Doom

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 covers three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the lowest preset measured an average of 172.9 FPS, while the Medium preset delivered 153.6 FPS. High settings at this resolution produced 127.4 FPS on average, and the Ultra preset still held a comfortable 105.6 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is about 67 FPS, indicating that even the most demanding settings leave substantial headroom for this combination.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures step down predictably. Low settings measured 114.9 FPS, Medium dropped to 96.9 FPS, and High came in at 83.6 FPS. Ultra at this resolution recorded an average of 68.1 FPS, which remains above the playable threshold of 60 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is roughly 47 FPS, a narrower gap than at 1080p, suggesting that pixel throughput starts to weigh more heavily on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes considerably. Low settings measured 62.2 FPS on average, just clearing the 60 FPS threshold. Medium fell to 52.4 FPS, High dropped to 44.1 FPS, and Ultra measured 37.7 FPS. These figures show a steep decline as resolution climbs, with the Ultra preset at 4K delivering only about 60% of the Low preset's frame rate. The data contains no min or max FPS values for any resolution or preset, so the analysis relies entirely on average performance.

Across all twelve measured configurations, the pattern is consistent: higher settings cost more frames at every resolution, and the cost scales with pixel count. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Ultra costs 67.3 FPS. At 1440p, the same settings jump costs 46.8 FPS. At 4K, the gap narrows to 24.5 FPS between Low and Ultra, but both Medium and Ultra fall well below the playable line.

CPU and GPU Roles

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X brings eight cores, sixteen threads, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz to this pairing. The RTX 2060, built on the Turing architecture with 1920 shading units and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, handles the rendering workload. Benchmark results indicate that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU retains ample headroom even at lower settings.

Evidence for this division of labor appears in the scaling between 1080p and 1440p. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 172.9 to 114.9, a reduction of about 33%. At Ultra settings, the drop goes from 105.6 to 68.1, a reduction of roughly 35%. The similar percentage declines suggest that both presets are hitting a GPU-bound wall when moving to a higher pixel count, with the CPU not changing its level of involvement.

The 4K results reinforce this reading. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only muster 62.2 FPS, while the same preset at 1440p reaches 114.9 FPS. That is a 46% performance loss from merely doubling the pixel count, a signature of GPU throughput constraints. The CPU's role at 4K is largely to feed frames fast enough, and the data shows it does so without becoming the bottleneck, since the FPS differences track the GPU's rendering load rather than any CPU-side ceiling.

At 1080p, the CPU matters more relative to the GPU, but the measured FPS still stays high across all presets. The Ryzen 7 9700X posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485 and a single-core score of 2211, placing it in the 86th percentile among all tested CPUs. Those numbers indicate that the processor can drive the RTX 2060 effectively at lower resolutions, where frame generation depends more on the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and manage game logic. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 14111, which sits in the 58th percentile, becomes the dominant factor once resolution climbs.

The preset scaling tells the same story from a different angle. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces FPS by 39%. At 1440p, the same preset change reduces FPS by 41%. At 4K, the reduction reaches 39% as well. The consistency of these percentages across resolutions implies that the settings menu adjusts GPU-heavy features uniformly, and the CPU does not introduce a variable that changes the relative cost of each preset.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 105.6 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin. This is the most demanding preset available, and it remains fully playable. The database records no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution, since even the heaviest settings leave more than 40 FPS of headroom above the playable line.

At 2560x1440, Ultra again stands as the best playable option, with an average of 68.1 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold, though the margin narrows to about 8 FPS. The High preset at this resolution measures 83.6 FPS, and Medium sits at 96.9 FPS, but the Ultra preset remains the pick for visual fidelity without dropping below the playable mark.

For 3840x2160, only the Low preset stays at or above 60 FPS, averaging 62.2 FPS. Medium falls to 52.4 FPS, High to 44.1 FPS, and Ultra to 37.7 FPS. The recommendation is unambiguous: at 4K, Low is the only settings level that keeps the game smooth. The margin above the threshold is slim, roughly 2 FPS, so players should expect occasional dips below 60 even if the average holds.

