Doom

Doom’s measured performance with the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti reveals a configuration that is decisively GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still delivers a highly playable experience across the board. The data shows a clear hierarchy where frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, but the relative impact of each variable tells a distinct story about where this combo’s strengths and bottlenecks lie.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-limited curve, with the most dramatic drop occurring at the highest resolution. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 143.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 88.8 FPS at 2560x1440, a 38% reduction, and then to 50.4 FPS at 3840x2160, another 43% drop. This steep decline at 4K strongly indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti’s rendering pipeline is the limiting component, as the CPU’s headroom is ample for this title.

The scaling pattern holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, the combo achieves 191 FPS at 1080p, 122.3 FPS at 1440p, and 64.3 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K remains substantial, confirming that pixel throughput, rather than geometry or draw calls, is the primary constraint. Notably, the difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 68.7 FPS, while the difference between 1440p and 4K is 58 FPS; this relatively smaller delta between the two higher resolutions suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shader throughput are being saturated progressively.

At Ultra settings, the resolution scaling is even more punishing. The average frame rates are 117.5 FPS at 1080p, 77.4 FPS at 1440p, and 37.9 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that falls below the 40 FPS threshold, indicating that this setting is beyond the comfortable operating range for this hardware at that resolution. The data implies that for a smooth 4K experience, users will need to compromise on settings, while 1440p offers a robust middle ground with significant headroom above 60 FPS in all presets tested.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance is achieved at 1440p with High settings, yielding 88.8 FPS. This configuration provides a frame rate well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay while retaining substantial visual quality. At 1080p, High settings deliver 143.8 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, and even Ultra at 1080p achieves 117.5 FPS, making it a viable choice for competitive play where frame timing is critical.

For 4K, the data recommends dropping to Low settings to reach 64.3 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Medium at 4K provides 58.2 FPS, which is borderline, while High at 50.4 FPS and Ultra at 37.9 FPS are too low for a responsive experience. The 4K Low setting is the only way to maintain a playable frame rate without significant judder. At 1440p, Low settings push the combo to 122.3 FPS, making it a strong option for users with 120Hz+ displays who prioritize response time over visual detail.

The data also shows that the step from Medium to High at 1440p costs 20.2 FPS (from 109 to 88.8), while the step from High to Ultra costs 11.4 FPS (from 88.8 to 77.4). This suggests that High is the sweet spot, as it captures most of the visual benefits of Ultra without the disproportionate performance penalty. At 1080p, the difference between Medium and High is 26.2 FPS, but the absolute values are so high that either preset is usable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, plays the dominant role in this game’s performance. The GPU’s 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is a critical factor, as Doom’s texture streaming and high-resolution assets place a heavy demand on memory throughput. The measured frame rates at 4K, which drop sharply compared to lower resolutions, directly correlate with the GPU’s ability to feed its 4864 shading units with data.

The GPU’s clock behavior, with a base of 1410 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, shows that the card operates within its expected range, but the data indicates that clock speed alone does not dictate performance here. The 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is substantial, yet the 4K Ultra result of 37.9 FPS suggests that the card’s 80 ROPs and 152 TMUs are the limiting factors when pixel fill rate and texture filtering are maxed out. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this title at all tested settings, as no out-of-memory symptoms are evident in the frame rate data, but the bandwidth is clearly the bottleneck at 4K.

The RTX 3060 Ti’s percentile ranking of 69 versus all GPUs places it in the upper-midrange tier, and its nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, RX 6600, and RX 580 2048SP—all show average scores within 0.7% of this card. This tight grouping suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti is well-positioned for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but Doom’s 4K demands push it to its limits. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2626 further confirms its midrange standing, which aligns with the observed frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 is the sweet spot, with High settings delivering 88.8 FPS and even Ultra reaching 77.4 FPS. This resolution provides a high frame rate while maintaining visual quality, unlike 4K which struggles to stay above 60 FPS except at Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 25120 is within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180), RX 6600 (25235), and RX 580 2048SP (25287). This indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti performs nearly identically to these cards in synthetic benchmarks, though game-specific results may vary.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in Doom?

