Doom

The pairing of the Intel Core i7-13700K with the AMD Radeon RX 570 in Doom presents a stark illustration of GPU-bound performance. The data reveals a system where the processor’s substantial capabilities are largely held in check by the graphics card, particularly as resolution and settings escalate. This analysis explores the measured frames, the roles of each component, and what the numbers imply for practical play.

Resolution Scaling

The measured average frame rates show a dramatic and consistent collapse as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 91.4 FPS, but this drops to 61.9 FPS at 1440p and further plummets to 29.4 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern is a classic indicator of a GPU-limited scenario; the RX 570’s rendering pipeline is being saturated by the increasing pixel count, while the i7-13700K has ample headroom to feed it frames.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p represents a 29.5 FPS loss on Low settings, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 32.5 FPS. The halving of performance from 1080p to 4K, from 91.4 FPS down to 29.4 FPS on Low, suggests that the GPU’s fillrate and memory bandwidth are the primary bottlenecks. The 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth and 32 ROPs are simply overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels of 4K, whereas the 2.1 million pixels of 1080p are far more manageable.

Interestingly, the scaling is not perfectly linear across all settings. At 4K, the difference between Low and High is a mere 2.2 FPS (29.4 vs 27.2), whereas at 1080p, that same settings jump costs 22.4 FPS (91.4 vs 69.0). This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so constrained by pixel throughput that it cannot fully utilize the additional shading work required by higher settings. The data suggests the CPU is never the limiting factor here; even at 1080p Low with 91.4 FPS, the i7-13700K with its 16 cores and 24 threads is far from breaking a sweat, making the RX 570 the definitive performance ceiling.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570, built on the Polaris 20 chip with 2048 shading units, is the clear determinant of performance in this dataset. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a theoretical bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, which proves insufficient for 4K Ultra settings, where the average FPS collapses to 18.1. The card’s base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz are modest, and the data shows that its 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the limiting resource.

The benchmark results place this GPU at the 74th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30158. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, have nearly identical average scores (30109 and 30097 respectively, with deltaPct of 0.2), indicating that the RX 570’s raw compute performance is competitive with those modern cards in synthetic tests. However, the 4 GB VRAM capacity is a critical weakness. In Doom, the gap between Medium (31.1 FPS) and Ultra (18.1 FPS) at 4K is 13 FPS, a 41.8% drop, which likely reflects the card spilling over its memory limit or being forced to use slower memory access patterns.

The data implies that the GPU’s role is to be the bottleneck in nearly all configurations. At 1080p, it can deliver a playable 80.2 FPS on Medium, but the 56.6 FPS at Ultra suggests that the card’s 32 ROPs are struggling with the increased texture and pixel shading demands. The pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s is simply not enough for high-refresh 4K, but it is adequate for 1080p. This is a GPU that was designed for 1080p gaming, and the measured results confirm that its architecture, with 128 TMUs and GCN 4.0 design, is best suited for that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows offer a clear picture of the optimal settings for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields 91.4 FPS, but the Medium preset still provides a very smooth 80.2 FPS, which is a better visual experience for a modest 11.2 FPS cost. High at 69 FPS is also viable, but Ultra at 56.6 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the baseline for smooth play, making Medium the best balance of quality and performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. The Low preset is the only one that maintains a framerate above 60 FPS, hitting 61.9 FPS. Medium drops to 52.4 FPS, and High falls to 43.2 FPS. For a consistent experience, Low is the recommended preset, as it avoids the stutter that can accompany sub-60 FPS gameplay. The 1440p resolution taxes the 4 GB VRAM heavily, and the data shows that the card cannot handle higher presets without significant frame loss.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests that this combo is not suited for playable framerates. Even the Low preset averages only 29.4 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 18.1 FPS. None of the presets at 4K achieve a playable framerate, so the recommendation is to avoid 4K entirely with this GPU. The best experience per the measured rows is clearly at 1080p with Medium or High settings, where the system can leverage the CPU’s strength to maintain smooth framerates without overburdening the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Doom?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets achieve near or above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS with 61.9 FPS, while 3840x2160 fails to reach 30 FPS on any preset.

