Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a fascinating performance profile in Doom (2016), a game whose id Tech 6 engine is known for its scalability. The measured data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet shows the CPU’s influence creeping in at 1080p. This combination ranks 600th out of 3,712 tested combos, placing it comfortably in the top 16% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a mid-range 2019 processor paired with a high-end 2022 graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 224 FPS. Moving to 1440p Ultra drops that to 156 FPS, a 30% reduction. The leap to 4K Ultra further reduces performance to 85 FPS, which is a 62% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline as resolution increases indicates that the RTX 4080 is being pushed to its limits, with the Ryzen 5 3600 having ample headroom to feed it frames at lower resolutions.

The data suggests that the limiting component shifts depending on the resolution. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck; the RTX 4080’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth are being saturated by the sheer pixel count. The 85 FPS average at 4K Ultra is still very playable, but the scaling pattern shows that the GPU’s compute units are the primary constraint. However, at 1080p, the picture changes. The difference between 1080p High (241 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (224 FPS) is only 17 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is beginning to limit the frame rate, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs.

This is a classic example of a high-end GPU being paired with a capable but older CPU. The Ryzen 5 3600’s 6 cores and 12 threads might not be sufficient to maintain frame rates above the 240-270 FPS range in this game’s most CPU-intensive moments. The measured 1080p Low average of 268 FPS is telling; even at the lowest settings, the frame rate peaks near that number, hinting at a CPU-imposed ceiling. The GPU could likely render more frames, but the processor cannot issue draw calls fast enough.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the star of this show, and its specifications explain the high frame rates. With a boost clock of 2505 MHz and 9,728 shading units, it has immense raw compute power. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for feeding the high-resolution textures and effects in Doom. The GPU’s 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are present, though this 2016 game does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, meaning the raw rasterization performance is what matters here.

The GPU’s role is most evident in the 4K results. The jump from 4K Low (141 FPS) to 4K High (104 FPS) shows a 26% performance hit, while the jump to 4K Ultra (85 FPS) is another 18% reduction from High. This scaling with settings at 4K is a clear indicator that the GPU’s shading units, texture units, and ROPs are the bottleneck. The 112 ROPs are responsible for pixel output, and at 4K, they are working hard to fill all those pixels. The GPU’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being utilized fully, and the data shows a predictable and smooth scaling curve as settings increase.

Interestingly, the GPU’s performance relative to its rivals is tight. The benchmark data shows the RTX 4080 scores 54,247 on average, which is only 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828). This suggests that within this performance tier, the differences are marginal, and the measured FPS in Doom reflects this parity, with the card performing at a level consistent with its synthetic scores.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 bottlenecking the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The data suggests a partial bottleneck at 1080p. The 1080p Low average is 268 FPS, and 1080p High is 241 FPS, which are relatively close together. This indicates that the CPU is limiting the maximum frame rate, as the GPU is capable of higher output. At 1440p and 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, showing that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor.

Q: What is the best resolution to play this game with this combo?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1440p offers the best balance. At 1440p Ultra, the combo achieves 156 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate of many monitors. At 1440p High, it reaches 191 FPS, providing a smoother experience. 4K Ultra is playable at 85 FPS, but 1440p provides a higher frame rate headroom for competitive play.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER’s score of 54,209. This indicates that the two cards perform nearly identically in synthetic tests, and the measured FPS in Doom would likely be very similar.

Q: What is the CPU’s multi-threaded performance like compared to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 17,035. This places it 0.2% above the Intel Core i7-1260P (17,007) and 0.2% below the Intel Core i5-11400 (17,067). The performance is tightly clustered, showing that the 3600 is competitive with these other mid-range options.

Q: Does the game utilize the RTX 4080’s ray tracing capabilities?

A: Doom was released in 2016, and its engine does not support ray tracing. The RTX 4080’s 76 RT cores are not used in this title. The performance is entirely dependent on the card’s traditional rasterization performance, which is excellent, as shown by the high frame rates.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 4K Low and 4K Ultra?

A: The measured data shows a 4K Low average of 141 FPS and a 4K Ultra average of 85 FPS. This represents a 56 FPS drop, or roughly a 40% performance reduction, when moving from the lowest to the highest settings at 4K resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. The Low preset produces an average of 268 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combo. The Medium preset averages 255 FPS, with a minimum of 217 and a maximum of 294. High settings average 241 FPS, while Ultra drops to 224 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 44 FPS, indicating that the CPU is holding back the GPU at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to show its dominance. The Low preset averages 232 FPS, which is a 13% drop from 1080p Low. Medium averages 221 FPS (min 188, max 254), High averages 191 FPS, and Ultra averages 156 FPS. The scaling here is more pronounced, with a 76 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. This suggests the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, but the CPU is still contributing to the high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully stressed. Low settings average 141 FPS, which is a 39% drop from 1080p Low. Medium averages 123 FPS (min 104, max 141), High averages 104 FPS, and Ultra averages 85 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 56 FPS. The 4K results show that the RTX 4080 is still capable of delivering high refresh rate experiences, but the pixel workload is significant.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 4080 ranks 600th out of 3,712 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 84th percentile, meaning it outperforms 84% of all other CPU-GPU combinations tested in this game. This ranking is impressive given the age of the CPU, which was released in 2019, paired with a 2022 GPU.

The high ranking is driven by the GPU’s exceptional performance. The RTX 4080’s synthetic average score of 54,247 puts it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and its performance in Doom is consistent with this. The CPU’s 71st percentile ranking (average score 17,035) is lower, but it does not drag the combo down significantly, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU is the limiting factor. The data suggests that if the CPU were more powerful, the combo could rank even higher, but the current results are still excellent.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data indicates that the High preset at 1440p is the sweet spot. This combination yields 191 FPS on average, which is smooth and responsive. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 35 FPS (from 191 to 156), which may not be worth the visual gain depending on the user’s monitor refresh rate. If the user has a 144Hz monitor, 1440p Ultra’s 156 FPS is still above the refresh rate, making it a viable choice.

At 1080p, the High preset (241 FPS) is recommended over Ultra (224 FPS) to reduce the CPU bottleneck and maintain higher frame rates. The difference is only 17 FPS, and High may offer better frame pacing. For users with a 240Hz monitor, 1080p Low (268 FPS) is the only way to get close to that refresh rate, but it sacrifices visual quality. At 4K, the Ultra preset’s 85 FPS is the most visually impressive, but the High preset’s 104 FPS is a better balance of quality and speed. The Medium preset at 4K (123 FPS) is a strong option for high refresh rate 4K displays.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial and helps with gaming performance. The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks show a single-thread score of 2,124 in Cinebench R23, which is decent but not top-tier. Its multi-core score of 15,045 in the same test shows solid scaling across its cores.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates cap out around 268 FPS even on Low settings. This is not a sign of weakness, but rather the reality of a game that can run at very high frame rates. The CPU’s 12 threads are being utilized, and its performance is adequate for maintaining high frame rates. Compared to its rivals, the Ryzen 5 3600’s average score of 17,035 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-1260P (17,007) and Intel Core i5-11400 (17,067), showing that it is not leaving performance on the table relative to its peers.

The CPU’s 65W TDP and 7nm process node make it efficient, but its age is showing in the 1080p results. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes, and the GPU takes over as the primary driver of performance. The measured data shows that the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p, where the frame rate ceiling is reached. For users prioritizing high refresh rate 1080p gaming, a newer CPU might be beneficial, but for 1440p and 4K, this processor is more than sufficient.