A: No. The Intel Core i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, has a benchmark percentile of 89 versus all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and single-core score of 4128 are far above what Doom requires, as evidenced by the frame rates scaling directly with resolution and settings, which is a hallmark of GPU limitation.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 4K Low settings, it achieves 64.3 FPS, which is playable. Medium drops to 58.2 FPS, High to 50.4 FPS, and Ultra to 37.9 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 4K Low is the only recommended preset.

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

A: At 1920x1080, High settings produce 143.8 FPS, while Ultra produces 117.5 FPS, a difference of 26.3 FPS. This means Ultra is more demanding, but both are far above the 60 FPS threshold, so the choice depends on whether the visual improvements are worth the performance cost.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1208 out of 1681 total combinations tested for Doom. This places it in the 28th percentile of all combos, indicating that while it performs well, there are many faster configurations available.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is far from the limiting factor in this game. With a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost of 5.00 GHz, the CPU provides ample single-threaded performance, which is critical for Doom’s game engine. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4128 and Geekbench single-core score of 2561 demonstrate that the CPU can feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations without breaking a sweat.

The CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are overkill for a title like Doom, which typically scales well up to 8 threads. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 7202 and 16-thread score of 9276 show strong scaling, but the game’s frame rates do not change proportionally with CPU core count, further confirming the GPU bottleneck. The L3 cache of 25 MB shared provides a large pool for game data, and the DDR4/DDR5 memory support allows for flexible system configurations.

The CPU’s nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (deltaPct -0.3%), Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct 0.6%), Intel Core i5-14500HX (deltaPct -0.7%), and Intel Core i7-13800H (deltaPct 0.8%)—are all within 1% of its average benchmark score of 35684. This indicates that the i7-12700K is competitively positioned, but for Doom specifically, any of these processors would yield nearly identical frame rates when paired with the same GPU, as the workload is not CPU-intensive.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a complete matrix of average frame rates across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080: Low settings produce 191 FPS, Medium produces 170 FPS, High produces 143.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 117.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 73.5 FPS, showing a wide range of performance headroom.

At 2560x1440: Low settings produce 122.3 FPS, Medium produces 109 FPS, High produces 88.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 77.4 FPS. The spread here is 44.9 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160: Low settings produce 64.3 FPS, Medium produces 58.2 FPS, High produces 50.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 37.9 FPS. The spread is 26.4 FPS, and this is the only resolution where Low is the only preset to exceed 60 FPS.

The frame rate deltas between settings are not uniform. At 1080p, the drop from Low to Medium is 21 FPS, from Medium to High is 26.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 26.3 FPS. At 4K, the drops are 6.1 FPS, 7.8 FPS, and 12.5 FPS, respectively. This pattern shows that at lower resolutions, settings changes have a larger absolute impact, while at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that settings changes yield smaller absolute gains.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination ranks 1208 out of 1681 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the bottom 28% of all configurations. This rank is surprisingly low given the strong individual performance of both components, but it reflects the fact that Doom is a highly optimized game that benefits from even more powerful hardware, particularly at higher resolutions.

The CPU’s percentile of 89 and the GPU’s percentile of 69 suggest that the combo is well-balanced, but the overall rank is dragged down by the GPU’s midrange positioning. For comparison, a combo with a top-tier GPU would rank significantly higher, as the game’s frame rates are almost entirely GPU-bound. The rank of 1208 indicates that while this setup delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, it is not competitive with higher-end configurations for those seeking maximum performance at 4K or on high-refresh-rate displays.

The data shows that the combo’s performance is consistent with its component scores, but the rank highlights that Doom rewards GPU-heavy builds more than CPU-heavy ones. Users with this combo should target 1080p or 1440p for the best experience, as the 4K results, while playable at Low, do not showcase the hardware’s potential.