Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Doom, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a smooth degradation curve from 1080p to 4K, with the most dramatic drop occurring between 1440p and 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions tells a clear story about where this combo's limits lie. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 230 FPS, which drops to 149 FPS at 1440p Low and then to 81 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and another 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the CPU may be contributing more to the performance ceiling, while at 4K, the GPU's rendering workload becomes the dominant factor.

Looking at the Ultra settings, the trend becomes even more pronounced. The system delivers 138 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 90 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and only 49 FPS at 4K Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 46% — nearly identical percentages to the Low settings. This consistency across settings presets indicates that the resolution scaling is driven by the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than any CPU limitation.

The 4K Medium measurement provides an interesting data point with its recorded minimum of 60 FPS and maximum of 81 FPS. The average of 70 FPS sits nearly exactly between the Low (81 FPS) and High (59 FPS) results at the same resolution, confirming that each settings tier produces a predictable step in performance. This linear scaling suggests the GPU has ample headroom at lower settings but becomes increasingly constrained as pixel count rises.

The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is also revealing. At 1080p, the difference is 92 FPS (from 230 to 138), at 1440p it's 59 FPS (from 149 to 90), and at 4K it's 32 FPS (from 81 to 49). This shrinking absolute difference at higher resolutions reinforces that the GPU's pixel processing capability, not the settings complexity, is the limiting factor at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 4K, the data shows that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. The 70 FPS average at 4K Medium represents a 43% improvement over Ultra's 49 FPS while only sacrificing one settings tier. The minimum of 60 FPS at 4K Medium suggests the experience remains fluid even during demanding scenes, whereas the Ultra preset's average of 49 FPS would likely produce noticeable stuttering.

At 1440p, High settings deliver 110 FPS, which is a solid target for high-refresh-rate displays. The gap between High and Ultra is 20 FPS (110 vs 90), making Ultra a viable option if visual fidelity takes priority. However, Low settings at 149 FPS and Medium at 130 FPS both exceed 120 FPS, meaning competitive players could push toward those presets without sacrificing responsiveness.

For 1080p gaming, the system has abundant performance across all settings. Even Ultra maintains 138 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. The Medium preset at 200 FPS with a minimum of 170 FPS would be ideal for 144Hz displays, while Low at 230 FPS provides maximum headroom for 240Hz panels. The 1080p Medium range of 170-230 FPS indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at this resolution, with no frame pacing concerns.

The measured data suggests that Ultra settings at any resolution below 4K are perfectly playable, but the 4K Ultra result of 49 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. Therefore, 4K users should default to Medium or High depending on their tolerance for occasional frame drops.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p High at 110 FPS offers the best combination of visual quality and performance, with 1080p Medium at 200 FPS being the best choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average is 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it playable. At 4K Ultra, performance drops to 49 FPS, which may be too low for fast-paced action.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at different resolutions?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 with 6 cores and 12 threads appears sufficient at 1080p, where the system reaches 230 FPS on Low. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the consistent resolution scaling regardless of settings.

Q: What settings preset offers the best frame rate improvement over Ultra?

A: Dropping from Ultra to High provides a 17% improvement at 1440p (90 to 110 FPS) and a 20% improvement at 4K (49 to 59 FPS). Dropping to Medium yields 44% and 43% improvements respectively.

Q: Is the RX 6700 XT underutilized at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the GPU is well-utilized even at 1080p, as the difference between Low (230 FPS) and Ultra (138 FPS) shows the GPU has meaningful work at all settings. The CPU likely prevents higher frame rates on Low settings.

Q: What minimum FPS can players expect at 4K Medium?

A: The measured minimum is 60 FPS, which matches the average of the 4K High preset. This suggests the 4K Medium experience is consistently smooth without major frame drops.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination ranks 1951 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 47th percentile of all possible pairings. This middle-of-the-pack ranking reflects a system that is neither at the state-of-the-art nor struggling to run the game. The ranking is particularly interesting given that the GPU alone sits in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 75th percentile among all CPUs.

