Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT pairing delivers an exceptionally strong performance profile in Doom, with frame rates that consistently clear the high-refresh-rate threshold at 1080p and remain comfortably playable at 4K. The data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, where the GPU's 16 GB memory buffer and high bandwidth become increasingly critical as pixel count rises.

FAQ

Q: How many frames per second does this combo average at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system produces an average of 60 FPS, which is exactly at the standard 60 Hz display refresh rate baseline.

Q: What is the biggest performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The gap between Low and Ultra at 2560x1440 is 74 FPS, with Low averaging 184 FPS and Ultra averaging 110 FPS, representing a performance drop of roughly 40% when moving to the highest preset.

Q: Does the RX 7800 XT have enough VRAM for 4K gaming in this title?

A: Yes, the GPU comes equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the game's 4K High preset that averages 73 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank against all other tested combinations in the database?

A: The combination ranks 1289 out of 3712 total tested combos for this game, placing it in the upper third of all configurations.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the system exceed 200 FPS?

A: The only configuration to break the 200 FPS barrier is 1920x1080 with High settings, which achieves an average of 209 FPS. The Low preset at 1080p goes even higher at 268 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 74 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, while the highest minimum is 210 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its memory subsystem plays a critical role in the game's performance scaling. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, the card delivers 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory capacity is particularly relevant at 4K, where the High preset averages 73 FPS and even the most demanding Ultra preset maintains a playable 60 FPS.

The GPU's clock behavior is equally important. The card's game clock is rated at 2124 MHz, with a boost clock reaching 2430 MHz, while the base clock sits at 1295 MHz. These clocks, combined with 3840 shading units and 96 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 37.32 TFLOPS provides the raw compute headroom needed to sustain high frame rates in this fast-paced shooter.

The VRAM situation is noteworthy because Doom is a 2016 title, and the 16 GB buffer is far beyond what the game requires. This excess capacity means the GPU never experiences memory pressure, allowing the rendering pipeline to operate without texture streaming bottlenecks. The bandwidth figure of 624.1 GB/s ensures that even at 4K with complex scene geometry, the memory subsystem keeps up with the shading units.

Benchmark results for the GPU show strong synthetic performance, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4157 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 54228. The PassMark G3D score of 24176 places the card in the 51st percentile of all GPUs, though its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (deltaPct -0.5) and AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (deltaPct -1.8), which shows that the synthetic average score is not fully representative of gaming performance in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of the optimal settings for different priorities. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers the best balance of performance and visual quality, with an average of 247 FPS and a minimum of 210 FPS. This minimum frame rate is critical for maintaining smooth gameplay during intense combat sequences, as it ensures the system never drops below 200 FPS. The High preset at 1080p averages 209 FPS but lacks a recorded minimum, while Ultra drops to 171 FPS.

For 1440p gaming, the High preset is the recommended choice. It averages 135 FPS, which is well above the 120 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors, and the step up from Medium (160 FPS) to High (135 FPS) is a modest 25 FPS penalty for improved visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 110 FPS, which remains playable but starts to approach the territory where competitive players might notice input latency differences.

At 4K, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot. It averages 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, meaning the system never drops below 74 FPS even in demanding scenes. The High preset averages 73 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but provides less headroom for frame time spikes. The Low preset at 4K averages 99 FPS, which is surprisingly high and suggests that the game scales well with reduced settings, but the visual compromises are likely too severe for most players.

The Ultra preset at any resolution is the most demanding option, and the data shows diminishing returns. At 1080p, Ultra averages 171 FPS versus High's 209 FPS, a 38 FPS drop. At 1440p, Ultra averages 110 FPS versus High's 135 FPS, a 25 FPS drop. At 4K, Ultra averages 60 FPS versus High's 73 FPS, a 13 FPS drop. The performance cost of Ultra settings decreases as resolution increases, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT ranks 1289 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 65th percentile of all configurations. This ranking is respectable but not elite, which reflects the CPU's position in the overall hierarchy. The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 17035, placing it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-1260P (deltaPct 0.2) and Intel Core i5-11400 (deltaPct -0.2).

The GPU's percentile ranking is notably lower at 51, with an average benchmark score of 11627. This places the RX 7800 XT in a peculiar position where its synthetic benchmark average is comparable to much older or weaker cards like the GTX 1660 (deltaPct -0.5) and Radeon Pro 5500M (deltaPct 0.9). However, the in-game performance data tells a different story, with frame rates that far exceed what those rival GPUs could produce in this title.

The discrepancy between the GPU's low percentile rank and its excellent in-game performance can be attributed to the nature of the benchmark suite, which may not fully capture the card's strengths in this specific game engine. The combo rank of 1289 out of 3712 suggests that while the pairing is above average, there are many configurations that achieve higher frame rates, likely featuring more powerful CPUs that avoid any potential bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At High settings, the system averages 209 FPS at 1080p, 135 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K, or a 65% drop overall from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with what would be expected from a GPU-limited system, where pixel count directly impacts rendering load.

The Low settings preset shows a similar pattern: 268 FPS at 1080p, 184 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. This represents a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The nearly identical percentage drops across settings suggest that the limiting factor transitions from CPU to GPU as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the CPU may be the primary constraint, as the Ryzen 5 3600's single-thread score of 696 in 3DMark and passmark single-thread score of 2562 could limit maximum frame rates.

The Medium settings preset provides the most complete data, with recorded minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p, the range is 210-284 FPS with an average of 247 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 136-184 FPS with an average of 160 FPS. At 4K, the range is 74-100 FPS with an average of 87 FPS. The minimum frame rate drops by 35% from 1080p to 1440p and by 46% from 1440p to 4K, while the average drops by 35% and 46% respectively, showing consistent scaling behavior.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 268 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 247 FPS with a minimum of 210 FPS and a maximum of 284 FPS, providing the most complete performance picture. High settings average 209 FPS, and Ultra settings average 171 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 97 FPS drop, representing a 36% performance reduction for maximum visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected impact of increased pixel count. Low settings average 184 FPS, Medium averages 160 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS and maximum of 184 FPS, High averages 135 FPS, and Ultra averages 110 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 74 FPS, or 40% reduction, which is a slightly smaller percentage drop than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low settings average 99 FPS, which is surprising for a 2016 game at 4K. Medium settings average 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and maximum of 100 FPS, High averages 73 FPS, and Ultra averages exactly 60 FPS. The Low to Ultra gap is 39 FPS, representing a 39% reduction. The minimum FPS of 74 at 4K Medium is particularly notable, as it shows the system maintains smooth performance even in demanding scenarios.

The data reveals that the transition from Medium to High settings costs roughly 25 FPS at 1080p (from 247 to 209), 25 FPS at 1440p (from 160 to 135), and 14 FPS at 4K (from 87 to 73). The transition from High to Ultra costs 38 FPS at 1080p (from 209 to 171), 25 FPS at 1440p (from 135 to 110), and 13 FPS at 4K (from 73 to 60). These diminishing returns at higher resolutions indicate that the GPU's memory bandwidth and fill rate are being utilized more efficiently as pixel count increases.