Doom

Settings Recommendations

For Doom, the measured data across all resolutions points to the Medium preset as the most balanced choice for this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. At 1080p, Medium delivers an average of 167 FPS, which is a substantial 52 FPS higher than High and 52 FPS higher than Ultra, while being only 25 FPS behind Low. The frametime consistency, indicated by the min/max spread of 142-192 FPS at 1080p Medium, shows a tight and stable range. Stepping up to 1440p, Medium still holds strong at 108 FPS average, which remains far above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves ample headroom for the fast-paced action. The 1080p High preset, at 141 FPS, is also excellent, but the data indicates that the jump from High to Medium at both 1080p and 1440p yields a significant 18% performance increase with a visual difference that is often imperceptible in the heat of combat. Ultra, while visually more demanding, shows a steep performance cost.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, providing a high refresh-rate experience that takes full advantage of the hardware's capabilities without pushing the system unnecessarily. While Low offers the highest frame rates, the performance gain over Medium is smaller than the gain from High to Medium, making it a less compelling trade-off for the likely reduction in visual fidelity. For players with high refresh rate monitors, the 1440p High setting is a sweet spot, offering 91 FPS, which is a great balance of visual quality and speed. Ultimately, the benchmark results indicate that the Medium preset is the recommended starting point to achieve a smooth and responsive experience, with the option to dial in High for those who prefer higher visual settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, plays a critical role in determining the performance ceiling for Doom. The card's boost clock of 2589 MHz and game clock of 2359 MHz are significant factors in its compute capabilities, which are rated at 10.60 TFLOPS. The benchmarks show that the GPU is the primary driver of the average frame rates across all settings. For example, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is a 77 FPS swing (192 to 115 FPS), directly demonstrating the GPU's workload. The card's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is sufficient to feed the GPU at these settings, but the data suggests that it is the raw shader and compute performance that dictates the frame rate, not a memory bottleneck.

The GPU's performance places it in the 70th percentile of all GPUs, and it sits in a competitive tier with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630, which it outperforms by 0.7%, and the Intel Arc A350M, which it leads by 0.8%. This places the RX 6600 XT in a position where it can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming with ease. The card's performance in this specific title, however, shows it is not quite sufficient for a locked 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, where it averages 40 FPS. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales as expected with resolution, and the 8 GB of VRAM is not the limiting factor in the measured scenarios, as the game's settings have a more pronounced effect on the frame rate than the resolution alone.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to play at 4K with this hardware?

A: Based on the data, the RX 6600 XT cannot maintain a playable 60 FPS at 4K. The best average frame rate at 3840x2160 is achieved on Low at 67 FPS, with Medium at 59 FPS, High at 49 FPS, and Ultra at 40 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365. It is virtually tied with the Intel Core i7-13700T, which is only 0.1% faster, and the Intel Core i5-13600T, which is 0.2% slower. The data indicates these are all comparable performers.

Q: Can this system achieve a stable 144 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p with Low settings, the system averages 192 FPS. On Medium, it averages 167 FPS, and on High, it averages 141 FPS. All of these are above 140 FPS, though only Low and Medium would be considered stable above 144 FPS.

Q: Is the i7-12700KF a high-performance chip?

A: Yes, the i7-12700KF is ranked in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a high-performing processor. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-12700K, is only 0.2% faster in the data.

Q: What is the most demanding setting for the GPU at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset is the most demanding at 1440p, resulting in an average of 75 FPS. This is a significant drop from the 108 FPS average on Medium, showing the high graphical load of the Ultra preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is positioned at rank 2660 out of 3712 tested combos within the database for Doom. This places the pairing in the lower half of all system configurations, indicating that while it is a capable machine, it is not near the top of the performance charts. The percentile ranking of the CPU (85th) and GPU (70th) are both strong, but the combo's overall rank suggests that this specific game is more demanding on the GPU, limiting the system's overall standing.

This ranking is a direct result of the performance data. The system's inability to hit 60 FPS at 4K Ultra and its performance at 1440p, while good, doesn't compete with top-tier hardware. The fact that the system is ranked lower than the 50th percentile suggests that there are many other configurations that can offer better performance in this title. The data indicates that while this combo is a solid 1080p and 1440p performer, it is not a high-end setup for Doom, and its rank of 2660 out of 3712 reflects this positioning as a mid-range option.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is more than capable of keeping up with the demands of Doom, ensuring it does not become the bottleneck in this configuration. With a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and a robust 25 MB of L3 cache, the processor is well-equipped to handle the game's single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as the 3dmark_max_threads score of 9983 and a single-thread score of 1043, demonstrate its strong performance. In this context, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and its 12 cores ensure that even the most complex game logic is handled with ease.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this system. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least amount of work, the system achieves 192 FPS, and the CPU's performance is more than sufficient to support this. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau in frame rates, but the scaling from 1080p to 1440p and 4K shows a consistent drop that is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's performance is further highlighted by its comparison to the Intel Core i7-12700K, which is only 0.2% faster, showing that the "KF" variant offers nearly identical performance in this capacity. Thus, the CPU provides a solid foundation for the GPU to perform at its best.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers excellent performance, with an average of 192 FPS on Low, 167 FPS on Medium, 141 FPS on High, and 115 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 192 FPS, indicating a very stable experience. Moving up to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable, with 124 FPS on Low, 108 FPS on Medium, 91 FPS on High, and 75 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a range of 92 to 124 FPS. At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle, with an average of 67 FPS on Low and 59 FPS on Medium, but High and Ultra drop to 49 FPS and 40 FPS, respectively.

The data shows a clear and consistent scaling across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 77 FPS, while at 1440p, the difference is 49 FPS, and at 4K, it narrows to 27 FPS. This pattern indicates that as the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and the impact of the in-game settings is reduced. The 1440p Medium setting offers a great balance, with 108 FPS, while the 4K Low setting is the only way to get close to 60 FPS. The min and max FPS for the Medium presets at 1080p and 1440p show that the frame times are consistent and smooth.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and expected trend: as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, average frame rates decrease significantly. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 167 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the frame rate drops by 35% to 108 FPS. The most significant drop occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, where the frame rate falls by 45% to 59 FPS. This pattern is consistent across all settings, with the Low preset dropping from 192 FPS at 1080p to 67 FPS at 4K, a 65% reduction.

This scaling pattern clearly indicates that the system is heavily GPU-bound. The GPU is responsible for rendering the frames, and as the resolution increases, the workload on the GPU grows exponentially. The CPU, which is powerful, is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see a much smaller difference between 1080p and 4K performance. The fact that the frame rate drops dramatically with resolution confirms that the RX 6600 XT's compute and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints at higher resolutions. The data suggests that this combination is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver high refresh rates, while 4K gaming is only viable on lower settings.