Doom

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2580th out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations. This is a decisive verdict: the pairing lands in the lower tier of the database, and the primary reason is the GPU's position in the overall hierarchy. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, which means roughly nine out of ten graphics cards tested will outperform it. The CPU, by contrast, is a strong performer at the 85th percentile among all processors, so the combo's low rank is not a reflection of the processor's capability.

The data indicates a severe imbalance between the two components. The i7-12700KF delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and a single-core score of 4071, which are robust numbers for a desktop part. Meanwhile, the Arc B390's only recorded 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, which places it in the company of much older, entry-level GPUs. Benchmark results show that the GPU's nearest rivals—the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—all have average scores between 1443 and 1463, with the Arc B390 leading that group by margins of 1.3% to 2.7%. These are not competitive deltas; they are the margins of a part that is fundamentally limited in this workload.

In practical terms for Doom, this rank means the combo will struggle to deliver smooth gameplay at higher resolutions and settings. The measured FPS data confirms this, with the combo failing to reach 60 FPS at 4K on any preset, and only barely exceeding it at 1080p on Low settings. The CPU's strength is largely wasted in this pairing, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck in nearly every scenario. For users prioritizing this specific game, the combination ranks poorly not because of any single catastrophic failure, but because the GPU component is simply not positioned to handle the demands of a modern FPS at reasonable quality levels.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the limiting factor in this combo, and the data makes this unambiguous. Its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on shared system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This design choice has direct consequences: memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which introduces variability based on the host platform's memory speed and configuration. The GPU's base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and it features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 raster output units, and 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS.

In Doom specifically, the GPU's limitations manifest clearly across the resolution and settings matrix. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 107 FPS average, which is playable. However, the moment settings rise to Medium, the average drops to 93 FPS, and at High it falls to 78 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average plummets to 22 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. The pattern shows that the GPU's modest compute resources—7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and 24 ROPs—are insufficient for the higher pixel throughput demanded at 1440p and 4K resolutions.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts from over a decade ago. The deltaPct values against those rivals are small—1.3% ahead of the GT 520MX, 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M, 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710—which means the Arc B390 is effectively in the same performance class as those older GPUs. In Doom, this translates to a hard ceiling on playability. The GPU's 80 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate it is designed for integrated or low-power scenarios, not for driving a demanding FPS at high framerates.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings. At 1440p, the combo goes from 69 FPS on Low to 60 FPS on Medium, 51 FPS on High, and 41 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the range is 37 FPS on Low to 22 FPS on Ultra. These numbers suggest that the GPU's 24 ROPs and shared memory bandwidth are the primary bottlenecks, as the framerate drops are consistent with a part that cannot keep up with increasing pixel counts. There is no setting combination at 4K that yields a playable framerate, and even at 1440p, only Low settings approach the 60 FPS threshold.

# Settings Recommendations

For this combo in Doom, the optimal settings balance is found at 1080p with Medium quality, which delivers an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. This is the sweet spot: it provides the visual quality improvement over Low while maintaining a framerate that stays comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold even in dips. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 107 FPS average, but the visual downgrade is significant, and the Medium preset's 14 FPS average penalty is a reasonable trade for better image quality.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts to Low settings, which yields 69 FPS average. This is the only 1440p preset that reaches the 60 FPS playability line. Medium at 1440p drops to 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS, which means it will dip below the target during intense scenes. High and Ultra at 1440p are not recommended, as they deliver 51 FPS and 41 FPS respectively, both below the smoothness threshold.

At 4K, no preset is recommended for playable framerates. The highest average is 37 FPS on Low, which is well below playable standards. The Ultra preset at 4K delivers only 22 FPS average, making it a slideshow. Users with a 4K display should either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept that this combo cannot handle Doom at native 4K.

