Doom

# FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 1920x1080 for this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, the best setting that maintains at least 60 FPS is High, with an average of 71 FPS. Medium averages 84 FPS, and Low averages 96 FPS, but Ultra drops to 58 FPS, just below the playable threshold.

Q: Can this system run Doom at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings. The recorded average at 2560x1440 Low is 62 FPS. Medium drops to 54 FPS, High to 46 FPS, and Ultra to 37 FPS, all below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Is 4K resolution playable with this hardware?

A: No. At 3840x2160, none of the tested presets reach 60 FPS. The highest average is 34 FPS on Low, followed by 29 FPS on Medium, 25 FPS on High, and 20 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in overall benchmark score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 75,779. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755, scores 75,738, a difference of just 0.1%. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 trails by 0.4% with a score of 75,488.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 1,184, based on the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test.

Q: How many total combinations does this system rank against for Doom?

A: The combo ranks 3,425 out of 3,712 tested combinations, placing it in the lower portion of the database but still ahead of 287 other configurations.

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 3,425 out of 3,712 tested combinations for Doom. This places the system in the bottom 8% of all recorded setups, which is consistent with the GPU's low overall percentile. The CPU is exceptionally strong, sitting at the 95th percentile among all processors, but the Arc B370's 5th percentile standing dominates the outcome.

The measured frame rates confirm this imbalance. At 1920x1080, the system manages 71 FPS on High settings, which is playable but far from exceptional for a game as optimized as Doom. At 2560x1440, only Low settings clear the 60 FPS bar, and at 3840x2160, no preset reaches playable performance. The rank of 3,425 reflects a system that is heavily CPU-limited in synthetic benchmarks but GPU-bound in actual gameplay, and the GPU's capability is the limiting factor across all resolutions.

Compared to other combinations in the database, this setup sits near the bottom because the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's high multi-threaded scores, such as 42,018 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 70,255 in PassMark multi-thread, do not translate into playable high-resolution frame rates when paired with a GPU that delivers only 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The data shows that for Doom, the combination's outcome is almost entirely determined by the graphics subsystem.

# CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Arc B370 is the dominant constraint in this system for Doom. Evidence comes from the scaling across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate on High is 71 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops that to 46 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 3840x2160 High, the average falls to 25 FPS, which is 65% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep decline with increasing pixel count indicates that the GPU's shading units, texture units, and raster output pipelines are saturated early.

The CPU's role is minimal in this specific game. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D offers 16 cores, 32 threads, and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, with an L3 cache of 128 MB. These specifications are far beyond what Doom requires, especially given the game's 2016 release date. The recorded frame rate differences between presets at the same resolution further isolate the GPU as the limiting factor. At 1920x1080, Low averages 96 FPS, Medium 84 FPS, High 71 FPS, and Ultra 58 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 38 FPS, which is a GPU workload difference, not a CPU bottleneck.

Resolution scaling reinforces this. At 2560x1440, the gap between Low (62 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) is 25 FPS. At 3840x2160, the gap narrows to 14 FPS (34 FPS on Low versus 20 FPS on Ultra). This compression at higher resolutions suggests that even the lowest settings at 4K overwhelm the GPU, and the CPU is never the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread score of 1,292 in 3DMark and 4,737 in PassMark single-thread are ample for a game engine like Doom's id Tech 6, which scales well across a handful of cores.

# Similar Performance Alternatives

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's nearest rivals in the database are all extremely close in average score. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 scores 75,738, just 0.1% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D scores 75,716, also 0.1% lower. The AMD EPYC 8224P scores 75,582, a 0.3% difference, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 scores 75,488, 0.4% behind. For Doom, any of these processors would deliver equivalent performance, as the game's frame rates are not CPU-bound in this configuration. Swapping the CPU for one of these rivals would not change the measured FPS in any meaningful way.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B370's nearest rivals are dramatically different in age and class. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1,186, which is 0.2% higher than the Arc B370's 1,184. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1,190, a 0.5% advantage. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1,192, 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1,168, 1.4% lower. These are all legacy or mobile parts from over a decade ago, which underscores how low the Arc B370 sits in the current GPU landscape. For Doom, any of these GPUs would produce frame rates in the same range, meaning a user swapping the Arc B370 for an HD 5770 would see nearly identical performance.

The practical implication is that the system's overall behavior for Doom would be unchanged if the CPU were replaced with any of its nearest rivals, but the GPU is so weak that even its nearest rivals are ancient parts. This is a combination where the CPU is overqualified and the GPU is underqualified, and the nearest rival comparisons confirm that the GPU dictates the experience.

# Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average of 71 FPS. Medium averages 84 FPS and Low averages 96 FPS, but High is the highest quality that maintains playability. Ultra falls to 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, only Low settings achieve playable performance, averaging 62 FPS. Medium averages 54 FPS, High averages 46 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS requirement, so Low is the sole option for a smooth experience at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Low averages 34 FPS, Medium 29 FPS, High 25 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. The database records no playable settings for 4K, meaning users must either lower the resolution or accept sub-60 FPS performance.

# The Verdict

This system can run Doom, but with significant resolution and settings limitations. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable performance across Low, Medium, and High settings, with High being the best quality option at 71 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings clear the 60 FPS threshold, averaging 62 FPS. At 3840x2160, the system cannot achieve playable frame rates on any preset; the best average is 34 FPS on Low.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1920x1080 is fully playable up to High quality, 2560x1440 is playable only on Low, and 3840x2160 is not playable. The CPU's strength does not compensate for the GPU's limitations, and the recorded data shows that the Arc B370 is the binding constraint. Users targeting higher resolutions or maximum quality settings would need a more capable GPU.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160:

• High: average 25 FPS
• Low: average 34 FPS
• Medium: average 29 FPS, minimum 25 FPS, maximum 34 FPS
• Ultra: average 20 FPS

2560x1440:

• High: average 46 FPS
• Low: average 62 FPS
• Medium: average 54 FPS, minimum 46 FPS, maximum 62 FPS
• Ultra: average 37 FPS

1920x1080:

• High: average 71 FPS
• Low: average 96 FPS
• Medium: average 84 FPS, minimum 71 FPS, maximum 96 FPS
• Ultra: average 58 FPS

The Medium preset at each resolution includes minimum and maximum values, which provide a useful range. At 1920x1080 Medium, the range spans 71 to 96 FPS, indicating consistent performance. At 2560x1440 Medium, the range is 46 to 62 FPS, showing more variance. At 3840x2160 Medium, the range is 25 to 34 FPS, which is tight but low. The data indicates that the GPU's 20 raster operation units and 40 texture mapping units are the limiting factors, as the frame rates scale inversely with resolution in a predictable manner.