Doom

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 show a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop reveals important information about where the bottleneck lies in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 268 FPS on average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 192 FPS, a reduction of 76 FPS, and at 4K Low the average falls further to 104 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep — a 88 FPS loss — which indicates the GPU is being pushed progressively harder as pixel count rises.

The pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 218 at 1080p down to 141 at 1440p and then to 76 at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the same shape: 178 at 1080p, 115 at 1440p, and 62 at 4K. The fact that every preset follows this identical scaling curve suggests the limiting component shifts decisively toward the GPU as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high even on Ultra (178 FPS), which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. The Ryzen 5 3600, with its six cores and twelve threads, has enough headroom at lower resolutions to keep the Radeon RX 9070 busy.

The data shows that the most dramatic FPS drop occurs between 1440p and 4K, rather than between 1080p and 1440p. For instance, at Medium settings, the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 88 FPS (255 to 167), while the 1440p to 4K transition costs 77 FPS (167 to 90). This nonlinear behavior indicates that the GPU's rendering resources, including its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, are being taxed more heavily at 4K, where the sheer pixel throughput demands more from the RDNA 4.0 architecture. The 4K results are still playable across all presets, with the lowest average being 62 FPS on Ultra, which is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 brings substantial hardware to bear on Doom's id Tech engine. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a game released in 2016 with textures that are not particularly demanding by modern standards. The measured FPS data shows no signs of VRAM capacity being a limiting factor at any resolution or preset, as even the 4K Ultra preset, which would be the most memory-hungry configuration in this test, still delivers 62 FPS average. The GPU's memory clock runs at 2518 MHz with an effective data rate of 20.1 Gbps, and this bandwidth headroom explains why the game scales smoothly across resolutions without sudden stutters or frame-time spikes that would indicate memory swapping.

The GPU's clock behavior is relevant to the measured results. With a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, the Radeon RX 9070 has a wide operating range. In a game like Doom, which is well-optimized and can push GPUs to their limits at high resolutions, the boost clock is likely to be sustained for long periods. The 4K Medium result shows a minimum FPS of 77, which is a narrow gap from the 90 FPS average, indicating stable clock delivery under sustained load. The 1440p Medium result shows a minimum of 142 against a 192 FPS maximum, demonstrating that the GPU can maintain consistent frame pacing even when the render workload varies.

The GPU's compute resources — 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units — are all engaged differently depending on the resolution. At 1080p, the GPU's 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than enough to push frame rates past 268 FPS on Low settings. The pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s become more relevant as resolution increases, since each frame requires more pixel fills and texture fetches. The 4K results, which range from 104 FPS on Low to 62 FPS on Ultra, reflect the GPU's ability to handle the increased rasterization workload without collapsing. The GPU's percentile rank of 69 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877, places it near competitors like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24170 average score, 1.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S (24063, 0.8% higher), and these relative standings align with the strong but not class-leading frame rates observed in Doom.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for this CPU-GPU combination, depending on the target resolution. At 1080p, all four presets deliver frame rates well above 144 Hz, with the Low preset reaching 268 FPS, Medium at 255 FPS, High at 218 FPS, and Ultra at 178 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is 40 FPS, which is significant for competitive play, but even Ultra at 178 FPS is far beyond what most displays can show. For 1080p users, the Ultra preset is the obvious choice because the visual fidelity gains come at no practical cost to smoothness — 178 FPS is still exceptionally high.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. The Ultra preset averages 115 FPS, which is perfectly playable on high-refresh displays, while the High preset offers 141 FPS, a 26 FPS improvement. The Medium preset at 167 FPS and Low at 192 FPS show that the game scales well with settings. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot at 1440p: it retains most of the visual quality of Ultra while providing a 26 FPS cushion. The Ultra preset's 115 FPS is still above the 100 FPS mark, so users with 144 Hz monitors might prefer it, but the High preset's higher average makes it the more balanced option for maintaining consistent frame delivery.

