Doom

# Doom: Intel Core i5-10400F + AMD Radeon RX 6600 — Measured Performance Analysis

This benchmark analysis examines the measured frame rates produced by the combination of an Intel Core i5-10400F processor and an AMD Radeon RX 6600 graphics card running Doom, a 2016 FPS title. The data set covers twelve distinct configuration points across three resolutions and four quality presets, with average FPS recorded for every row and min/max values available for Medium settings at each resolution. The results place this combo at rank 2883 out of 3712 tested combinations in this game, indicating a mid-pack standing among all system pairings. The CPU sits at the 68th percentile against all processors, while the GPU lands at the 63rd percentile, positioning both components as capable mainstream parts that collectively deliver playable performance across most of the tested spectrum.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear and consistent pattern of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions, while the lower resolution results hint at a more balanced workload. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 129 at 1920x1080 to 84 at 2560x1440, a decline of 45 FPS (approximately 35%), and then falls further to 45 at 3840x2160, representing a 65% reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep curve is typical of a system where the RX 6600 becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases, with the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth being increasingly taxed at 4K resolution.

Examining the Low preset row amplifies this observation. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 176 FPS average, which drops to 114 at 1440p (a 35% decrease) and 62 at 4K (a 65% decrease from 1080p). The proportional declines are nearly identical between High and Low presets when moving from 1080p to 4K, suggesting that the scaling bottleneck is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. This indicates that the GPU's rendering throughput—specifically its 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate—is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, regardless of how much graphical detail is being processed.

The Medium preset data provides additional granularity with min/max frame ranges. At 1080p Medium, the average is 153 FPS with a min of 130 and max of 176. Moving to 1440p Medium yields an average of 99 FPS (min 84, max 114), and at 4K Medium the average drops to 54 FPS (min 46, max 62). The min-to-max spread remains proportionally similar across resolutions—roughly 30% of the average value—which points to consistent frame pacing rather than occasional severe hitches. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings shows a 45 FPS drop (99 to 54), which is a larger absolute decline than the 28 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset, reinforcing the growing GPU pressure at 4K.

Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 106, which falls to 68 at 1440p and 37 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS is the lowest measured value across the entire data set, and it falls below the 45 FPS High preset at the same resolution by 8 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset's additional graphical features impose a meaningful cost at high pixel counts, pushing the RX 6600 to its limits. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 65% reduction, matching the pattern seen at other presets, which confirms that resolution scaling remains the dominant variable.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process from TSMC, carries 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs across its Navi 23 chip. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus. This configuration produces a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the data set shows average FPS dropping to 45 on High settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it at the 63rd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at 19030 (0% delta), the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 (-0.1% delta), and the Tesla K20m at 19089 (-0.3% delta), showing that the RX 6600 sits in a tightly clustered performance tier. In Doom specifically, the measured frame rates at 1080p—ranging from 106 FPS at Ultra to 176 FPS at Low—demonstrate that the GPU delivers headroom above the 60 FPS threshold for all tested presets at this resolution, making it well-suited for high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p.

At 1440p, the RX 6600 maintains playable performance across all presets, with the lowest average being 68 FPS at Ultra and the highest being 114 FPS at Low. The GPU's pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s provide sufficient throughput for these workloads, though the 4K results indicate diminishing returns. The 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS and 4K High result of 45 FPS both fall short of the 60 FPS target, suggesting that users seeking smooth 4K gameplay would need to rely on the Medium preset (54 FPS) or lower to approach playability. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity, while adequate for Doom's 2016-era texture requirements at all tested settings, does not appear to be the primary constraint at 4K; rather, the compute and bandwidth limitations drive the observed scaling.

The GPU's FP32 throughput of 8.928 TFLOPS and FP16 of 17.86 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) are consistent with its mainstream positioning. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492 and PassMark G3D score of 15096 provide synthetic corroboration of the measured gaming performance. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility ensure modern rendering features are available, though Doom's engine—released in 2016—primarily relies on OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan paths, both of which the GPU supports. The GPU's 132 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector make it an efficient choice for this class, and its 190 mm length allows for broad case compatibility.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F, a 10th Generation Comet Lake desktop processor, contributes 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This CPU, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process, features a 12 MB shared L3 cache, 256 KB L2 per core, and 64 KB L1 per core, with a 65 W TDP. Its memory support for DDR4 in dual-channel configuration provides 42.7 GB/s bandwidth, which pairs adequately with the GPU's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10283 and single-core score of 1451, with a Geekbench multicore score of 6257 and single-core score of 1420, placing it at the 68th percentile against all CPUs.

Examining the CPU's role in Doom's measured performance requires noting that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 176 FPS average, which is the highest result in the entire data set. This figure suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well above 144 FPS in lighter workloads, as the 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and PassMark single-thread score of 2541 indicate strong per-core performance for a 2020 processor. The CPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmark performance include the Intel Xeon 6756E at 14163 (0.2% delta), the Intel Core 7 160UL at 14232 (-0.3% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7552 at 14115 (0.5% delta), showing that the i5-10400F holds its own against a range of enterprise and mobile parts.

