Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Doom, placing this combination at rank 393 out of 1681 tested combos. This puts the pairing comfortably in the top quarter of all configurations, a notable achievement given the CPU's age relative to the GPU. The data suggests this combination is not a bottleneck-limited pairing in this title, but rather one that leverages the GPU's immense power while the CPU handles the game's older engine demands with ease.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 393 out of 1681 places it in roughly the 77th percentile of all tested configurations. This high standing is driven almost entirely by the RTX 4090, which itself holds a percentile rank of 91 among all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, sits at a more modest 77th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19616. The delta between the component percentiles is telling: the CPU is not the star, but it also isn't dragging the system down in this particular title.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the performance spread is remarkably tight. The Ryzen 5 2600 trails the Intel Core i5-1345U by a mere 0.4% and the Intel Core i5-11600KF by 0.6%, while it edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-10700F by 0.7%. This clustering of scores, all within a 1.3 percentage point band, suggests that for Doom's workload, the 2600's six cores and twelve threads provide a baseline of compute that is essentially interchangeable with several more modern parts. The game's id Tech 6 engine, released in 2016, clearly does not stress the CPU to the point where these differences manifest as meaningful FPS gaps.

The GPU's nearest rivals tell a different story. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 66473 is bracketed by professional-grade cards, with the Tesla T4 just 0.4% behind and the Quadro P6000 1.3% ahead. This context is important: the 4090 is competing with workstation silicon, and its 91st percentile standing among all GPUs underlines that in Doom, the 4090 is operating far above the minimum requirements. The measured FPS data confirms this, as even at 4K Ultra settings, the combo maintains an average of 92.4 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds.

FAQ

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 2600 bottleneck the RTX 4090 in Doom?

A: The data suggests minimal bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 232.7 FPS, and even at 4K Ultra it holds 92.4 FPS. The CPU's 77th percentile standing and the game's 2016 release date indicate the six-core, twelve-thread processor provides sufficient headroom.

Q: How much faster is this combo at 1080p versus 4K?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 194.6, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 92.4. That is a decrease of roughly 52% from the lower resolution to the higher one, which is a substantial but expected drop for a 4x pixel increase.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, the High preset delivers 117.4 FPS, which is 25 FPS higher than Ultra's 92.4 FPS but still visually demanding. Medium at 135.7 FPS is the sweet spot for high refresh rates, while Low reaches 157.5 FPS if raw speed is the priority.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM necessary for Doom?

A: No, Doom's 2016 engine does not require that capacity. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far beyond the game's needs, but it ensures the GPU is never VRAM-limited, allowing the 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth to operate without constraint.

Q: How does the combo's rank compare to the CPU's own percentile?

A: The combo ranks 393 out of 1681, which is roughly the 77th percentile. The CPU alone also sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 91st percentile. This alignment suggests the combo's ranking is primarily a product of the GPU's strength.

Q: What clock speeds does the RTX 4090 run at in this configuration?

A: The GPU has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The memory runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective. These clocks, combined with 16384 shading units, drive the high frame rates seen in the measured data.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 is the dominant force in this pairing, and its specifications make the measured results almost a foregone conclusion. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Doom's textures and geometry, even at 4K. The GPU's 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs are the components that actually render the frames, and they do so at a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s.

The clock behavior is interesting when compared to the CPU. The 4090's base clock of 2235 MHz and boost of 2520 MHz are high for a GPU, and the 5 nm process from TSMC allows it to maintain these speeds without the power draw becoming prohibitive. The 450 W TDP is substantial, but the performance it unlocks is evident in the data. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 92.4 FPS, and at 1440p High it reaches 181.7 FPS. These numbers are only possible because the GPU is not being starved by the CPU, and the VRAM is never close to being exhausted.

The GPU's 91st percentile standing among all GPUs is reflected in its average benchmark score of 66473. Its nearest rivals are all professional cards, which reinforces that consumer gaming GPUs rarely outperform it. In Doom, this translates to headroom: the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, and the measured FPS numbers are likely closer to the engine's maximum possible output at each resolution and setting preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the lowest average is 194.6 FPS on Ultra, and the highest is 232.7 FPS on Low. The increments between settings are tight: High delivers 212.2 FPS, and Medium delivers 220.8 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is beginning to play a larger role, as the gap between Low and Ultra is only 38.1 FPS, which is smaller than at higher resolutions.

