Doom

# Doom with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers exceptional performance in Doom, ranking 316th out of 1681 tested combos, placing it in the top 19% of all configurations. This combo demonstrates that a mid-range 10th-generation CPU can still drive a flagship-class GPU effectively in this 2016 title. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings presets are consistently high, with even the most demanding configuration—4K Ultra—maintaining an average of 82.4 FPS, while the least demanding—1080p Low—reaches 267.5 FPS. The data suggests that this pairing is well-balanced for Doom, with the GPU emerging as the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, while the CPU's six cores and twelve threads provide ample headroom for the game's engine.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 316 out of 1681 tested combinations places it comfortably in the upper quintile of all CPU-GPU pairings tested for Doom. This is a strong showing, particularly given that the i5-10400F is not a recent or high-end processor. The rank reflects the synergy between the CPU and GPU, where the RTX 5070 Ti's massive compute capability—43.94 TFLOPS FP32 and 896.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth—can be fully utilized by the six-core Comet Lake processor.

The CPU itself holds a 73rd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.4% faster), AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277, 0.8% slower), Intel Core i5-8500 (14332, 1.1% slower), and AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 (14336, 1.2% slower). This indicates the i5-10400F sits in a tightly contested performance band, yet in Doom it manages to drive the RTX 5070 Ti to frame rates that many newer, higher-ranked CPUs might struggle to match. The GPU, meanwhile, holds an 87th percentile ranking with an average score of 52086, nearly identical to the RTX 4080 (52085, 0% delta), which underscores that this is a top-tier graphics solution. The implication is that the bottleneck in this combo sits primarily with the CPU, but the game's optimization allows the GPU to shine regardless.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p compared to higher resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers exceptionally high frame rates, ranging from 219.8 FPS on Ultra to 267.5 FPS on Low. These figures are 2.7x to 2.9x higher than the corresponding 4K settings, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the most demanding preset tested for this combo?

A: The 4K Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing an average of 82.4 FPS. This is the only tested configuration that dips below 97 FPS, making it the only preset where the frame rate approaches the 60 FPS threshold more closely than others.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, placing it 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115), 0.8% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277), and 1.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-8500 (14332). These are marginal differences, suggesting the CPU is competitive with its immediate peers.

Q: Is the RTX 5070 Ti significantly faster than its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti averages 52086 in benchmarks, which is essentially tied with the RTX 4080 at 52085 (0% delta). It is 2.5% faster than the RTX A1000 (50826) and 2.5% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414), indicating a very tight performance cluster.

Q: What is the best way to achieve 144 FPS with this combo?

A: For 144 FPS gameplay, the 1440p Medium preset (214.7 FPS) and 1440p High (182.6 FPS) both comfortably exceed this target. Even 4K Low at 137.3 FPS falls just short, so 1440p is the recommended resolution for high refresh rate monitors.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes a relative bottleneck only at 1080p, where the frame rate differences between Low (267.5 FPS) and Ultra (219.8 FPS) are compressed—only a 47.7 FPS spread. At 4K, the spread between Low and Ultra is 54.9 FPS, showing the GPU has more influence on scaling.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 236.8 at 1080p to 182.6 at 1440p (a 22.9% reduction), then further to 97.3 at 4K (a 46.7% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline at 4K is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, requiring substantially more shading and memory bandwidth work.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 267.5 FPS at 1080p falls to 228.3 at 1440p (14.7% drop), then to 137.3 at 4K (39.9% drop from 1440p). The fact that 4K Low (137.3 FPS) still exceeds 1080p Ultra (219.8 FPS) might seem counterintuitive, but it highlights that the GPU's raw throughput is so high that even at 4K, it can outpace the CPU-limited 1080p frame rates. Conversely, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p, where the frame rates are capped by the i5-10400F's single-thread performance—its 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 610 indicate moderate single-core strength that limits peak FPS.

