Doom

The benchmark data for Doom on the Intel Core i7-12700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti reveals a system that is heavily skewed toward CPU-bound performance at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes the primary constraint only at 4K. The measured frame rates indicate that this combination delivers a highly playable experience across all tested settings, but the scaling patterns show that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor for maximum fidelity, whereas the 12-core processor provides ample headroom. This analysis breaks down the specific numbers from the measured FPS table to explain where the bottlenecks lie and what settings yield the optimal experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is significant and reveals a clear division between CPU and GPU workload boundaries. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 142 at 1080p to 92 at 1440p, a reduction of 50 frames, and then further down to 50 at 4K. This 92-frame swing across the three resolutions indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is struggling to maintain high frame rates as pixel count increases, a pattern consistent with a GPU that sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs in the database.

The scaling pattern at Low settings tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 236 FPS, which drops to 153 at 1440p and then to 83 at 4K. The 153-frame difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is steeper in absolute terms than the 92-frame difference at Ultra, which suggests that at lower graphical loads, the CPU’s ability to feed frames becomes less relevant and the GPU’s raw throughput dominates. The Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, shows it can easily push frame rates past 200 at 1080p, evidenced by the 236 FPS at Low, but the RTX 3060 Ti’s 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is not sufficient to maintain that pace at higher resolutions.

Comparing the Medium preset across resolutions provides the clearest view of the scaling curve. The system delivers 206 FPS at 1080p, 133 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35.4%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 45.9%. This accelerating decline in performance as resolution increases is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck emerging at 4K. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the processor’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Passmark single-thread score of 3984, is sufficient to keep the GPU well-fed, but at 4K, the GPU’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory become the limiting factors.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the best measured result with an average of 236 FPS. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity, and the data shows that the Medium preset at 1080p still provides an excellent 206 FPS average, with a minimum of 175 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p, with an average of 133 FPS and a minimum of 113 FPS, offers a balanced experience for high-refresh-rate monitors without pushing the GPU to its limits.

The High preset at 1440p, averaging 113 FPS, is the optimal choice for players with 1440p displays who want a mix of quality and performance. This setting is 21 frames faster than Ultra at the same resolution, which averages 92 FPS, while the visual difference between High and Ultra is typically less impactful than the frame rate gap. At 4K, the High preset averages 61 FPS, which is playable but only marginally above the 50 FPS average of Ultra, making the Ultra preset at 4K a questionable trade-off given the 11-frame penalty. The data suggests that the Medium preset at 1440p, with its 133 FPS average, is the sweet spot for this combination, as it stays well above 60 FPS while maintaining a reasonable visual quality level.

The minimum FPS data, available only for the Medium preset, shows that at 4K the system drops to 61 FPS, which is right at the edge of smooth gameplay. At 1440p, the minimum is 113 FPS, and at 1080p it is 175 FPS. These numbers indicate that the Medium preset never causes the system to dip below 60 FPS at any resolution, making it the safest recommendation for consistent performance. For players who prioritize frame rate above all else, the Low preset at 1440p, with its 153 FPS average, is a strong alternative that still provides a responsive experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti features a GA104 chip built on Samsung’s 8 nm process, containing 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates across a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock of 1410 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz allow it to reach a pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s. These specifications place the card in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16129.

In Doom, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly critical as resolution rises. At 1080p, the system achieves 142 FPS at Ultra, which is a solid result, but the card’s performance relative to its nearest rivals shows it is not a top-tier option. The RTX 3060 Ti scores within 1.7% of the AMD Radeon R9 370X and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon RX 9060 in the database’s average benchmark scores. This close grouping indicates that the card’s performance in Doom at higher resolutions is competitive with these alternatives, but it lacks the headroom to push 4K Ultra past the 50 FPS threshold.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB does not appear to be a limiting factor in Doom, as the game’s 2016 release date predates the high-VRAM demands of modern titles. The measured frame rates at 4K Ultra, averaging 50 FPS, suggest that the GPU’s compute throughput and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints, not the memory capacity. The boost clock of 1665 MHz is relatively modest compared to newer cards, but it proves sufficient for maintaining 61 FPS at 4K High, which is the highest 4K average recorded in the data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance capabilities. The Low preset delivers an average of 236 FPS, Medium averages 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 FPS and a maximum of 237 FPS, High averages 174 FPS, and Ultra averages 142 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 94 FPS, showing that graphical settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution. The Medium preset’s maximum of 237 FPS aligns closely with the Low preset’s average, indicating that the CPU is capable of exceeding 230 FPS when the GPU is not heavily loaded.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the GPU’s limitations. Low averages 153 FPS, Medium averages 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS, High averages 113 FPS, and Ultra averages 92 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 61 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming a more significant factor. The Medium preset’s maximum of 153 FPS exactly matches the Low preset’s average, which indicates that the GPU can still reach high frame rates when conditions are favorable.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop considerably. Low averages 83 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, High averages 61 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 33 FPS, which is the smallest spread across all resolutions. This compression of performance across settings at 4K is a clear indicator that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component, as even reducing graphical quality from Ultra to Low only yields a 33 FPS improvement. The Medium preset’s maximum of 83 FPS matches the Low preset’s average, mirroring the pattern seen at 1440p.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this system in Doom?

A: The highest average FPS is 236, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: Does the system maintain 60 FPS at 4K across all settings?

A: No. At 4K, the Low preset averages 83 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS, and High averages 61 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to an average of 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much faster is the Medium preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 133 FPS, which is 41 FPS higher than the Ultra preset’s average of 92 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is 175 FPS, with a maximum of 237 FPS.

Q: Which component is the primary bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor at 4K, as the frame rate differences between settings narrow significantly compared to lower resolutions.

Q: How does the system’s performance at 1080p Low compare to 4K Ultra?

A: At 1080p Low, the system averages 236 FPS, which is 186 FPS higher than the 50 FPS average at 4K Ultra, representing a dramatic performance drop with increased resolution and settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake-S architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz can boost up to 5.00 GHz, and it features 25 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. The processor’s benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 14367. Its single-thread performance is also impressive, with a Passmark single-thread score of 3984 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 1043.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the system achieves 236 FPS at Low settings. This high frame rate indicates that the processor can handle the game’s draw calls and physics calculations without becoming a bottleneck. The 12 cores and 20 threads provide substantial headroom, as evidenced by the 3DMark max-threads score of 9983, which is only 7.5% higher than the 16-thread score of 9282. This scaling suggests that Doom benefits from additional threads but does not require all 20 to reach peak performance.

The processor’s average benchmark score of 35365 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i7-13700T, which scores 35403 and is only 0.1% faster. This close grouping indicates that the i7-12700KF is a highly capable processor for gaming, and the data shows it does not limit the RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p or 1440p. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.00 GHz is particularly effective for Doom’s single-threaded aspects, as the 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and Geekbench single-core score of 2255 demonstrate strong per-core performance. The processor’s 125 W TDP and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 further contribute to its ability to feed the GPU efficiently, though the exact impact on Doom’s frame rates is not directly measured in the data.