Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, though the data reveals a predictable ceiling at 4K. This combination ranks 2418th out of 3712 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, but the measured frames per second tell a story of a system that is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming. The benchmark results show a clear progression of performance scaling as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the dominant limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 147 FPS at 1080p to 95 FPS at 1440p, and then down to 51 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% drop when stepping up to 4K. The pattern is nearly identical across all settings presets, indicating that the scaling is primarily driven by pixel count rather than the complexity of the scene.

What is particularly revealing is the relative performance at each resolution. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset achieves 120 FPS average, suggesting the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU. However, the 4K results show a different story. The gap between Low (70 FPS) and Ultra (42 FPS) at 4K is 40%, which is proportionally similar to the gap at 1080p (200 FPS Low vs 120 FPS Ultra, a 40% difference). This consistency suggests that the game's settings scale uniformly regardless of resolution, but the absolute numbers at 4K indicate the RX 6650 XT is simply running out of pixel-pushing capacity.

The data implies that the limiting component shifts decisively to the GPU as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the CPU can keep the GPU fed, but the Radeon RX 6650 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width begin to constrain performance at higher resolutions. The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 52 and maximum of 70, which brackets the average of 61 FPS. This variance suggests that the GPU is working near its limit, with frame times becoming less consistent as the render load increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows reveal that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, particularly when considering the minimum FPS data. At 1080p, Medium delivers 174 FPS average with a minimum of 148 FPS, which is comfortably above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many gaming monitors use. The jump from Medium to High costs 27 FPS (from 174 to 147 FPS), while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 27 FPS (from 147 to 120 FPS). This linear degradation suggests that each settings tier has a similar computational cost.

At 1440p, Medium remains the sweet spot with 113 FPS average and a minimum of 96 FPS. This is still smooth for most displays, and the 1440p Medium result is only 17 FPS lower than the 1080p High preset. The data shows that the 1440p Medium setting is the highest quality configuration that maintains a minimum FPS above 90, which is critical for avoiding perceptible stutter in fast-paced FPS gameplay.

For 4K, the situation changes dramatically. Medium drops to 61 FPS average, and while this is technically playable, the minimum of 52 FPS suggests occasional dips that could affect gameplay smoothness. The Low preset at 4K achieves 70 FPS, which is actually higher than the High preset at 4K (51 FPS). This indicates that players targeting 4K should either accept Low settings or consider the Medium preset for the best balance of visual quality and playable frame rates. The Ultra preset at 4K (42 FPS) is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for competitive play.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. These clocks are relatively high for the RX 6000 series, and the data suggests they help the card perform above its class in a well-optimized title like Doom.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s are respectable for this class of card. The FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS provides the raw compute power needed for the game's rendering effects. The card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which Doom can leverage for modern rendering features.

The VRAM situation is interesting. With 8 GB of GDDR6, the card likely does not run out of memory at 1080p or 1440p, but the 4K results suggest that memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck. The 280.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the transition to 4K increases memory pressure. The measured FPS at 4K Medium (61 FPS) versus 4K Low (70 FPS) shows only a 13% difference, which is smaller than the 15% difference between 1080p Medium and Low (174 vs 200 FPS). This compressed scaling at 4K is consistent with a GPU that is hitting its memory bandwidth ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 6650 XT delivers exceptional performance. The Low preset achieves 200 FPS average, which is the maximum measured across all configurations. Medium follows at 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS, High at 147 FPS, and Ultra at 120 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 80 FPS, and the data shows that even the most demanding preset at 1080p stays well above the 100 FPS mark. This makes 1080p the resolution where this combo truly shines, with all settings providing a smooth experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but not severe. Low still achieves 129 FPS, which is excellent for 1440p. Medium delivers 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS, maintaining a solid experience. High drops to 95 FPS, and Ultra falls to 78 FPS. The 1440p results show that the GPU can handle this resolution with most settings, though the Ultra preset at 78 FPS is approaching the threshold where some players might notice reduced smoothness on high-refresh-rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low achieves 70 FPS, Medium 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS, High 51 FPS, and Ultra 42 FPS. The 4K results highlight the GPU's limitations at this resolution. The Medium preset provides the most useful data point, as it has both minimum and maximum FPS recorded. The 52 FPS minimum suggests that even the Medium preset can have frame drops that might be noticeable in intense action sequences. The 42 FPS at Ultra is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the least viable option.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2418th out of 3712 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the 35th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the mid-range positioning of both the CPU and GPU. The Ryzen 5 8400F has a percentile of 77 among all CPUs, while the RX 6650 XT has a percentile of 65 among all GPUs. The combination of a strong CPU with a mid-range GPU explains why the ranking is lower than the CPU percentile but higher than what the GPU alone might suggest.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is the closest competitor with an average score of 24964, just 0.2% lower than the 8400F's 25005. The Intel Core i7-11850H and i7-13620H are within 0.3-0.4% of the 8400F's score. This shows that the 8400F is well-positioned among its peers, with no significant performance gaps in either direction. The GPU's nearest rivals are less familiar names: the NVIDIA Tesla K40m is 0.6% slower, while the AMD FirePro D300 and W7000 are within 0.7-0.8% faster. This suggests the RX 6650 XT is solidly in the mid-range GPU tier.

The ranking data implies that the combo performs as expected for its component class. The 2418th rank out of 3712 means there are 1294 combos that perform worse, which puts this system in the upper half of all tested configurations. However, the large number of faster combos indicates that this is not a high-end setup. The data suggests that the system is well-suited for 1080p gaming and capable at 1440p, but it will struggle with 4K at high settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution, with all settings presets achieving at least 120 FPS average. The 2560x1440 resolution is also viable, with Medium settings delivering 113 FPS average and a minimum of 96 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with compromises. The 4K Low preset achieves 70 FPS, and Medium achieves 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25005, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24964) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935). It is 0.4% slower than the AMD EPYC 9474F (25103).

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 280.3 GB/s bandwidth. The 4K performance drop suggests this bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the compressed scaling between Low and Medium presets at 4K.

Q: What is the minimum FPS for the Medium preset at each resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 148. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 96 FPS. At 3840x2160, the minimum drops to 52 FPS. These figures show a clear degradation in frame consistency as resolution increases.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Doom?

A: This combo ranks 2418th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all tested systems. The CPU has a percentile of 77 among all CPUs, while the GPU has a percentile of 65 among all GPUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Phoenix. It operates with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a TDP of 65 watts. The CPU is manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC, with 25,000 million transistors on a 178 mm² die. This modern architecture provides strong single-threaded performance, which is crucial for Doom's game engine.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides fast access to frequently used data, which helps maintain high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. The memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration provides 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is sufficient for feeding the 6 cores.

Benchmark results show the CPU's strengths. In Cinebench R23, it scores 20851 in multicore and 2943 in singlecore. The 3DMark results show good scaling from 2 threads (1874) to 16 threads (6091), indicating efficient multi-threading. The PassMark multithread score of 24389 and single-thread score of 3685 place it well above average. The CPU's percentile of 77 among all CPUs confirms its position as a strong mid-range processor.

In the context of Doom, the CPU's performance is more than adequate. The 1080p Low preset achieves 200 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit rather than a CPU bottleneck. Even at 1080p Ultra with 120 FPS, the CPU has sufficient headroom. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, as the GPU consistently becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 6 cores and 12 threads are well-suited for this game, which typically scales well with multi-threaded CPUs.