Doom

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers an exceptionally high-performance experience in Doom, placing 26th out of 2,930 tested combinations. Across the measured resolutions, the data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower settings, with the CPU becoming a more significant factor as resolution drops. The RTX 5090 D, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, provides a massive performance ceiling, while the 12-core i7-12700K proves capable of feeding it in this 2016 title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern of scaling as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 419 FPS, which drops to 314 FPS at 1440p and further to 170 FPS at 4K. This represents a 59% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering workload is scaling significantly with pixel count. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, moving from 292 FPS at 1080p down to 189 FPS at 1440p and 102 FPS at 4K — a 65% decrease across the resolution spectrum.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the system is approaching a CPU or API-level bottleneck, as the frame rate differences between Low (419 FPS) and Medium (400 FPS) are relatively small. At 4K, the gap between Low (170 FPS) and Ultra (102 FPS) widens substantially, confirming that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 1440p results sit in a transitional zone where both components contribute meaningfully, with Medium settings yielding 273 FPS and High dropping to 231 FPS.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 D's raw pixel throughput is the dominant constraint at 4K. With a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, the card has ample resources, but the 4K Ultra workload still demands 125 FPS less than the 1080p Low result. The scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K (148 to 102 FPS) represents a 31% performance hit, which is consistent with the increased shading and texture work required by the higher preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the clear performance driver in this configuration, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Doom's texture-heavy environments even at 4K Ultra. The card's 21,760 shading units and 680 texture mapping units provide the compute throughput necessary to sustain the high frame rates observed, with the 176 ROPs handling pixel output efficiently.

Clock speeds are notable: the base clock of 2017 MHz boosts to 2407 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These frequencies, combined with the Blackwell 2.0 architecture on a 5 nm process from TSMC, allow the card to achieve 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This raw compute power is reflected in the benchmark scores, where the GPU posts a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915. The PassMark G3D score of 44,065 further confirms strong DirectX performance.

In the context of Doom specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution scales. At 4K, the difference between Low (170 FPS) and Ultra (102 FPS) is 68 FPS, a 40% swing that is almost entirely GPU-driven. The card's percentile ranking of 92nd among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712, places it in the top tier, though its nearest rivals in the database — the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% higher score) and RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower) — are mobile parts that do not reflect desktop performance parity.

The VRAM allocation is never a concern in this test scenario. Even at 4K Ultra, the 32 GB frame buffer is vastly underutilized by a 2016 title, meaning the card's memory bandwidth rather than capacity is the more relevant factor. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not create stutter or frame time spikes, as evidenced by the min FPS of 126 at 4K Medium, which is only 14% below the average of 148 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K provides a strong foundation for the RTX 5090 D, though its role is secondary in Doom's workload. With 12 cores and 20 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, the CPU offers substantial multi-threaded capability, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19,784 and Geekbench multi-core score of 15,790. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz on a base of 3.60 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, critical for older game engines that rely on limited threads.

The CPU's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 419 FPS, and the gap between Low and Medium (400 FPS) is only 19 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is nearing its limit in feeding the GPU with draw calls. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 1,726 indicate robust per-core performance.

The i7-12700K's percentile ranking of 84th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35,287, places it just behind the Intel Core i5-13600T (0.1% higher score) and i7-12700KF (0.2% lower). This tight grouping suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios, but at 1080p Low, the 419 FPS result is likely approaching the engine's draw call limit. The PassMark multi-thread score of 34,404 and single-thread score of 4,013 confirm balanced performance across workloads.

In Doom, the CPU's 20 threads are more than adequate, as the game's Vulkan API can leverage multiple cores efficiently. However, the data shows that even at 1080p, the CPU is capable of sustaining frame rates well above 400 FPS, which means the GPU remains the limiting factor until resolution drops further or settings are minimized. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility are standard for this class of processor, and the unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking, though the measured results are at stock settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 419 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset achieves 400 FPS, while High reaches 357 FPS and Ultra drops to 292 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712, which is 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) and 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940). It also scores 2.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396) and 2.4% higher than the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605).

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K a bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No, the data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck at 4K. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 102, and the scaling from 1440p Ultra (189 FPS) to 4K Ultra (102 FPS) shows a 46% drop, which is consistent with GPU-bound rendering. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19,784 is more than sufficient for this workload.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system averages 273 FPS with a minimum of 232 FPS and a maximum of 314 FPS. The 41 FPS range between min and max indicates good frame time consistency, with no severe stuttering.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The i7-12700K scores 1,850.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 19,784 in multi-core, a ratio of roughly 10.7:1. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,013 and multi-thread score of 34,404 show a similar 8.6:1 ratio, indicating strong scaling across its 12 cores.

Q: Does the GPU's 32 GB VRAM provide any advantage in Doom?

A: The 32 GB frame buffer is far more than Doom requires, even at 4K Ultra. The advantage is that there is no risk of VRAM overflow, but the game's actual memory usage is likely well below 8 GB. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is the more impactful specification for maintaining high frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 290 FPS, so the choice is between visual fidelity and raw speed. The Ultra preset at 292 FPS still provides an exceptionally smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors, but the Medium preset at 400 FPS offers a 37% performance increase with only a modest reduction in visual quality. For competitive play, Low at 419 FPS maximizes responsiveness.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 231 FPS, which is ideal for 240 Hz displays, while Ultra at 189 FPS remains viable for 144 Hz panels. The Medium preset at 273 FPS is the sweet spot for those prioritizing frame rate over detail, as the 41 FPS min-max range (232-314) shows stable performance. The Low preset at 314 FPS is excessive for most monitors and offers diminishing returns.

At 3840x2160, the High preset at 125 FPS is the recommended choice for 4K 120 Hz displays, providing a good balance of visual quality and smoothness. The Medium preset at 148 FPS is suitable for 144 Hz 4K monitors, though the 126 FPS minimum means occasional dips below 130 FPS. The Ultra preset at 102 FPS is playable but may not fully utilize high-refresh-rate 4K panels, while Low at 170 FPS sacrifices too much visual detail for a marginal frame rate gain over Medium.

The data shows that Medium settings offer the best performance-per-visual-quality ratio across all resolutions, with the smallest drop from Low (ranging from 4.5% at 1080p to 12.9% at 4K) while providing significant improvements over High and Ultra. The min FPS values recorded for Medium (126 at 4K, 232 at 1440p, 340 at 1080p) indicate strong frame pacing, making it the most reliable preset for consistent gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 419 FPS, which is the peak performance measured in this dataset. Medium settings average 400 FPS with a minimum of 340 FPS and a maximum of 460 FPS, showing a 120 FPS range. High settings drop to 357 FPS, while Ultra settings average 292 FPS, representing a 30% reduction from Low. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 127 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom even at the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clear step down from 1080p. Low settings average 314 FPS, a 25% decrease from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 273 FPS with a min of 232 FPS and max of 314 FPS, closely mirroring the 4K Low result in terms of absolute performance. High settings average 231 FPS, while Ultra settings average 189 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 125 FPS, nearly identical to the 1080p gap, suggesting consistent scaling.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. Low settings average 170 FPS, which is 40% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 148 FPS with a min of 126 FPS and max of 170 FPS, showing a 44 FPS range. High settings average 125 FPS, while Ultra settings average 102 FPS — the only preset in the dataset to fall below 110 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 68 FPS, a 40% drop, which is proportionally larger than at lower resolutions, confirming the GPU-bound nature of 4K rendering. The combo's rank of 26th out of 2,930 combinations underscores its elite standing, with the RTX 5090 D's 92nd percentile GPU score and the i7-12700K's 84th percentile CPU score working in tandem to deliver these results.