Doom

Doom, released in 2016, is a fast-paced FPS that scales well across a wide range of hardware, but the data here shows a clear split between CPU-bound and GPU-bound scenarios for the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination. The measured results indicate that this pairing is capable of excellent 1080p performance, but 4K gaming requires significant settings compromises to remain fluid. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to explain where the bottlenecks lie and how to get the best experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent with a system that becomes heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 175 FPS at 1920x1080 to 113 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 61 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 35% decline from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% decline from 1440p to 4K. This steep drop-off at 4K indicates that the RTX 2060 is the primary limiting factor at that resolution, as the pixel count is simply too demanding for the GPU’s 6 GB of VRAM and Turing architecture.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 152 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1440p and 4K remains around 46%, reinforcing that the GPU is the bottleneck at the highest resolution regardless of preset. In contrast, the drop from 1080p to 1440p at Medium is about 35%, which is the same relative reduction as at Low, suggesting that the CPU is still keeping pace at 1440p and the GPU is taking over the load.

The High preset tells a slightly different story. At 1080p, the average is 129 FPS, which drops to 83 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 45 FPS at 4K (a 46% reduction from 1440p). The 4K result of 45 FPS is only slightly above playable thresholds for a single-player shooter, but the data suggests that the game is not playable at a consistent 60 FPS at 4K High. The 4K Ultra preset is the worst case, with an average of just 37 FPS, making it the only settings combination that is unplayable by any standard.

The scaling pattern across all settings shows that the RTX 2060 hits a performance wall at 4K, whereas at 1080p and 1440p, the i5-13400F has enough headroom to push high frame rates. The fact that the 4K Low average of 61 FPS is still lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 105 FPS demonstrates that the GPU is the dominant constraint at 4K. For 1440p gaming, the system is balanced, but for 4K, the user must accept Low or Medium settings to stay near 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is based on the TU106 chip on a 12 nm process, with a die size of 445 mm² and 10,800 million transistors. Its memory configuration is 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU has 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, along with 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, which are irrelevant for Doom’s traditional rasterization workload. The pixel rate is 80.64 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 201.6 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 6.451 TFLOPS.

The benchmark data shows the GPU’s overall average score is 15290, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (avg score 15283, deltaPct 0), the AMD Radeon 680M (avg score 15270, deltaPct 0.1), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (avg score 15199, deltaPct 0.6). The RTX 2060 beats the GTX 580 by a negligible margin, and the deltaPct values are all within 0.8%, indicating that this GPU sits in a tightly contested performance tier. For Doom specifically, the 6 GB VRAM is sufficient at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the memory capacity and bandwidth are likely causing the 37 FPS average, as the GPU struggles to feed the high-resolution textures.

The measured FPS results show that the RTX 2060 delivers its best performance at 1080p Low, hitting 175 FPS, which is well above any high-refresh-rate display’s capability. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 105 FPS, still smooth but 40% lower than Low, showing that the GPU is sensitive to settings changes. The 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS is the lowest in the dataset, and it is clear that the GPU is not designed for 4K gaming in this title, as even 4K Medium only reaches 53 FPS. The VRAM usage is not reported in the data, but the 6 GB capacity is a known limitation for modern titles at high resolutions, and Doom’s texture-heavy levels at Ultra settings likely exceed comfortable margins.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 13th-generation Raptor Lake processor with 10 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s TDP is 65 W, and it uses the Intel Socket 1700. Its average benchmark score is 25292, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (avg score 25284, deltaPct 0), the Intel Core 5 120 (avg score 25362, deltaPct -0.3), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (avg score 25365, deltaPct -0.3). The i5-13400F is effectively tied with these processors, differing by less than 0.4%, which shows it is a strong mid-range performer.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is evident at 1080p, where the frame rates are high enough to stress the processor. At 1080p Low, the average is 175 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it is 152 FPS, both of which are well above 144 Hz. These numbers indicate that the i5-13400F has no trouble feeding the RTX 2060 at 1080p, as the GPU is not fully saturated at these settings. The 3DMark benchmark scores support this: the single-thread score is 960, and the 16-thread score is 7314, with the max-thread score at 7307. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 22604, and the single-core score is 3191, which are strong results for a 65 W chip.

