Doom

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Doom across all tested settings, positioning this combo as a top-tier performer. With a combination rank of 27 out of 2930 tested configurations, this pairing sits in the top 1% of all systems, making it an elite choice for this title. The data shows a system that is primarily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the balance shifts, revealing the CPU's capability to push frame rates to extreme levels that approach the refresh rate limits of most displays.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates where the bottleneck lies in this configuration. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 357 FPS, but dropping to 1440p reduces this to 231 FPS—a 35% decrease that indicates the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count rises. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings brings the frame rate down to 125 FPS, which is another 46% reduction, reinforcing that the RTX 5090 D is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern changes when looking at lower settings. At Low settings, the system achieves 417 FPS at 1080p, 314 FPS at 1440p, and 170 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 46%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions is typical of a system where the CPU has ample headroom at lower settings, but the GPU work becomes exponentially heavier as resolution increases. The i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is clearly not the limiting factor at 4K, where the GPU's rendering workload dominates.

Comparing Ultra settings across resolutions shows a similar trend: 292 FPS at 1080p, 189 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the most demanding scenario in the data, and the fact that it still clears 100 FPS speaks to the brute force of this combination. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 23 FPS (125 vs 102), while at 1080p that gap is 65 FPS (357 vs 292). This compression of settings impact at higher resolutions is a clear indicator that the GPU is saturated, making the choice of settings less impactful on performance when resolution is already stressing the graphics card.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 D is the dominant force in this pairing, and its specifications explain the exceptional 4K performance. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, this card has the memory subsystem to feed its massive 21760 shading units at any resolution Doom can throw at it. The 680 texture mapping units and 176 render output units ensure that both texture fill and pixel throughput are handled without creating bottlenecks, which is critical for a fast-paced FPS where consistent frame delivery matters.

Clock speeds are notably high, with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz. The boost clock is what the card sustains under load, and in Doom's optimized engine, this translates directly into the high average frame rates observed. The card's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a staggering figure that allows the GPU to process the game's geometry and lighting calculations with minimal latency. The 170 ray tracing cores, while not heavily utilized in this 2016 title, contribute to the card's overall architectural efficiency and future-proofing.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of graphics cards currently available. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and RX 6850M XT, with the 5090 D scoring 1.1% higher than the former and 1.6% lower than the latter in average benchmark scores. This positioning shows that while the 5090 D is a flagship card, there are a few mobile and workstation parts that edge it out in synthetic tests, though in real gaming scenarios like Doom, its desktop-class performance shines.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can this combo achieve at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 102 FPS. This is the lowest result in the dataset but remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating the system is capable of maxing out Doom at 4K.

Q: How does the i7-12700KF perform relative to its closest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 35365 places it between the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, 0.1% higher) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, 0.2% lower). It is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-12700K, which scores 35287, a 0.2% difference.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D significantly better than the GPUs it is compared against?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 77712, which is 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT's 76904 and 2.1% below the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB's 79396. The differences are small in synthetic benchmarks, but in Doom, the 5090 D's gaming-specific features deliver the high frame rates seen in the measured data.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between consecutive settings at a given resolution?

A: At 1440p, the jump from Medium (273 FPS) to High (231 FPS) represents a 42 FPS drop, which is the largest single-setting delta in the dataset. At 4K, the gap between Low (170 FPS) and Medium (148 FPS) is 22 FPS, while the gap from High (125 FPS) to Ultra (102 FPS) is 23 FPS.

Q: Does raising resolution have a larger impact on performance than raising settings?

A: The data suggests that resolution scaling has a more pronounced effect. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces FPS from 357 to 231 (a 35% drop), while moving from 1440p to 4K at the same settings reduces it to 125 (a 46% drop). In contrast, at 4K, going from Low to Ultra only reduces FPS from 170 to 102 (a 40% drop), showing resolution is the primary performance driver.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The combination ranks 27th out of 2930 tested configurations, placing it in the top 0.9% of all systems. This is a strong indicator that this pairing is well-suited for Doom and can handle the game at maximum settings without compromise.