At 1440p, the spread widens. Low produces 203.3 FPS, Medium 196.2 FPS, High 181.7 FPS, and Ultra 170 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 33.3 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p. This indicates the GPU is taking on more load, but the CPU is still providing enough throughput to keep frame rates very high.

The 4K results show the most dramatic setting sensitivity. Ultra averages 92.4 FPS, High jumps to 117.4 FPS, Medium to 135.7 FPS, and Low reaches 157.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 65.1 FPS, nearly double the spread at lower resolutions. This is where the GPU's raw power is most taxed, and the data shows that the 4090 is still delivering playable frame rates even at the highest preset.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant, but it is not uniform across settings. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p (232.7 FPS) to 4K (157.5 FPS) is a 32.3% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p (194.6 FPS) to 4K (92.4 FPS) is a 52.5% reduction. This divergence is a clear indicator of where the bottleneck lies.

At Low settings, the GPU has less work to do per pixel, so the CPU's ability to feed it becomes more relevant. The smaller FPS drop suggests the CPU is keeping up reasonably well, but the GPU is no longer the sole limiter. At Ultra settings, the GPU is heavily loaded, and the FPS drop closely tracks the pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K, which is a 2.25x increase in pixels. The 1440p Ultra average of 170 FPS dropping to 92.4 FPS at 4K Ultra is a 45.6% reduction, which is roughly in line with the pixel increase, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint at the highest settings.

This pattern implies that for 1080p and 1440p gaming, the CPU has enough headroom to keep the 4090 well-fed, but the GPU is still the dominant factor. At 4K, the GPU's workload dominates entirely, and the CPU's role fades further. The data does not suggest the CPU is a hard bottleneck at any resolution, but it does show that the CPU's six cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this 2016 title.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p monitor, the Ultra preset is the clear choice. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 194.6 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra it averages 170 FPS. Both of these are well above 144 Hz, so there is no reason to sacrifice visual quality. The High preset at 1440p offers 181.7 FPS, which is only 11.7 FPS higher than Ultra, making the visual upgrade of Ultra worth the small FPS cost.

At 4K, the recommendation depends on the display's refresh rate. For a 120 Hz panel, the High preset at 117.4 FPS is the best option, as it stays above the refresh threshold while providing better image quality than Medium. The Ultra preset at 92.4 FPS is also viable for 60 Hz or 90 Hz displays, but the 25 FPS gain from dropping to High is substantial. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Medium preset at 135.7 FPS is a strong middle ground, offering a 43.3 FPS improvement over Ultra while still maintaining decent visual fidelity.

The Low preset is only recommended for competitive play where frame rate is paramount. At 4K Low, the combo achieves 157.5 FPS, which is 65.1 FPS higher than Ultra. However, the visual downgrade is severe, and the High or Medium presets offer a better balance for most players.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 2600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. It belongs to the Zen architecture, built on a 12 nm process by GlobalFoundries, and its 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support provide adequate bandwidth for most gaming workloads. The CPU's average benchmark score of 19616 places it at the 77th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all within a 1.3 percentage point band, indicating that its compute performance is well-balanced for its generation.

In Doom, the CPU's role is to process game logic, physics, and draw calls, then feed the GPU. The data suggests the 2600 handles this task competently. The passmark single-thread score of 2239 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1579 indicate that per-core performance is adequate for a game from 2016. The multi-threaded scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11186, show that the twelve threads are useful for background tasks and any engine features that scale across cores.

The CPU's 65 W TDP is low, which is good for thermals, but its 3.90 GHz boost clock is modest by modern standards. The fact that the combo still achieves 232.7 FPS at 1080p Low suggests that the CPU is not a severe limiter in this title. The data indicates that the 2600 is sufficient for Doom, and any FPS differences between it and more modern CPUs are likely to be small, given the tight clustering of rival benchmark scores. The CPU is the quiet partner in this pairing, but it is not holding the RTX 4090 back to a significant degree.