Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a 32 MB shared L3 cache. The 5800XT posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23794 and a single-core score of 3359, placing it in the 81st percentile among all CPUs. The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, is an integrated graphics processor built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its boost clock reaches 2500 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. The combo of these two parts ranks 2580 out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom, a 2016 FPS title, indicating that while the CPU is capable, the GPU significantly constrains performance.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 7 5800XT brings substantial compute resources to this pairing. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it can handle modern game engine workloads that spawn numerous background tasks, but Doom is not a heavily threaded title. The data shows the processor's strength in synthetic tests: the 3DMark 16-thread score is 7683, while the 8-thread score is 6141, and the 4-thread score is 3603. This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU gains about 25% performance when moving from 8 threads to 16 threads, which suggests that Doom's core engine would likely not saturate all 16 threads. The single-thread score of 959 in 3DMark and 3359 in Cinebench R23 are more relevant metrics for a game like Doom, which relies heavily on a single main render thread.

The CPU's boost clock of 4.80 GHz provides high-frequency response for that primary thread, and the benchmark results support this. In Passmark, the single-thread score is 3535, which is a strong result. When paired with a weak GPU like the Arc B390, the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling data: at 1080p Low settings, the average FPS is 107. At 1440p Low, it drops to 69 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 37 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain similar across resolutions because the CPU work per frame stays roughly constant. Instead, the FPS drops dramatically as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint.

The nearest rivals for the 5800XT include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H, which has an average score of 29868 and a deltaPct of 0, meaning it is essentially identical in performance. The Ryzen 5 9600X scores 29713 with a deltaPct of 0.6, meaning the 5800XT is about 0.6% faster. These comparisons are close enough that they would yield nearly identical frame rates in Doom if paired with the same GPU. The 5800XT's 32 MB L3 cache is beneficial for game data reuse, but in this specific configuration, the GPU's limitations dominate the final FPS numbers. The CPU's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR4 dual-channel) is adequate for feeding the integrated GPU, but the shared memory architecture means the GPU competes for the same bandwidth.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a 300 MHz base clock and a 2500 MHz boost clock. Its memory is "System Shared," meaning it uses the system's DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The bus width and bandwidth are also listed as "System Shared" and "System Dependent," respectively, which means performance will vary based on the system's memory configuration. The GPU has 1536 shading units and a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s, with a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s and an FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS. These specs place the Arc B390 in the 9th percentile among all GPUs, which is very low, and its nearest rivals are ancient dedicated parts like the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (deltaPct 1.3) and the GT 710 (deltaPct 2.7).

The GPU's single benchmark result is a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which confirms its low-end positioning. In Doom, this translates to sub-60 FPS at most settings. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 107, which is playable, but at 1080p High, it drops to 78 FPS. At 1440p, even Low settings yield only 69 FPS, and at 4K, the highest average is 37 FPS on Low. The lack of dedicated VRAM is a critical factor here. The Arc B390 relies on system memory, which has a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s on this CPU platform. This bandwidth is shared with the CPU, and at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU needs to fetch more texture data, which saturates the memory bus.

The RT cores (12) and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate are present, but they do not help in a game from 2016 that was designed for older APIs. The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz is respectable for an iGPU, but the sheer number of shading units (1536) is low compared to even entry-level discrete GPUs. The texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s sounds high on paper, but the memory bottleneck prevents it from being utilized fully. The data shows that increasing settings from Low to Medium at 1080p reduces FPS from 107 to 93, which is a 13% drop. Going from Medium to High drops it further to 78 FPS (another 16% drop). This scaling indicates that the GPU is struggling with increased shader and texture workloads, not that the CPU is holding it back.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution dependency. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 107. At 1440p Low, it drops to 69 FPS, which is a 35.5% decrease. At 4K Low, it falls to 37 FPS, which is another 46.4% decrease from 1440p. This steep decline is classic GPU-bound behavior. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would stay flat or even improve slightly at higher resolutions, because the GPU would be waiting longer on the CPU to issue draw calls. Instead, the FPS scales inversely with the number of pixels, confirming that the Arc B390 is the bottleneck.