The combo's rank suggests that while both components are above average individually, their pairing in this game produces results that are slightly below what their individual percentiles might suggest. This could indicate that Doom's optimization favors more recent CPU architectures with higher single-thread performance, or that the game's engine doesn't fully leverage the RDNA 2 architecture's capabilities.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system's 4K performance of 49-81 FPS across settings places it in the upper-middle tier for 4K gaming. The 1080p results of 138-230 FPS are competitive with many higher-end systems, though the 4K Ultra result of 49 FPS shows the limits of this pairing for maximum fidelity at high pixel counts.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 brings 6 cores and 12 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. The Zen+ architecture, built on a 12 nm process, features 16 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. These specifications place the CPU in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21,484.

In Doom, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at 1080p, where frame rates reach 230 FPS on Low settings. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (92 FPS) suggests the GPU is still the primary driver, but the CPU's single-thread performance of 1,154 in Geekbench and 157.3 in Cinebench R15 single-core likely prevents even higher frame rates on Low settings. The CPU's multi-thread score of 5,648 in Geekbench indicates it has ample processing power for the game's background tasks.

The nearest CPU rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-11900H (0.5% faster), and Intel Xeon D-1746TER (0.7% slower). This clustering shows the Ryzen 5 2600 performs within a tight band of modern processors, making it a competent partner for the RX 6700 XT. However, the 75th percentile ranking means roughly a quarter of CPUs tested would offer better frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 12 nm process node suggest it runs efficiently, though its boost clock of 3.90 GHz is modest by modern standards. The Passmark single-thread score of 2,239 and multi-thread score of 13,160 provide context for its gaming performance, where single-thread speed often matters more than raw core count.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 230 FPS average, Medium produces 200 FPS with a minimum of 170 and maximum of 230, High produces 169 FPS, and Ultra produces 138 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 40% reduction in performance, with each settings tier costing approximately 15-20% of the previous tier's frame rate.

At 2560x1440, performance scales predictably. Low settings achieve 149 FPS, Medium achieves 130 FPS with a range of 110-149, High achieves 110 FPS, and Ultra achieves 90 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 40%, matching the 1080p scaling pattern. The 1440p Medium range of 110-149 FPS shows consistent frame delivery even during intense sequences.

At 3840x2160, the system's limits become apparent. Low settings reach 81 FPS, Medium achieves 70 FPS with a range of 60-81, High drops to 59 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS. The 4K results show a 40% difference between Low and Ultra, consistent with the other resolutions, but the absolute values are substantially lower. The 4K Medium minimum of 60 FPS is notably higher than the High average of 59 FPS, suggesting Medium is the sweet spot for 4K.

The complete dataset shows a consistent pattern: each resolution doubling reduces performance by roughly 35-45%, and each settings tier change costs 10-15% performance. This regularity indicates the combo's performance is well-understood and predictable across the entire settings range.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, ranking in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs. Its RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process at TSMC, features 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Doom's texture-heavy environments.

The GPU's clock speeds are notably aggressive: a base clock of 2,321 MHz, game clock of 2,424 MHz, and boost clock of 2,581 MHz. These high clocks contribute to the GPU's 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 165.2 GPixel/s pixel rate. The 40 RT cores support ray tracing features, though Doom's implementation of these effects is minimal.

The RX 6700 XT's nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (0% difference), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (0.5% faster), and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (1.5% slower). This tight clustering around the 27,425 average benchmark score indicates the GPU delivers consistent performance relative to its peers.

In Doom, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM capacity ensures no texture loading stutters at any resolution or settings preset. The measured FPS data shows the GPU handles 4K Medium at 70 FPS average, which is respectable for a 2021-era GPU running a 2016 game. The 230 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU indicate the system requires adequate power delivery to sustain these clock speeds under load.