Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the Intel Arc B390 is a deeply unbalanced combination for Doom, landing near the bottom of the database. With a combo rank of 2580 out of 2930 tested configurations, this pairing sits in the 12th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly 88% of tested systems deliver higher frame rates. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU, which ranks in the 9th percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU ranks in the 89th percentile among all processors. This is a case where a strong processor is held back by a graphics solution that cannot keep pace, and the measured FPS data confirms this at every resolution and settings level.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and Intel Arc B390 achieves a rank of 2580 out of 2930 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the bottom 12% of all pairings, a position that reflects the GPU's severe limitations rather than any deficiency in the processor. The data shows that this combo is outperformed by the vast majority of alternatives, and the gap is substantial. For context, the CPU alone sits in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 9th percentile against all GPUs. When a processor in the top 11% is paired with a graphics card in the bottom 9%, the result is a system that cannot translate its processing power into playable frame rates in a graphics-intensive title like Doom.

The nearest rivals for the CPU illustrate its strength. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D posts an average benchmark score of 44573, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466), 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342), and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309). It is also 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600 (44889), which actually scores slightly higher, meaning the 7500X3D trails that specific rival by a negligible margin. These are all close scores, indicating the CPU is competitive with high-end mobile and desktop parts. However, none of that matters when the GPU is the limiting factor.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). These rivals are all entry-level or legacy parts, and the B390 barely edges them out. In Doom, this GPU produces average frame rates that are below playable thresholds at higher resolutions, and even at 1080p, it only manages acceptable numbers on lower presets. The combination's overall rank is therefore a direct consequence of the GPU's position in the bottom 9% of all graphics cards.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a Panther Lake chip, fabricated on a 3 nm process from Intel. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operations pipelines. The GPU also includes 12 ray tracing cores, which is a modern feature, but the raw compute power is limited. The FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s. The base clock is 300 MHz, and the boost clock reaches 2500 MHz. Memory is described as "System Shared," meaning the GPU uses the system's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, and bandwidth is "System Dependent." This is a critical limitation for a game like Doom, which benefits from dedicated video memory bandwidth.

The benchmark data for the GPU is sparse, with only one entry: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. This score places the GPU in the 9th percentile against all GPUs, which is a very low standing. The nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from a much older generation, such as the GeForce GT 520MX (1463), GeForce 800M (1460), GT 625 OEM (1446), and GT 710 (1443). The B390's score is only 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the GT 710, indicating that its performance level is comparable to decade-old entry-level graphics solutions. In Doom, this translates into average frame rates that struggle to stay above 30 FPS at 4K and only reach triple digits at 1080p on Low settings.

The GPU's TDP is 80 W, and it operates as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no dedicated power connectors. Its bus interface is also IGP, meaning it is not a discrete card but rather an integrated solution, likely intended for portable devices. The display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," which further confirms its integrated nature. For Doom, a fast-paced FPS, the lack of dedicated VRAM and the low overall compute performance mean the GPU is the primary constraint. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the average frame rate is 107 FPS, which is decent, but at higher settings and resolutions, the numbers drop sharply, revealing the GPU's inability to handle the game's demands.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture. It operates on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 11,270 million transistors on a 71 mm² die. The base clock is 4.00 GHz, and the boost clock reaches 4.50 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. It supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and it includes ECC memory support. The cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a substantial amount for gaming. The CPU is unlocked? No, the multiplier is locked, but it has integrated Radeon Graphics, which are irrelevant when a discrete GPU is present.

The CPU's benchmark scores are strong. The Passmark multithread score is 25047, and the single-thread score is 3494. Other scores include 43594 for floating point math, 70774 for integer math, and 271649 for data compression. The average benchmark score is 44573, placing it in the 89th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all high-end parts, such as the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466) and Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342), and the delta percentages are all within 0.7%. This confirms that the CPU is more than capable of handling Doom's processing needs. The 96 MB of L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming, as it reduces memory latency and improves frame pacing.

