Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers a highly capable 1080p experience in Doom, with performance scaling predictably as resolution increases. The data shows a clear shift from a GPU-bound scenario at 4K to a more balanced workload at 1440p and 1080p, making this combo a solid choice for high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic resolution scaling curve. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 149 FPS average. Moving to 1440p drops that to 96 FPS, a 35.6% reduction, and then to 4K it falls to 52 FPS, a further 45.8% drop from 1440p. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K strongly indicates that the RTX 5050's rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

Examining the Low preset tells a similar story but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the system hits 202 FPS, dropping to 131 FPS at 1440p and 71 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35.1%, almost identical to the High preset's 35.6% decline. This consistency suggests the scaling is primarily due to pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than a specific setting bottleneck.

At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target most players consider smooth. The jump from 4K Ultra to 4K High gains 9 FPS (52 vs 43), while dropping further to Medium gains another 10 FPS (62 vs 52), and Low reaches 71 FPS. This indicates that at 4K, even the most demanding settings are playable, but only at lower presets.

The 1440p results show the sweet spot for this hardware. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 114 FPS average with a minimum of 97 FPS, keeping frametimes consistent. The 1440p Ultra preset still produces 79 FPS, which is perfectly smooth for most monitors. The data points to the CPU having sufficient headroom at 1440p, as the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly proportional to the pixel count increase.

At 1080p, the framerate ceiling appears to be partially CPU-limited. The gap between 1080p Low (202 FPS) and 1080p Medium (176 FPS) is 26 FPS, while the gap between 1440p Low (131 FPS) and 1440p Medium (114 FPS) is 17 FPS. This smaller absolute difference at higher resolution suggests the CPU can feed frames faster at 1080p, but the GPU becomes the constraint sooner.

Settings Recommendations

For 1440p gaming, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The measured 114 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay without dipping below refresh rate thresholds. High settings at 1440p still deliver 96 FPS, which is excellent, but the 18 FPS gain from dropping to Medium is substantial for competitive play.

At 1080p, High settings at 149 FPS is the recommended starting point. The data shows Ultra drops to 122 FPS, a 27 FPS penalty for marginal visual gains. The Medium preset at 176 FPS is ideal for players with 165Hz or 180Hz monitors, while Low at 202 FPS suits those chasing maximum framerates on 240Hz displays. The 1080p Ultra setting is the least efficient, sacrificing significant performance for the highest quality.

For 4K, the situation requires compromise. Ultra at 43 FPS is borderline unplayable for fast-paced action. High at 52 FPS is playable but not ideal. Medium at 62 FPS is the best choice for a smooth 4K experience, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold. Low at 71 FPS is the only preset that provides comfortable headroom at 4K, but the visual downgrade is noticeable.

The frametime data from the Medium presets provides useful consistency information. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 150 FPS against a 176 FPS average, showing tight frametimes. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 97 FPS against a 114 FPS average is similarly stable. At 4K Medium, the minimum of 52 FPS against a 62 FPS average indicates slightly more variance, but still within acceptable bounds.

Players prioritizing competitive performance should use 1080p Low or Medium. The 202 FPS at Low and 176 FPS at Medium give significant headroom above 144Hz monitors. For single-player immersion at 1440p, Medium or High both work well, with High providing better visuals at 96 FPS. The 4K Medium preset is the only viable path for 4K displays without sacrificing too much quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1766 out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the 39.7th percentile. This position indicates that while the hardware is competent, many other pairings deliver higher framerates in this specific title. The ranking reflects the RTX 5050's position as a mid-range GPU, as Doom's engine is known to be well-optimized and responsive to GPU scaling.

Looking at the individual component benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 8400F performs well overall. Its average benchmark score of 25005 places it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 77% of processors in general compute tasks. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% faster), Intel Core i7-11850H (0.3% faster), and Intel Core i7-13620H (0.4% faster), showing the 8400F is tightly clustered with several strong mid-range options.

The RTX 5050's GPU benchmark scores tell a different story. Its average score of 21035 places it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% faster), AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1% faster), and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (1.6% faster), with the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT being 1.6% slower. This clustering suggests the 5050 sits in a crowded performance tier.

