Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and Intel Arc B580 combination delivers a remarkably strong performance profile in Doom, placing it in the 75th percentile of all tested combos. This pairing proves that a balanced mid-range setup can still excel in this title, offering high frame rates across the board. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K playable but requiring settings adjustments to maintain smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2786 out of 3712 tested configurations, placing it in the 75th percentile of all tested combos. This is a solid result, indicating that this pairing outperforms roughly three-quarters of all systems tested in this game. The ranking reflects the synergy between the six-core Ryzen 5 2600 and the Intel Arc B580, which together provide a balanced platform that avoids severe bottlenecks in Doom's engine.

Benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary driver of performance in this title. The Arc B580 sits in the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (0.2% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (0.6% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (0.7% slower), and the NVIDIA P106-100 (1% faster). This clustering suggests the B580 delivers performance in a well-established mid-to-high range tier, making it more than adequate for Doom's demands.

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 5 2600 sits in the 75th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 21484. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i9-11900H (0.5% faster), the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (0.7% faster), and the AMD EPYC 9454 (1.2% slower). While the CPU is older than the GPU, its six cores and twelve threads provide ample processing power for this game, and the data shows it does not constrain the frame rates achieved.

The fact that the combo ranks higher than either component individually suggests excellent optimization for this specific title. The 2786th position out of 3712 means the system outperforms its component-level percentiles would suggest, indicating that Doom scales well with this particular hardware pairing. For context, the CPU's 75th percentile and GPU's 68th percentile combine to produce a result that punches slightly above its weight class, making this a notably efficient configuration for this game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for each resolution. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 112 FPS on Ultra, 137 FPS on High, 162 FPS on Medium, and 186 FPS on Low. The jump from Ultra to High is substantial (25 FPS), while the jump from High to Medium adds another 25 FPS. For competitive play or maximum refresh rate utilization, Low settings deliver the highest frame rates, but the experience at High is already excellent for most displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve remains strong: 72 FPS on Ultra, 88 FPS on High, 105 FPS on Medium, and 120 FPS on Low. The data suggests that High settings at 1440p provide the best balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, as the 88 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold for comfortable gaming. Ultra at this resolution dips to 72 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits: 39 FPS on Ultra, 48 FPS on High, 57 FPS on Medium, and 65 FPS on Low. The 4K Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. However, the Medium preset at 57 FPS is close to playable, and Low at 65 FPS achieves the 60 FPS threshold. The recommendation for 4K is to use Low settings for consistent performance, or Medium if slight dips below 60 FPS are acceptable.

The measured min/max values for Medium settings across resolutions show the frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 137-186 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 89-120 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 48-65 FPS. These ranges indicate that the system maintains stable performance without severe frame drops, particularly at lower resolutions. The verdict is clear: 1080p and 1440p users should play on High settings for the best experience, while 4K users should drop to Low or Medium depending on their tolerance for frame rate variation.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured data shows 65 FPS on Low at 3840x2160, 57 FPS on Medium, 48 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, Low settings are required, though Medium is close at 57 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system in Doom?

A: The sweet spot is 2560x1440 on High settings, delivering 88 FPS. This provides excellent visual quality while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, High settings achieve 137 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, 0.2% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, 0.7% slower). This places it in a competitive mid-to-high range tier.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for the Arc B580 in Doom?

A: The data does not indicate a significant CPU bottleneck. The combo ranks in the 75th percentile overall, and the CPU's 75th percentile benchmark score suggests it provides sufficient processing power. The FPS scales predictably with resolution and settings, indicating GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p on Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 on Ultra is 112 FPS. This is a very playable frame rate that exceeds the requirements for most displays, though it is notably lower than the 186 FPS achievable on Low settings.

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

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 137 FPS at 1920x1080 to 48 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 89 FPS or roughly 65%. This is a significant loss, reflecting the increased pixel count that the GPU must process.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional across all settings. The Low preset achieves 186 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate for this combo. Medium delivers 162 FPS, High 137 FPS, and Ultra 112 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a reduction of 74 FPS, or approximately 40% of the Low setting's performance. The Medium preset has a measured range of 137-186 FPS, indicating that the system can dip to the High preset's average during intense scenes.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable. Low settings deliver 120 FPS, Medium 105 FPS, High 88 FPS, and Ultra 72 FPS. The Medium preset's range is 89-120 FPS, meaning the minimum frame rate matches the High preset's average. This indicates smooth performance without severe dips. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 48 FPS, or 40% of the Low setting's performance, mirroring the scaling at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to struggle at higher settings. Low delivers 65 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, High 48 FPS, and Ultra 39 FPS. The Medium preset's range is 48-65 FPS, which includes the High preset's average. This suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at this resolution, as the performance drops are more pronounced than at lower resolutions. The difference between Low and Ultra is 26 FPS, representing a 40% reduction from Low.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the performance gap between Low and Ultra is approximately 40% across all resolutions. However, the absolute frame rates at 4K are much lower, making settings choices more critical. At 1080p and 1440p, even Ultra settings provide playable frame rates, but at 4K, only Low settings guarantee 60 FPS. The measured min and max values for Medium settings across all resolutions confirm that the system maintains a stable frame rate with no anomalous spikes or crashes.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the dominant component in this configuration, driving the frame rates in Doom. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for this title's texture and geometry demands. The GPU's base and boost clocks are both 2670 MHz, ensuring consistent performance under load. The memory clock runs at 2375 MHz, or 19 Gbps effective, which contributes to the high bandwidth figure.

The GPU's architecture, Xe2-HPG on a 5 nm process, includes 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It also features 20 ray tracing cores, though Doom's original release does not heavily utilize ray tracing. The compute capabilities are substantial: 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 27.34 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 213.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 427.2 GTexel/s, both of which indicate strong fill rates for rasterization-heavy workloads.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 3068. Geekbench scores are 92821 for OpenCL and 109672 for Vulkan. Passmark scores show 15748 for G3D, 7729 for GPU compute, and 709 for G2D. Interestingly, the DirectX scores are lower: 76 for DX10, 128 for DX11, 76 for DX12, and 183 for DX9. This suggests that the GPU performs better in newer API workloads like Vulkan, which is relevant for Doom's id Tech 6 engine that supports Vulkan.

The B580's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (0.2% slower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (0.6% faster), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (0.7% slower), and NVIDIA P106-100 (1% faster). This clustering around the 23000 average score mark indicates that the B580 delivers performance comparable to a range of previous-generation high-end cards. The 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its position as a solid mid-to-high range option.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 provides the processing foundation for this combo, and while it plays a secondary role to the GPU in Doom, its specifications ensure the system never becomes CPU-bound. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. This is built on the Zen architecture using a 12 nm process from GlobalFoundries, with 4,800 million transistors on a 213 mm² die.

The memory subsystem is dual-channel DDR4 with a bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. The cache hierarchy includes 96 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications are modest by modern standards but are more than adequate for Doom's engine, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The CPU's 65W TDP and PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes provide sufficient bandwidth for the Arc B580, which uses PCIe 4.0 x8.

Benchmark results show the Ryzen 5 2600 performing well in both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. In Cinebench R15, it scores 1248 for multi-core and 157.3 for single-core. Geekbench scores are 5648 for multi-core and 1154 for single-core. Passmark scores include 13160 for multi-thread, 2239 for single-thread, and 673 for physics. The CPU's average benchmark score of 21484 places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rivals within 1.2% performance difference.

The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU in Doom. This is evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings changes, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows a clear drop from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU is the primary driver. The Ryzen 5 2600's six cores and twelve threads provide enough headroom for the game's processing demands, ensuring smooth performance even at the highest frame rates measured.