual gains. The Low preset is not recommended for this hardware, as the performance increase does not translate to a better experience when the High and Ultra presets already exceed 136 FPS at all resolutions except 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF features a hybrid architecture with 10 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This Alder Lake-S processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, demonstrates strong single-threaded and multi-threaded capabilities that are relevant to Doom's engine. The CPU's benchmark scores show a 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302, indicating robust per-core performance that is critical for maintaining high frame rates in a fast-paced FPS.

The data suggests that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS of 349 is nearly three times the 4K Ultra result, which points to the CPU's ability to feed frames rapidly when the GPU is under light load. The 10-core, 16-thread configuration with a 20 MB shared L3 cache provides ample processing capacity for Doom's game logic and physics, though the game's 2016 release date means it was designed for far less capable hardware. The processor's 3DMark multi-threaded score of 7952 and Passmark multi-thread score of 27575 indicate that even under heavy multi-threaded workloads, the CPU maintains strong throughput.

The CPU's nearest rival in average benchmark score is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which scores 27896 with a delta of -0.3%, and the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27872 with a delta of -0.3%. This placement in the 79th percentile of all CPUs confirms that the i5-12600KF is positioned to deliver consistent frame pacing without bottlenecking the RTX 4070 SUPER, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU takes on more of the rendering load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary driver of Doom's performance, especially as resolution increases. This GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a game of Doom's era. The Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process, includes 7168 shading units and 80 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s, which are directly relevant to the game's rendering demands.

The GPU's benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 29995, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, scores 43262 with a delta of -0.1%, while the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667 with a delta of -1%. This indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER sits in a competitive performance tier, and the measured frame rates in Doom confirm its capability.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's role becomes dominant. The frame rate drops from 123 FPS at Low settings to 74 FPS at Ultra, a 39.8% reduction that demonstrates the GPU's workload scaling with resolution and visual fidelity. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than adequate for this title, as even the Ultra preset at 4K does not approach memory limits, but the raw compute throughput becomes the limiting factor. The GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the key metric here, as Doom's rendering pipeline scales with this processing power.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined configuration of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 607th out of 3712 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the top 16.4% of all tested hardware combinations. This ranking reflects the strong synergy between the CPU and GPU, where neither component significantly holds back the other. The CPU's 79th percentile placement and the GPU's 83rd percentile placement suggest a balanced pairing, and the game's measured performance confirms this balance.

The rank of 607 out of 3712 is notable because it places this combo ahead of a substantial majority of tested systems, many of which likely feature newer or more expensive components. The data indicates that this configuration delivers a high level of performance without requiring the absolute top-tier hardware. The combination's ranking is particularly strong considering that Doom is a well-optimized title that can scale across a wide range of hardware, meaning the high rank is earned through genuine performance rather than poor optimization of other systems.

The delta between the CPU's rivals is minimal, with all nearest rivals within 0.3% of its average benchmark score, which suggests that alternative CPU choices would not significantly alter the frame rates in this game. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals are within 1% of its average score, indicating that the measured performance is representative of this performance tier rather than an outlier.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 136 FPS, which is well above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at this resolution averages 166 FPS, offering a 22% performance increase, but the Ultra preset provides the full visual experience without dropping below playable frame rates.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 90 FPS, the Medium preset averages 107 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 74 FPS. The Low preset delivers 123 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming is viable, but the Ultra preset may be too demanding for users who prefer frame rates above 75 FPS.

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

A: At 1080p, the CPU is more influential, as the Low preset reaches 349 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as the frame rate drops to 74 FPS at Ultra, reflecting the GPU's rendering workload.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this configuration?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 43223 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, which scores 43262 with a delta of -0.1%, and the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, which scores 43667 with a delta of -1%. The measured performance in Doom aligns with these benchmark scores.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 349 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 210 FPS. This represents a 39.8% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest visual quality preset.

*Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM on the RTX 4070 SUPER cause any limitations in Doom?*

A: No, the measured data shows no indication of VRAM limitation. The game runs at 74 FPS minimum at 4K Ultra, and the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for this title's texture and geometry demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration demonstrates exceptional performance across all presets. The Low setting produces an average of 349 FPS, while Medium averages 304 FPS with a minimum of 259 FPS and a maximum of 350 FPS. The High setting averages 257 FPS, and Ultra averages 210 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 139 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom even at the highest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced scaling with settings. Low averages 226 FPS, Medium averages 197 FPS with a minimum of 167 FPS and a maximum of 227 FPS, High averages 166 FPS, and Ultra averages 136 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 90 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the load from increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance profile shifts significantly. Low averages 123 FPS, Medium averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS, High averages 90 FPS, and Ultra averages 74 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 49 FPS, which demonstrates that the GPU's rendering capacity is the dominant factor at this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 91 FPS and maximum of 123 FPS shows consistent frame delivery within a 32 FPS range.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a clear pattern of GPU scaling. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 349 FPS at 1080p to 123 FPS at 4K, a 64.8% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 304 FPS to 107 FPS, a 64.8% reduction as well. The High preset sees a reduction from 257 FPS to 90 FPS, which is a 65.0% decrease, and Ultra drops from 210 FPS to 74 FPS, a 64.8% reduction.

The consistency of this scaling percentage across all presets is significant. It indicates that the performance loss from 1080p to 4K is almost entirely driven by the GPU's pixel rendering workload, as the percentage reduction is nearly identical regardless of the visual quality settings. This uniformity suggests that the CPU is not introducing a variable bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the scaling would diverge if the CPU became a limiting factor.

The data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering throughput scales predictably with pixel count, and the 4K results are approximately 35% of the 1080p results across all settings. This scaling ratio is consistent with the 4x increase in pixel count, though the actual reduction is less than 75%, indicating that other factors such as memory bandwidth and cache efficiency mitigate some of the theoretical loss. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient data throughput to prevent memory-bound stalls, allowing the GPU's compute units to remain active. This configuration is clearly GPU-limited at 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU's frame generation capability becomes more apparent, as evidenced by the 349 FPS ceiling at Low settings.