The data implies that the RTX 5070 Ti is underutilized at 1080p in this game, as the CPU cannot feed it enough frames to reach its potential. At 1440p, the balance improves, and at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, which is why the frame rate differences between presets become more pronounced as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 267.5 FPS, Medium yields 255.4 FPS, High achieves 236.8 FPS, and Ultra reaches 219.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 47.7 FPS, representing an 17.8% reduction in performance when moving from the least to most demanding preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain impressively high but show a clear step down. Low averages 228.3 FPS, Medium reaches 214.7 FPS, High delivers 182.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 151.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 76.5 FPS, a 33.5% reduction, indicating that the GPU is becoming more stressed as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens further. Low settings yield 137.3 FPS, Medium drops to 117.4 FPS, High achieves 97.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 82.4 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is now 54.9 FPS, a 40.0% reduction. Notably, the jump from 1440p to 4K at each preset is substantial: Ultra drops from 151.8 to 82.4 FPS (45.7% reduction), while Low drops from 228.3 to 137.3 FPS (39.9% reduction). These figures confirm that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that approaches the 60 FPS threshold, and even then, it maintains a comfortable 82.4 FPS average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration. Its benchmark scores show a significant jump from 3DMark 4-thread (2560) to 8-thread (3929), indicating that the additional cores provide meaningful scaling for multithreaded workloads, though the 16-thread score (4748) is only slightly higher than the 8-thread result, suggesting diminishing returns beyond 8 threads.

In Doom, the CPU's performance is adequate to drive the RTX 5070 Ti to very high frame rates, but the 1080p results suggest a ceiling. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1350 and single-thread score of 688 indicate that the processor's per-core performance is modest compared to newer architectures. This is reflected in the fact that at 1080p, the difference between Low (267.5 FPS) and Ultra (219.8 FPS) is relatively small—only 47.7 FPS—which implies that the CPU is limiting the maximum achievable frame rate, regardless of GPU load. The CPU's percentile rank of 73 places it above most processors, but its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-8500, show that it is not a top-tier performer. Despite this, the 12 threads allow the game engine to distribute work effectively, and the 4.30 GHz boost clock helps maintain responsiveness in a fast-paced FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience on this combo, the 1440p Medium preset (214.7 FPS) offers an ideal balance of visual quality and performance, comfortably exceeding the 144 Hz refresh rate of high-end monitors. If the user prioritizes maximum smoothness, 1080p Low (267.5 FPS) provides the highest frame rates, but the visual trade-offs may not be worth the marginal gains over 1080p High (236.8 FPS), which is only 12.9% slower while offering significantly better image quality.

The Ultra presets at 1440p (151.8 FPS) and 4K (82.4 FPS) are both viable, with the former being excellent for high refresh rate displays and the latter providing a solid 4K experience. The data shows that 4K High (97.3 FPS) is a better choice than 4K Medium (117.4 FPS) if visual fidelity is paramount, as the 20.1 FPS difference is noticeable but not transformative. Conversely, 1080p Ultra (219.8 FPS) is redundant—it offers no meaningful advantage over 1080p High (236.8 FPS) while consuming more GPU resources. Ultimately, the strongest recommendation is 1440p High (182.6 FPS), which delivers near-maximum visual fidelity at a frame rate that fully utilizes most high refresh rate monitors, with 4K Ultra (82.4 FPS) as a compelling option for users with 4K displays who accept a lower but still fluid frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, with its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2452 MHz, combined with 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, deliver a theoretical FP32 performance of 43.94 TFLOPS. This places the GPU in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 52086—virtually identical to the RTX 4080 (52085, 0% delta), which underscores its high-end positioning.

In Doom, the GPU's influence is most apparent at 4K, where the frame rate drops from 137.3 FPS on Low to 82.4 FPS on Ultra—a 40.0% reduction. This scaling indicates that the GPU is handling the increased pixel load, with its 896.0 GB/s bandwidth preventing memory bandwidth bottlenecks. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this 2016 title, even at 4K Ultra, and the 28 Gbps effective memory speed ensures that texture streaming is not a limiting factor. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6604 reflects its strong DirectX 12 performance, which aligns with Doom's Vulkan API. The data suggests that the RTX 5070 Ti is the primary driver of frame rates at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p, its potential is constrained by the i5-10400F's processing capabilities.