At 4K, the choice is more constrained. The Ultra preset averages 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS baseline but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 76 FPS provides a more comfortable margin while still offering strong visual quality. The Medium preset at 90 FPS is the best option for users who prioritize smoothness above all, and the Low preset at 104 FPS is available for those who need maximum frame rates at 4K. Given that the difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 14 FPS, the High preset is the recommended choice for most 4K users — it offers a 22.6% improvement over Ultra while sacrificing a modest amount of visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 90 FPS is the fallback for those who want additional headroom without dropping to Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete set of measured frame rates for this configuration is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 268 on Low to 178 on Ultra. The Medium preset produces 255 FPS with a minimum of 217 and a maximum of 294. The High preset delivers 218 FPS, and the Low preset achieves 268 FPS. The Ultra preset's 178 FPS is the lowest at this resolution but still represents a highly playable experience.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 192 FPS on Low, 167 FPS on Medium, 141 FPS on High, and 115 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 192 FPS, which indicates a wide variance between the lowest and highest frames, but the average of 167 FPS remains strong. The High preset at 141 FPS and Ultra at 115 FPS both fall within the range of high-refresh displays.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 104 FPS on Low, 90 FPS on Medium, 76 FPS on High, and 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS, showing that even the lowest frames at 4K Medium stay above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 62 FPS is the only configuration in this test that approaches the 60 FPS floor, and users seeking a more comfortable margin should consider the High preset at 76 FPS.

The overall pattern across all resolutions and settings shows that the Radeon RX 9070 paired with the Ryzen 5 3600 delivers playable frame rates in Doom at every tested configuration. The worst-case scenario is 4K Ultra at 62 FPS, while the best-case is 1080p Low at 268 FPS. The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p the spread is 90 FPS (268 to 178), at 1440p it is 77 FPS (192 to 115), and at 4K it is 42 FPS (104 to 62). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU-bound operation, where the settings have a smaller relative impact because the pixel throughput dominates the render cost.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, the measured data shows that at 4K the average FPS ranges from 104 on Low settings to 62 on Ultra settings. The High preset at 76 FPS and Medium at 90 FPS both provide comfortable margins above the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K playable across all presets.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 141 FPS average, which is close to 144 Hz. The Medium preset at 167 FPS exceeds 144 Hz, while the Ultra preset at 115 FPS falls short. For a 144 Hz display, the Medium preset is the safest choice, though High will be nearly indistinguishable in practice.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of frame rate?

A: The Ultra preset is consistently slower than High across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra averages 178 FPS versus High's 218 FPS, a 40 FPS difference. At 1440p, Ultra averages 115 FPS versus High's 141 FPS, a 26 FPS difference. At 4K, Ultra averages 62 FPS versus High's 76 FPS, a 14 FPS difference.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high (178-268 FPS), suggesting the CPU can keep up. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly across all presets, which points to the GPU's rendering throughput as the constraining factor.

Q: What is the minimum FPS observed in the measured data?

A: The only preset with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium. At 4K Medium the minimum is 77 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 142 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it is 217 FPS. These minimums are all well above 60 FPS, indicating stable frame delivery.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Radeon RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 23877. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER with a score of 24170 (1.2% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6800S with 24063 (0.8% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile with 23628 (1.1% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z with 23736 (0.6% lower).

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. For a game like Doom, which was released in 2016 and is known for efficient multi-threading, this CPU provides ample processing power. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, where the CPU has the most influence on frame rates, the combo achieves 268 FPS on Low settings. This high frame rate indicates the Ryzen 5 3600 is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the GPU is able to work at near its maximum output.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is strong relative to its peers. Its average benchmark score of 17035 places it at the 71st percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-1260P (17007, 0.2% lower), the Intel Core i5-11400 (17067, 0.2% higher), and the AMD EPYC 7742 (16998, 0.2% lower). In synthetic tests, the Ryzen 5 3600 scores 15045 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2124 in single-core, showing a balanced profile that suits gaming workloads. The 3DMark results further illustrate this: 4605 in the 16-thread test, 3844 in the 8-thread test, and 696 in the single-thread test. These scores indicate that the CPU can handle the multi-threaded rendering tasks that Doom's engine may offload to the processor, while also maintaining strong single-thread performance for game logic and physics.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is not a limiting factor in this game, as the GPU's 644.6 GB/s bandwidth is far larger and the game's data footprint is modest by modern standards. The 12 threads provide enough parallelism for the game's workload, and the measured frame rates at 1080p — where CPU overhead is most visible — show no signs of thread starvation. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes as the GPU becomes the bottleneck, but the Ryzen 5 3600 still ensures that frames are delivered consistently, as evidenced by the 4K Medium minimum FPS of 77, which is close to the 90 FPS average. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node contribute to efficient operation, though this is not directly reflected in the game's frame rates. Overall, the data shows that the Ryzen 5 3600 is well-matched to the Radeon RX 9070 for Doom, providing sufficient headroom at lower resolutions and stable support at higher ones.