Doom

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable experience across most of the tested configurations in Doom, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling that shifts depending on resolution and preset. At 1080p, the combination produces frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K Ultra pushes the system to its absolute limit, resulting in averages that fall below playable standards. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, examines the roles of the CPU and GPU, and provides recommendations based strictly on the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 148 FPS, which drops to 96 FPS at 1440p and further to 52 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K, demonstrating that the GTX 1660 SUPER’s rendering throughput is heavily taxed by the 4K pixel count.

The scaling pattern across settings reinforces this GPU-bound conclusion. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 129 at 1080p to 83 at 1440p to 45 at 4K, with the 4K result falling below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The High preset shows a similar trend: 109 FPS at 1080p, 70 at 1440p, and only 38 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is consistently larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for a GPU-limited scenario where the pixel count quadruples while the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth remain constant.

At 1080p, the CPU’s role becomes more apparent. The jump from Low (148 FPS) to Ultra (89 FPS) at this resolution shows a 40% performance spread, but even the lowest preset delivers frame rates far above what the display likely refreshes at. The fact that 1080p Low reaches 148 FPS while 4K Low only reaches 52 FPS suggests that the i5-9400’s six cores are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s pixel processing capability caps performance as resolution climbs. The min FPS data at Medium settings—110 at 1080p, 71 at 1440p, and 38 at 4K—confirms that frame time consistency also degrades with resolution, further indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides six cores and six threads, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This configuration is from the Coffee Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process, and it supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus offering 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. In the context of Doom, a game released in 2016, this CPU’s specifications are more than adequate for the game’s threading model, which typically scales well across multiple cores.

The benchmark data for the i5-9400 shows a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, placing it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (average score 2259, delta -0.2%), the Intel Core i7-10710U (average score 2248, delta +0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (average score 2246, delta +0.4%). These close margins indicate that the i5-9400’s raw compute performance is very much in the mainstream range, neither a standout nor a weak point.

In Doom, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (148 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (89 FPS) suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor even at the highest preset, since the GPU is still able to push out nearly 90 frames per second. However, the fact that 1080p Low achieves 148 FPS while 1440p Low only achieves 96 FPS indicates that the GPU’s rendering load is the primary constraint, not the CPU’s ability to process game logic or draw calls. The six cores and six threads of the i5-9400 are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GTX 1660 SUPER in this title, as evidenced by the high frame rates at lower resolutions where CPU overhead would typically surface first.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Doom?

A: The highest average FPS is 148, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: Based on the data, 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay. The best 4K result is 52 FPS at Low settings, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. At Ultra settings, the average drops to 31 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 12986, which is 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 580 (12928). It trails the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (13075) by 0.7%.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the i5-9400 among all CPUs?

A: The i5-9400 ranks at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, based on its average benchmark score of 2254.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide consistent frame times across resolutions?

A: The Medium preset shows min FPS values of 110 at 1080p, 71 at 1440p, and 38 at 4K, with average FPS of 129, 83, and 45 respectively. The gap between average and min FPS widens at higher resolutions, indicating less consistent frame pacing.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations for Doom?

A: This combo ranks 3168 out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the lower portion of the overall distribution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3168 out of 3712 tested configurations places this i5-9400 and GTX 1660 SUPER pairing in the bottom 15% of all systems tested for Doom. This ranking reflects the hardware’s age and mid-range positioning, as neither component is designed for high-refresh or high-resolution gaming in a demanding title. The CPU’s 47th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 53rd percentile ranking among their respective categories suggest a balanced pairing, but both are firmly in the mainstream segment.

The fact that this combo sits at rank 3168 out of 3712 indicates that the vast majority of tested systems deliver higher average FPS in Doom. This is likely due to more modern GPUs with higher memory bandwidth and shading units, as well as CPUs with more cores or higher boost clocks. However, the data shows that the combo is still capable of exceeding 60 FPS at 1080p across all settings, and even at 1440p with Low and Medium presets, which means it is not a poor performer—it simply does not compete with higher-end configurations that dominate the top of the rankings.

The deltaPct values from the nearest rivals provide context for the GPU’s performance. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s average score of 12986 is nearly identical to the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (delta 0.4%) and the RX 580 (delta 0.4%), which means that swapping to either of these GPUs would produce almost no change in synthetic benchmark results. This suggests that the combo’s low ranking is not due to an unusually weak GPU, but rather the overall system configuration relative to the 3712 other tested combos, which likely include higher-tier graphics cards and processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 148 FPS, followed by Medium at 129 FPS (min 110, max 148), High at 109 FPS, and Ultra at 89 FPS. All four presets at this resolution exceed the 60 FPS threshold, and even the Ultra preset provides a comfortable margin above it, indicating that 1080p is the sweet spot for this hardware in Doom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably but remains playable for most presets. Low settings deliver an average of 96 FPS, Medium averages 83 FPS (min 71, max 96), High averages 70 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first configuration that falls below 60 FPS on average, though it is close enough that frame pacing might still be acceptable for some users, especially given that the Medium preset’s min FPS of 71 shows the GPU can hold decent frame times.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 52 FPS, Medium averages 45 FPS (min 38, max 52), High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 31 FPS. None of these results meet the 60 FPS standard, and the Ultra preset’s 31 FPS average is borderline unplayable for a fast-paced FPS like Doom. The min FPS of 38 at Medium settings further highlights the inconsistency at 4K, where the GPU’s 6 GB of VRAM and 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are insufficient to handle the pixel throughput required.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with the High preset, which delivers an average of 109 FPS. This setting provides a significant visual improvement over Low and Medium while still maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 1080p, averaging 89 FPS, is also viable and offers the best visual quality, but the 20 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the increased load on the GPU, especially if the display has a 144 Hz refresh rate where the High preset’s 109 FPS is closer to the refresh ceiling.

For users with a 2560x1440 display, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, averaging 83 FPS with a min FPS of 71. This combination offers a good balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, as the High preset’s 70 FPS average is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1440p, averaging 96 FPS, is suitable for competitive play where frame rate is prioritized over visuals, but the Medium preset provides a better overall experience without dropping below 70 FPS.

At 4K, there is no preset that delivers a consistently playable experience. The Low preset’s 52 FPS average is the highest, but it requires sacrificing all visual quality settings, and even then, the frame rate is below the 60 FPS target. Users who must game at 4K should consider lowering the resolution or upgrading the GPU, as the data shows that this combo cannot maintain smooth performance at 3840x2160 with any preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process, with a TU116 chip containing 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. It features 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, with a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place it in the mid-range tier, as reflected by its 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 12986.

In Doom, the GPU’s role is evident in the resolution scaling analysis, where performance drops significantly as pixel count increases. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results (38 FPS at High, 52 FPS at Low) indicate that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are overwhelmed at that resolution. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where even Ultra settings average 89 FPS, but at 4K, the memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s and the 192-bit bus width limit the GPU’s ability to feed the render pipeline efficiently.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores provide additional context for its performance in Doom. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 57102 indicate that the card is capable of handling modern graphics APIs, which Doom supports through OpenGL and Vulkan. The nearest rival comparisons—0.4% faster than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and RX 580, and 0.7% slower than the Tesla M2090—show that the GTX 1660 SUPER is well-matched against its contemporaries, but these rivals are also mid-range parts that would face similar challenges at 4K in demanding titles. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS is the raw compute resource that drives the measured frame rates, and the data clearly shows that it is the limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p.