Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a stark illustration of how resolution dictates the bottleneck in a game like Doom. At 1080p, the system produces very high frame rates, but the scaling to 1440p and 4K reveals a clear shift in workload, moving from a CPU-limited state at lower resolutions to a GPU-limited state as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable yet informative drop in performance as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 234 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that average to 156 FPS, a reduction of 78 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 85 FPS. This pattern suggests the system is heavily reliant on the CPU at lower resolutions, where the GPU can push frames quickly, but the CPU's capability to feed it becomes the limiting factor.

The scaling becomes more pronounced when examining the percentage drops. From 1080p to 1440p with High settings, the average FPS goes from 178 to 115, a decline of roughly 35%. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K at the same settings is even steeper, with the average falling from 115 to 62, a drop of about 46%. This indicates that while the CPU is holding things back at 1080p, the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at 4K, as the increased pixel workload demands more from the Radeon RX 7700.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the most significant performance hit from resolution scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 145 FPS. This falls to 94 FPS at 1440p and then to 51 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result represents less than half the frame rate of the 1080p Ultra result, showing that the combination of maximum graphical settings and maximum resolution is a heavy burden. The data implies that for a smooth experience at 4K, users will need to consider lower settings, as the gap between Low and Ultra at that resolution is a substantial 34 FPS.

The scaling pattern also reveals the nature of the limiting component. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 89 FPS (234 vs 145), which is a significant swing that points to the GPU still having headroom to render more detailed scenes. However, the fact that the CPU is a 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 2600 with a boost clock of 3.90 GHz suggests it may struggle to keep up with the highest frame rates the GPU can produce. At 4K, the differences between settings compress, with the spread from Low to Ultra being 34 FPS, indicating the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, and the CPU has less impact on the final frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the dominant component in this pairing for most of the tested configurations. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a substantial 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures and data throughput in Doom's fast-paced environment. The GPU's architecture is RDNA 3.0, built on a 5 nm process, and it features a boost clock of 2459 MHz and a game clock of 2041 MHz.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly clear when looking at the 4K results. With 16 GB of VRAM, the card is unlikely to be memory-limited at these settings, yet the frame rates still drop significantly from Low to Ultra. This points to the raw compute power of the GPU being the limiting factor at 4K. The card's 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 96 ROPs are tasked with rendering the high pixel counts, and the data shows that even with this level of hardware, 4K Ultra at 51 FPS is a demanding scenario.

In contrast, the GPU's performance at 1080p is less constrained. The high frame rates at Low (234 FPS) and Medium (210 FPS) suggest the GPU is capable of far more than the CPU can deliver in this scenario. The benchmark results for the GPU itself, such as a Passmark G3D score of 20974, place it in the 58th percentile for all GPUs, indicating it is a capable mid-to-upper range card. The fact that it sits 1.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in average benchmark score provides context for its general performance level, but in Doom, the specific combination of VRAM and bandwidth appears to serve it well.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers a strong balance. At High settings, it produces an average of 115 FPS, which is well above the 4K result of 62 FPS, while still being a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. The 1440p Medium preset also delivers a solid 136 FPS average.

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

A: The difference is substantial. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 178, while at 4K with the same settings, it drops to 62. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the heavy load that 4K puts on the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary constraint at 1080p. The frame rates at Low (234 FPS) and Medium (210 FPS) are extremely high, and the Ryzen 5 2600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, likely cannot provide instructions fast enough to fully utilize the Radeon RX 7700's capabilities at this resolution.

Q: What is the impact of the Ultra preset on frame rate?

A: The Ultra preset has a significant impact. Compared to High, it reduces the average FPS by 33 at 1080p (178 to 145), by 21 at 1440p (115 to 94), and by 11 at 4K (62 to 51). The drop is more pronounced at lower resolutions where the CPU is more involved.

Q: Does the Radeon RX 7700's 16 GB of VRAM make a difference in Doom?

