Doom

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, but 4K performance is only acceptable on Low settings. The combo ranks 1290th out of 1681 tested combinations, a position in the lower quartile that reflects the GPU's struggle at high resolutions rather than any CPU deficiency. Measured data shows the CPU can drive over 180 FPS at 1080p Low, while the GPU caps 4K Ultra at 42 FPS.

CPU Role

The i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Rocket Lake, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.60 GHz and boost clock reaches 4.40 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU has 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core, plus 80 KB L1 per core. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and uses a PCIe Gen 4 interface with 20 lanes. In Doom, a game that benefits from high single-thread performance, the i5-11400F's boost clock and architecture deliver strong results. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 868, and Cinebench R23 single-core is 2029. The CPU's average benchmark score is 17181, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals—AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, Intel Core i7-1260P, Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, and Intel Core i5-1240U—are all within 0.2% of this score, indicating the i5-11400F is essentially tied with these parts. In Doom, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient; the game's engine scales well with the available threads, and the high boost clock ensures that frame rates are not CPU-limited at 1080p. At 4K, however, the CPU's role diminishes as the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1290 out of 1681 places it in the bottom 23% of all tested combinations. This is a surprising result given that the CPU sits in the 75th percentile and the GPU in the 66th percentile. The discrepancy suggests that Doom's performance is not solely determined by component averages. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, has an average benchmark score of 23181, which is 0.7% higher than the B580's 23021. The B580 also trails the AMD Radeon 760M by 0.1% and the NVIDIA P106-100 by 0.3%, while leading the RTX 4060 Mobile by 1.3%. Despite this competitive standing, the combo's in-game rank is low, indicating that other factors—such as driver optimization or memory bandwidth—may limit Doom performance. The data shows that the i5-11400F's CPU performance is on par with its rivals, so the bottleneck lies elsewhere.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rates drop sharply as resolution increases. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 135.5 at 1080p to 90.6 at 1440p and 49 at 4K—a 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the drop is from 182.5 to 120.4 to 64.1, a 65% decline. Medium settings show a 66% drop (162.2 to 104.9 to 55.3), and Ultra settings a 62% drop (111.5 to 74.6 to 42). The scaling is not proportional to pixel count (4K has four times the pixels of 1080p), which indicates that the CPU is capable of maintaining high frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU cannot keep up as resolution climbs. The fact that the percentage drop is similar across all settings suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p the CPU may still have headroom. This pattern is typical for a mid-range GPU paired with a capable CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists all measured average frame rates:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 49 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 64.1 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 55.3 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 42 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 90.6 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 120.4 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 104.9 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 74.6 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 135.5 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 182.5 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 162.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 111.5 |

At 1080p, even Ultra settings exceed 110 FPS, providing a smooth experience. At 1440p, High and Medium both stay above 90 FPS, while Ultra remains above 74 FPS. At 4K, only Low reaches 64.1 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold; Medium drops to 55.3, High to 49, and Ultra to 42. These numbers show that the combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but 4K requires a significant settings reduction to maintain playability.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p and 1440p provide high frame rates across all settings. At 4K, only Low settings achieve an average above 60 FPS (64.1), so 4K is only viable on Low.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to the RTX 4060?

A: The B580's average benchmark score is 23021, which is 0.7% lower than the RTX 4060's 23181. In Doom, the B580's performance is consistent with this small deficit.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 182.5 FPS, indicating the CPU can handle high frame rates. The CPU's single-thread score of 868 in 3DMark and 2029 in Cinebench R23 support this. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 1290th out of 1681, placing it in the lower quartile. This is lower than expected given the CPU's 75th percentile and GPU's 66th percentile standings.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: Its average benchmark score of 17181 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189), Intel Core i7-1260P (17212), Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17215), and Intel Core i5-1240U (17141). The differences are negligible.

Q: Which settings preset gives the best experience at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, High settings yield 90.6 FPS and Ultra yields 74.6 FPS. Both are above 60 FPS, so Ultra is recommended for the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution. For 4K, only Low settings achieve an average above 60 FPS (64.1), so Low is the only playable option. Medium (55.3) and High (49) fall below 60, and Ultra (42) is not recommended. At 1440p, High (90.6) and Ultra (74.6) both exceed 60 FPS, so Ultra provides the best visual experience while maintaining smoothness. At 1080p, all settings exceed 111 FPS, with Ultra at 111.5 and Low at 182.5; Ultra is the best choice for maximum quality. The data indicates that the combo is best used at 1080p or 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates with high or ultra presets.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and the BMG-G21 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It contains 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, with a transistor density of 72.1M per mm². The GPU features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, along with 20 ray tracing cores. Its base and boost clock are both 2670 MHz, and its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2375 MHz with a 192-bit bus, providing 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The B580's FP32 performance is 13.67 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 213.6 GPixel/s. The GPU has a TDP of 190 W, uses a dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector, and requires a 450 W suggested PSU. It connects via PCIe 4.0 x8. In benchmark tests, the B580 scores 3068 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 92821 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 109672 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score is 23021, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4060, is 0.7% faster, while the AMD Radeon 760M is 0.1% faster and the NVIDIA P106-100 is 0.3% faster. In Doom, the B580's 12 GB VRAM is ample for the game's textures, and the high memory bandwidth helps at 4K. However, the measured FPS at 4K shows the GPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates drop to 42 at Ultra. The GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution, and its 66th percentile ranking is reflected in its ability to handle 1080p and 1440p with ease but struggle at 4K.