Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a fascinating dataset in Doom, where the GPU's immense power is consistently throttled by the CPU's architectural limits. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is almost always CPU-bound, with the RTX 5090 rarely reaching its full potential. The data indicates that this combination prioritizes consistency over peak performance, delivering playable to excellent frame rates but leaving significant GPU headroom on the table.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the CPU as the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 276.6 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings yields 241.6 FPS, a drop of 35 FPS (12.7%). At 3840x2160 Low, the frame rate falls to 162.6 FPS, a further reduction of 79 FPS (32.7%). This pattern indicates that even at 1440p, the CPU is already limiting the frame rate, as a purely GPU-bound scenario would show a much smaller delta between 1080p and 1440p.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher settings. For instance, at Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 234.9 FPS at 1080p to 177.7 FPS at 1440p (a 24.3% reduction) and then to 95.1 FPS at 4K (a 46.5% reduction from 1440p). This steeper decline at higher settings suggests that while the CPU remains a constraint, the GPU's workload becomes more significant as pixel count and graphical complexity increase. The data shows a system where the 4600G's six Zen 2 cores and 8 MB of L3 cache are insufficient to feed the RTX 5090's 21,760 shading units at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering load begins to catch up.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (276.6 FPS) and Ultra (234.9 FPS) is 41.7 FPS. At 4K, the same comparison shows a difference of 67.5 FPS (162.6 vs. 95.1). This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the additional pixel fill rate demands more from the RTX 5090's 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate. The benchmark results suggest that the 4600G's single-thread performance, which scores 726 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,919 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is the key constraint in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 in Doom?

A: Yes, the data strongly indicates a CPU bottleneck at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p Low, the system produces 276.6 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it only drops to 234.9 FPS, a mere 15% reduction. This small delta suggests the CPU is preventing the GPU from being fully utilized, as a GPU-bound system would show a larger performance gap between Low and Ultra settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination in Doom?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance. At High settings, it delivers 218 FPS, which is 33.2% higher than the 4K High result of 121.3 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently above 177 FPS across all settings, ensuring smooth gameplay, while 4K drops below 100 FPS at Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's performance in Doom compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score is 84,306, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, has an average score of 84,241, a delta of 0.1%. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scores 83,209, which is 1.3% lower, indicating the 5090 is slightly faster in general compute benchmarks.

Q: Does the 4600G's integrated graphics affect the gaming results?

A: No, the integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics are not used in this configuration. The discrete RTX 5090 handles all rendering. The 4600G's CPU performance, with a 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.20 GHz boost clock, is what influences the frame rates, particularly its 726 score in 3DMark single-thread testing.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 95.1 FPS. This is the lowest result in the entire dataset and indicates that while playable, the system is clearly struggling to maintain high frame rates at this extreme setting and resolution.

Q: Is the 4600G's multi-threaded performance a factor in Doom?

A: Doom is not heavily multi-threaded, and the data suggests single-thread performance is more critical. The 4600G scores 13,593 in Cinebench R23 multicore, but its 1,919 single-core score is more relevant. The negligible difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p (276.6 vs. 234.9 FPS) points to a single-thread bottleneck rather than a core count limitation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 brings an extraordinary amount of hardware to this pairing, but the measured FPS shows that its full capability is rarely exercised. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz, combined with 21,760 shading units, give it a theoretical FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS. These specifications place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306.

In Doom, the GPU's role is primarily defined by the resolution and settings. At 4K Ultra, the RTX 5090 is finally pushed to a point where its workload matters, producing 95.1 FPS. The 32 GB VRAM is entirely irrelevant for this game, as Doom from 2016 does not require substantial memory capacity. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is also not a limiting factor, as the CPU bottleneck dominates at lower resolutions.

The data shows that the RTX 5090's performance relative to its rivals is consistent, but this does not translate into proportional gaming gains in this specific configuration. The GPU scores 39,650 in PassMark G3D, which is 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600's 83,209 average, but in Doom, the CPU prevents this advantage from being realized. The 5090's 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores are also underutilized, as Doom's 2016 engine does not leverage these features.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, Low settings yield 276.6 FPS, Medium 264.5 FPS, High 251.3 FPS, and Ultra 234.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 41.7 FPS, a 15.1% reduction. This tight grouping indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor, as graphical settings have a minimal impact on the final frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the results are 241.6 FPS (Low), 226 FPS (Medium), 218 FPS (High), and 177.7 FPS (Ultra). The spread widens to 63.9 FPS, a 26.5% reduction from Low to Ultra. This suggests that at 1440p, the GPU begins to play a more significant role, particularly at Ultra settings where the 5090's pixel and texture rates are more heavily taxed.

At 3840x2160, the results drop significantly: 162.6 FPS (Low), 141.7 FPS (Medium), 121.3 FPS (High), and 95.1 FPS (Ultra). The spread is now 67.5 FPS, a 41.5% reduction from Low to Ultra. This is the only resolution where the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint, as the 4K pixel count demands significant work from the 5090. The jump from 1440p High (218 FPS) to 4K High (121.3 FPS) represents a 44.4% drop, highlighting the resolution's impact.

The data also shows a consistent pattern: at every resolution, the step from High to Ultra causes the largest FPS drop. At 1080p, High to Ultra drops from 251.3 to 234.9 FPS (6.5%). At 1440p, it drops from 218 to 177.7 FPS (18.5%). At 4K, it drops from 121.3 to 95.1 FPS (21.6%). This indicates that the Ultra preset includes settings that are disproportionately expensive in Doom.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 234.9 FPS is the best choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate well above any display refresh rate. The 1080p results are so high that even the most demanding setting cannot push the system below 230 FPS, making Ultra the obvious selection.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 218 FPS offers the best experience. The Ultra preset drops to 177.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents an 18.5% performance penalty for what is likely a marginal visual improvement. The High preset provides a smoother experience, and the data shows that the 4600G's CPU limitation makes the Ultra settings less impactful on visual fidelity than the frame rate loss suggests. The Medium preset at 226 FPS offers only 3.7% more performance than High, making High the superior choice for the balance of quality and speed.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 141.7 FPS is the recommended setting. The High preset at 121.3 FPS is also viable, but Medium provides a 16.8% performance increase over High while still delivering a solid visual experience. The Ultra preset at 95.1 FPS is the only configuration that dips below 100 FPS, and the data suggests that the visual jump from Medium to Ultra does not justify the 32.9% frame rate reduction. The Low preset at 162.6 FPS is available for players prioritizing maximum frame rate, but the Medium preset offers a better balance, as it is only 12.9% slower than Low while providing significantly better visual quality.