The verdict data confirms these choices. For 3840x2160, the playable settings list contains only Low, with an average of 62.2 FPS. For 2560x1440, all four presets qualify as playable, but Ultra is marked as the best with 68.1 FPS. For 1920x1080, all four presets qualify, and Ultra leads with 105.6 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 1920x1080 with the highest settings?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 records an average of 105.6 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four presets at this resolution clear 60 FPS, with Low at 172.9 FPS, Medium at 153.6 FPS, and High at 127.4 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset is the most demanding option that stays playable, averaging 68.1 FPS. High measures 83.6 FPS, Medium 96.9 FPS, and Low 114.9 FPS, so all settings work, but Ultra offers the highest visual quality while still clearing the 60 FPS line.

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

A: Only at the Low preset. The 3840x2160 Low setting averages 62.2 FPS, barely above the threshold. Medium drops to 52.4 FPS, High to 44.1 FPS, and Ultra to 37.7 FPS, all of which fall below playable levels.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals in the database?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 15290, placing it in the 58th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, scores 15283 with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 with a 0.1% delta, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 with a 0.6% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 scores 15171 with a 0.8% delta. The RTX 2060 leads this group by a narrow margin.

Q: Does the CPU hold the system back in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The Ryzen 7 9700X scores in the 86th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37943. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14901E, scores 37911 with a 0.1% delta. The FPS scaling across resolutions tracks the GPU's workload, indicating that the CPU provides sufficient headroom for the RTX 2060.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p on Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 153.6 FPS. This is the second-highest measured result for the system, only behind Low at 172.9 FPS, and it leaves substantial room above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 can run Doom, but the experience depends heavily on the chosen resolution. At 1920x1080, this system is decisively capable. Every preset, from Low to Ultra, clears the 60 FPS threshold, with the Ultra preset averaging 105.6 FPS. Players with a 1080p monitor can max out the game's settings and still enjoy frame rates that are nearly double the playable line.

At 2560x1440, the system remains playable across the board. The Ultra preset averages 68.1 FPS, which clears the threshold, and the High preset sits at 83.6 FPS. This resolution offers a solid balance between visual fidelity and performance, though the margin above 60 FPS at Ultra is not enormous. The data shows that all four presets at 1440p stay above the playable mark, so there is no wrong choice for players who value higher frame rates over visual extras.

At 3840x2160, the story changes. Only the Low preset achieves an average above 60 FPS, at 62.2 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below the threshold, with averages of 52.4, 44.1, and 37.7 FPS respectively. This system is not suited for 4K gaming with demanding settings. Even the Low preset leaves only a small cushion, so players targeting 4K should expect variable performance and may need to accept lower frame rates or reduce the resolution.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p is fully playable at any preset, 1440p is playable at any preset with Ultra being the best choice, and 4K is only marginally playable at Low. The RTX 2060's 6 GB of VRAM and the Ryzen 7 9700X's strong single-thread performance combine to deliver a smooth experience at mainstream resolutions, but the GPU's age shows when pixel counts rise.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU and GPU combinations, this pairing ranks 2961 out of 3712 for Doom. That places it in the lower portion of the field, roughly in the 20th percentile of tested combos. The rank reflects the RTX 2060's position in the GPU hierarchy: its average benchmark score of 15290 puts it in the 58th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within a 0.8% delta. The CPU, by contrast, sits much higher, in the 86th percentile among all CPUs.

The combination of a top-tier CPU and a mid-tier GPU creates a lopsided pairing. The Ryzen 7 9700X's average benchmark score of 37943 is nearly two and a half times the RTX 2060's 15290, and the CPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.4% of each other, showing that the processor is not the weak link. The GPU's nearest rivals include the GTX 580, a much older card, and the RX 7600, a more recent release, with deltas of 0% and 0.8% respectively. This clustering indicates that the RTX 2060 sits at a performance plateau where many cards deliver similar results.

The ranking of 2961 out of 3712 means that most tested combinations outperform this setup in Doom. However, the measured FPS data shows that the system still delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p, which is the more relevant metric for most players. The rank is a broad comparison across all hardware pairings, while the per-resolution verdicts provide the practical guidance. Players with this combo should target 1080p or 1440p for the best experience, and the data supports that conclusion regardless of the overall rank.