Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and Intel Arc B580 combination delivers a solidly playable experience in Doom across most settings, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show that this pairing is far more comfortable at 1080p and 1440p than at 4K, where the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to interpret what these numbers mean for the overall performance profile of this specific hardware configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the graphics card is the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At the Ultra preset, the average frame rate falls from 112 FPS at 1920x1080 to 72 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 40 FPS, and then collapses to 39 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 65% performance loss from 1080p to 4K, which is a dramatic scaling curve that points directly at the GPU being overwhelmed by the pixel throughput requirement.

The High preset shows a similar pattern, with average FPS moving from 137 at 1080p to 88 at 1440p and finally to 48 at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 1440p here is 49 FPS, while the delta between 1440p and 4K is 40 FPS. For Medium settings, the averages are 162, 105, and 57 FPS respectively, with the 1080p-to-4K drop being 105 FPS. Even the Low preset, which should minimize GPU load, sees averages of 186, 120, and 65 FPS across the three resolutions, demonstrating that the scaling penalty remains significant regardless of visual fidelity.

This data suggests the Ryzen 5 5600 is not the bottleneck in this scenario. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which is ample for a 2016-era FPS title. The fact that even at Low settings the 4K average is only 65 FPS, while the same preset at 1080p reaches 186 FPS, indicates the Arc B580 with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus is hitting its compute limits. The GPU's pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s appear insufficient for the 8.3 million pixels of 4K in this engine, especially when considering the game's demanding geometry.

The scaling behavior also reveals something about the game's optimization. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is relatively consistent across presets, suggesting the bottleneck is purely fill-rate and shader-bound rather than memory-bandwidth-limited. The GPU's 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is generous, but the raw FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS is what likely caps performance at higher resolutions. For users targeting 4K, the measured data indicates that even Medium settings will struggle to maintain a smooth 60 FPS, with the average sitting at 57 FPS and minimums potentially dipping lower.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and frame rate depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 112 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS threshold many competitive FPS players prefer. The High preset pushes this to 137 FPS, and Medium to 162 FPS. For most users at 1080p, the High preset offers the best experience per the data, as it provides a substantial visual improvement over Medium while still maintaining a 137 FPS average that comfortably exceeds standard 60 Hz and 120 Hz displays. The Ultra preset is also viable at this resolution, but the 112 FPS average is only 25 FPS lower than High, suggesting diminishing returns for the extra visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the High preset becomes the clear recommendation, with an average of 88 FPS. This is within the range of being playable on a 1440p 144 Hz monitor, though not saturating it. The Medium preset at 105 FPS is the better choice for users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, as the 17 FPS gain over High is noticeable. The Ultra preset at 72 FPS is playable but falls below the 75 FPS mark that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay on higher refresh panels. The Low preset at 120 FPS is the only option that fully utilizes a 120 Hz display, but the visual compromise is severe for a game with Doom's detailed environments.

At 3840x2160, the data paints a grim picture for high-fidelity gaming. The Low preset averages 65 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches a standard 60 FPS target. The Medium preset drops to 57 FPS, and High falls to 48 FPS, while Ultra is nearly unplayable at 39 FPS. For 4K, the recommendation must be Low or Medium if maintaining playability is the priority. The 8 FPS difference between Low and Medium at this resolution is minimal, so choosing Medium for better visuals is justified, but users should expect frame dips below 60 FPS as the minimum recorded for Medium is 48 FPS.

The data also shows a consistent pattern where the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p it provides 162 FPS, at 1440p 105 FPS, and at 4K 57 FPS. This suggests that Medium is the "sweet spot" preset that scales gracefully with resolution changes, making it the safest recommendation for users who frequently switch between monitors or don't want to manually adjust settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination achieve 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 65. At Medium settings, the average drops to 57 FPS, and at High it falls to 48 FPS. The Ultra preset is not viable at 4K, with an average of 39 FPS.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this setup can produce at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average is 186 FPS at Low settings. For more realistic visual presets, Medium achieves 162 FPS, High achieves 137 FPS, and Ultra achieves 112 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K?

A: The loss is significant across all presets. At High settings, the average drops from 88 FPS to 48 FPS, a 40 FPS reduction. At Medium, it drops from 105 to 57 FPS, and at Low, from 120 to 65 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.40 GHz boost clock, which is sufficient for the game. The steep FPS drops from 1080p to 4K, even at Low settings, point to the Intel Arc B580's compute limits being the primary constraint.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p 144 Hz monitor?

A: The Medium preset, with an average of 105 FPS, is the only option that gets close to saturating a 144 Hz display. The High preset at 88 FPS and Low at 120 FPS are alternatives, but Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate.

