Doom

The Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti combination ranks 1659th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 1.3% of all tested systems. This is a profoundly unbalanced pairing for this title: the CPU is a top-tier performer while the GPU is a legacy entry-level part, and the measured frame rates confirm that the graphics card is the overwhelming bottleneck at every resolution and settings level.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1659 out of 1681 is a decisive verdict: this system is near the very bottom of the database for Doom. The data shows a massive capability gap between the two components. The Core i7-12700K sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684, placing it within 0.8% of the Intel Core i7-13800H and 0.7% of the Intel Core i5-14500HX. Meanwhile, the GTX 1050 Ti sits in the 30th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 5316, landing it within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce 940M and 0.7% of the AMD Radeon R7 240.

This juxtaposition explains the poor ranking. The processor has the raw throughput to drive high frame rates, but the GPU cannot translate that potential into visible performance. In practical terms, the system is held back by a component that is contemporary with the game’s 2016 release date, while the CPU is from a later generation. The result is a rank that reflects the weakest link, not the average capability of the parts. For any user expecting the i7-12700K’s flagship-level compute to manifest in Doom, the measured FPS tells a different story: the GPU caps performance so severely that the CPU’s advantages are effectively wasted.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K strong enough for Doom?

A: Yes, overwhelmingly. The CPU scores 29241 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 4128 in single-core, with a passmark multithread score of 34404. It ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, so processing power is not a limiting factor.

Q: Why is the average FPS so low despite a powerful CPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the constraint. It has a passmark G3D score of 6340 and ranks in the 30th percentile of all GPUs, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and a 128-bit bus. The GPU’s compute capability is insufficient to feed the display at high frame rates.

Q: What is the best achievable frame rate with this combo?

A: The highest measured average is 76 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. Dropping to High settings at the same resolution yields 55.7 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 44.8 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution?

A: No, not playably. At 3840x2160, the best average is 26.2 FPS on Low settings, and it falls to 14.7 FPS on Ultra. All 4K results are below 30 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its direct rivals?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti’s average benchmark score of 5316 is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce 940M (5297, 0.4% slower) and the AMD Radeon R7 240 (5280, 0.7% slower). It is 0.8% faster than the AMD Radeon R7 M445.

Q: Is the CPU’s performance consistent with its position in the market?

A: Yes. The i7-12700K’s average score of 35684 is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i7-13700T, confirming it is a high-end part that is not the source of this combo’s low rank.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming the GPU as the limiting component. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system averages 76 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 45.6 FPS, a 40% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 26.2 FPS, another 43% reduction from 1440p. This scaling pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior: as pixel count increases, the same rendering workload becomes more expensive, and the GTX 1050 Ti’s 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 compute cannot keep up.

The pattern holds across all settings. For High settings, the averages are 55.7 FPS at 1080p, 34.8 FPS at 1440p, and 18.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K represents a 67% loss in frame rate. For Ultra settings, the numbers are 44.8, 29.5, and 14.7 FPS respectively. The data indicates that the CPU’s role is minimal in this scaling: even at 1080p, the frame rates are moderate at best, suggesting the GPU is already saturated at the lowest resolution tested. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller percentage drops when increasing resolution, but the consistent halving of FPS at each step points squarely at the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s and its 4 GB VRAM capacity as the constraining factors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results span three resolutions and four settings presets. Starting at 1920x1080, the system achieves its best performance on Low settings with an average of 76 FPS. Medium settings produce 65.3 FPS, High settings yield 55.7 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 44.8 FPS. This shows a 41% performance penalty from Low to Ultra at 1080p, which is a moderate spread for a game like Doom.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 45.6 FPS on Low, 44.5 FPS on Medium, 34.8 FPS on High, and 29.5 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium narrows to just 1.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is already struggling with the higher pixel count, making incremental settings changes less impactful. The Low-to-Ultra penalty at 1440p is 35%, slightly less than at 1080p, because the base performance is lower.

At 3840x2160, all results are below 30 FPS. Low settings average 26.2 FPS, Medium 21.5 FPS, High 18.5 FPS, and Ultra 14.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 4.7 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 3.8 FPS. None of these are playable for a fast-paced FPS, and the data shows that the GPU’s 128-bit memory bus and 4 GB capacity are overwhelmed at this resolution. The highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset is 76 FPS at 1080p Low, which is the only configuration that approaches a smooth experience.

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 results are exceptional: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2561. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory further cement its high-end status.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data shows it is never the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the system only reaches 76 FPS, which is modest for a game from 2016. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect higher frame rates at lower settings, but the consistent performance across settings at each resolution indicates the GPU is the ceiling. The CPU’s 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and 2-thread score of 2065 are strong, but they are irrelevant when the GPU cannot render frames fast enough. The 12 physical cores and 20 threads provide massive headroom for background tasks and future games, but for this specific title, the CPU is essentially idle relative to the GPU’s workload. The i7-12700K’s 89th percentile ranking confirms it is overqualified for this pairing, and the measured FPS reflects the GPU’s limitations, not the CPU’s capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the only playable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which averages 76 FPS. This is the sole preset that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for responsive gameplay. Medium settings at 1080p drop to 65.3 FPS, which is still playable but with a 14% performance penalty over Low. High settings at 1080p yield 55.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 44.8 FPS, both of which are below 60 FPS and may feel less smooth.

At 1440p, the best option is Low settings at 45.6 FPS, which is below 60 FPS and not ideal for a fast-paced shooter. Medium settings at 1440p are nearly identical at 44.5 FPS, so there is no benefit to staying on Low. High and Ultra at 1440p fall below 35 FPS, which is likely to feel sluggish. At 4K, no settings preset reaches 30 FPS, so this resolution is not viable for gameplay.

The data suggests that users should prioritize resolution over visual fidelity. Dropping from 1080p Medium to 1080p Low provides a 10.7 FPS gain, which is more significant than the difference between Medium and High at the same resolution (9.6 FPS). For the best experience, 1080p Low is the clear winner, with 1080p Medium as a fallback if the user accepts a slightly lower frame rate for better visuals. Avoid Ultra at any resolution, as it provides the worst performance per visual gain.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a Pascal-architecture GPU with 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1291 MHz and a boost clock of 1392 MHz, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its FP32 performance is 2.138 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

In Doom, the GPU is the decisive factor in all measured results. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a known limitation for modern titles, but for a 2016 game, it is the compute and memory bandwidth that matter. The GPU’s passmark G3D score of 6340 places it in the 30th percentile, and its direct rivals are all similarly weak parts like the GeForce 940M and Radeon R7 240. The measured FPS reflects this: even at 1080p Low, the GPU cannot exceed 76 FPS, which is well below what the CPU could theoretically support.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. At 4K, the pixel fill rate of 44.54 GPixel/s is insufficient, and the texture rate of 66.82 GTexel/s cannot keep up with the demand. The 3,300 million transistors on a 132 mm² die are efficient for its era, but the architecture is simply too old to handle Doom’s rendering requirements at high settings. The GPU’s end-of-life production status and its release date of October 2016, just months before Doom’s May 2016 release, mean it was never intended for high-end gaming. The data shows that this GPU is the sole reason the combo ranks so low, and any upgrade path would need to start with replacing this component.