Doom

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B370 presents a highly unusual configuration for analyzing _Doom_ (2016). The CPU is a high-end desktop part with strong multi-threaded capabilities, while the GPU is an integrated-class solution with a 25 W TDP and system-shared memory. The benchmark data reveals a system that is profoundly GPU-limited at every resolution and settings level, making the powerful processor largely irrelevant to the gaming experience. The measured frames per second (FPS) are consistently low, indicating that the Arc B370 is the definitive bottleneck, regardless of how much headroom the i7-12700K has.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and clearly illustrates the GPU's limitations. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 96 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings, the average drops by 35% to 62 FPS. At 4K, the average plummets further to 34 FPS, which is a 65% reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep decline is a classic symptom of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth, as the workload increases geometrically with resolution.

The scaling pattern under High settings follows the same trajectory but from a lower starting point. The i7-12700K + Arc B370 combo manages 71 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 46 FPS at 1440p, and then to a nearly unplayable 25 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 65%, identical to the Low setting drop, which suggests the limiting factor is consistently the GPU's rasterization and fill rate capabilities. The CPU is not being stressed; the data shows the system is simply unable to feed the display with enough frames as pixel count increases.

At 4K, the highest average FPS recorded is 34 on Low settings, which is a clear indicator that this combination is not suitable for 4K gaming in _Doom_. The frame times are also likely inconsistent, as the Medium setting at 4K shows a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS, a spread of 9 FPS. This variance indicates the GPU is struggling to maintain a steady output, even at lower presets. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, with a 45% drop in FPS on High settings (46 to 25), reinforcing that the Arc B370's 4K performance is its absolute ceiling, and a poor one at that.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. Its specifications reveal why it struggles: it has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units (TMUs), and only 20 render output units (ROPs). The boost clock is 2400 MHz, but the base clock is a low 300 MHz, and the system memory is shared, meaning the GPU has no dedicated video memory. This is a fundamental limitation for a game like _Doom_, which relies on fast access to textures and geometry.

The GPU's benchmark results are telling. It scores a 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770, which it trails by 0.5%, and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which it trails by 0.2%. The data suggests this GPU is comparable to hardware from over a decade ago in terms of raw performance. The FP32 compute is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS, but the lack of dedicated memory bandwidth, which is "System Dependent," severely hampers real-world gaming performance.

The measured FPS data confirms this. Even at 1080p, the GPU cannot maintain a high frame rate at higher settings. The jump from 1080p Low (96 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (58 FPS) shows a 40% performance penalty, which is a large cost for visual fidelity on a GPU with such limited resources. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s is simply not enough to handle the shading and texturing demands of _Doom_ at high resolutions. The GPU's 25 W TDP is a clear indication of its intended market (low-power, portable devices), and it is not designed for the sustained load of a desktop FPS title.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo are a trade-off between playability and visual quality. At 1080p, the only setting that consistently delivers a high frame rate is Low, with an average of 96 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 84 FPS, which is still smooth, but the High preset drops to 71 FPS. While 71 FPS is playable, the jump to Ultra at 58 FPS is a significant loss for marginal visual gains.

The sweet spot for this system is 1080p with the Medium preset. It offers a 84 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, while providing a better visual experience than Low. The data shows the Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 71, matching the High preset's average, which indicates that the frame pacing is still acceptable. Pushing to High or Ultra at 1080p is not recommended, as the performance penalty is steep, and the system becomes more susceptible to drops in demanding scenes.

At 1440p, the situation changes drastically. The Low preset is the only viable option, with an average of 62 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 54 FPS, and High falls to 46 FPS. For a fast-paced FPS, 46 FPS is on the edge of playability, but it is not a stable experience. 4K should be avoided entirely, as even the Low preset only achieves 34 FPS, which is not suitable for a game requiring quick reflexes. In summary, the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, with 1080p Low as a fallback for maximum frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run _Doom_ at 4K?

A: No, it cannot. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 34 on Low settings. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 20 FPS, which is unplayable. The data shows the GPU is not capable of handling the pixel workload at this resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution that provides consistently high frame rates. At 1080p, the system achieves 96 FPS on Low and 84 FPS on Medium. At 1440p, the maximum average is 62 FPS on Low, which is lower than the 1080p Medium result.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score is 1184. It is 0.2% slower than the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and 0.5% slower than the ATI Radeon HD 5770. It is 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000. These are all very old, low-power parts.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K helping the gaming performance?

A: The data suggests it is not a limiting factor, but it is also not contributing to higher FPS. The system is completely GPU-bound. The CPU has a high average benchmark score of 35287 and is in the 84th percentile, but the GPU's 5th percentile score is the ceiling for gaming performance.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is 38 FPS. The Low preset averages 96 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 58 FPS. This is a 40% performance drop for the highest visual quality settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2696 out of 2930 tested combos for _Doom_. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested, indicating that it is a very low-performing configuration for this specific game.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 2696 out of 2930 tested combos in _Doom_, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems. This is a very poor result, primarily due to the Intel Arc B370's severe performance limitations. The CPU, on the other hand, is a high performer; its average benchmark score of 35287 puts it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. The disconnect between the CPU's strong synthetic benchmarks and the system's poor in-game FPS highlights the extent to which the GPU is the bottleneck.

The GPU's percentile rank of 5th out of all GPUs is the primary driver of this poor overall ranking. The data shows that the Arc B370 is not competing with modern discrete graphics cards, but rather with decade-old integrated and entry-level mobile solutions. The measured FPS data aligns with this ranking, as the system fails to reach 60 FPS at 1080p on High settings, a feat that most modern systems achieve easily. The combo's position in the rankings is a direct result of the GPU's inability to keep up with the CPU's output, leaving the i7-12700K to sit idle during gameplay. For a game like _Doom_, this pairing is grossly unbalanced, and the data reflects that.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2308. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the Intel Core i5-13600T, are within 0.2% and 0.1% of its average benchmark score, respectively. This indicates that the CPU is more than capable of handling the demands of _Doom_, which is known to be well-optimized and not heavily multi-threaded.

However, the CPU's role in this specific combo is negligible for gaming performance. The benchmark data shows that the system's FPS is entirely dependent on the GPU. For example, at 1080p, the CPU is not being utilized to its full potential, as the GPU is the limiting factor. The data shows that the i7-12700K has a high PassMark single-thread score of 4013, which is ideal for gaming, but the Arc B370's low fill rate and shared memory prevent the CPU from realizing its potential in this context.

The CPU's capabilities are effectively wasted in this configuration. While the i7-12700K could easily push a high-end discrete GPU to its limits in _Doom_, it is paired with an integrated part that cannot translate its processing power into frame rates. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck, but its high performance does not compensate for the GPU's weaknesses. In this scenario, the CPU is a silent partner, waiting for a GPU that can keep up. The result is a system with substantial compute potential that is rendered useless for gaming by its graphics component.