Doom

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers an exceptionally high-performance experience in Doom, with the measured data showing that the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for most users. While the Low preset achieves the highest frame rates, the performance headroom is so vast that the visual fidelity gains from Ultra come at a relatively modest cost, making it the definitive recommendation for this combination.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the Ultra preset is the best experience for this pairing, despite not producing the highest average FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra delivers 259.8 FPS, which is a significant 54.1 FPS drop from the Low preset's 313.9 FPS, but the game remains exceptionally fluid. The data suggests that the RTX 5090 has ample headroom to handle the most demanding settings. At 2560x1440, Ultra produces 180 FPS, still well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 3840x2160, Ultra maintains 97.2 FPS, which is a playable and smooth experience for a fast-paced FPS.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates over visual quality, the Low preset at 1080p yields 313.9 FPS, but this comes at the cost of graphical fidelity. The Medium preset offers a balanced middle ground, producing 298.2 FPS at 1080p and 139 FPS at 4K. However, given the GPU's capability, the data strongly favors Ultra. The performance delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 54.1 FPS, but the jump from Medium to Ultra only costs 38.4 FPS, making Ultra the most attractive option for those who want the full visual experience without sacrificing competitive frame rates. The High preset, which sits between Medium and Ultra, delivers 279.1 FPS at 1080p and 121.7 FPS at 4K, but it does not offer the same level of graphical enhancement as Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate it is a solid mid-range performer, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029. In the context of Doom, a game that is not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's single-core performance is crucial. The data shows that the processor's 12 threads are more than sufficient for this title, as the bottleneck in this pairing is almost certainly the GPU at lower resolutions.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is remarkably tight. Its average benchmark score of 17181 places it within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and the Intel Core i7-1260P, and it actually outperforms the Intel Core i5-1240U by 0.2%. This indicates that the 11400F provides a consistent baseline for gaming. In Doom, the 6-core design with a 4.40 GHz boost clock ensures that the game's engine has enough processing power to feed the RTX 5090, especially at 1080p where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. The CPU's L3 cache of 12 MB shared across all cores helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining high minimum frame rates in fast-paced action sequences. The data suggests that while the CPU is not the star of the show, it is more than capable of supporting the GPU without creating a significant bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this configuration, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz, combined with 21760 shading units, allow it to achieve a staggering FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS. In Doom, a game known for its demanding Vulkan and OpenGL paths, this GPU is overkill at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 313.9 FPS result at 1080p Low.

The GPU's 32 GB VRAM is far more than what Doom requires, but it ensures that the game runs without any memory constraints. The data shows a clear scaling pattern: at 1080p, the GPU is so powerful that the frame rates are likely limited by the CPU's ability to issue draw calls. As the resolution increases to 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the GPU's workload increases, but it still delivers exceptional performance. The RTX 5090's nearest rivals, the RTX 5090 D and RTX 5050 Mobile, are within 0.2% of its average benchmark score of 84306, but this does not translate to identical gaming performance due to the massive memory and bandwidth advantages. In Doom, the GPU's role is to provide an almost limitless ceiling, allowing users to crank settings to Ultra without worrying about frame rate dips.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1681 tested combinations in the database, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 89th. This places it in the top 5.3% of all tested combos, which is an excellent result. The high rank is primarily driven by the GPU's exceptional performance, but the CPU's competent showing ensures that it does not drag the overall score down. The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, making it a top-tier choice for Doom.

The rank of 89 suggests that while there are a few combinations that achieve higher frame rates, they likely feature even more powerful CPUs that can better keep up with the RTX 5090 at 1080p. However, for practical purposes, the difference between rank 89 and rank 1 is likely minimal in real-world gameplay, as the frame rates are already so high. The combo's performance is consistent across all settings, with the smallest gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (65.9 FPS difference) and the largest at 1080p (54.1 FPS difference), showing that the GPU scales well with settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to use for this CPU and GPU combo in Doom?

A: The Ultra preset is recommended. It delivers 259.8 FPS at 1080p, 180 FPS at 1440p, and 97.2 FPS at 4K, which are all highly playable frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in terms of performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i5-1240U and 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and Intel Core i7-1260P.

Q: Is the RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM necessary for Doom?

A: No, Doom does not require that much memory, but the 32 GB GDDR7 VRAM ensures there are no memory bottlenecks, allowing for maximum performance at all settings.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The Low preset achieves 313.9 FPS, while Ultra achieves 259.8 FPS, resulting in a 54.1 FPS difference.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to all other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 89th out of 1681 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 5.3% of all systems tested.

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

A: At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (over 300 FPS) that the CPU is likely the limiting factor, but at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary performance driver.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS shows a clear progression across settings. The Low preset yields 313.9 FPS, which is the highest result for this resolution. Medium follows at 298.2 FPS, High at 279.1 FPS, and Ultra at 259.8 FPS. The data reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra is 54.1 FPS, but the step from Medium to High is 19.1 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 19.3 FPS, indicating a consistent performance cost for each tier of visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low preset produces 270 FPS, Medium drops to 254.5 FPS, High delivers 216.9 FPS, and Ultra maintains 180 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 90 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, showing that the GPU is beginning to work harder. At 3840x2160, the results are still impressive. Low achieves 163.1 FPS, Medium produces 139 FPS, High reaches 121.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 97.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 65.9 FPS, which demonstrates the GPU's ability to handle 4K gaming with ease.

The data shows that at every resolution, the step from Low to Medium costs between 15.7 FPS (at 4K) and 24.1 FPS (at 1440p), while the step from Medium to High costs between 17.3 FPS (at 4K) and 37.6 FPS (at 1440p). The final step from High to Ultra costs between 24.5 FPS (at 4K) and 36.9 FPS (at 1440p), making Ultra the most demanding setting at all resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of performance across resolutions reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 313.9 FPS at 1080p to 270 FPS at 1440p, a 14% decrease, and then to 163.1 FPS at 4K, a 40% decrease from 1440p. This pattern suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU is not fully utilized. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p indicates that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without a proportional performance loss.

At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 259.8 FPS at 1080p to 180 FPS at 1440p, a 31% decrease, and then to 97.2 FPS at 4K, a 46% decrease from 1440p. This more significant drop at higher settings indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as the workload increases. The data shows that the performance penalty from 1080p to 1440p is 79.8 FPS at Ultra, while from 1440p to 4K it is 82.8 FPS. This near-constant drop suggests that the GPU is scaling predictably with resolution.

The scaling pattern across all settings indicates that at 1080p, the system is CPU-bound, as evidenced by the high frame rates and the small differences between settings. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more heavily utilized, and the frame rates become more dependent on the GPU's raw compute power. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, with Ultra settings producing just 97.2 FPS, still a very playable result. The overall data indicates that this combo is well-balanced, with the CPU capable of pushing high frame rates at lower resolutions and the GPU taking over at higher resolutions to maintain smooth performance.