Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B390 combination produces a highly resolution-dependent experience in Doom. The recorded data shows clear performance tiers, with the system comfortably handling 1080p, becoming playable at 1440p with adjusted settings, and falling short of the 60 FPS threshold at 4K.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the system can run the game at Ultra settings with an average of 64 FPS. This is the most demanding preset tested at this resolution that remains at or above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The data shows a smooth progression: Low averages 107 FPS, Medium averages 93 FPS, and High averages 78 FPS, all clearing the threshold with room to spare.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 60 FPS exactly. The recorded minimum at this setting is 51 FPS and the maximum is 69 FPS. Low settings average 69 FPS, while High drops to 51 FPS and Ultra to 41 FPS, both below the playability line.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves an average of 60 FPS. The best recorded average is 37 FPS at Low settings, followed by 33 FPS at Medium, 28 FPS at High, and 22 FPS at Ultra. None of these configurations reach the playable threshold, so the database lists no recommended settings for this resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the balance shifts across resolutions. At 1080p, the Intel Arc B390 appears to be the limiting factor, as the CPU has substantial headroom. The jump from Low to Ultra settings only reduces the average from 107 FPS to 64 FPS, a 40% drop, suggesting the GPU is handling most of the work while the Ryzen 7 9700F keeps pace easily.

At 1440p, the scaling pattern shows the GPU becoming more stressed. Medium settings average 60 FPS, while High drops to 51 FPS and Ultra to 41 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 28 FPS, a narrower gap than at 1080p, indicating that resolution is now constraining performance more than the settings menu alone.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. The difference between Low and Ultra narrows to just 15 FPS (from 37 FPS to 22 FPS), which indicates the render resolution is the dominant factor. The CPU's role diminishes further as the GPU struggles to maintain even low preset frame rates.

The data supports a straightforward interpretation: the Ryzen 7 9700F is not the bottleneck at any resolution. The 8-core, 16-thread processor with a 5.50 GHz boost clock provides ample compute headroom, while the Intel Arc B390, with its 1536 shading units and 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, determines the frame rate ceiling. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30 to 40 percent of the average FPS at each preset, and moving to 4K halves the frame rate again, a pattern consistent with a GPU-bound scenario.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this hardware?

A: Ultra settings produce an average of 64 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The recorded maximum at Ultra is not listed separately, but the Medium preset shows a max of 107 FPS and a min of 79 FPS, suggesting Ultra likely stays within a similar range.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only on Medium settings, which average exactly 60 FPS. Low settings average 69 FPS, providing a safety margin, while High and Ultra average 51 FPS and 41 FPS respectively, both below the threshold.

Q: Why does the 4K performance fall so far behind?

A: At 3840x2160, the Intel Arc B390 cannot keep up with the rendering demands. The best average is 37 FPS at Low settings. Even the least demanding preset fails to reach 60 FPS, confirming the GPU is the limiting component at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 in the average benchmark, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF, 0.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and 0.9% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700K. These differences are minimal, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this game.

Q: Is this combination ranked highly among tested systems?

A: No. The combo ranks 3300 out of 3712 tested combinations for Doom. This places it in the lower percentile of systems, primarily due to the GPU's limited capabilities.

Q: What does the GPU's benchmark score indicate?

A: The Intel Arc B390 scores 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, score 1463 and 1460 respectively, showing the B390 is only slightly ahead of these older, low-end parts.

The Verdict

This system can run Doom, but the experience depends heavily on the chosen resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 64 FPS. This is the definitive playable configuration. At 2560x1440, two presets are playable: Low at 69 FPS and Medium at 60 FPS. The database selects Medium as the best playable setting for this resolution. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with the highest average being 37 FPS at Low. The verdict is clear: 1080p is fully playable at maximum quality, 1440p is playable with settings capped at Medium, and 4K is not playable with this hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested configurations.

1920x1080: Low averages 107 FPS with no separate min or max recorded. Medium averages 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. High averages 78 FPS. Ultra averages 64 FPS.

2560x1440: Low averages 69 FPS. Medium averages 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. High averages 51 FPS. Ultra averages 41 FPS.

3840x2160: Low averages 37 FPS. Medium averages 33 FPS, with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. High averages 28 FPS. Ultra averages 22 FPS.

The Medium preset at each resolution includes full min and max data, which helps establish frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the range from 79 FPS to 107 FPS shows strong consistency. At 1440p Medium, the range from 51 FPS to 69 FPS indicates occasional dips below the average. At 4K Medium, the range from 28 FPS to 37 FPS shows the GPU operating near its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 3300 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the bottom 11% of all systems in the database for this game. The ranking reflects the significant imbalance between the high-end CPU and the entry-level GPU. The Ryzen 7 9700F sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, while the Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. The system's overall ranking is dragged down entirely by the graphics card, which cannot translate the CPU's computational strength into playable frame rates at higher resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware would behave similarly in this game.

On the CPU side, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, which is 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 7 9700F. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, 0.7% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69355, 0.9% lower. Any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Doom when paired with the same GPU, since the game is not CPU-bound in this configuration.

On the GPU side, the nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts. The GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower than the Arc B390's 1482. The GeForce 800M scores 1460, 1.5% lower. The GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, 2.5% lower, and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, 2.7% lower. These deltas are small, meaning a system with any of these GPUs would produce nearly the same frame rates in Doom as the Arc B390. The practical takeaway is that swapping the CPU for any of its rivals would change nothing, while swapping the GPU for any of its rivals would also change little. The bottleneck is consistent across the entire comparison group.