Doom

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54,762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF's 55,093. This places the two processors within a negligible performance margin of each other in general compute workloads.

Q: What is the Intel Arc B570's performance position relative to other GPUs?

A: The Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20,556. It is nearly identical in performance to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20,534 (a 0.1% difference), and trails the Intel Arc A750 by just 0.1%.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 9900X3D support overclocking?

A: Yes, the processor has an unlocked multiplier, allowing for overclocking. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and the data shows strong multi-threaded scaling, with a 3DMark max-threads score of 13,795 versus 12,490 for 16 threads.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the Intel Arc B570 provide?

A: The Arc B570 has a 160-bit memory bus paired with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a key factor in its performance at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the measured FPS data.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for Doom?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the Intel Arc B570 ranks 2,332 out of 2,930 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower portion of the database, indicating that this specific pairing is not optimized for Doom's performance demands.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570's DirectX 12 performance indicative of its gaming capability?

A: The PassMark DirectX 12 score is 72, which is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 118. However, the measured FPS in Doom shows playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, suggesting that the synthetic benchmark scores don't fully capture real-world gaming performance for this title.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570, built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, is the primary driver for Doom's visual output. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a substantial resource for texture streaming and frame buffering at high resolutions. The GPU's 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs work together to process the game's geometry and effects. The boost clock is fixed at 2500 MHz, matching the base clock, which indicates a stable operating point rather than a variable boost curve.

The memory bandwidth becomes a critical factor when moving from 1080p to 4K. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 42, while at 1920x1080 with the same settings, it jumps to 121 FPS. This 65% drop in performance at 4K highlights how the 160-bit bus and 10 GB VRAM capacity are stressed by higher pixel counts. The texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but become bottlenecks at 4K, where the GPU must fill four times as many pixels.

The GPU's FP32 compute of 11.52 TFLOPS and FP16 of 23.04 TFLOPS (2:1) indicate a mid-range compute capability. In Doom, which is a well-optimized Vulkan title, the Arc B570's API support for Vulkan 1.4 allows for efficient draw call handling. The measured results show that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution changes: dropping from 1440p to 1080p at Medium settings increases the average FPS from 92 to 143, a 55% improvement. The VRAM usage patterns suggest that 10 GB is adequate for this game at all tested settings, as the frame rates remain stable without signs of texture thrashing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across three resolutions and four settings levels provides clear guidance for the optimal experience. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 121 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset offers 143 FPS, and Low reaches 164 FPS, but the diminishing returns from High to Low are minimal in terms of visual quality. The Ultra preset drops to 99 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices 22 FPS compared to High for marginal visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 78 FPS, which is the sweet spot for this resolution. Medium yields 92 FPS, while Low hits 106 FPS, but Ultra falls to 64 FPS. The 14 FPS difference between High and Ultra at this resolution suggests that the GPU is becoming pixel-bound, and the extra visual features in Ultra come at a significant cost. For players with 144Hz monitors, Medium at 1440p provides the best balance, as 92 FPS is close to the refresh rate ceiling without the visual compromises of Low.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. High settings yield just 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for most displays. Medium offers 50 FPS, and Low reaches 57 FPS, but none of these are ideal for competitive play. Ultra drops to 35 FPS, making it unsuitable for anything but slow-paced exploration. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires either Low settings or a resolution reduction. The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1440p High, which provides 78 FPS while retaining most of the visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2,332 out of 2,930 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the 20th percentile of all configurations. This low ranking is surprising given the CPU's strong overall performance, which sits in the 91st percentile of all processors. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as the Arc B570's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs limits the system's gaming capability.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 54,762 places it near the top of the processor hierarchy, but this compute power doesn't translate to Doom performance when paired with the Arc B570. The GPU's average benchmark score of 20,556 is comparable to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20,534) and the Intel Arc A750 (20,582), both of which are mid-range offerings. In Doom, which is a fast-paced FPS that relies heavily on GPU fill rate and memory bandwidth, the Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes the limiting factor.

Comparing to other combos in the database, this pairing's rank suggests that most systems with either a stronger GPU or a more balanced CPU-GPU match outperform it. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads are largely underutilized in Doom, which is a GPU-bound title at most settings. The data indicates that this combo is better suited for productivity workloads, where the CPU's multi-threaded performance shines, rather than for high-refresh-rate gaming.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, provides substantial processing power for Doom. The Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, operates on a 4 nm TSMC process with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The 128 MB of L3 cache is particularly relevant for gaming, as it reduces memory latency and improves data reuse. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 at 6,739 points, is strong, but Doom's engine doesn't require extreme single-core speed.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 is ample for feeding the GPU with draw calls and game state data. The 3DMark scores illustrate the scaling: 2,512 for 2 threads, 4,885 for 4 threads, 9,002 for 8 threads, and 13,795 for max threads. This near-linear scaling indicates that the CPU can handle heavily threaded workloads, but Doom typically uses fewer than 8 threads for gameplay logic, leaving most of the CPU's capacity idle.

The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs is 91, meaning it outperforms 91% of all processors in the database. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, is only 0.6% faster in average benchmark score, while the Intel Core i7-14700F is 2.1% slower. In Doom, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery rate, and the measured FPS shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load across resolutions. The 120W TDP indicates efficient power delivery, and the CPU's 16,630 million transistors on a dual-chiplet design (2x 70.6 mm²) provide ample compute resources that are simply not fully exercised by this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Doom with this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling.

1920x1080: The Low preset achieves 164 FPS average, which is the highest recorded for this combo. Medium delivers 143 FPS with a minimum of 121 and maximum of 164, indicating smooth frame pacing. High drops to 121 FPS, while Ultra falls to 99 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p but the Ultra preset's additional effects (likely including enhanced shadows and post-processing) cost 40% of the Low preset's frame rate.

2560x1440: Low settings produce 106 FPS, Medium averages 92 FPS with a range of 79 to 106, High reaches 78 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 64 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is 42 FPS, which is a smaller absolute drop than at 1080p, but the percentage drop is similar. The minimum FPS of 79 at Medium is still above 60 FPS, making this the lowest playable setting for consistent frame delivery.

3840x2160: This resolution exposes the GPU's limitations. Low settings yield 57 FPS, Medium averages 50 FPS with a minimum of 43 and maximum of 58, High drops to 42 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS. None of these settings achieve a stable 60 FPS, and the minimum FPS at Medium (43) indicates occasional dips below 45 FPS, which can be noticeable in fast-paced combat. The 22 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest absolute gap across all resolutions, because the GPU is universally bottlenecked.

The data shows a clear trend: at 1080p, the combo delivers playable-to-excellent frame rates across all settings; at 1440p, High is the recommended maximum for smooth play; at 4K, only Low settings approach playability. The Medium preset at 1440p provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 92 FPS and a minimum of 79 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate rarely dips below the 60 FPS threshold.