Doom

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, with the data showing a clear pattern of the GPU becoming the primary constraint as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combination produces remarkably high frame rates that suggest the CPU is keeping pace effectively, while the scaling to 4K reveals a more balanced workload where the RTX 4090's capabilities are fully utilized.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a substantial performance drop, though the absolute numbers remain impressive throughout. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 267.9 FPS at 1080p to 172.4 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 35.6%. Moving from 1440p to 4K Ultra brings the average down further to 95.9 FPS, representing another 44.4% decrease. This progressive decline indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count increase demands more from the RTX 4090's rendering pipeline.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 417.6 at 1080p to 286.8 at 1440p (a 31.3% reduction) and then to 158.9 at 4K (a 44.6% reduction). The similar percentage drops across settings suggest that the RTX 4090's compute resources are being taxed proportionally by the resolution increase, regardless of the visual fidelity level. This behavior indicates that the Core i7-12700KF with its 12 cores and 20 threads is not bottlenecking the system at any resolution, as the frame rate scaling follows what would be expected from GPU-bound workloads.

Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is relatively smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K for most settings. For High settings, the average FPS drops from 325.9 to 212.5 (34.8% reduction) between 1080p and 1440p, then to 116 at 4K (45.4% reduction). This steeper decline at 4K suggests that the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s and 24 GB of GDDR6X memory are being pushed harder as the pixel count approaches the card's limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, providing strong visual quality without sacrificing excessive performance. At 4K, High settings yield an average of 116 FPS, which is 20.1 FPS higher than Ultra's 95.9 FPS while arguably delivering nearly identical visual fidelity in a fast-paced title like Doom. The jump from Medium to High at 4K is relatively modest, with the average increasing from 133.3 to 116 FPS, a 17.3 FPS difference that may be worth the visual upgrade.

For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 417.6 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of virtually all monitors. However, the Medium preset at 386.6 FPS still offers exceptional smoothness and likely provides better visual clarity for spotting enemies. At 1440p, the Medium preset's 252 FPS average represents an excellent middle ground, offering high refresh rate performance while maintaining decent visual quality.

Ultra settings are only truly viable at 1080p, where the 267.9 FPS average remains highly playable. At 1440p, Ultra's 172.4 FPS is still smooth, but the performance cost relative to High's 212.5 FPS may not justify the marginal visual improvements in a game that emphasizes fast action over graphical fidelity. At 4K, Ultra's 95.9 FPS average dips below the 100 FPS threshold, making High the recommended choice for maintaining a comfortable frame rate cushion.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This substantial memory configuration is well-suited for Doom at 4K resolution, where the game's textures and geometry can benefit from the available VRAM headroom. The GPU's 16,384 shading units and 512 texture mapping units contribute to its raw compute capability, while the 176 ROPs handle pixel output efficiently.

The RTX 4090's clock speeds are notable, with a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. These frequencies allow the card to maintain high throughput across all measured settings. The memory operates at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective, which helps sustain the bandwidth needed for high-resolution rendering. The card's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance places it among the most powerful consumer GPUs, and the benchmark data reflects this capability.

The GPU's performance percentile of 91 among all GPUs indicates it is positioned near the top of the performance hierarchy. However, the nearest rivals listed in the data—including the NVIDIA Tesla T4, Tesla P40, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, and Quadro P6000—all have similar average benchmark scores, with deltas ranging from -1.3% to 0.5%. This suggests that while the RTX 4090 is a top-tier gaming card, its raw compute benchmarks are closely matched by some professional-grade accelerators, though those cards lack the gaming-specific optimizations that benefit Doom.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable at 4K with this combination?

A: The highest 4K average FPS is 158.9, achieved at Low settings. The next highest is Medium at 133.3, followed by High at 116 and Ultra at 95.9.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 267.9 at 1080p to 95.9 at 4K, representing a 64.2% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Does this combination achieve 144 FPS at 1440p on any setting?

A: Yes, all four settings at 1440p exceed 144 FPS. The lowest average at 1440p is Ultra's 172.4 FPS, while High delivers 212.5 FPS and Low reaches 286.8 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, High settings produce an average of 325.9 FPS, while Ultra produces 267.9 FPS, a difference of 58 FPS or 17.8% lower performance for Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU remains the primary constraint even at 1080p, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes and the Core i7-12700KF's benchmark scores indicate strong single-threaded performance.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's memory configuration support 4K gaming?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity and throughput for 4K textures, as evidenced by the playable frame rates at all settings except Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF features 12 cores and 20 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel memory bus, with 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28,979 and a single-core score of 4,091.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 among all CPUs places it in the upper tier of processors, though its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i5-14400, Core i7-13800H, Core i9-12900HX, and Core i5-13600T—all have average scores within 0.3% of the i7-12700KF. This indicates that the CPU's performance is competitive but not dominant, which is sufficient for Doom given the game's optimization and the high frame rates observed.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The measured FPS data shows that the i7-12700KF is not bottlenecking the RTX 4090 at any resolution, as evidenced by the consistent scaling patterns. The CPU's 3DMark scores—9,282 for 16 threads and 1,043 for single-thread—indicate balanced performance across both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads, which is important for a game that may use multiple threads for rendering and physics.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 34,092 and single-thread score of 3,984 further confirm the CPU's capability. The data shows that the i7-12700KF can sustain high frame rates even at 1080p where CPU overhead is typically more pronounced, with the Low preset achieving 417.6 FPS without any apparent CPU limitation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates span from 267.9 FPS at Ultra to 417.6 FPS at Low. The Medium preset delivers 386.6 FPS, while High achieves 325.9 FPS. This spread of 149.7 FPS between the lowest and highest settings at 1080p demonstrates the RTX 4090's headroom and the impact of graphical settings on performance.

At 2560x1440, the averages range from 172.4 FPS at Ultra to 286.8 FPS at Low. Medium produces 252 FPS, and High reaches 212.5 FPS. The difference between Ultra and Low at this resolution is 114.4 FPS, showing a narrowing gap compared to 1080p as the GPU becomes more loaded.

At 3840x2160, the averages range from 95.9 FPS at Ultra to 158.9 FPS at Low. Medium achieves 133.3 FPS, and High delivers 116 FPS. The spread between Ultra and Low at 4K is 63 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the dominant factor and settings have a smaller relative impact at higher resolutions.

The data pattern across all resolutions shows a consistent ordering: Low > Medium > High > Ultra, with each step up in settings costing a measurable amount of performance. The largest single-step drop occurs between Low and Medium at 1080p, where the average falls from 417.6 to 386.6 FPS, a 31 FPS reduction. At 4K, the same step costs 25.6 FPS, from 158.9 to 133.3 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 31st out of 1,681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the top 1.8% of all configurations. This strong ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU and GPU, which together deliver frame rates that exceed the requirements of even the highest refresh rate displays.

The ranking position is notable given that the individual components are not at the absolute top of their respective benchmark charts. The CPU's 89th percentile and the GPU's 91st percentile combine to produce a result that outperforms many combinations featuring higher-ranked components. This suggests that the pairing is well-balanced for Doom's specific workload, with the CPU's strong single-threaded performance complementing the GPU's massive compute resources.

The data indicates that this combination is particularly well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, where the frame rates consistently exceed 170 FPS on all settings. Even at 4K, the combination delivers playable frame rates on all settings except Ultra, where the 95.9 FPS average is still respectable for a visually demanding game. The 31st rank out of 1,681 combos confirms that this pairing delivers top-tier performance in Doom without requiring the absolute highest-end components in each category.