Doom

Doom, a 2016 FPS built on the id Tech 6 engine, is known for its scalability and fast-paced action. The pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti presents a classic high-end CPU from 2021 with a flagship GPU from 2017. The benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by the graphics card's age, particularly at higher resolutions and settings, while the processor's modern architecture ensures frame rates remain consistently high when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1080 Ti is the primary constraint at 4K, but at lower resolutions, the system has ample headroom for maximum visual fidelity. For players targeting a smooth 60 FPS experience at 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only reliable choice, delivering an average of 74.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 66.8 FPS also clears the 60 FPS threshold, but the High preset falls just short at 53.4 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 48.2 FPS. The data suggests that at 4K, the GPU's 11 GB of VRAM and 484.4 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to handle the higher fidelity textures and shading at a consistent 60 FPS.

Moving down to 2560x1440, the system's capability improves dramatically. The High preset achieves an excellent 102.2 FPS, and Ultra maintains a very playable 84.9 FPS. This resolution appears to be the sweet spot for balancing visual quality with high refresh rates. The 1080 Ti can push well beyond 100 FPS on High settings, making it a great match for 1440p monitors. At 1920x1080, the system is entirely CPU-bound at lower settings. The Ultra preset still delivers a strong 127.5 FPS, but the jump to 157.8 FPS on High and 189.8 FPS on Medium shows the GPU is still a factor. The Low preset's 215.2 FPS highlights the extreme performance ceiling of the i7-12700KF when the GPU workload is reduced. For the best overall experience, High settings at 2560x1440 offer a superior balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, while 1080p users can comfortably enable Ultra settings and still enjoy a high-refresh-rate experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this specific configuration at rank 1006 out of 1681 tested combos for Doom. This ranking, which places it in the bottom half of all systems, is a direct reflection of the GTX 1080 Ti's age. The GPU's percentile of 61 versus all other GPUs indicates it is a mid-range performer by today's standards. In contrast, the Intel Core i7-12700KF sits in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, showing it is a top-tier processor. The combination of a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU creates a bottleneck. While the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates, the GPU's performance ceiling limits the system's overall standing. The benchmark results indicate that this rank is not a measure of the CPU's capability, but rather a signal of how much the GPU holds back the system in a game like Doom, which is heavily reliant on raw graphics processing power for its fast rendering.

The i7-12700KF's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14400 and Intel Core i9-12900HX, have average scores within 0.3% of each other, confirming that the CPU is performing exactly as expected. However, the GTX 1080 Ti's closest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN Xp and even the AMD Radeon Pro 560X, a mobile workstation chip. This comparison highlights the 1080 Ti's position in the current hardware landscape, where its performance is now comparable to much more modern, low-power parts. The data suggests that this combo's rank is almost entirely dictated by the GPU's age and performance class.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with maximum settings?

A: No. The measured data shows that at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, the average frame rate is 48.2 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a high refresh rate?

A: According to the data, 2560x1440 is the optimal resolution. At this setting, the High preset achieves an average of 102.2 FPS, and even Ultra maintains a solid 84.9 FPS, making it suitable for 100Hz+ monitors.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The benchmark data strongly suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions. For example, at 1920x1080, the frame rate drops from 215.2 FPS on Low to 127.5 FPS on Ultra, showing the GPU's workload impact. The CPU's high benchmark percentile (89) compared to the GPU's (61) confirms this imbalance.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti's performance compare to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The data shows the GTX 1080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 19402. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA TITAN Xp, has a score of 19184, a deltaPct of 1.1%, meaning the 1080 Ti is slightly ahead. However, it is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 and AMD Radeon Pro 560X, which have deltaPct values of 0 and -0.1%, respectively.

Q: Is the 11 GB of VRAM on the GTX 1080 Ti sufficient for Doom?

A: The data indicates that 11 GB is generally sufficient, but the performance drop at 4K Ultra (48.2 FPS) compared to 4K High (53.4 FPS) suggests that the combination of VRAM capacity and bandwidth is being strained by the most demanding settings, limiting the GPU's ability to maintain high frame rates.

Q: What kind of frame rate can be expected at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured FPS at 1920x1080 with the High preset is 157.8 FPS. This is a high frame rate that will fully utilize a 144Hz monitor, indicating the system is more than capable for 1080p gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a comprehensive look at average FPS across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high. The Low preset yields an average of 215.2 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo. Medium produces 189.8 FPS, High produces 157.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 127.5 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low represents a 68.7% increase in performance, demonstrating the significant impact of graphical settings on the GPU's workload.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows a predictable decline. The Low preset averages 141.6 FPS, Medium averages 121.2 FPS, High averages 102.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 84.9 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings shows a substantial drop in frame rate, highlighting the increased pixel count's effect on the GPU. For instance, the High preset drops by 55.6 FPS when moving from 1080p to 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The Low preset is the only one that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 74.5 FPS. Medium is next at 66.8 FPS, followed by High at 53.4 FPS and Ultra at 48.2 FPS. The performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 26.3 FPS, which is a much smaller absolute gap than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU's raw processing power is the limiting factor, not just the memory subsystem.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K provides key insights into the system's balance. When moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at the High preset, the average FPS falls from 157.8 to 102.2, a drop of 35.2%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the FPS falls to 53.4, a 66.2% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The GTX 1080 Ti, with its 352-bit memory bus and 484.4 GB/s bandwidth, is being tasked with rendering nearly four times as many pixels at 4K compared to 1080p.

The scaling is more linear at Ultra settings. The FPS drops from 127.5 at 1080p to 84.9 at 1440p, and then to 48.2 at 4K. The relative performance loss from 1440p to 4K (43.2%) is slightly less severe than from 1080p to 1440p (33.4%), which could point to the CPU becoming a more significant factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the i7-12700KF is likely not the bottleneck, but the GPU is working at maximum capacity. The data suggests that the 1080 Ti's performance scales predictably with resolution, and the system's ability to maintain high frame rates is almost entirely dependent on the resolution chosen.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28979 and a single-core score of 4091. In the context of Doom, which is an older title that often relies on single-threaded performance, the CPU's strong single-core capabilities ensure it is not a bottleneck at most settings.

The data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 215.2 FPS. This high frame rate reflects the CPU's ability to process game logic and issue draw calls quickly. The CPU's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 20 threads provide ample resources for the game's rendering threads. However, the data also shows that the CPU's performance advantage is only visible when the GPU can keep up. The fact that the i7-12700KF ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the combo itself ranks in the bottom half, confirms that the CPU is working well below its maximum potential in this specific pairing. The CPU is a modern, high-performance part that is being held back by the older GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a Pascal-generation GPU with 3584 shading units. It has a base clock of 1481 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz. Its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory operates at 11 Gbps effective, providing a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. The GPU's performance, as measured by its average benchmark score of 19402, places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. This is a clear indicator that while it was a flagship at its launch in 2017, it is now a mid-range performer.

In Doom, the GTX 1080 Ti's role is critical. The measured FPS data shows a significant performance drop when moving from 1080p to 4K. The GPU's 88 ROPs and 224 TMUs are tasked with filling the screen with pixels and applying textures. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is 48.2 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for many users. The GPU's performance is not just about raw compute; the memory bandwidth is also a key factor. The drop from 74.5 FPS at 4K Low to 48.2 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests that the higher settings require more texture data and memory bandwidth than the GPU can efficiently provide. The GPU is the definitive limiting factor in this combination, and its age is the primary reason the overall combo rank is in the lower half of the database.