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

A: The combination ranks 2786 out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the 25th percentile. This is a mid-to-low ranking, indicating that while the setup is functional, many other CPU/GPU pairings deliver higher frame rates in this specific title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings provides a wide spread of performance. The Ultra preset delivers an average of 112 FPS, which serves as the baseline for maximum visual fidelity. The High preset increases this to 137 FPS, a 25 FPS improvement that represents a 22% performance gain over Ultra. The Medium preset further pushes to 162 FPS, adding another 25 FPS over High. The Low preset tops out at 186 FPS, which is 74 FPS higher than Ultra, a 66% improvement. The measured minimum and maximum values for the Medium preset are 137 and 186 FPS respectively, showing that the frame time variance is contained, with the minimum still being highly playable.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers. The Ultra preset averages 72 FPS, which is 40 FPS lower than at 1080p. The High preset averages 88 FPS, a 49 FPS drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 105 FPS, with a minimum of 89 FPS and maximum of 120 FPS, indicating that most frames fall within a playable range. The Low preset averages 120 FPS, which is exactly 66 FPS lower than its 1080p counterpart. The delta between Ultra and Low at this resolution is 48 FPS, showing that settings have a slightly smaller impact at 1440p compared to 1080p where the delta was 74 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance is constrained. The Ultra preset averages 39 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset averages 48 FPS, a 9 FPS improvement over Ultra. The Medium preset averages 57 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS and maximum of 65 FPS, making it the most viable option for 4K gaming despite the occasional dip. The Low preset averages 65 FPS, which is the only setting that stays above 60 FPS on average. The scaling from Ultra to Low at 4K is 26 FPS, or a 67% improvement, which is the largest relative gain across all resolutions, further confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, demonstrates its capabilities and limitations in this test. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for Doom's texture loads, as evidenced by the relatively small performance gap between Medium and High settings at each resolution. The 80 ROPs and 160 TMUs deliver a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s, which are the key metrics for fill-rate-bound scenarios.

The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2670 MHz, which is a fixed clock across base and boost. This consistent clock speed helps maintain predictable performance, as there is no thermal throttling variance to account for in the measured data. The FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS is the likely limiting factor at 4K, where the shader complexity of Doom's Vulkan renderer demands significant compute throughput. The GPU's 2560 shading units are distributed across 20 RT cores, though ray tracing is not a factor in this 2016 title.

The B580's performance percentile of 68 places it in the upper two-thirds of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals show a tight clustering. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 23061 with a delta of -0.2%, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895 with a delta of 0.6%. This indicates the B580 sits in a competitive segment, but the measured FPS data in Doom shows it struggling at higher resolutions. The 12 GB memory size is generous, but the 192-bit bus width and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, while high, are not sufficient to overcome the raw compute deficit at 4K.

The GPU's TDP of 190 W and suggested PSU of 450 W are notable for system planning, but the measured performance suggests that the power envelope is not the constraint. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the B580 provides excellent frame rates, but the 4K results are sub-60 FPS for all settings except Low. This is characteristic of a mid-range GPU that excels at mainstream resolutions but cannot handle 4K with high fidelity in demanding titles.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 provides a solid foundation for this gaming configuration. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, the CPU offers a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for gaming workloads, as it reduces memory latency and improves data locality. The CPU's benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and a single-core score of 2584, indicating strong single-threaded performance that is crucial for older games like Doom.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 74 places it in the top quartile of all processors, and its nearest rivals show it is well-positioned. The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V scores 20454 with a delta of 0.1%, while the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G scores 20425 with a delta of 0.2%. This tight clustering suggests that the 5600 is not a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios. The CPU's 65 W TDP is modest, but the measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes.

In Doom, which is known for its efficient Vulkan implementation, the CPU overhead is minimal. The 12 threads are more than sufficient for the game's engine, which was designed for 8th-generation consoles with 8 cores. The fact that the FPS drops from 186 to 65 when moving from 1080p to 4K at Low settings confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor; if it were, the 1080p and 4K frame rates would be closer together. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s for DDR4 dual-channel is adequate for this game, though it is lower than the GPU's 456.0 GB/s, which is expected given the different memory interfaces.

The Ryzen 5 5600's integrated graphics are null, so all rendering is handled by the discrete B580. This is a clean configuration where each component operates independently without shared resources. The CPU's PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the B580's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, ensuring no data transfer bottleneck between the processor and graphics card.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2786 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the 25th percentile of all configurations. This is a mid-low ranking that reflects the measured FPS data, particularly the sub-60 FPS results at 4K. For a game released in 2016, this ranking suggests that the hardware is not optimized for the specific demands of Doom's engine, despite both components being from the current generation.

The ranking can be interpreted in the context of the individual component performances. The CPU's percentile of 74 and the GPU's percentile of 68 are both above average, but their combined performance in this specific game is below what those individual rankings might suggest. This indicates that the pairing has a synergistic weakness in Doom, likely due to the GPU's compute limitations at higher resolutions outweighing the CPU's strengths.

When compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is within 1% of the RTX 2080 and RX 580 2048SP. However, the measured FPS in Doom shows that this translates to a playable experience only up to 1440p. The combo's rank of 2786 out of 3712 means that approximately 75% of tested configurations deliver better performance in this game. This is a significant finding for users considering this hardware pairing, as it suggests that while the components are individually capable, their combined performance in Doom is below the median.

The ranking also highlights the importance of resolution and settings selection. At 1080p with High or Medium settings, the combo delivers frame rates that would place it in a much higher percentile, but the measured data for the full range of settings weights the average down. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is particularly damaging to the overall ranking. For users who prioritize this specific game, the data indicates that a GPU with higher compute throughput would be necessary to improve the ranking, as the CPU is not the limiting factor.