Doom

# Doom — Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The pairing of Intel's six-core Rocket Lake processor with NVIDIA's Blackwell flagship produces a fascinating study in bottleneck behavior within a 2016-era title. The data reveals a system that is utterly dominant at lower resolutions, yet shows clear signs of CPU limitation as pixel counts climb — though not in the direction most would expect. With the RTX 5080 sitting in the 89th percentile of all GPUs and the i5-11400F in the 75th percentile of CPUs, this combo ranks 121st out of 1,681 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the top 7% of all systems evaluated.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a story of a GPU that has headroom to spare at lower resolutions. At High settings, the system delivers 282.6 FPS at 1920x1080, then falls to 201.5 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 28.7% reduction), and finally settles at 107.9 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 46.5% drop from 1440p). The scaling from 1440p to 4K is nearly linear with pixel count, suggesting the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

However, the Low settings row reveals something more intriguing. At 1080p Low, the system hits 311.6 FPS, but this only drops to 272.4 FPS at 1440p — a mere 12.6% penalty for 78% more pixels. This disproportionate scaling indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is the limiting factor even at 1440p, as the GPU could theoretically render far more frames but is being held back by the i5-11400F's processing throughput. The pattern inverts at 4K, where Low settings produce 147.9 FPS, a 45.7% drop from 1440p — here the GPU finally becomes the bottleneck.

The Medium settings curve sits predictably between Low and High, with 299.6 FPS at 1080p, 240.2 FPS at 1440p, and 129.1 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings show the steepest 4K penalty, dropping to 91.9 FPS from 162.8 FPS at 1440p. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is the ceiling for Low through Medium presets, while the GPU takes over as the limiting component at 4K across all settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that High settings at 1440p delivers 201.5 FPS, which is already well beyond what most displays can refresh. The jump from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 19.2% performance (201.5 to 162.8 FPS) while presumably adding visual fidelity. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra narrows considerably: 311.6 FPS versus 258.5 FPS, a 17% penalty for maximum quality.

For players targeting 4K, the choice becomes more consequential. High settings produce 107.9 FPS, which clears 60 FPS with margin but falls short of 120 Hz displays. Ultra drops to 91.9 FPS, still playable but representing a 14.8% sacrifice relative to High. Medium at 4K yields 129.1 FPS, offering a middle ground that maintains high refresh rates while retaining some quality improvements over Low's 147.9 FPS.

The data indicates that High is the sweet spot for this combination. At 1080p and 1440p, it delivers nearly the same frame rates as Low while providing superior visuals, and at 4K it maintains the best balance between the 91.9 FPS floor of Ultra and the 147.9 FPS ceiling of Low. The 107.9 FPS average at 4K High suggests this preset was designed for exactly this class of hardware.

GPU Role

The RTX 5080's specifications explain its dominance in this title. With 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, the GPU is capable of immense pixel throughput. Its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes increasingly relevant at 4K where texture streaming demands are highest. The boost clock of 2617 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz provide the raw compute headroom needed for Doom's id Tech engine.

The GPU's benchmark profile reinforces its position: a Passmark G3D score of 36,565 places it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Arc A580 at 57,756 (2.5% lower) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X at 57,661 (2.6% lower). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,637 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 257,942 further confirm its capabilities.

At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 56.28 TFLOPS FP32 compute is evidently being taxed, as frame rates fall to 91.9 FPS. The fact that 4K Medium (129.1 FPS) and 4K High (107.9 FPS) both exceed 100 FPS suggests that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor here — the 960.0 GB/s figure is more than sufficient for Doom's requirements. The GPU's 45,600 million transistors on a 5 nm TSMC process provide the efficiency needed to sustain these frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 311.6 FPS on Low, 299.6 FPS on Medium, 282.6 FPS on High, and 258.5 FPS on Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is 53.1 FPS, indicating that even at maximum settings, the CPU is likely capping performance — the GPU could render more frames if fed faster.

At 2560x1440, the numbers shift: 272.4 FPS on Low, 240.2 FPS on Medium, 201.5 FPS on High, and 162.8 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 109.6 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming more involved in determining performance. The 30.6% drop from Low to High suggests that shading complexity is now a factor.

At 3840x2160, the hierarchy compresses: 147.9 FPS on Low, 129.1 FPS on Medium, 107.9 FPS on High, and 91.9 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra is now 56.0 FPS, but the relative penalty is much steeper — Ultra costs 37.9% of Low's performance. The 4K numbers clearly indicate that the RTX 5080 is the dominant constraint at this resolution, with CPU overhead becoming proportionally less significant.

FAQ

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, with caveats. The data shows 107.9 FPS at 4K High and 91.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, both exceeding 60 FPS. For 120 Hz displays, Medium at 129.1 FPS or Low at 147.9 FPS would be necessary.

Q: Why does the 1080p Low setting only reach 311.6 FPS?

A: The CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. The i5-11400F's six cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, can only feed the GPU so quickly. The GPU's 89th percentile benchmark position suggests it could render more frames if not constrained.

Q: Which settings provide the best experience at 1440p?

A: High settings at 201.5 FPS offer the best balance. Ultra drops to 162.8 FPS, a 19.2% penalty, while Medium at 240.2 FPS and Low at 272.4 FPS provide diminishing returns for visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 5080's memory configuration affect Doom performance?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient — the 4K results show smooth scaling without sudden drops that would indicate memory pressure. The 256-bit bus width supports the high texture loads at 4K Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in this title?

A: Yes, at 1080p and 1440p with lower settings. The evidence is the small FPS differences between Low and Medium at 1080p (311.6 vs 299.6 FPS), which suggests CPU limits. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank among tested systems?

A: It ranks 121st out of 1,681 combinations, placing it in the top 7.2%. This is consistent with the CPU's 75th percentile and GPU's 89th percentile positions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings six cores and 12 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are modest by modern standards, but the architecture's single-thread performance — evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,029 and Passmark single-thread score of 2,981 — proves adequate for Doom's engine.

The CPU's benchmark profile shows balanced performance: a 3DMark max-threads score of 5,652 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,372. Its 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it near rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta) and Intel Core i7-1260P (-0.2% delta). The data suggests that while this CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, it does cap performance at lower resolutions.

The 65W TDP and 14 nm process node indicate this is a mainstream part, not a high-end enthusiast chip. Yet in Doom, the CPU's single-thread speed — not core count — appears to drive performance. The 1080p Low result of 311.6 FPS versus the 1440p Low result of 272.4 FPS shows that even at 1440p, the CPU is still constraining the GPU at lower settings. This is typical of id Tech titles, which rely heavily on a few primary threads for game logic and draw call submission.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1,681 tested combinations, this pairing claims the 121st position, placing it in the top 7.2% of all systems. This ranking reflects the synergy between a 75th-percentile CPU and an 89th-percentile GPU — the combination outperforms what either component's individual percentile might suggest, likely because Doom's engine does not heavily tax the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities.

The rank indicates that while the RTX 5080 is a top-tier GPU, the i5-11400F prevents this system from reaching the absolute top tier. The 1080p results show a ceiling around 311.6 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound. Systems with higher-ranked CPUs would presumably push closer to the GPU's full potential at lower resolutions, though the 4K results suggest that at higher pixel counts, this combo approaches the performance of more balanced pairings.

The 121st rank out of 1,681 is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a flagship GPU. The data implies that for 4K gaming, this combination delivers near-top-tier performance, while at 1080p, the CPU leaves some performance on the table. This is a system that rewards high-resolution gaming over esports-level frame rates.