Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a performance profile in Doom that is heavily dictated by resolution, with the CPU demonstrating ample headroom while the GPU becomes the primary constraint as pixel count rises. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates, contextualizes the hardware against its nearest rivals, and provides actionable settings guidance based solely on the observed data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combination achieves its highest frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 186 FPS average. This figure drops to 120 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 65 FPS at 3840x2160 on the same Low settings. This represents a 65% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering workload scales dramatically with pixel count.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the High preset. At 1080p, the average FPS is 137. Moving to 1440p reduces this to 88 FPS, a 36% decrease. At 4K, the average falls to 48 FPS, which is a 65% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K, where the frame rate nearly halves, strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B580's rendering capabilities are the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The GPU's fill rate and shading throughput, while adequate for 1080p and 1440p, become saturated when tasked with the 8.3 million pixels of a 4K frame.

A key observation is the diminishing returns of lowering settings at 4K. The spread between Low (65 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) at 3840x2160 is 26 FPS, whereas at 1080p the same settings spread is 74 FPS (from 186 to 112). This compression of the settings range at 4K indicates that the GPU is so heavily constrained by pixel throughput that adjusting quality presets has a relatively smaller impact on the final frame rate. The bottleneck shifts from a balanced workload at 1080p to a purely pixel-bound scenario at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. In a title like Doom, which is known for its efficient multi-threading, this CPU provides substantial headroom. The benchmark results for the CPU, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303, indicate a processor with both high aggregate throughput and strong per-thread performance.

Given the measured FPS data, the CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck in any of the tested configurations. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS of 186 is exceptionally high, suggesting that even a demanding game engine is not stressing the CPU's limits. The fact that the FPS scales down consistently with resolution and settings, rather than plateauing at a CPU-imposed ceiling, is further evidence that the processor is never the limiting component.

The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 24 threads are more than sufficient for Doom's game logic, physics, and draw call processing. The data implies that the processor's role is to feed the GPU with data as fast as it can be consumed, and at no point does it fail to do so. The performance difference between the Ultra 9 290K Plus and its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, is a mere 0.2% in average benchmark score, meaning that swapping the CPU would have a negligible impact on the frame rates observed in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Intel Arc B580 achieves a rank of 2175 out of 2930 tested combos for Doom. This places the setup in the 26th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning that roughly 74% of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this specific game. This ranking reflects the GPU's position in the market, as the Arc B580’s performance is a limiting factor despite the top-tier CPU.

The combo rank is more indicative of the GPU's standing than the CPU's. The Arc B580 sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 15748. Its nearest rivals, based on average benchmark score, include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (deltaPct 0.6%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (deltaPct -0.7%). These deltas are all within 1% of the Arc B580’s average score, indicating that the GPU's raw compute performance is closely matched with those older and newer cards.

Given that the CPU is vastly more powerful than what is required for this game, the combo's rank of 2175 is almost entirely a function of the GPU's capabilities. A weaker CPU paired with the same GPU would likely achieve a similar rank, as the frame rates are consistently GPU-bound across all resolutions tested. The data suggests that to improve this combo's ranking, the user would need to upgrade the GPU rather than the processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080

• Low: Average FPS 186. This is the highest recorded frame rate in the entire dataset, indicating that the GPU is not the primary constraint at this resolution and settings.
• Medium: Average FPS 162, with a minimum of 137 and a maximum of 186. The average is 24 FPS lower than Low, showing a moderate impact from increased shading and texture quality.
• High: Average FPS 137. This represents a 25 FPS drop from Medium, suggesting that the High preset includes more demanding effects that begin to tax the GPU.
• Ultra: Average FPS 112. This is a 25 FPS drop from High, and a 74 FPS drop from Low. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, but still remains comfortably above 100 FPS.

2560x1440

• Low: Average FPS 120. This is a 66 FPS reduction from the 1080p Low result, highlighting the significant cost of adding 78% more pixels.
• Medium: Average FPS 105, with a minimum of 89 and a maximum of 120. This is a 15 FPS drop from Low at the same resolution.
• High: Average FPS 88. This is a 17 FPS drop from Medium, and a 49 FPS drop from the 1080p High result.
• Ultra: Average FPS 72. This is a 16 FPS drop from High, and a 40 FPS drop from the 1080p Ultra result. This is the first preset where the average falls below the 100 FPS mark.