Q: Why is the framerate so low at 4K even on Low settings?

A: The RX 570’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160. The measured 29.4 FPS on Low indicates the GPU is fully saturated, while the CPU has ample capacity to process frames.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-13700K holding back the Radeon RX 570?

A: No. The benchmark scores for the CPU, such as a 93rd percentile ranking and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000, are far in excess of what Doom requires. The measured FPS scaling with resolution confirms the GPU is the limiting component.

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

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 30158, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097), with a deltaPct of only 0.2. This suggests similar raw compute performance despite architectural differences.

Q: What is the optimal preset for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: At 1080p, Medium (80.2 FPS) and High (69 FPS) both exceed 60 FPS. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only one to hit 61.9 FPS. For a guaranteed smooth experience, 1080p Medium is the safest recommendation from the data.

Q: Does the CPU’s performance vary significantly from its closest rivals?

A: The i7-13700K’s average benchmark score is 47282. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700KF, scores 47334, a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the KF is essentially identical. The AMD EPYC 4364P is +0.3% slower, and the Intel Core i9-12900F is +0.4% slower.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 1602 out of 1681 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the bottom 5% of all tested configurations, a position that is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s age and limitations. The CPU is a top-tier part, ranking in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, but its contribution is squandered by the graphics card’s inability to translate that processing power into high framerates.

The data shows that this ranking is not due to a poor pairing per se, but rather an imbalanced one. The i7-13700K’s nearest rivals, such as the i7-13700KF and AMD EPYC 4364P, have nearly identical average scores with a deltaPct of -0.1 and +0.3 respectively, which would not change the overall rank meaningfully. However, the GPU’s position at the 74th percentile among GPUs is misleading in this context; its 4 GB VRAM and GCN 4.0 architecture are not well-suited to the demands of modern game presets.

To contextualize, the combo’s rank of 1602 out of 1681 suggests that most other tested pairings deliver better performance in Doom. This is a reflection of the GPU’s end-of-life status and its 150 W TDP, which is modest but indicative of its older 14 nm process. The system is effectively a modern CPU paired with a legacy GPU, and the benchmark results confirm that the GPU is the anchor dragging the entire combo down the ranking table.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a formidable processor, but the measured data indicates its role is to remain underutilized. With 16 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, it is more than capable of handling Doom’s engine. The CPU’s benchmark scores are exceptional, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000 and a Passmark multithread score of 45887, which place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

In the game results, the CPU’s influence is only visible at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 91.4 FPS, which is still far below what the CPU could theoretically push. The lack of a significant FPS drop between 1080p Low and 1440p Low (91.4 to 61.9 FPS) shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor; if it were, the framerate would remain similar across resolutions. Instead, the GPU’s rendering load increases, and the framerate falls accordingly.

The CPU’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide a solid foundation, but Doom’s performance is not cache-sensitive in this setup. The nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 with a deltaPct of -0.5, show that the i7-13700K is at the top of its class, yet this advantage does not translate to a higher FPS ceiling when paired with the RX 570. The data implies the CPU is a silent partner, ready to deliver much more, but it is never called upon to do so in this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a detailed look at performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from a high of 91.4 on Low to a low of 56.6 on Ultra. The Medium preset delivers 80.2 FPS, and High delivers 69 FPS. This shows a clear step-down in performance as visual fidelity increases, but all presets are at least playable.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve is steeper. The Low preset averages 61.9 FPS, which is the only preset above 60 FPS. Medium drops to 52.4 FPS, High to 43.2 FPS, and Ultra to 34.9 FPS. The 27 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution highlights the GPU’s struggle with the higher pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. The Medium preset is the highest performer at 31.1 FPS, followed by Low at 29.4 FPS and High at 27.2 FPS. The Ultra preset is the worst, averaging only 18.1 FPS. The fact that Medium outperforms Low by 1.7 FPS at 4K is an anomaly, but it suggests that the game’s engine or driver handling at these extreme settings is inconsistent. The full dataset shows a clear narrative: the RX 570 is a 1080p card that can manage 1440p only at the lowest settings, and it is completely overwhelmed at 4K.