Doom

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB lands near the bottom of the database for Doom, ranking 1516 out of 1681 tested combinations. This places the combo in the 10th percentile of all systems measured, indicating that while it can run the game, it offers a largely entry-level experience. The ranking reflects a fundamental imbalance: the CPU has enough headroom to push high frame rates in this title, but the GPU—particularly its limited 4 GB VRAM—acts as a significant bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions and detail settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1516 out of 1681 tested systems puts it in the bottom 10% of the database for Doom. This is a low position, but the context matters. The benchmark results show a system that is playable at 1080p but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K. The data indicates that the pairing is heavily skewed toward the CPU’s favor; the i5-10400F is a competent six-core processor that sits at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 3050 4 GB sits exactly at the 50th percentile among all GPUs. The discrepancy between the CPU’s relative strength and the GPU’s mid-pack standing explains the overall low ranking. In a game like Doom, which is known for being well-optimized, the frame rate is often dictated by the graphics card, and this GPU’s modest specifications hold the system back from reaching higher tiers in the rankings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA107 chip, fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm process. Its memory configuration is a critical factor: 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus provides 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a modest amount of VRAM by modern standards, and the benchmark data shows its direct impact. At 4K Ultra settings, the card delivers just 27.5 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 4K High, the average drops to 33.6 FPS, indicating the GPU is saturated. The core clocks are set at a base of 1545 MHz and a boost of 1740 MHz, which translates to 7.127 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The card also features 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, though these have limited effect in a title like Doom, which does not heavily utilize ray tracing. The pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p gaming, but the 4 GB frame buffer becomes a wall at higher resolutions. The GPU’s launch MSRP is 199 USD, and it is now end-of-life, but the data shows it is a capable 1080p performer that fails beyond that.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a Comet Lake processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It features 12 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In the database, this CPU holds the 73rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552, which is 0.4% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, which is 0.8% slower. The CPU’s single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 688 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453. For Doom, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 134.1 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. The CPU’s 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU in this title, and its high boost clock ensures that frame times remain consistent. The processor’s performance is not the reason for the low combo rank; instead, it is the GPU that fails to keep up.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. At Low settings, the average FPS is 134.1, which is smooth and responsive. Moving to Medium, the frame rate drops to 118.2 FPS, still excellent for competitive play. At High settings, the average is 100 FPS, which remains highly playable. However, at Ultra settings, the average falls to 82.4 FPS. This is still playable, but the gap from Low to Ultra is significant: a 38.6% drop in performance. The data shows that the GPU is the primary constraint here, as the CPU has ample headroom.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings yield 89 FPS, which is still good, but Medium drops to 76.6 FPS, and High to 68 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 52 FPS, which approaches the threshold where some users might notice stutter. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra settings results in a 36.9% frame rate reduction, indicating that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and core count are being taxed.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low settings produce 48.4 FPS, which is borderline playable, but Medium drops to 43.8 FPS, and High to 33.6 FPS. Ultra settings are effectively unplayable at 27.5 FPS. The 4 GB VRAM is likely a major issue here, as the higher resolution textures exceed the frame buffer capacity, causing performance to crater. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 3050 4 GB is a 1080p card that can handle 1440p at lower settings but cannot cope with 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system’s limiting component. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 82.4. Moving to 1440p Ultra, it drops to 52 FPS, a 36.9% reduction. Moving to 4K Ultra, it falls to 27.5 FPS, a 66.6% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would not drop so precipitously with resolution increases, as the CPU’s workload stays relatively constant. The fact that the FPS nearly halves from 1080p to 4K at the same settings indicates that the GPU is saturated and cannot handle the increased pixel count.

At lower settings, the scaling is less severe but still pronounced. At Low settings, 1080p yields 134.1 FPS, 1440p yields 89 FPS, and 4K yields 48.4 FPS. This is a 63.9% drop from 1080p to 4K, still showing a strong GPU limitation. The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 51.7 FPS (134.1 vs 82.4). At 1440p, the difference is 37 FPS (89 vs 52). At 4K, the difference shrinks to 20.9 FPS (48.4 vs 27.5). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is running out of resources regardless of the settings, further confirming that the 4 GB VRAM and the GPU’s overall compute power are the limiting factors. The CPU, with its high boost clock and 12 threads, has no trouble feeding the GPU in this game, making the RTX 3050 4 GB the clear bottleneck in this pairing.