Doom

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 yields a combo rank of 1549 out of 1681 tested system configurations in Doom. This places the pairing in the lower tier of tested hardware, indicating that while the components are fully capable of running the game, they do not deliver top-tier performance relative to the broader database. The CPU itself sits at the 50th percentile among all tested processors, and the GPU at the 53rd percentile, so the bottleneck is not a single severely weak part but rather a balanced mid-range pairing that lands in the lower third of the combo rankings.

The data suggests this combination is best suited for 1080p and 1440p play, but struggles at 4K. The measured frame rates across all settings demonstrate that the system is GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while at 1080p it can achieve smooth gameplay on most presets. This is not a hardware set that will dominate Doom’s highest visual fidelity at 4K, but it provides a playable experience for the vast majority of users targeting standard resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1549 out of 1681 places it in the bottom 8% of all tested system configurations for Doom. This is a low position, but it does not imply the game is unplayable; rather, it indicates that many other systems in the database outperform this pairing. The i5-9400’s average benchmark score of 2305 puts it within 0.2% of the Intel Core i3-10305 (score 2300) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (score 2299), and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon E-2134 (score 2295). In contrast, it trails the Intel Core i7-8809G (score 2319) by 0.6%. These rival deltas are marginal, showing that the CPU is not the primary factor dragging the combo rank down.

On the GPU side, the Radeon RX 580’s average benchmark score of 13559 is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (score 13564, delta 0%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (score 13549, delta 0.1%). It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (score 13416) and 1.1% behind the NVIDIA P106-090 (score 13716). The GPU’s percentile rank of 53 indicates it is slightly above average among all tested graphics cards, yet the combo still lands low because Doom’s performance demands favor systems with higher-tier GPUs, especially at 4K where the RX 580 falls below 30 FPS on every setting.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the measured data shows that the Ultra preset delivers an average of 64.4 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset achieves 75.8 FPS, and Medium improves to 87.9 FPS. The Low preset yields 104 FPS, which is the only setting that crosses the 100 FPS threshold. For the smoothest experience at 1080p, the Medium preset offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, as it stays well above 60 FPS while retaining more graphical features than Low.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 42.8 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold for fast-paced FPS action. High delivers 50.6 FPS, Medium reaches 57.7 FPS, and Low hits 63.3 FPS. For 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it is the highest setting that remains above 55 FPS, providing a playable experience without severe frame drops. The Low preset is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS at this resolution, but Medium’s 57.7 FPS is close enough that most users would prefer the visual upgrade.

At 3840x2160, all settings fall below 40 FPS. The Low preset averages 36.1 FPS, High averages 28.5 FPS, Medium averages 28.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. None of these are recommended for serious play, as they all fall below the 40 FPS threshold for acceptable responsiveness in a fast shooter. If forced to play at 4K, Low is the only viable option, but even then the experience will be choppy.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system averages 104 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 63.3 FPS (a 39% reduction); and at 4K Low, it falls to 36.1 FPS (a 65% reduction from 1080p). The same pattern appears on High, where 75.8 FPS at 1080p becomes 50.6 FPS at 1440p (a 33% drop) and 28.5 FPS at 4K (a 62% drop). This scaling is classic GPU-bound behavior, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed the graphics card at lower resolutions but the RX 580’s compute resources become saturated as pixel count rises.

The delta between 1440p and 4K is more pronounced than the delta between 1080p and 1440p. For example, at Medium, the 1080p to 1440p drop is from 87.9 FPS to 57.7 FPS (34% reduction), while the 1440p to 4K drop is from 57.7 FPS to 28.6 FPS (50% reduction). This suggests that the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and the 8 GB GDDR5 frame buffer are insufficient to handle 4K textures without significant performance penalties. The GPU’s 32 ROPs and 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate also limit fill-rate-heavy workloads at high resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low 104 FPS, Medium 87.9 FPS, High 75.8 FPS, and Ultra 64.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 39.6 FPS, showing that the preset scaling has a substantial impact on performance. The step from Medium to High costs 12.1 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 11.4 FPS. All settings remain above 60 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where every preset is playable.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 63.3 FPS, Medium 57.7 FPS, High 50.6 FPS, and Ultra 42.8 FPS. Only the Low preset crosses 60 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 5.6 FPS, Medium to High is 7.1 FPS, and High to Ultra is 7.8 FPS. The scaling is more linear here, with each preset costing roughly 6-8 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 36.1 FPS, Medium 28.6 FPS, High 28.5 FPS, and Ultra 23 FPS. Interestingly, Medium and High are nearly identical (28.6 vs 28.5 FPS), suggesting that at 4K the GPU is so heavily constrained that the difference between these two presets is negligible. The gap from Low to Medium is 7.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 5.5 FPS. No setting achieves even 40 FPS, confirming that 4K is not a viable option for this combo.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Doom, this memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the frame rates remain playable, but it becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The GPU’s 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs produce a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s. These specifications explain why the card scales poorly to 4K: the pixel fill rate is too low to handle the 8.3 million pixels of a 4K frame at high settings.

The GPU’s boost clock is 1340 MHz, with a base clock of 1257 MHz, and the memory runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The FP32 performance is 6.175 TFLOPS, which is moderate for the card’s era. In Doom, the GPU’s Vulkan support (API version 1.3) is well-utilized, and the card’s performance aligns with its 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, has a nearly identical average score (13564 vs 13559), but the RX 580’s 8 GB VRAM gives it a distinct advantage in texture-heavy scenes, even if the raw compute is similar.

The GPU’s TDP of 185 W and suggested PSU of 450 W are not reflected in the FPS data, but they indicate that the card is not power-hungry for its performance class. The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (64.4 FPS) is the highest the card can achieve at that preset, and it demonstrates that the GPU is the clear limiting factor at 4K, where even the Low preset (36.1 FPS) cannot reach 40 FPS. The CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 104 FPS result on Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 36.1 on Low settings, and the Ultra preset averages only 23 FPS. All 4K settings fall below 40 FPS, making the game effectively unplayable at this resolution.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 87.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. It offers a better visual experience than Low (104 FPS) while maintaining smooth gameplay, and it outperforms High (75.8 FPS) and Ultra (64.4 FPS) in terms of frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. At 2560x1440, the frame rate drops proportionally with settings, from 63.3 FPS on Low to 42.8 FPS on Ultra. The CPU’s performance is not limiting, as it scores near its rivals (e.g., 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10305) and has enough headroom to feed the RX 580.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its closest rival in this game?

A: The RX 580’s average benchmark score is 13559, which is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13549, 0.1% delta). It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455 and 1.1% behind the NVIDIA P106-090.

Q: What is the lowest FPS recorded at 4K?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 23 FPS, which is the lowest measured result across all resolutions and settings. Medium and High at 4K are nearly identical at 28.6 and 28.5 FPS, respectively.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM help at higher resolutions?

A: The 8 GB frame buffer does not prevent the FPS from dropping below 40 at 4K. While it provides enough capacity for textures, the GPU’s 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 32 ROPs are insufficient to maintain smooth frame rates, as evidenced by the 36.1 FPS average on Low at 4K.