Doom

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination delivers a robust 60 FPS foundation in Doom at 4K, but the data reveals a clear ceiling: the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 drops to 51.5 FPS, making it the only unplayable configuration in the measured set. Across the board, the pairing shows strong scaling, with 1080p results exceeding 140 FPS even on the highest settings, positioning this combo as a high-refresh-rate 1440p machine and a capable 4K performer when settings are moderated.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is High, which produces an average of 62.2 FPS. The Medium preset is also playable at 76.6 FPS, and Low reaches 81.5 FPS, but Ultra falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 51.5 FPS. This means 4K users must cap their visual fidelity at High to stay smooth, sacrificing the Ultra preset's extra detail for a 10.7 FPS cushion above the playability line.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the situation improves dramatically. The Ultra preset is fully playable, delivering an average of 93.1 FPS. This is the best visual quality available in the game's settings menu, and it clears the 60 FPS bar by a substantial margin. Lower presets also perform well: High runs at 117.6 FPS, Medium at 138.5 FPS, and Low at 153.9 FPS, but there is no need to drop below Ultra for a smooth experience.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Ultra preset is again the best choice, yielding an average of 143.7 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and approaches the 144 Hz refresh rate territory. The scaling is consistent: High hits 180 FPS, Medium reaches 212.5 FPS, and Low tops out at 240 FPS. For this resolution, the combo is essentially overkill, as even the heaviest settings leave ample headroom for high-refresh displays.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data shows a clear shift in component importance as resolution changes, driven by the scaling of frame rates across presets and resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, evidenced by the wide gap between Low (240 FPS) and Ultra (143.7 FPS) — a 96.3 FPS difference. This suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high rates, but the GPU becomes the limiter when settings increase. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, does not bottleneck here, as the 240 FPS Low result indicates significant headroom.

Moving to 1440p, the gap between Low (153.9 FPS) and Ultra (93.1 FPS) narrows to 60.8 FPS. This tighter spread indicates the GPU is taking on more load, but the CPU still has enough headroom to push frame rates well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 93.1 FPS shows that the RTX 5060 is the primary driver of performance, yet the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution.

At 4K, the pattern becomes more pronounced. The difference between Low (81.5 FPS) and Ultra (51.5 FPS) is 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls below the playable threshold. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario: the RTX 5060's 8 GB GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus are taxed heavily at 3840x2160, and the CPU's role diminishes. The fact that High (62.2 FPS) and Medium (76.6 FPS) remain playable while Ultra fails shows that the GPU's pixel throughput is the deciding factor, not the CPU's processing power.

Overall, the Ryzen 9 9900X is never the bottleneck in these measurements. The GPU governs the frame rate at every resolution, with its influence growing as resolution increases. The CPU's high single-thread score (3010 in Geekbench) and strong multi-thread results (22174) provide a stable foundation, but the data points to the RTX 5060 as the performance arbiter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. The table below is derived directly from the fact pack, with average FPS values only.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 81.5 FPS
• Medium: 76.6 FPS
• High: 62.2 FPS
• Ultra: 51.5 FPS

At 4K, the drop from High to Ultra is 10.7 FPS, which pushes the Ultra preset below the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra is a substantial 30 FPS, indicating that the RTX 5060's memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) is a limiting factor at this resolution. The 8 GB VRAM may also be fully utilized, though the data does not explicitly confirm this.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 153.9 FPS
• Medium: 138.5 FPS
• High: 117.6 FPS
• Ultra: 93.1 FPS

At 1440p, all presets are playable, with a 60.8 FPS spread between Low and Ultra. The scaling is roughly linear: each step up in settings costs about 20 FPS. The Ultra preset's 93.1 FPS is strong, and the High preset at 117.6 FPS offers a good balance for users who prefer higher frame rates over maximum visuals.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 240 FPS
• Medium: 212.5 FPS
• High: 180 FPS
• Ultra: 143.7 FPS

At 1080p, the combo shows exceptional performance. The Low preset's 240 FPS is likely a cap or a result of the engine's limits, while Ultra still delivers 143.7 FPS. The 96.3 FPS difference between Low and Ultra is the largest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU's workload scales significantly with settings, but the CPU has ample headroom to maintain high frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with the Ultra preset?