In the context of this combo, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the average frame rate is 107 FPS, which suggests the CPU can push higher if the GPU allows. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 22 FPS, which is far below what the CPU could theoretically support. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with frames, and in this case, the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p. The CPU's high L3 cache and fast clocks ensure that it is ready for any game, but with a GPU in the 9th percentile, the system's overall performance is severely constrained. The CPU alone would rank much higher in game tests, but the combo rank of 2580 reflects the reality that the GPU drags down the entire system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Doom reveals a consistent pattern: the GPU struggles as resolution and settings increase. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 107 FPS on Low, 93 FPS on Medium, 78 FPS on High, and 64 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS, indicating some variance but generally playable performance. At 1080p, the combo can achieve smooth gameplay on Low and Medium settings, with High also above 60 FPS, but Ultra drops to 64 FPS, which is still playable but approaches the edge of comfort for a fast-paced shooter.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. The average is 69 FPS on Low, 60 FPS on Medium, 51 FPS on High, and 41 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings provide a consistently smooth experience above 60 FPS, while Medium is borderline at exactly 60 FPS, and High and Ultra fall below that threshold. For a game like Doom, which benefits from high frame rates, 51 FPS on High is not ideal, and 41 FPS on Ultra is noticeably stuttery.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. The average frame rates are 37 FPS on Low, 33 FPS on Medium, 28 FPS on High, and 22 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. None of these settings achieve playable frame rates for a fast-paced FPS, as even the Low preset at 37 FPS is below the 60 FPS target. The 4K results confirm that this combo is not suitable for high-resolution gaming, and the GPU's lack of dedicated VRAM and low compute power make it impossible to maintain smooth performance.

The data shows a clear trend: the combo is only viable at 1080p with lower settings. The gap between 1080p Low (107 FPS) and 4K Low (37 FPS) is 70 FPS, which is a massive drop. The Ultra preset at 1080p (64 FPS) is higher than the Low preset at 4K (37 FPS), illustrating that resolution has a greater impact on performance than settings. This is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis shows how the FPS drops as resolution increases, and this reveals which component is the bottleneck. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS on Low settings drops from 107 to 69, which is a 35.5% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the Low settings FPS drops from 69 to 37, a 46.4% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is from 107 to 37, a 65.4% reduction. On Ultra settings, the drop is from 64 FPS at 1080p to 41 FPS at 1440p (a 35.9% reduction) and then to 22 FPS at 4K (a 46.3% reduction), for a total of 65.6% reduction. These percentage drops are consistent across settings, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not scale as dramatically with resolution, because the CPU's workload is relatively constant regardless of resolution. Here, the FPS drops by roughly 35% from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the GPU's pixel processing capability is the limiting factor. The GPU's pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are simply too low to handle the increased pixel count at higher resolutions. The lack of dedicated VRAM also means that at 4K, the GPU has to rely on system memory, which is slower and causes further performance degradation.

The scaling data also shows that the difference between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution is relatively small compared to the resolution scaling. At 1080p, the difference between Low (107 FPS) and Ultra (64 FPS) is 43 FPS, while at 4K, the difference is only 15 FPS (from 37 to 22). This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so overburdened that changing settings has less impact, because the GPU is already at its limits. This is further evidence that the GPU is the bottleneck, and the CPU is not constraining performance in any meaningful way.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's resolution and frame rate target. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 107 FPS, which is excellent for a fast-paced FPS like Doom. The Medium preset at 93 FPS is also very good and offers better visual quality with only a 14 FPS penalty. The High preset at 78 FPS is still above 60 FPS and provides a good balance, but the Ultra preset at 64 FPS is the highest settings that maintain playable performance. For a competitive experience, Low or Medium are recommended, as they provide the highest frame rates and lowest input latency.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 69 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game that benefits from high refresh rates. The Medium preset at 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold, but the minimum of 51 FPS means there will be noticeable dips. The High preset at 51 FPS and Ultra at 41 FPS are not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 1440p, the Low preset is the only setting that consistently stays near 60 FPS, and even then, the minimum FPS is not reported, but the average suggests it is the best option. Users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate could use Medium, but they should expect occasional stutters.

At 3840x2160, none of the settings produce playable frame rates. The Low preset at 37 FPS is the highest, but it is below 40 FPS, which is not suitable for a fast-paced FPS. The Medium preset at 33 FPS, High at 28 FPS, and Ultra at 22 FPS are all unplayable. For 4K, this combo should be avoided entirely, as even the lowest settings cannot achieve a smooth experience. The data indicates that the GPU is simply not powerful enough for 4K gaming in Doom.

The best experience per the measured rows is at 1080p with Medium settings. This preset yields an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. The minimum of 79 FPS ensures that the game stays above 60 FPS during intense scenes, and the average is close to 100 FPS, which is ideal for a smooth and responsive experience. While Low settings at 107 FPS offer a higher average, the visual quality improvement from Low to Medium is significant, and the FPS drop is only 14 FPS. The Medium preset provides a better balance between visual fidelity and performance, making it the recommended choice for this combo. For users who prioritize maximum frame rates, Low at 1080p is the alternative, but Medium is the sweet spot.