Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with the data showing that the graphics card is the dominant performance driver at higher resolutions. At 4K, the combination remains playable, but the CPU's older architecture becomes a more significant factor when pushing for maximum frame rates. The measured results provide a clear picture of how to configure the game for the best balance of visual quality and performance.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this specific CPU-GPU combination in Doom indicates that the High preset offers the most practical experience for most users. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves an average of 208.7 FPS, which is only a marginal drop from the 221.5 FPS seen at Medium. More importantly, High provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium for a relatively small performance cost. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 22.6 FPS (from 208.7 down to 186.1), a more significant penalty that is harder to justify.

For users with 1440p monitors, the High preset again stands out as the sweet spot. The measured 147.3 FPS average at 2560x1440 on High is well above the 122.5 FPS achieved on Ultra, while still delivering excellent visual fidelity. The gap between Medium and High at this resolution is 27.3 FPS, but the visual improvements from Medium to High are typically more noticeable than those from High to Ultra.

The data shows that the Low preset is only necessary for those chasing the absolute highest frame rates possible. At 1080p Low, the combination hits 235.1 FPS, and at 1440p Low, it reaches 201.6 FPS. However, the visual downgrade is severe, and given the strong performance at High, there is little reason to drop to Low unless targeting a 240Hz display at 1080p. At 4K, the High preset's 82.9 FPS average is more demanding, but still a better choice than Medium's 97 FPS if visual quality is a priority, as the difference between the two is only 14.1 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, the data shows the combination achieves an average of 82.9 FPS at 3840x2160 on High settings, and 111.5 FPS on Low. Even at Ultra, it maintains a 68.6 FPS average, which is generally considered playable for a fast-paced FPS.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from High to Low?

A: At 1080p, the gain is 26.4 FPS (from 208.7 to 235.1). At 1440p, the gain is 54.3 FPS (from 147.3 to 201.6). At 4K, the gain is 28.6 FPS (from 82.9 to 111.5). The largest relative gain is at 1440p, suggesting the GPU has more headroom there.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 bottlenecking the RX 9070 XT in this game?

A: The evidence suggests the CPU becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The frame rate difference between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the difference between 1440p and 4K, indicating that the CPU is reaching its limit at 1080p while the GPU is not fully utilized.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings?

A: The Medium preset is faster than High at every resolution. At 1080p, Medium scores 221.5 FPS compared to High's 208.7 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 26.7 FPS (174.0 vs 147.3). At 4K, the difference is 14.1 FPS (97.0 vs 82.9).

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: The data shows Ultra is the slowest preset in every resolution tested. The drop from High to Ultra is 22.6 FPS at 1080p, 24.8 FPS at 1440p, and 14.3 FPS at 4K. Given that High already provides strong visuals, the extra cost of Ultra is substantial.

Q: How does this combo's performance rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 608th out of 1681 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the upper third of all tested systems, which is a solid result for a pairing of a 2018 CPU with a 2025 GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern in how this system scales across resolutions. At 1080p High, the average frame rate is 208.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 147.3 FPS, a reduction of 61.4 FPS or roughly 29%. Moving from 1440p to 4K High drops performance further to 82.9 FPS, a reduction of 64.4 FPS or about 44%.

The scaling pattern suggests that the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p. The performance delta between 1080p and 1440p (61.4 FPS) is nearly identical to the delta between 1440p and 4K (64.4 FPS) on High settings. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck at 1080p, the drop to 1440p would be more severe relative to the pixel count increase. Instead, the relatively modest drop indicates the Ryzen 5 2600's single-thread performance is capping the frame rate at 1080p.

This interpretation is supported by the Low preset data. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 235.1 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it only drops to 201.6 FPS. The difference between these two resolutions is just 33.5 FPS, far less than the pixel count difference would suggest. This indicates that at 1080p Low, the CPU is heavily limiting the system, while at 1440p Low, the GPU is still able to produce very high frame rates. At 4K Low, the system hits 111.5 FPS, showing a much larger drop from 1440p, which demonstrates the GPU becoming the primary constraint at that resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 235.1 FPS, while Medium reaches 221.5 FPS. High settings produce 208.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 186.1 FPS. The spread between the fastest and slowest presets is 49 FPS, showing that settings have a meaningful impact even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. Low settings produce 201.6 FPS, Medium achieves 174.0 FPS, High delivers 147.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 122.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 79.1 FPS, a wider gap than at 1080p, which indicates the GPU is becoming more stressed at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system still provides playable performance. Low settings average 111.5 FPS, Medium reaches 97.0 FPS, High hits 82.9 FPS, and Ultra manages 68.6 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 42.9 FPS. Notably, the difference between Medium and High at 4K is only 14.1 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions, suggesting that other factors (likely the CPU) are beginning to cap performance even at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination ranks 608th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 64th percentile of all tested systems. This is a strong result for a pairing that spans very different hardware generations. The RX 9070 XT is a modern high-end GPU, while the Ryzen 5 2600 is an older mid-range processor, yet their combined performance is competitive.

Looking at the individual components, the GPU's benchmark scores help contextualize this rank. The RX 9070 XT has a percentile rank of 82 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39647. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 575 and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, which have nearly identical average scores (39703 and 39568, respectively), showing that the GPU's raw compute performance is consistent with its peers.

The CPU, however, is comparatively weaker. The Ryzen 5 2600 has a percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19616. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-1345U, scores 19691, just 0.4% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 7530U scores 19508, which is 0.6% lower. This puts the Ryzen 5 2600 in a competitive position for its generation, but it is clearly outclassed by modern CPUs in raw throughput. The combo's overall rank of 608 suggests that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting to secure a good position in Doom's benchmark database.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen+ architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23, is 1579 points, while its multi-core score is 11186 points. These figures place it firmly in the mid-range of CPUs from its era.

In Doom, the CPU's role is critical at lower resolutions. The game is well-optimized and can run at very high frame rates, but the Ryzen 5 2600's single-thread performance becomes a bottleneck when the GPU is capable of producing more frames than the CPU can feed. This is evident in the 1080p Low result of 235.1 FPS, which is only 33.5 FPS higher than the 1440p Low result of 201.6 FPS. The CPU is likely maxed out around the 235 FPS mark, preventing the system from pushing higher.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are less relevant for Doom, which is a title that primarily relies on a few threads. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration provides ample headroom for background tasks, but the single-thread performance is the deciding factor. The PassMark single-thread score of 2239 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1579 are modest by modern standards, explaining why the system cannot reach the 300+ FPS numbers that newer CPUs might achieve with the same GPU.

At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes. The GPU becomes the primary constraint, as shown by the larger performance drops between 1440p and 4K compared to the drops between 1080p and 1440p. The 82.9 FPS average at 4K High is a result of the GPU's rendering load, not the CPU's processing limits. The CPU's 12 threads and 16 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient to keep up with the game's demands at this resolution, but they do limit the system's ability to exploit the GPU's full potential at lower resolutions.