A: The 16 GB of VRAM provides a large memory pool, but the benchmark data does not show VRAM capacity being the limiting factor. The frame rate drops between settings are more consistent with compute and bandwidth limits, suggesting the card's 624.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth is sufficient for this game's needs.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to other tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1396 out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom. This places it in the middle of the pack, indicating that while it performs well, there are many other CPU-GPU pairings that achieve higher frame rates in this specific game.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific pairing, the data suggests that the High preset at 1440p provides the most balanced experience. With an average of 115 FPS, it offers a high refresh rate experience that is far smoother than the 4K options, while delivering a sharper image than 1080p. The Medium preset at 1440p is also a strong choice, with an average of 136 FPS and a minimum of 116 FPS, which would ensure a consistent experience on a high-refresh-rate monitor.

At 4K, the High preset is the best compromise. The 62 FPS average is playable, but the Low preset at 85 FPS might be preferable for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 51 FPS average, is the least desirable option, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the standard for smooth gameplay. For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset at 210 FPS is an excellent choice, offering high detail and very high frame rates without the performance cost of Ultra.

The data indicates that the Ultra preset is generally not worth the performance penalty for this combo. At every resolution, the step from High to Ultra costs a significant number of frames (33 at 1080p, 21 at 1440p, and 11 at 4K) for what is often a marginal visual improvement. The High preset appears to be the sweet spot, providing most of the visual quality without the substantial frame rate hit.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the combo's performance envelope. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 234 FPS, Medium produces 210 FPS (with a minimum of 179 and maximum of 242), High produces 178 FPS, and Ultra produces 145 FPS. This shows a clear hierarchy, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 89 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably. Low settings yield an average of 156 FPS, Medium drops to 136 FPS (with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 156), High settles at 115 FPS, and Ultra falls to 94 FPS. The relative performance gap between settings remains, but the absolute numbers are lower, reflecting the increased pixel workload.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings produce an average of 85 FPS, Medium drops to 74 FPS (with a minimum of 63 and maximum of 85), High averages 62 FPS, and Ultra is the most demanding at 51 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 34 FPS, which is significantly smaller than the 89 FPS spread at 1080p, confirming the GPU's role as the dominant bottleneck at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Zen architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. In this combo, its role is most apparent at 1080p, where the GPU is capable of producing frame rates well above what the CPU can support. The Passmark multithread score of 13160 and single-thread score of 2239 give an indication of its general processing power, but in Doom, the data suggests it is the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The CPU's impact is visible in the scaling between 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p High, the average is 178 FPS, but at 1440p High, it drops to 115 FPS. This is a 63 FPS drop, which is larger than what is seen between 1440p and 4K (a 53 FPS drop from 115 to 62). This pattern is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck at 1080p, where the GPU has spare capacity but the CPU cannot provide enough data to keep it busy. The high frame rates at 1080p, exceeding 200 FPS on lower settings, further support this, as such rates often exceed what a 6-core processor from 2018 can consistently feed.

The Ryzen 5 2600's performance relative to other CPUs is modest, with an average benchmark score of 21484, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, is nearly identical in score with a delta of 0.2%, while the Intel Core i9-11900H is 0.5% faster. This indicates that the CPU is not a high-end part, and in a game like Doom, which can be demanding on a single core, the 3.90 GHz boost clock may be a limiting factor when trying to achieve the highest possible frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1396 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This ranking places it almost exactly in the middle of the database, at roughly the 48th percentile. This is a telling result, as it demonstrates that while the GPU is a modern, capable part, the older CPU holds the combo back from reaching the upper echelons of performance.

The data shows that the combo is not among the best performers, but it is also far from the worst. The GPU's high average benchmark score of 15852, which puts it in the 58th percentile for all GPUs, suggests it is a strong component. However, the CPU's lower relative performance, being in the 75th percentile, means that the overall system is not a top-tier gaming machine. This rank of 1396 suggests that many other combinations, likely with newer or higher-clocked CPUs, can achieve better results in Doom.

The ranking also implies that the combo is balanced, but not optimized for maximum frame rates. The GPU is capable of much more than the CPU can deliver at lower resolutions, and this mismatch is likely a key reason for the mid-pack ranking. The fact that the GPU's nearest rival in benchmark scores is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which is 1.7% ahead, indicates that the GPU is a solid performer, but the overall system is held back by the processor in this specific title.