For users prioritizing framerate over visuals, the 1080p Low preset at 107 FPS average is the best choice. For a balance of quality and performance, 1080p Medium at 93 FPS average is the recommended configuration. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p possible only at the lowest settings, and 4K effectively out of reach.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a clear progression across settings. Low averages 107 FPS, Medium averages 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS, High averages 78 FPS, and Ultra averages 64 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 43 FPS, which indicates the GPU's sensitivity to settings changes. The 64 FPS on Ultra is notably close to the 60 FPS threshold, meaning it is marginally playable but will dip in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low averages 69 FPS, Medium averages 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS, High averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 41 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35-40% of the framerate across settings, which is substantial. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 51 FPS, confirming that it will stutter during heavy action.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to reach playable levels. Low averages 37 FPS, Medium averages 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS and maximum of 37 FPS, High averages 28 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is nearly a third of the 1080p Low performance, showing a dramatic scaling penalty. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 28 FPS, which is far below any reasonable playability threshold.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the combo loses approximately 30% of its framerate when moving from Low to High at each resolution, and another 15-20% when moving from High to Ultra. This steep scaling suggests the GPU's limited resources (24 ROPs, shared memory) are quickly saturated as settings increase.

# Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe across all settings. At Low settings, the combo goes from 107 FPS at 1080p to 69 FPS at 1440p to 37 FPS at 4K. That is a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Medium, the numbers are 93 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, a 65% drop as well. At High, the figures are 78 FPS, 51 FPS, and 28 FPS, representing a 64% decrease. At Ultra, the results are 64 FPS, 41 FPS, and 22 FPS, a 66% reduction.

This consistent ~65% scaling penalty across all settings points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the scaling from 1080p to 4K would be much flatter, as the resolution increase would put more load on the GPU while the CPU workload remains constant. Instead, the framerate drops proportionally with pixel count, indicating that the Arc B390's pixel throughput—60.00 GPixel/s—is the hard limit.

The resolution scaling also reveals that the i7-12700KF is not constraining performance at any resolution. The CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, are more than sufficient for Doom's workload. The fact that the framerate scales almost linearly with resolution—roughly 1.5x fewer FPS from 1080p to 1440p, and another 1.5x fewer from 1440p to 4K—confirms that the GPU is the sole constraint. At 1080p Low, the 107 FPS average is likely near the CPU's limit, but at higher resolutions, the GPU takes over as the primary limiter.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a strong desktop processor that is underutilized in this pairing. It has 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This is an Alder Lake-S part built on Intel's 10 nm process, and its benchmarks are solid: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 28838, single-core scores 4071, and Geekbench multi-core scores 14367. The CPU sits at the 85th percentile among all processors, and its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-13700T, Core i5-13600T, Core 5 213PE, and Core i7-12700K, with deltaPct values ranging from -0.2% to +0.2%. This is a tightly grouped set of processors, meaning the i7-12700KF is performing exactly as expected for its class.

In Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 107 FPS average, which is likely close to the CPU's practical limit for this game. However, the CPU's capability is far beyond what the GPU can utilize. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 indicate ample headroom for modern games. The Passmark multi-thread score of 34092 and single-thread score of 3984 further confirm that the CPU is not the weak link.

The reality is that the i7-12700KF is paired with a GPU that ranks at the 9th percentile, creating a massive imbalance. The CPU could easily drive a much more powerful GPU in Doom, but the Arc B390's 24 ROPs and shared memory bandwidth cap the framerate well below what the CPU can sustain. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the 107 FPS average is the ceiling for this combo, and it is the GPU, not the CPU, that sets that ceiling. In any scenario where the GPU is the bottleneck—which is every scenario in this dataset—the CPU's advanced specs are irrelevant to the final framerate.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest it is designed for high-performance builds, but nothing in the measured FPS data indicates that the processor is being pushed to its limits. The combo's low rank of 2580 out of 2930 is entirely attributable to the GPU's performance class. For users considering this pairing, the CPU is a capable partner that will not hold back the GPU, but the GPU itself will hold back the entire system.