Doom

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 570 pairing delivers solid 1080p performance in Doom, but the frame rate collapses at higher resolutions. Measured averages range from 93 FPS at 1080p Low to 21.4 FPS at 4K High, and the combo ranks 1628th out of 1681 tested configurations. This analysis breaks down the scaling behavior, component roles, and exact frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings. At High settings, the average goes from 69.9 FPS at 1080p to 42 FPS at 1440p (60.1% of the 1080p value) and then to 21.4 FPS at 4K (30.6%). Low settings follow a similar pattern: 93 FPS at 1080p, 58.7 at 1440p (63.1%), and 31.7 at 4K (34.1%). Medium settings drop from 78.3 to 54 (69.0%) to 26.3 (33.6%). Ultra settings go from 54.9 to 38 (69.2%) to 21.6 (39.3%). The 4K frame rate is roughly one-third of the 1080p figure regardless of quality preset, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS falls to 30–39% of the original, meaning the scaling is sub-linear and the graphics card is the limiting factor. Notably, at 4K the difference between High and Ultra is only 0.2 FPS (21.4 vs 21.6), indicating the GPU is saturated and settings have almost no impact at that resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1628th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 3% of the database. Only 53 other configurations perform worse. The GPU itself sits at the 74th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 50th percentile, yet the combo rank is far lower than either component’s individual standing. This suggests that the pairing is not competitive for Doom, likely because most tested combos include stronger graphics cards. The data shows that 1627 other combinations deliver higher average frame rates, so this is a low-tier setup for this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, featuring 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost of 1244 MHz, and it has 4GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s FP32 throughput is 5.095 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s. The 4GB frame buffer is a hard constraint at 4K; even Low settings only reach 31.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 21.6 FPS. The 224 GB/s bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS are insufficient for 4K in Doom. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 30158, which is 0.2% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109) and 0.8% above the RTX 5070 Mobile (29928) in synthetic tests, but those scores do not translate to playable 4K performance here. The RX 570 had a launch MSRP of 169 USD.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1080p, the combo achieves 93 FPS on Low, 78.3 on Medium, 69.9 on High, and 54.9 on Ultra. At 1440p, the numbers are 58.7 (Low), 54 (Medium), 42 (High), and 38 (Ultra). At 4K, the averages are 31.7 (Low), 26.3 (Medium), 21.4 (High), and 21.6 (Ultra). For a 60 Hz display, 1080p High and Medium are comfortable, while Ultra falls below 60. At 1440p, only Low and Medium approach 60 FPS, with High and Ultra dropping to 42 and 38 respectively. 4K is not playable at any setting, as the highest average is 31.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases: 38.1 FPS at 1080p, 20.7 at 1440p, and 10.1 at 4K. This diminishing impact of settings further confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on Coffee Lake, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 7969 and single-core is 1125, placing it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. The average benchmark score is 2305, which is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and 0.6% of the Intel Core i7-8809G (2319). The CPU’s six physical threads and 4.1 GHz boost are sufficient to drive the RX 570 at 1080p, as evidenced by the 93 FPS at Low settings. However, the lack of hyperthreading and the 50th percentile ranking indicate it is not a high-end part. In Doom, the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor at 1440p and 4K, where the GPU’s frame rates drop to 21–58 FPS. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is adequate for feeding the GPU in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings for 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, High yields 69.9 FPS, Medium 78.3, Low 93, and Ultra 54.9. To maintain 60 FPS, use High or lower; Ultra falls short.

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K?

A: No. The highest 4K average is 31.7 FPS on Low, and Ultra is 21.6 FPS, both below playable thresholds.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 570’s average benchmark score is 30158, which is 0.2% above the RTX 5060 (30109) and 0.8% above the RTX 5070 Mobile (29928). These are synthetic scores, not Doom-specific.

Q: What is the CPU’s percentile ranking?

A: The i5-9400 sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rival, the i7-8809G, is 0.6% higher.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration?

A: The RX 570 has 4GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224 GB/s bandwidth, and a boost clock of 1244 MHz.

Q: What is the combo’s rank in Doom?

A: It ranks 1628 out of 1681 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 3% of the database.