Doom

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a highly constrained gaming experience in Doom, with the data clearly showing the GPU as the primary bottleneck across all tested resolutions. The Arc B370’s benchmark percentile sits at just 5th overall, and its nearest rivals in synthetic testing, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770, are separated by less than a single percentage point. This places the combo in the 2696th rank out of 2930 total configurations for this game, indicating that while the CPU offers ample headroom, the graphics solution fundamentally limits frame rates to the low-to-mid range even at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 96 FPS on average. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops that figure to 62 FPS, a reduction of 34 frames, and at 4K it falls further to 34 FPS. This scaling pattern, roughly a halving of performance from 1080p to 4K, indicates that the render resolution is the dominant variable, with the Arc B370’s limited pixel throughput being the limiting factor rather than the CPU.

The gap between resolutions narrows slightly at higher quality presets, which is another indicator of GPU saturation. At Ultra settings, the average FPS goes from 58 at 1080p to 37 at 1440p, then down to 20 at 4K. The absolute drop from 1080p to 1440p is 21 frames, and from 1440p to 4K it is 17 frames. In contrast, the CPU’s single-thread performance, as measured by a 3dmark single-thread score of 688, is far above what would be needed to drive these frame rates, suggesting that the processor is never the constraining component in this configuration.

The data also shows that the minimum FPS figures, where available, scale proportionally with the averages. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 71 FPS while the average is 84 FPS; at 1440p Medium, the minimum is 46 FPS against a 54 FPS average; and at 4K Medium, the minimum is 25 FPS with a 29 FPS average. This consistent relationship between minimums and averages implies that the frame pacing is stable and that the bottleneck is consistent throughout the scene, rather than being caused by occasional CPU hitches. The conclusion from the resolution scaling is unambiguous: the Arc B370 is the ceiling, and dropping resolution is the only effective lever for improving playability.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Doom?*

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the only resolution where the combo approaches smooth frame rates. At Low settings, the average is 96 FPS, and at High it is 71 FPS, both of which are playable, whereas 1440p and 4K results fall below 62 FPS and 34 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186, a delta of -0.2%, and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, a delta of +1.4%, meaning the differences are negligible in raw compute terms.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a limiting factor for this game?

A: No. The CPU’s 3dmark max-thread score of 4735 and single-thread score of 688 are far in excess of what the GPU can feed. The GPU’s 5th percentile ranking versus the CPU’s 68th percentile ranking confirms that the processor has significant headroom, and the measured FPS scaling with resolution supports this.

Q: What is the impact of switching from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The average FPS drops from 96 at Low to 58 at Ultra, a reduction of 38 frames. This indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by higher quality presets, and the performance cost of Ultra is substantial relative to the visual fidelity gains.

Q: Does the combo maintain stable frame pacing across resolutions?

A: Yes. The available minimum FPS data shows that at 1080p Medium the minimum is 71 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 46 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 25 FPS. These minimums are consistently close to the averages, suggesting no severe stuttering or frame-time spikes.

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

A: It ranks 2696th out of 2930 total combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems. This is largely attributable to the GPU’s low synthetic benchmark score, which is near the bottom of the database.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the decisive component in this configuration, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, with a boost clock of 2400 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. Its pixel rate is listed at 48.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with a FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS. These figures are modest by modern standards, and the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking against all GPUs confirms that it sits at the very bottom of the performance spectrum.

The memory configuration is unusual: the Arc B370 uses system shared memory, with a bus width and bandwidth listed as "System Shared" and "System Dependent" respectively. This means the GPU relies on the CPU’s DDR4 memory, which runs at 42.7 GB/s in dual-channel mode per the CPU’s specifications. This shared memory arrangement is a likely contributor to the performance ceiling, as the GPU cannot access dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM, and the memory bandwidth is dependent on the system’s overall configuration.