A: No. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 51.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. High, Medium, and Low presets are all playable at 4K, with High being the best quality option at 62.2 FPS.

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 1440p?

A: Ultra is playable at 2560x1440, averaging 93.1 FPS. This is the best visual preset in the game, and it clears the 60 FPS bar by 33.1 FPS.

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

A: The GPU is the primary performance driver at all resolutions. At 1080p, the RTX 5060 shows a 96.3 FPS drop from Low to Ultra, while at 4K, the CPU has minimal influence. The Ryzen 9 9900X does not bottleneck the system, as even the highest frame rates (240 FPS at 1080p Low) are achieved without issue.

Q: How does the combo's 1080p performance compare to 4K?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 143.7 FPS, which is 2.3 times higher than the 4K Ultra result of 51.5 FPS. Even at 4K High, the frame rate (62.2 FPS) is less than half of the 1080p Ultra figure, showing a steep performance drop as resolution increases.

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Medium?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 76.6 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smoother experience than High, though with lower visual fidelity.

Q: Does the combo rank highly among other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1682 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of the database. This is a mid-pack result, indicating that while the setup is capable, many other combos perform better in Doom.

The Verdict

The verdict is clear: this PC can run Doom, but with important caveats at the highest resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset runs at 143.7 FPS, making it fully playable and suitable for high-refresh displays. At 2560x1440, Ultra runs at 93.1 FPS, also fully playable with excellent frame rates. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset fails to hit 60 FPS (51.5 FPS), but the High preset succeeds at 62.2 FPS, making High the recommended setting for 4K play.

The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 5060 is the limiting factor at 4K, where the Ultra preset's demands exceed its 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus capabilities. However, for the vast majority of players using 1080p or 1440p displays, this combo delivers a premium experience with all settings maxed out. The Ryzen 9 9900X's strong multi-threaded performance (32172 in Cinebench R23) ensures no CPU-related stutters, but it is the GPU that determines playability.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 1682 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the 45th percentile, meaning roughly 55% of tested configurations perform better. The ranking is tempered by the GPU's 72nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits higher at the 92nd percentile. This mismatch suggests the RTX 5060 holds the combo back, particularly at 4K where its memory constraints are exposed.

The rank reflects the combo's 4K weakness. While 1080p and 1440p results are strong, the 51.5 FPS Ultra result at 4K drags the average down relative to combos with more powerful GPUs. For users prioritizing 4K, this combo is a mid-pack option; for 1080p or 1440p gaming, it performs above its overall rank suggests.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide insight into comparable hardware. For the Ryzen 9 9900X, the closest matches are the AMD EPYC 9015 (0.1% lower average score), AMD EPYC 7313 (0.2% higher), Intel Core i9-14900 (1.1% lower), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (1.4% lower). These differences are minimal, meaning any of these CPUs would yield nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Doom. The Core i9-14900, for instance, would not change the frame rates in this game, as the GPU is the bottleneck.

For the RTX 5060, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 860M (0.3% lower), NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (0.3% lower), AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (0.8% lower), and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT (1.2% higher). The RX 6750 XT, in particular, would perform nearly identically to the RTX 5060 in Doom, offering similar frame rates across all resolutions and presets. Swapping in any of these GPUs would result in a negligible change in the measured FPS figures, reinforcing that the RTX 5060's performance is well-matched by these alternatives.

In practice, a system with the Ryzen 9 9900X and any of these rival GPUs would behave almost exactly like the tested combo, with the same playability boundaries at 4K (High settings) and full Ultra support at 1080p and 1440p. The 1.2% advantage of the RX 6750 XT would translate to roughly 1-2 FPS in the heaviest scenarios, which is imperceptible in real-world gameplay.