The CPU's 12 threads prove useful in multithreaded workloads, as evidenced by the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and max-thread score of 4735, which show near-linear scaling from 8 threads (3929) to 16 threads. In Doom, a game known for its Vulkan rendering path that scales well with multiple cores, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration likely contributes to the strong 1080p performance. However, the frame rate scaling to 4K reveals that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions; the consistent proportional FPS drops across all presets when moving from 1080p to 4K indicate that the GPU saturates first, leaving CPU headroom unused.

Notably, the CPU's average benchmark score of 14185 places it just above the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14277 (-0.6% delta) and just below the Xeon 6756E, positioning it in a competitive mid-range segment. The Cinebench R20 scores of 4318 multicore and 609 single-core, along with the PassMark multithread score of 12115, reinforce the CPU's balanced capabilities. At 1080p High settings, the 129 FPS average shows that the CPU can sustain high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck, while the 1440p and 4K results demonstrate that the GPU's compute limits—not the CPU's 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth or 4.30 GHz boost clock—define the upper boundary of performance in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Doom?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 176, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the ceiling of the tested configurations, with the Medium preset at the same resolution delivering 153 FPS average.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS with an average of 62 FPS. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS (min 46, max 62), while High averages 45 FPS and Ultra averages 37 FPS, all falling short of the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163), 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115), but 0.3% lower than the Intel Core 7 160UL (14232) and 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 84 FPS while Ultra averages 68 FPS, representing a 16 FPS (approximately 19%) reduction for the higher quality preset. This gap is consistent with the 23 FPS difference observed at 1080p (129 vs 106 FPS).

Q: Does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM limit performance in Doom?

A: The measured data does not indicate VRAM capacity as a limiting factor. The RX 6600's 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient across all tested settings and resolutions, as evidenced by consistent frame rate scaling that tracks GPU compute rather than memory-related drops.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems in Doom?

A: This combination of Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2883 out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the overall distribution. The CPU and GPU sit at the 68th and 63rd percentiles respectively, indicating that both components are near the median of their respective performance tiers.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and frame rate goals. At 1920x1080, all four presets deliver playable performance, with Low averaging 176 FPS, Medium at 153 FPS, High at 129 FPS, and Ultra at 106 FPS. For users with a 144 Hz or higher refresh rate monitor, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering 153 FPS average with a minimum of 130 FPS, which stays above the 144 Hz threshold in most scenes. The High preset at 129 FPS also provides smooth gameplay and retains additional visual fidelity, though it dips below the 144 FPS mark on average. The Ultra preset at 106 FPS remains fluid but sacrifices the high-refresh experience for marginal graphical improvements over High, making High the recommended choice for 1080p users prioritizing both quality and speed.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts toward High settings, which average 84 FPS. This preset provides a strong balance, offering 16 FPS more than Ultra (68 FPS) while maintaining significantly better visual quality than Medium (99 FPS) or Low (114 FPS). The Medium preset at 99 FPS is the best option for users targeting 100+ FPS, as its minimum of 84 FPS ensures consistent frame delivery above the 60 FPS threshold. However, for the majority of 1440p users, High at 84 FPS delivers a more immersive experience with only a 15 FPS penalty versus Medium, making it the recommended default. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but shows noticeable reductions in frame rate consistency.

At 3840x2160, the data reveals that only the Low preset achieves 60+ FPS, with an average of 62 FPS. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS (min 46, max 62), which is playable but not consistently smooth. For 4K users, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it provides a 12 FPS improvement over High (45 FPS) and maintains a minimum of 46 FPS, which falls within the range of adaptive sync technologies. The High preset at 45 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS are not recommended for competitive or fast-paced play, as frame rates below 50 FPS can introduce perceptible stutter. Users prioritizing visual fidelity at 4K may accept the High preset, but the data suggests that Medium offers the best compromise between image quality and playability at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces the following measured averages: Low delivers 176 FPS, Medium provides 153 FPS with a minimum of 130 FPS and maximum of 176 FPS, High achieves 129 FPS, and Ultra reaches 106 FPS. The Medium preset's min/max range of 130-176 FPS indicates a tight distribution, with the minimum still exceeding the maximum of the Ultra preset at the same resolution. This 1080p data set demonstrates that the RX 6600 has substantial headroom at this resolution, with even the most demanding Ultra preset exceeding 100 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are: Low at 114 FPS, Medium at 99 FPS (min 84, max 114), High at 84 FPS, and Ultra at 68 FPS. The Medium preset's min/max spread of 84-114 FPS shows that frame times remain consistent, with the minimum still above the 60 FPS threshold. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 46 FPS drop (114 to 68), representing a 40% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to highest quality preset. The High preset at 84 FPS offers a 16 FPS advantage over Ultra, making it the most efficient quality-to-performance step at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are: Low at 62 FPS, Medium at 54 FPS (min 46, max 62), High at 45 FPS, and Ultra at 37 FPS. This resolution shows the steepest performance cliff, with the gap between Low and Ultra reaching 25 FPS (62 to 37), a 40% reduction. The Medium preset's min of 46 FPS and max of 62 FPS reveals that even within a single settings tier, frame rates can vary significantly at 4K, with the minimum falling below 50 FPS while the maximum reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 45 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS target, confirming that 4K gaming with this hardware requires settings compromises. The data across all three resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the RX 6600 paired with the i5-10400F excels at 1080p and performs admirably at 1440p, but 4K demands reduced settings to maintain playable frame rates.