3840x2160

• Low: Average FPS 65. This is a 55 FPS drop from the 1440p Low result, showing the steep penalty of moving to 4K.
• Medium: Average FPS 57, with a minimum of 48 and a maximum of 65. This is an 8 FPS drop from Low at the same resolution.
• High: Average FPS 48. This is a 9 FPS drop from Medium, and a 17 FPS drop from the 1440p High result.
• Ultra: Average FPS 39. This is a 9 FPS drop from High, and a 33 FPS drop from the 1440p Ultra result. This is the lowest average FPS recorded in the dataset.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 is the highest resolution where a 60 FPS average can be consistently achieved. At 1440p, every preset from Low to Ultra exceeds 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging 72 FPS. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (65 FPS) exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium (57 FPS), High (48 FPS), and Ultra (39 FPS) all fall below.

Q: How much performance is lost by moving from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: The average FPS at 1080p High is 137, while at 4K High it is 48. This represents a 65% reduction in average frame rate when the resolution is increased from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The data indicates that the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731, provides far more performance than Doom requires, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to its immediate rivals in raw benchmark score?

A: The Arc B580’s average benchmark score is 23021. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, has a score of 23061, which is a delta of -0.2%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 has a delta of 0.6%, and the RTX 3080 has a delta of -0.7%. All are within 1% of the Arc B580’s score.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 1440p?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 2560x1440 yields an average FPS of 72. This is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered necessary for smooth gameplay, although it is notably lower than the 112 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra.

Q: What is the most significant frame rate drop between consecutive settings at 1080p?

A: The drop from Low to Medium is 24 FPS (from 186 to 162). The drop from Medium to High is 25 FPS (from 162 to 137), and the drop from High to Ultra is also 25 FPS (from 137 to 112). The decreases are relatively consistent, with each preset tier costing roughly 25 FPS at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing a high refresh rate experience at 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the clear choice, as it delivers an average of 112 FPS. This ensures a responsive and visually rich experience without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 1080p, averaging 137 FPS, is also an excellent option for those who want a higher frame rate buffer for competitive play, though the visual difference between High and Ultra may be noticeable to some.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset provides a solid 72 FPS average, making it the best option for a balanced experience that leverages the higher resolution while maintaining smooth gameplay. The High preset at 88 FPS is preferable for users who want to ensure frame rates stay well above 60 FPS, as the 16 FPS difference between High and Ultra might be worth the visual trade-off for some. Medium at 105 FPS offers an even larger performance cushion, but the visual degradation from High to Medium is more apparent than the step from Ultra to High.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more nuanced. The Low preset is the only one that achieves an average above 60 FPS (65 FPS), but it comes with significant visual compromises. The Medium preset averages 57 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay. Given the data, the Medium preset at 4K is the recommended starting point, as it offers a better visual experience than Low while the frame rate deficit is relatively small. Users who cannot tolerate frame rates below 60 FPS should either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept the visual quality of the Low preset at 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is a 5 nm GPU from the Battlemage generation, featuring 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It operates at a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz and is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 13.67 TFLOPS, and its texture rate is 427.2 GTexel/s.

The GPU's role in this game is the primary determinant of the measured frame rates. The data shows that performance scales almost linearly with the number of pixels rendered, which is a classic indication of a fill-rate or shading-bound workload. The Arc B580’s 80 ROPs and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but they become a limiting factor at 4K, where the demand for pixel throughput increases exponentially.

The GPU's 12 GB of VRAM is not a limiting factor in this title, as Doom is not a particularly VRAM-hungry game at the tested settings. The measured frame rates do not indicate any stuttering or performance cliffs that would suggest VRAM swapping. The GPU's performance is more closely tied to its compute and texture units, which are saturated at higher resolutions. The benchmark scores for the Arc B580, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3068 and a Passmark G3D score of 15748, place it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, confirming that it is a mid-range performer that excels at 1080p and 1440p but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K in demanding scenarios.