Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a consistently strong performance profile in Doom, with the benchmark data showing that every tested preset at every resolution clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. The most demanding preset at each resolution remains fully playable, indicating that this combination has substantial headroom for high-refresh-rate displays, particularly at lower resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS, with the data showing an average frame rate of 64.8 FPS. While this is above the 60 FPS threshold, the margin is relatively narrow, leaving less headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at this resolution provides a more comfortable buffer at 80.1 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset remains the best setting, delivering an average of 117.7 FPS. This represents a significant jump from the 4K result, with the data showing a performance increase of roughly 82% when moving from 3840x2160 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings. The High preset at this resolution reaches 142.4 FPS average, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 180.1 FPS, which is the highest quality setting that maintains a very comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The data indicates that this resolution and settings combination is ideal for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, as the frame rate is more than triple the playable threshold. All four presets at 1080p exceed 180 FPS, with Low reaching 302 FPS average.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data across resolutions and presets reveals a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU's role diminishes. At 1920x1080 Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 302 FPS, which is indicative of a CPU-bound scenario where the RTX 3080 is not fully utilized. The Ryzen 5 9600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, demonstrates sufficient processing power to sustain these very high frame rates.

The scaling from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings shows a drop from 302 FPS to 195 FPS, a reduction of approximately 35%. This substantial decrease indicates that the GPU is beginning to take on a larger role at 1440p. The scaling from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Low settings shows a further drop from 195 FPS to 102.5 FPS, a reduction of about 47%, confirming that the RTX 3080 is the dominant limiting factor at 4K.

At Ultra settings, the frame rate scaling is more uniform across resolutions. The data shows 180.1 FPS at 1080p, 117.7 FPS at 1440p, and 64.8 FPS at 4K. This pattern suggests that at the highest quality preset, the GPU workload scales predictably with pixel count, and the CPU overhead is less significant. The benchmark results indicate that for this game and this hardware combination, the GPU is the primary determinant of performance at 4K, while the CPU plays a more meaningful role only at 1080p with lower presets where frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 102.5 FPS, Medium settings produce 93 FPS, High settings produce 80.1 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 64.8 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with the Ultra preset being approximately 37% slower than Low. The data shows that even at the most demanding settings, the frame rate remains above 60 FPS, which is the playable threshold for this analysis.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are 195 FPS for Low, 171 FPS for Medium, 142.4 FPS for High, and 117.7 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is approximately 40%, which is similar to the 4K gap. The step from Low to Medium is a 12% reduction, while the step from Medium to High is a 17% reduction, and the step from High to Ultra is a 17% reduction. These consistent incremental drops suggest that each preset level adds a similar GPU workload.

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 302 FPS for Low, 260.2 FPS for Medium, 219 FPS for High, and 180.1 FPS for Ultra. The Low preset result of 302 FPS is the highest frame rate recorded for this combination across all resolutions and settings. The relative differences between presets at 1080p are slightly smaller in percentage terms than at higher resolutions, with the Ultra preset being approximately 40% slower than Low. This is consistent with the pattern observed at other resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 1076 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom. This places the pair in the top 29% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing for a system built around a mid-range 2024 CPU and a 2020 high-end GPU. The percentile ranking for the CPU alone is 81, indicating that the Ryzen 5 9600X outperforms 81% of all CPUs in the database. The GPU's percentile ranking is 68, which is lower but still above the median.

The combo ranking relative to the individual component percentiles suggests that the RTX 3080 is the limiting factor in this pairing. The GPU's 68th percentile is notably lower than the CPU's 81st percentile, which aligns with the resolution scaling analysis showing the GPU becoming the bottleneck at higher resolutions. Despite this, the absolute frame rates remain high across all settings, indicating that this is a well-balanced combination for Doom's engine.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals based on average benchmark scores are all AMD processors within a very tight performance band. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE has an average score of 29656, which is 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 5 9600X's 29713 average. The AMD Ryzen 7 7840H scores 29868, which is 0.5% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT scores 29879, which is 0.6% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS scores 29955, which is 0.8% lower. These delta percentages are all within 1% of the 9600X, meaning that swapping to any of these CPUs would result in virtually identical frame rates in Doom.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are a more eclectic group. The NVIDIA P106-100 has an average score of 23249, which is 0.3% lower than the RTX 3080's 23172 average. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 scores 23250, also 0.3% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23273, which is 0.4% lower. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 23276, which is 0.4% lower. All of these GPUs are within 0.5% of the RTX 3080's average benchmark score, suggesting that they would produce very similar performance in this game. However, the RTX 3080's higher memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s and 10 GB of GDDR6X memory may provide advantages in other titles or at higher resolutions that are not captured in the average score.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest quality preset that maintains at least 60 FPS at 4K?

A: The Ultra preset achieves an average of 64.8 FPS at 3840x2160, which is the most demanding setting that stays above the 60 FPS threshold. All four presets at this resolution are playable, with Low reaching 102.5 FPS.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average frame rate is 180.1 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Ultra it is 64.8 FPS. The 1080p result is approximately 178% higher than the 4K result, indicating a significant performance scaling based on resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1440p?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440, the GPU becomes the primary factor. The frame rate at Low settings is 195 FPS, and at Ultra it is 117.7 FPS, a 40% difference. This suggests that the RTX 3080 is handling the majority of the workload at this resolution, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems in Doom?*

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X and RTX 3080 combination ranks 1076 out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 29% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Which CPUs perform nearly identically to the Ryzen 5 9600X?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, Ryzen 7 7840H, Ryzen 7 5800XT, and Ryzen 7 8845HS all have average benchmark scores within 0.8% of the 9600X. Any of these would produce effectively the same frame rates in Doom.

Q: Does the RTX 3080 have any close GPU alternatives based on benchmark scores?

A: The NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X all have average scores within 0.4% of the RTX 3080. These GPUs would likely deliver very similar performance in this game, though the RTX 3080's 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are more substantial specifications.