For High settings, the pattern is similar: 1080p yields 78 FPS, 1440p yields 51 FPS (a 34.6% drop), and 4K yields 28 FPS (a 45.1% drop from 1440p). The percentage drops are remarkably consistent across settings, which suggests that the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, not any specific setting. The Medium settings show a similar trend: 93 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p (down 35.5%), and 33 FPS at 4K (down 45%). The Ultra settings produce 64 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings shrinks as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low (107 FPS) is 67% faster than Ultra (64 FPS). At 1440p, Low (69 FPS) is 68% faster than Ultra (41 FPS). At 4K, Low (37 FPS) is 68% faster than Ultra (22 FPS). This suggests that the settings' impact on FPS is proportional across resolutions, but the absolute FPS is so low at 4K that even Low settings cannot achieve a smooth 60 FPS. The limiting component is unambiguously the GPU, as the CPU's performance is sufficient to push 107 FPS at 1080p Low, which is a high frame rate that demands strong per-thread CPU performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance in Doom. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 107 FPS. Medium settings produce an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. High settings produce 78 FPS on average. Ultra settings produce 64 FPS on average. The difference between Low and Ultra is 43 FPS, which is a significant 40% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher-quality shaders and textures, but the CPU can still maintain good frame pacing at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings yield 69 FPS on average. Medium settings yield 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. High settings yield 51 FPS on average. Ultra settings yield 41 FPS on average. The gap between Low and Ultra is 28 FPS, which is a 40.6% reduction from Low to Ultra. Notably, the Medium settings' minimum FPS (51) is equal to the High settings' average FPS (51), indicating that the frame time variance increases with settings at this resolution. This is a typical sign of memory bandwidth saturation, as the iGPU competes with the CPU for system memory access.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal. Low settings produce 37 FPS on average. Medium settings produce 33 FPS, with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. High settings yield 28 FPS on average. Ultra settings produce 22 FPS on average. The drop from Low to Ultra is 15 FPS, which is a 40.5% reduction. At 4K, even the Low preset cannot reach 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is essentially unplayable at 22 FPS. The Medium settings' minimum FPS of 28 is the same as the High settings' average FPS, again showing that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling. The data shows that the Arc B390 is only suitable for 1080p gaming in this title, and even then, only at Low or Medium settings for a consistent 60+ FPS experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average FPS exceeds 60 on Low (107 FPS) and Medium (93 FPS) settings. At 2560x1440, the highest average is 69 FPS on Low, which is playable but with less headroom. At 3840x2160, all settings produce average FPS below 40, which is not smooth for an FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 5800XT has an average benchmark score of 29879. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H, scores 29868 with a deltaPct of 0, meaning they are statistically identical. The Ryzen 5 9600X scores 29713 with a deltaPct of 0.6, meaning the 5800XT is about 0.6% faster. The Ryzen 7 8845HS and 7840HS score 29955 with a deltaPct of -0.3, meaning they are about 0.3% faster than the 5800XT.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: The FPS drops from 107 at 1080p Low to 37 at 4K Low, which is a 65% reduction. This is because the Intel Arc B390 uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM. At higher resolutions, the GPU must fetch more texture and frame buffer data from system memory, which saturates the available bandwidth and severely limits performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear limiting factor. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 959 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3359 are strong enough to push 107 FPS at 1080p Low. The fact that FPS scales inversely with resolution (from 107 to 69 to 37 FPS on Low settings) indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the constraints, not the CPU's processing power.

Q: What are the Ultra settings results at each resolution?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 64. At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average FPS is 41. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 22. These results show that Ultra settings are only playable at 1080p, and even then, the frame rate is below the 75 FPS threshold that many FPS players prefer.

Q: How does the Arc B390's benchmark score compare to its rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463 with a deltaPct of 1.3, meaning the Arc B390 is 1.3% faster. The GeForce 800M scores 1460 (deltaPct 1.5), the GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (deltaPct 2.5), and the GT 710 scores 1443 (deltaPct 2.7). All of these are extremely low-end GPUs, confirming the Arc B390's position in the 9th percentile.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's target frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the highest setting that achieves this, with an average of 93 FPS and a minimum of 79 FPS. The High preset at 1080p produces 78 FPS on average, which is also above 60 FPS, but the minimum FPS data is not available for High. For players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 107 FPS, which is excellent for a fast-paced FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 64 FPS on average, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the only settings that maintain an average above 60 FPS are Low, which produces 69 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS, which means it will dip below 60 FPS in heavy scenes. For a consistent experience at 1440p, Low is the recommended setting. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p produce 51 FPS and 41 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold and may feel less responsive in a game like Doom where quick reactions matter.

At 3840x2160, no settings produce an average FPS above 40. The Low preset yields 37 FPS, Medium yields 33 FPS, High yields 28 FPS, and Ultra yields 22 FPS. None of these are suitable for competitive play, but for a single-player experience, Low at 4K might be tolerable if the user is willing to accept a sub-40 FPS frame rate. The data suggests that this combo is best used at 1080p with Medium or High settings for a balanced experience. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a strong 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate rarely dips below the 60 FPS threshold. This represents the best trade-off between visual quality and performance, as the High preset's 78 FPS average is still good but the Medium preset's higher minimum FPS provides more stability.