The data suggests that at 1440p, the CPU is still not the bottleneck, as the FPS drops are proportional to the resolution increase. For example, at High settings, going from 1080p (129 FPS) to 1440p (83 FPS) is a 36% reduction, which is expected from the GPU load increase. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would see a smaller drop or a plateau. The fact that 4K Low (61 FPS) is lower than 1080p Ultra (105 FPS) confirms that the GPU is the limiting component in all 4K scenarios, while the CPU remains underutilized. The i5-13400F’s 16 threads are more than enough for Doom’s engine, which is known to scale well with multi-core processors, but the game is not CPU-heavy enough to challenge this chip at any resolution tested.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, with all settings presets achieving at least 105 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 68 FPS at Ultra to 113 FPS at Low, which is playable but requires settings tuning. At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium settings exceed 45 FPS, making 4K viable only with significant compromises.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 a bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 61 FPS at Low to 37 FPS at Ultra, showing a 39% performance penalty from just changing the preset. The GPU’s 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for ultra textures at this resolution, and the data confirms that the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: How does the i5-13400F compare to its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core 5 120 (25362, deltaPct -0.3). The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D is also within 0.3% (25365), meaning these processors are effectively equivalent in synthetic tests.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 175 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 105 FPS. This is a 40% reduction in frame rate, but both are well above 60 FPS, so the choice depends on whether the user prefers maximum visual quality over raw speed.

Q: Does the 4K Medium preset have a minimum FPS that is playable?

A: The 4K Medium preset has an average FPS of 53, with a minimum of 45 FPS and a maximum of 61 FPS. The minimum of 45 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, which could cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced combat, so a 60 Hz display would not be fully utilized.

Q: Which component is more important for high frame rates in Doom?

A: At 1080p, the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor, as the CPU has enough headroom to reach 175 FPS at Low settings. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the i5-13400F’s performance is sufficient to drive higher FPS if the GPU could keep up, evidenced by the steep FPS drop with resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p, the High preset is the best balance, delivering 129 FPS, which is smooth on a 144 Hz monitor while still providing good visual quality. The Ultra preset at 105 FPS is also viable for 60 Hz displays, but the 24 FPS gain from dropping to High is worth it for most players. The Low preset at 175 FPS is only useful for competitive play or extreme refresh rate monitors, as the visual downgrade is significant.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, averaging 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, which is stable and above 75 Hz. The High preset at 83 FPS is also acceptable for 60 Hz displays, but the Medium preset offers a 19% performance boost with minimal visual loss. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold, so it is not ideal for fast-paced action. The Low preset at 113 FPS is overkill for most monitors, so Medium is the sweet spot.

At 4K, the data shows that only the Low preset achieves an average above 60 FPS (61 FPS), but the Medium preset at 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS is more visually appealing. For a 60 Hz display, the Medium preset is the best compromise, as the minimum of 45 FPS is acceptable for a single-player game, though it may feel less responsive. The High preset at 45 FPS and the Ultra preset at 37 FPS are not recommended, as they drop below playable thresholds and show that the RTX 2060 cannot handle 4K at high quality. For the best experience, stick to 1440p Medium or 1080p High.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a full picture of the system’s performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with an average of 175 FPS, followed by Medium at 152 FPS (minimum 130, maximum 175), High at 129 FPS, and Ultra at 105 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 70 FPS, showing that the GPU is the main variable at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 113 FPS, Medium averages 99 FPS (minimum 84, maximum 113), High averages 83 FPS, and Ultra averages 68 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with an average reduction of about 36%. The minimum FPS for Medium at 1440p is 84, which is still smooth.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 61 FPS, Medium averages 53 FPS (minimum 45, maximum 61), High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The 4K results show a dramatic decline, with the Ultra preset being 39% slower than the Low preset. The minimum FPS for 4K Medium is 45, which is the lowest recorded in the entire dataset. The combination rank for this CPU and GPU in Doom is 2934 out of 3712, indicating that while the system is not top-tier, it is still above the median for this game.