Doom

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT paired with the Intel Core i5-9400 delivers a highly capable Doom experience, but the data clearly shows that the Ultra preset is a performance trap at higher resolutions. The sweet spot for this combination is the High preset at 1440p, which balances the GPU's 8 GB frame buffer and the CPU's six cores to produce excellent frame rates without the steep cost of Ultra settings. At 1080p, High delivers 146.1 FPS, while Ultra drops to 121.5 FPS — a 25 FPS penalty that is not justified by the visual gain in this fast-paced title. The benchmark results indicate that users should prioritize High settings for the best experience, as the GPU's RDNA 2.0 architecture handles the game's demands efficiently at this level.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across presets, with Ultra consistently imposing a significant performance penalty. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is substantial: Low reaches 197.5 FPS, Medium 176.7 FPS, High 146.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 121.5 FPS. This 76 FPS spread between the lowest and highest presets suggests that the GPU's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are pushed hard by the Ultra preset's additional effects. However, the more important comparison is between High and Ultra. At 1080p, High is only 16.8% slower than Medium, while Ultra is 16.8% slower than High — but the visual difference in Doom between High and Ultra is often subtle, making High the recommended choice for competitive play.

At 1440p, the pattern intensifies. High delivers 95.1 FPS, which is a fully playable and smooth experience. Medium hits 115.2 FPS, and Low reaches 127.1 FPS. Ultra, however, drops to 77.4 FPS, which is a 18.6% reduction from High and approaches the threshold where fast-paced action can feel less responsive. For 1440p users, High is the optimal preset: it stays above 90 FPS, leaving headroom for demanding scenes, while Medium offers a 21% boost for those who prefer maximum smoothness over visual fidelity. The data suggests that Low is unnecessary at this resolution, as Medium provides a better frame-time consistency for only a modest visual compromise.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The RX 6650 XT is not a 4K-class card, and the numbers confirm this. High drops to 54.1 FPS, Medium to 58.9 FPS, and Low to 68.3 FPS. Ultra falls to 41.1 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most gamers. The best experience at 4K is Low, which maintains 68.3 FPS. This is a critical finding: the GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are simply not sufficient for Ultra at 4K, and even High struggles to stay above 60 FPS. Users with 4K displays should either accept Low settings or consider dropping to 1440p for a much better experience.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the primary performance driver in this configuration, and its specifications explain the measured results. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the GPU has a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but it becomes a bottleneck at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings where the additional texture and shadow data exceeds the frame buffer's comfortable capacity. The 4K Ultra score of 41.1 FPS versus the 4K Low score of 68.3 FPS highlights this limitation; the 27.2 FPS gap is largely due to memory pressure rather than raw compute.

Clock speeds are another factor. The GPU has a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. The architecture, RDNA 2.0, is built on a 7 nm process from TSMC, with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. This allows for a high pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s, which are directly relevant to Doom's fast-moving textures and effects. The GPU's FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS provides ample compute for the game's Vulkan-based rendering engine, which is known for scaling well with AMD hardware.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 72 versus all GPUs places it in the upper tier, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, shows a 0% delta in average benchmark score. This indicates that the 6650 XT is a well-balanced card for its class. In Doom specifically, the GPU's performance is strong at 1080p, where it exceeds 120 FPS on all presets, and remains competitive at 1440p. The 4K results are the only area where the card shows its limits, and the data suggests that users should not expect a consistent 60 FPS at that resolution.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT capable of running Doom at 4K?

A: The data shows that the card can run Doom at 4K, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 68.3 FPS. High settings drop to 54.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41.1 FPS, which is below the ideal playable threshold. Users seeking 4K should stick to Low or consider a lower resolution.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p with this combo?

A: High is the recommended preset at 1440p, delivering 95.1 FPS. It offers a good balance of visual quality and performance, with Medium providing 115.2 FPS for those who prioritize frame rate. Ultra is not recommended, as it drops to 77.4 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in Doom?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In Doom, the CPU is less of a bottleneck than the GPU at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 197.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU can keep up with high frame rates when the GPU is not limited.

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

A: At 1080p, High achieves 146.1 FPS while Ultra achieves 121.5 FPS. This is a 24.6 FPS difference, or approximately 17% lower performance on Ultra. The visual improvement from Ultra is often minimal in fast-paced gameplay, making High the better choice.

Q: Does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM cause issues in Doom?

