Doom

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with performance scaling that clearly illustrates the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions show a predictable decline as pixel count increases, but the magnitude of that decline varies significantly with quality settings, revealing how the game’s workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. This combination ranks 1367th out of 1681 tested combos in this title, placing it in the lower-mid tier of the database, yet the absolute frame rates remain highly playable at mainstream resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep but consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 129.1 at 1080p to 84.6 at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 34%, and then further to 47 at 4K, a 64% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is classic for a mid-range GPU like the RTX 2060, which has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 4K result at High (47 FPS) is playable but not smooth for fast-paced action, whereas the 1440p result (84.6 FPS) offers a much better balance.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more revealing. The 1080p Low result of 178 FPS drops to 111.7 at 1440p and then to 58.6 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is about 67%, which is slightly larger than at High settings. This suggests that while lowering settings reduces GPU load, the RTX 2060 still becomes the bottleneck at 4K, as the CPU (6 cores, 12 threads, boosting to 4.30 GHz) has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions. The gap between Low and High at 4K is only 11.6 FPS (58.6 vs 47), whereas at 1080p the gap is 48.9 FPS (178 vs 129.1). This compression of frame rates at higher resolutions is a hallmark of GPU limitation.

Ultra settings create the most demanding scenario, with 4K dropping to 38.7 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay. The scaling from 1080p Ultra (104.7 FPS) to 4K Ultra (38.7 FPS) represents a 63% reduction, nearly identical to the High-setting drop. This indicates that the RTX 2060’s raw throughput—6.451 TFLOPS FP32 and a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s—is the determining factor once the resolution increases, regardless of whether the preset is High or Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide solid single-thread performance, as reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453 and its 3DMark single-thread score of 688. For Doom, which is a 2016 title with well-optimized multi-threading, the CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are more than sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 2060 at 1080p.

Evidence of this comes from the frame rate gap between Low and Medium settings at 1080p. The 1080p Low result of 178 FPS is significantly higher than the 1080p Medium result of 150.6 FPS, a 27.4 FPS difference. If the CPU were the limiting factor, this gap would be much smaller, as the CPU workload is nearly identical across settings. Instead, the data shows the GPU is handling the increased shading and texture work. The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities, shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and its Passmark multithread score of 12115, position it well above the minimum requirements for this game. The CPU’s percentile rank of 73 among all CPUs further confirms it is a competent mid-range part.

At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes further. The difference between 4K Low (58.6 FPS) and 4K High (47 FPS) is only 11.6 FPS, while the difference between 4K Medium (54.6 FPS) and 4K Ultra (38.7 FPS) is 15.9 FPS. These small gaps suggest that even at Low settings, the GPU is saturated, and the CPU is waiting on the GPU to complete frames. The CPU’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and its 8-thread score of 3929 indicate that it can handle the game’s draw calls and physics without issue, making the RTX 2060 the definitive performance ceiling in this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Doom, this pairing achieves a rank of 1367 out of 1681 combos, placing it in the bottom 19% of all configurations. This low rank is not a reflection of poor absolute performance but rather the presence of many higher-end combinations in the database. The combo’s rank is driven by the RTX 2060’s position in the GPU hierarchy; the GPU’s percentile rank is 58 among all GPUs, while the CPU’s percentile rank is 73. This imbalance means the GPU is the weaker link, capping the overall performance.

The GPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its performance tier. The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). However, it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700, both scoring 16351, by 1.7%. This places the RTX 2060 in a narrow band of mid-range GPUs, and the measured FPS in Doom reflects this positioning. The CPU’s nearest rivals are similarly clustered; the i5-10400F’s average score of 14168 is 0.4% above the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115) and 1.1% below the Intel Core i5-8500 (14332). This tight grouping suggests that swapping to a slightly faster CPU would yield minimal gains, as the GPU remains the bottleneck.

The rank of 1367 out of 1681 also implies that a significant number of combos achieve higher frame rates, but those combos typically feature higher-tier GPUs. For a 6-core CPU from 2020 and a GPU from 2019, this result is expected. The combo’s performance is consistent with its hardware generation, and the data shows it is well-matched for 1080p gaming with headroom for 1440p at reduced settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 delivers excellent performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 178 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium drops to 150.6 FPS, High to 129.1 FPS, and Ultra to 104.7 FPS. All four presets remain above 100 FPS, indicating that the GPU can handle the game’s demands at this resolution without compromising fluidity. The 73.3 FPS spread between Low and Ultra shows the GPU’s scaling with graphical load, but even the most demanding preset is highly playable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decline. Low averages 111.7 FPS, Medium 99.7 FPS, High 84.6 FPS, and Ultra 67.2 FPS. The Ultra result dips below the 70 FPS mark, which may be noticeable on a 144 Hz monitor, but the High preset at 84.6 FPS offers a good compromise between visual fidelity and smoothness. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 44.5 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, reflecting the GPU’s increasing workload.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060 struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low averages 58.6 FPS, Medium 54.6 FPS, High 47 FPS, and Ultra 38.7 FPS. The Low preset is the only one that approaches 60 FPS, while Ultra is nearly unplayable for fast-paced action. The 19.9 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is fully saturated and the settings have diminishing returns. For 4K gaming, this combo would require lowering resolution scaling or accepting sub-60 FPS frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, with all presets exceeding 100 FPS on average. At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 84.6 FPS, which is also viable, but 3840x2160 only reaches 58.6 FPS on Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060’s average benchmark score is 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). It is 1.7% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700, both at 16351.

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

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the FPS reaches 178, which is far above the GPU’s capability at higher settings. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings is 67.2 FPS. This is playable but may not be smooth on a 144 Hz display. Dropping to High settings raises the average to 84.6 FPS.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop is due to the GPU’s limited pixel throughput. The RTX 2060 has a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s, and at 4K the number of pixels is four times that of 1080p. The data shows a 64% reduction from 1080p High (129.1 FPS) to 4K High (47 FPS).

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

A: It ranks 1367th out of 1681 combos in Doom. This places it in the lower tier, but the absolute frame rates are still competitive for 1080p and 1440p gaming, given the hardware’s age and market segment.