In Doom specifically, the combo's rank of 1766 out of 2930 suggests the game is more demanding on this hardware than typical workloads. The CPU's 77th percentile ranking is significantly higher than the combo's 39.7th percentile in-game ranking, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this title. The 5050's 66th percentile ranking is closer to the combo's in-game position, confirming this analysis.

The measured FPS data supports this interpretation. At 1080p High, the combo produces 149 FPS, which is strong but not exceptional for a well-optimized FPS game. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS further emphasizes the GPU limitation, as even the efficient Doom engine cannot overcome the 5050's modest memory bandwidth and fill rate at high resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 144 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at Low and Medium settings. The measured 202 FPS at Low and 176 FPS at Medium both exceed 144 FPS. However, at High settings the 149 FPS average just barely misses the 144 FPS target, and Ultra drops to 122 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: Only at lower presets. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 62 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum, which is playable. High drops to 52 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43 FPS, both below the ideal 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The 8400F scores 25005 average, which is 0.2% slower than the Ryzen 5 7500F (24964), 0.3% slower than the Core i7-11850H (24935), and 0.4% slower than the Core i7-13620H (24911). It is 0.4% faster than the EPYC 9474F (25103).

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: Medium delivers 114 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum, providing the best balance of smoothness and visual quality. High at 96 FPS is also viable, while Ultra at 79 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced play.

Q: Does the 8GB VRAM cause issues in Doom?

A: The measured data shows no VRAM-related stuttering or crashes at any preset. The 128-bit memory bus provides 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, which appears sufficient for this game's requirements.

Q: How does the combo rank against all tested systems in Doom?

A: It ranks 1766 out of 2930 combos, placing it in the lower half of tested systems. This is primarily due to the GPU's performance tier, as the CPU benchmarks in the 77th percentile overall.

GPU Role

The RTX 5050 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. The GPU has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2572 MHz. These specifications position the card as a capable 1080p performer with limited 4K headroom.

The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s directly impact Doom's performance at higher resolutions. The game's measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K follows the expected pattern for a GPU with this fill rate capability. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is consistent with the card's 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance being insufficient for maxed-out settings at that pixel count.

The memory configuration plays a critical role in the 4K results. The 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the strong framerates at those resolutions. However, at 4K, the demand for texture data and pixel fill increases significantly, and the 128-bit bus becomes a limiting factor. The 8 GB capacity is not the issue; the bandwidth is what constrains high-resolution performance.

The GPU's 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, is 1.6% slower, showing the 5050 holds its own against previous-generation mid-range cards. The 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores are present but do not directly influence Doom's rasterization-based performance metrics.

The passmark G3D score of 17326 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 provide synthetic reference points for the card's capability. The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 66 in Passmark suggests strong API efficiency, which is relevant for Doom's Vulkan and OpenGL paths. The GPU's 5 nm process node from TSMC contributes to its 130 W TDP, keeping power requirements modest.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 8400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This configuration is well-suited for Doom's multi-threaded engine, which can utilize multiple cores for rendering tasks. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain low latency for frequently accessed game data.

The CPU's benchmark scores show strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 indicate the processor can handle both heavily threaded workloads and single-threaded game logic efficiently. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6091 and single-thread score of 951 further confirm this balanced capability.

In Doom, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 202 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed frames at high rates without becoming a bottleneck. However, the fact that the 1080p Medium (176 FPS) and 1080p High (149 FPS) results show significant gaps indicates the GPU is increasingly limiting as settings increase.

The CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs is notably higher than the combo's in-game rank of 1766 out of 2930. This discrepancy confirms the CPU is not the primary constraint in Doom. The 8400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the high framerates at 1080p where CPU load is highest.

The 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node contribute to efficient operation, allowing the CPU to maintain boost clocks for extended periods. The DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures the CPU can access game data quickly. The PCIe Gen 4 interface with 20 lanes provides adequate bandwidth for the GPU and storage devices.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% faster), which is nearly identical in performance, and the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.4% faster), showing the 8400F competes well with other mid-range options. The multi-threaded benchmark results, such as Passmark's 24389 multithread score and 1332 physics score, indicate strong overall computational capability that supports smooth gameplay.