How This Combo Ranks

The 27th place ranking out of 2930 combos is an exceptional result that places this system in the upper echelon of Doom performers. This rank reflects the synergy between the i7-12700KF and the RTX 5090 D, where neither component holds the other back in a meaningful way. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it is not the fastest processor available, but its Alder Lake architecture with 12 cores and 20 threads provides enough single-thread performance and multi-core headroom for Doom's engine, which scales well with both.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking is a more significant contributor to the combo's high position. The RTX 5090 D's raw compute power and memory bandwidth allow it to dominate at 4K, where the CPU's limitations become less relevant. The data shows that even at the most demanding 4K Ultra preset, the system maintains 102 FPS, which is a level of performance that only a handful of other configurations in the database can match. The rank of 27 suggests that the 26 systems above it likely feature either faster CPUs, such as newer generation parts with higher boost clocks, or slightly better-tuned GPU variants, but the margin is small.

Comparing this combo to others in the database, the measured frame rates indicate that the system is not leaving performance on the table. At 1080p Low, the 417 FPS result approaches the theoretical maximum for many high-refresh-rate monitors, and the fact that the system can exceed 300 FPS even at 1440p Low (314 FPS) shows that the CPU and GPU are well-balanced for this game. The ranking reflects a system that is optimized for high-resolution gaming, with the 4K results being particularly impressive.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates, with the Low preset achieving 417 FPS on average. The Medium preset is close behind at 397 FPS, with a minimum of 338 FPS and a maximum of 457 FPS, showing that the system maintains high consistency even during intense scenes. High settings produce 357 FPS, while Ultra drops to 292 FPS, which is still far above what most displays can show. The spread from low to ultra at 1080p is 125 FPS, indicating that the CPU and GPU have enough headroom that even the most demanding settings do not cause a significant performance penalty.

At 2560x1440, the system continues to perform admirably, with Low averaging 314 FPS and Medium at 273 FPS (minimum 232, maximum 314). High settings yield 231 FPS, and Ultra drops to 189 FPS. The 1080p to 1440p transition at Low settings shows a 103 FPS drop, which is significant but expected given the 78% increase in pixel count. The minimum frame rates recorded at Medium settings (232 FPS at 1440p) are still higher than the average frame rates for most systems, highlighting the robustness of this configuration.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance is still strong but shows the expected degradation. Low settings produce 170 FPS, Medium averages 148 FPS (minimum 126, maximum 170), High reaches 125 FPS, and Ultra drops to 102 FPS. The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium (126 FPS) is above the 60 FPS smoothness threshold, and even the Ultra average of 102 FPS ensures a fluid experience. The data shows that this combo is capable of 4K gaming without compromises, as the lowest recorded average across all settings is triple-digit.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for most users, provided they have a display that can take advantage of the frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the system delivers 102 FPS on average, which is sufficient for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. The visual quality improvement from High to Ultra at 4K costs 23 FPS (125 to 102), but the game remains playable. For players prioritizing maximum fidelity, Ultra is the recommended setting at 4K, as the system's GPU has enough power to maintain playable frame rates.

At 1440p, the High preset offers an excellent balance, delivering 231 FPS with a significant visual uplift over Medium. However, Ultra at 189 FPS is also viable and provides the best image quality. The 42 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1440p is notable, but both are well above the threshold for competitive play. For users with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors, High is the sweet spot, as it provides headroom above the refresh rate while maintaining high visual fidelity.

At 1080p, the system is so powerful that even Ultra settings at 292 FPS are far beyond what most displays can show. The Medium preset at 397 FPS is virtually indistinguishable from Low in terms of playability, and the minimum frame rate of 338 FPS ensures no perceptible stutter. Given the extreme frame rates, the recommendation is to use Ultra at 1080p to maximize visual quality, as the performance hit is negligible relative to the system's overall capability. The 417 FPS at Low is only useful for competitive players with 360Hz monitors who prioritize response time over graphics, but the difference in frame rate between Low and Ultra (125 FPS) is unlikely to be perceptible to most users.