Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, a game that scales aggressively with both CPU and GPU capabilities. This combination produces high frame rates across all tested resolutions, though the scaling pattern reveals a shift in bottleneck behavior as pixel count increases. The data shows a system that prioritizes raw throughput, making it a strong candidate for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the transition from a CPU-bound to a GPU-bound workload. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 339.2 FPS, which drops to 219.8 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 117.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% reduction when stepping up to 4K. The magnitude of these drops, particularly at the 4K resolution, indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as the pixel count increases.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. With High settings, the frame rate falls from 248.7 FPS at 1080p to 159 FPS at 1440p, then to 85.9 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent: roughly 36% from 1080p to 1440p and 46% from 1440p to 4K. This consistent scaling suggests that Doom's rendering engine is well-optimized for parallel workloads, with the RTX 5070's 6144 shading units being the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 132.3 FPS (339.2 vs 206.9), while at 4K, this gap narrows to 43.8 FPS (117.7 vs 73.9). This compression at 4K further confirms that the GPU's raw throughput — its 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute — becomes the dominant constraint, rather than the settings-driven workload variations.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 372nd out of 1681 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations. This percentile ranking is notable given the hardware's individual standings: the Ryzen 5 8400F sits at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 5070 ranks at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. The combo's performance aligns closely with what these individual percentile scores would predict, indicating a well-balanced pairing without significant bottlenecking.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark suite provide context for its gaming potential. The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25,064 in the average benchmark, virtually matching the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25,057, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25,099, -0.1% delta). More tellingly, it edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24,993, 0.3% delta), which shares the same Zen 4 architecture and 6-core/12-thread configuration. This close grouping suggests that the 8400F's gaming performance is consistent with other mid-range AMD processors.

For the GPU, the RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 41,687 places it within 1% of several older or workstation-class cards. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41,897, -0.5% delta) by a negligible margin, while outperforming the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41,610, 0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (41,441, 0.6% delta). The comparison to the RTX 3090 is particularly relevant for gaming, as it suggests the 5070 delivers competitive performance against a previous-generation flagship.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, housing 31,100 million transistors across a 263 mm² die. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Doom at 4K with Ultra settings, where the average frame rate remains playable at 73.9 FPS. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective, a speed that helps maintain consistent frame pacing across all settings.

The GPU's compute resources are substantial: 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. The texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s directly contribute to the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p. The 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores provide additional capabilities, though Doom's traditional rasterization workload primarily exercises the shading units and TMUs.

Clocking at a base of 2325 MHz and boosting to 2512 MHz, the RTX 5070 maintains high utilization across all tested scenarios. The 250 W TDP and dual-slot cooler design allow for sustained performance without thermal throttling, as evidenced by the relatively small frame rate drops between settings at each resolution. The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41,687, confirms its position as a high-end performer that handles Doom's demands with headroom to spare.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce 339.2 FPS, Medium reaches 294.2 FPS, High achieves 248.7 FPS, and Ultra still manages 206.9 FPS. These numbers indicate that the CPU, running at a boost clock of 4.70 GHz with 6 cores and 12 threads, is able to feed the GPU effectively even at these elevated frame rates. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the CPU to keep up.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but starts to show GPU influence. Low settings hit 219.8 FPS, Medium reaches 188.5 FPS, High delivers 159 FPS, and Ultra produces 130.4 FPS. The frame rate differences between settings are more pronounced here than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU's workload is increasing. The RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at this resolution, as even Ultra settings in Doom do not exceed the available memory.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 117.7 FPS, Medium drops to 101.4 FPS, High achieves 85.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 73.9 FPS. These figures remain playable, but the diminishing returns from higher settings are evident. The 4K Ultra result of 73.9 FPS is 64% lower than the 1080p Ultra result, highlighting the substantial computational cost of rendering four times the pixels.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 144 FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: Yes. The measured average at 2560x1440 with High settings is 159 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 144 Hz. Even Ultra settings at this resolution achieve 130.4 FPS, which is close to the 144 FPS target.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to the RTX 3090 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070 scores 41,687 in the average benchmark, which is 0.6% higher than the RTX 3090's 41,441. This places them at near-parity in overall performance, though real-world gaming results can vary.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance like for gaming?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F achieves 951 in the 3dmark_single_thread test and 2,943 in cinebench_r23_singlecore. These scores, combined with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, ensure strong responsiveness in games that rely on single-thread performance.

Q: Is 12 GB of VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes. The measured results show playable frame rates at 3840x2160 across all settings, with Ultra achieving 73.9 FPS. The 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 12 GB capacity handle Doom's textures without issue.

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

A: It ranks 372nd out of 1681 combos, placing it in the top 22% of all tested systems for Doom. This is a strong result given the component-level percentiles of 82 for the CPU and 83 for the GPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is 132.3 FPS, with Low achieving 339.2 FPS and Ultra reaching 206.9 FPS. This substantial gap shows that settings significantly impact performance at lower resolutions where the CPU is less of a constraint.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F, part of the 8000 series based on Zen 4 architecture with the Phoenix codename, provides the computational foundation for this combo. Its 6 cores and 12 threads operate at a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost up to 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP that keeps thermals manageable. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 25,064, places it firmly in the mid-to-upper tier for gaming workloads.

The cache hierarchy — 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 16 MB shared L3 — is well-suited for Doom's engine, which benefits from low-latency access to frequently used data. The dual-channel DDR5 memory interface delivers 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth, sufficient to keep the GPU fed at 1080p and 1440p without creating a memory bandwidth bottleneck. The CPU's 4 nm process node, manufactured by TSMC, contributes to its efficiency and ability to maintain boost clocks during extended gaming sessions.

In synthetic tests, the 8400F shows strong multi-threaded capabilities with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 20,851 and a passmark_multithread score of 24,530. Its single-threaded performance is equally solid, with a cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 2,943 and a passmark_single_thread score of 3,684. These metrics translate directly to Doom's performance, as the game's engine scales well with both core count and clock speed, allowing the 8400F to deliver frame rates that rival more expensive processors. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, scores nearly identically in average benchmarks (25,057 vs 25,064), demonstrating that the 8400F offers comparable performance despite its lower core count, thanks to the architectural advantages of Zen 4.