A: The 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, as shown by the high frame rates. At 4K, the VRAM becomes a limiting factor, particularly at Ultra settings, where the score drops to 41.1 FPS. The 280.3 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for lower resolutions but struggles with 4K Ultra data demands.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1100 out of 1681 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier. The GPU's strong performance at 1080p and 1440p compensates for the CPU's mid-range standing, but the 4K results pull the overall ranking down.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1100 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, which places it in the 65th percentile of all configurations. This ranking is respectable, but not top-tier, and it reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The CPU has a percentile of 50 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305, while the GPU has a percentile of 72 versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29024. The GPU is clearly the stronger component, and the 1100 rank is likely held back by the CPU's modest six-thread performance in certain scenes.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core i3-10305 has an average score of 2300 with a 0.2% delta, and the Intel Xeon E-2134 scores 2295 with a 0.4% delta. These are essentially identical performers, confirming that the i5-9400 is a solid mid-range processor. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, has a 0% delta, meaning the 6650 XT is perfectly matched in average performance. This parity suggests that the combo's ranking is more about the overall system balance than any specific bottleneck.

The ranking of 1100 out of 1681 means that roughly 65% of tested combos perform better, while 35% perform worse. In the context of Doom, which is not an extremely demanding title by modern standards, this rank indicates that the combo is more than capable for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it will struggle at 4K. Users with this configuration should feel confident in their ability to play Doom at high frame rates at mainstream resolutions, but they should not expect to push Ultra settings at 4K without significant compromises.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 146.1 FPS at 1080p to 95.1 FPS at 1440p, and then to 54.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are increasingly strained as pixel count rises.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar but with higher absolute numbers: 197.5 FPS at 1080p, 127.1 FPS at 1440p, and 68.3 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 36%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 46%. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU is likely not the constraint given the high frame rates at lower resolutions. The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 197.5 FPS Low score, but at 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor.

The data also shows that the Ultra preset scales the worst. At 1080p, Ultra hits 121.5 FPS, which drops to 77.4 FPS at 1440p and 41.1 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop is 47%, the steepest of any preset. This is consistent with the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus struggling to handle the increased texture data at 4K Ultra. For users who want to maintain a consistent experience, the High preset offers the most predictable scaling, with a 54% retention of 1080p performance at 4K, whereas Ultra retains only 34%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across all resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver the highest frame rate at 197.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 176.7 FPS, High at 146.1 FPS, and Ultra at 121.5 FPS. This range shows that the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p, and even the most demanding preset stays above 120 FPS, which is excellent for a 144Hz monitor.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still strong. Low reaches 127.1 FPS, Medium 115.2 FPS, High 95.1 FPS, and Ultra 77.4 FPS. The High preset remains above 90 FPS, which is ideal for smooth gameplay, while Ultra dips below 80 FPS, which may be noticeable in fast-paced action. For users with 1440p displays, High is the recommended preset, as it maintains a high frame rate without the visual compromises of Medium or Low.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS, at 68.3 FPS. Medium hits 58.9 FPS, High 54.1 FPS, and Ultra 41.1 FPS. The data clearly indicates that 4K is not the intended resolution for this GPU in Doom, and users should either lower their expectations or their resolution. The 4K results are the weakest part of this combo's profile, and they contribute to the overall ranking of 1100 out of 1681.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 plays a supporting role in this configuration, and the benchmark data suggests that it is not a significant bottleneck in Doom. The CPU has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its L3 cache is 9 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. These specifications are modest by modern standards, but they are sufficient for Doom's engine, which is well-optimized for multi-core processors.

The CPU's average benchmark score is 2305, with a percentile of 50 versus all CPUs. This puts it in the middle of the pack, and its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Xeon E-2134 — have nearly identical scores with deltas of 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. This indicates that the i5-9400 is a reliable, if not exceptional, processor. In Doom, the CPU's performance is best observed at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 197.5 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes further. The 4K Low score of 68.3 FPS is more than 3 times lower than the 1080p Low score, which strongly indicates a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's six threads are not fully utilized at 4K, as the GPU is unable to render frames fast enough to require more CPU work. The data shows that the i5-9400 is a capable partner for the RX 6650 XT in Doom, providing enough processing power for 1080p and 1440p gaming, while the GPU handles the heavy lifting at higher resolutions. The combo's overall ranking of 1100 out of 1681 reflects this balance, where the GPU's strong 72nd percentile is slightly offset by the CPU's 50th percentile standing.