The GPU’s clock behavior is also telling. The base clock of 300 MHz is very low, and the boost clock of 2400 MHz represents an 8x increase. In practice, the measured FPS suggests that the GPU is spending most of its time at or near the boost clock, but the raw compute resources are insufficient to handle Doom at higher resolutions. The transition from 1080p Low (96 FPS) to 4K Low (34 FPS) is a 62 FPS drop, which is consistent with a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel fill requirements. The data shows that the Arc B370 is a capable 1080p solution for this game, but its shared memory architecture and low absolute performance make it unsuitable for 1440p or 4K gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings at each resolution, and the optimal choice depends on whether the user prioritizes frame rate or visual quality. At 1080p, all four presets are technically playable, but the differences are stark. Low settings yield 96 FPS average, Medium yields 84 FPS, High yields 71 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58 FPS. For a fast-paced FPS like Doom, the data suggests that High settings at 1080p strike the best balance, as the 71 FPS average is still smooth while the visual improvements over Medium are likely noticeable. Ultra’s 58 FPS is borderline for competitive play, and the 13 FPS penalty over High is not justified by the marginal quality gains.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more constrained. Low settings produce 62 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 54 FPS, High to 46 FPS, and Ultra to 37 FPS. The data indicates that Low is the only viable preset for 1440p if the user wants to stay above 60 FPS, and Medium is acceptable for those willing to tolerate slightly lower frame rates. High and Ultra are not recommended at this resolution, as the frame rates fall below 50 FPS, which is generally considered too low for a shooter.

At 4K, none of the presets deliver playable performance. Low settings achieve 34 FPS, Medium 29 FPS, High 25 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. These figures are all below the 60 FPS target and even below 30 FPS except for Low, making 4K effectively unusable for this game with this combo. The data strongly recommends that users stick to 1080p, where the GPU has enough headroom to maintain acceptable frame rates across all settings. For the best experience, the measured rows indicate that 1080p High is the sweet spot, offering a 71 FPS average without the steep performance cost of Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The exact measured averages from the data are as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 96 FPS, Medium delivers 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 96 FPS, High delivers 71 FPS, and Ultra delivers 58 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline of roughly 12-13 FPS per step, indicating that each quality tier imposes a similar relative load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 62 FPS for Low, 54 FPS for Medium with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS, 46 FPS for High, and 37 FPS for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant: Low loses 34 FPS, Medium loses 30 FPS, High loses 25 FPS, and Ultra loses 21 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU’s fill rate becomes a bottleneck earlier at higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 34 FPS for Low, 29 FPS for Medium with a minimum of 25 FPS and maximum of 34 FPS, 25 FPS for High, and 20 FPS for Ultra. The gap between 1440p and 4K is again substantial, with Low dropping 28 FPS, Medium dropping 25 FPS, High dropping 21 FPS, and Ultra dropping 17 FPS. In all cases, the minimum FPS values, where recorded, are roughly 10-15% below the averages, indicating stable frame delivery without major stutters. The data shows a clear and predictable pattern: each resolution step reduces performance by approximately 30-40%, and each settings step reduces it by another 10-20%.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks are robust: it scores 10283 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 1451 in Cinebench R23 singlecore, and 6257 in Geekbench multicore. Its percentile ranking of 68th among all CPUs places it in the upper third of processors, which is a stark contrast to the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking.

In the context of Doom, the CPU’s role is clearly secondary. The game’s measured frame rates are entirely consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, and the CPU’s performance headroom is evident from the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 96 FPS, but the CPU’s 3dmark 2-thread score of 1350 and 4-thread score of 2560 suggest it can handle far more than that. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz and 6 physical cores are more than sufficient for this title, which is known to be well-optimized for multi-threaded workloads.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database, such as the Intel Xeon 6756E with an average score of 14163 and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C with a score of 14277, are within 0.6% of the i5-10400F’s average benchmark score of 14185. This indicates that the CPU’s performance is in line with its peers, and none of these rivals would meaningfully change the Doom results given the GPU bottleneck. The data shows that the i5-10400F is not a limiting factor in this configuration; instead, it provides a stable foundation that allows the Arc B370 to operate at its full potential, which is unfortunately low. For users looking to improve performance in Doom, the measured FPS data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield substantial gains, while the CPU has ample headroom to support a faster graphics card.