Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience in Doom, with the data showing a clear progression of performance scaling from 1080p up to 4K. The measured results indicate that this combination is well-balanced for the game's engine, though the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and steep drop as resolution increases across all settings presets. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 147 FPS at 1920x1080 to 95 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 52 FPS, and then further down to 51 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a total decline of 96 FPS from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

Looking at the Low preset, the same trend emerges: 200 FPS at 1080p drops to 129 FPS at 1440p and then to 70 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are notable — from 1080p to 1440p the Low preset loses 35.5% of its performance, and moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 45.7%. This steepening curve at the 4K resolution strongly suggests that the RX 6650 XT is running out of raw pixel-pushing capability, as the frame rate falls well below the 60 FPS threshold at Ultra settings.

The Medium preset follows the same trajectory, with averages of 174 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS readings at Medium settings also scale proportionally: 148 at 1080p, 96 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K. These minimums are important because they show that even the worst-case frame times scale with resolution, meaning the limiting component is consistently the GPU rather than the CPU introducing stutter at higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the 4K average of 42 FPS is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset, making this the only resolution and settings combination where the experience dips below 45 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 9 FPS (51 vs. 42), while the gap between Medium and High is 10 FPS (61 vs. 51), showing that the Ultra preset demands a significant additional amount of GPU resources that this card cannot deliver at 4K.

The data reveals that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, as the High preset delivers 95 FPS and even Ultra maintains 78 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS. At 1080p, all settings including Ultra (120 FPS) remain above 120 FPS, indicating that the CPU and GPU are not severely bottlenecked at this resolution and the game's engine is efficiently utilizing the available hardware.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's boost clock is rated at 2635 MHz with a game clock of 2410 MHz, and its 2048 shading units deliver a peak FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS. These specifications place the GPU in the 65th percentile of all GPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 19765.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a critical factor for Doom at higher resolutions. The measured 4K results — 51 FPS at High and 42 FPS at Ultra — suggest that the card is not necessarily running out of memory, but rather hitting its compute limits. The 4K Medium result of 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS indicates that the card can hold 60 FPS at 4K only when settings are reduced, which aligns with the GPU's mid-range positioning in the 65th percentile.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (with a deltaPct of -0.6, meaning the RX 6650 XT scores 0.6% lower), the AMD FirePro D300 (deltaPct of 0.7, meaning the RX 6650 XT scores 0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro W7000 (deltaPct of -0.7). These tight margins, all within 1% of the RX 6650 XT's average score, underscore that this is a mid-pack performer that trades blows with older workstation cards, though those rivals lack the modern feature set of RDNA 2.0.

The memory clock of 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective) combined with the 128-bit bus produces a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s, which is sufficient for Doom's texture streaming at 1440p but becomes strained at 4K Ultra. The pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s are the raw throughput numbers that govern how quickly the card can fill the screen, and the measured FPS confirms that these rates are the bottleneck at 4K.

The card's launch MSRP is 399 USD, and it uses a single 8-pin power connector with a 176 W TDP, but the measured FPS data shows that power delivery is not a limiting factor in these results. The GPU's performance in Doom specifically aligns with its general benchmark positioning — it is a solid 1080p and 1440p card that requires settings reductions to maintain playable frame rates at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename) manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 16 MB of L3 cache and a 65 W TDP. The processor scores in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19593, placing it slightly above the midpoint of the tested CPU pool.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is strong for its class, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and Geekbench multicore score of 7976. Its single-thread performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3058. These scores indicate that the Ryzen 5 5500 has sufficient per-core performance to feed the RX 6650 XT in Doom, which is a title that typically scales well with single-thread performance.

The nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the Ryzen 5 5500 scores 0.1% lower), the Intel Core i5-12500 (deltaPct of -0.4), the Intel Core i7-10700F (deltaPct of 0.5), and the Intel Core i5-11600KF (deltaPct of -0.7). All of these rivals are within 0.7% of the Ryzen 5 5500's average score, confirming that this processor sits in a highly competitive tier where minor architectural differences do not translate into meaningful gaming performance gaps.

In Doom, the CPU's role is to maintain frame pacing and avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 1080p results — 200 FPS at Low, 174 FPS at Medium, and 147 FPS at High — demonstrate that the Ryzen 5 5500 can sustain very high frame rates without limiting the GPU. The fact that the 1080p Ultra preset still achieves 120 FPS suggests that the CPU has enough headroom to handle the game's physics and AI workloads while the GPU renders the scene.

The CPU's 12 threads are well-utilized in Doom, which is known to scale beyond 8 threads. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 5386 and the 3dmark_max_threads score of 5411 indicate that the processor maintains consistent performance across all threads, which is important for avoiding frame time spikes. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s (dual-channel DDR4) is adequate for the game's data streaming requirements at 1440p and below, though at 4K the GPU becomes the limiting factor regardless of CPU capability.

The CPU's launch MSRP is $159, and its 65 W TDP means it does not require aggressive cooling, but the measured FPS data shows that thermal throttling is not an issue in these results. The processor's 7 nm process node and 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die contribute to its efficiency, but the gaming results are driven more by its architectural efficiency than raw clock speed.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT combination ranks 2418 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 34.8th percentile of all tested combinations. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning (65th percentile) combined with the CPU's slightly better positioning (73rd percentile), resulting in a combo that is below the median of all tested systems.

The rank of 2418 out of 3712 means that 1294 combos performed worse, while 2417 performed better. This suggests that while this specific pairing is not top-tier, it is far from the bottom of the pack. The data indicates that the combo is likely held back by the GPU's 65th percentile standing, as the CPU is relatively stronger at 73rd percentile — meaning that upgrading the GPU would yield a larger performance gain than upgrading the CPU in this game.

The gap between the CPU's percentile (73) and the GPU's percentile (65) is 8 points, which is a moderate imbalance favoring the CPU. In Doom, this imbalance manifests as the GPU being the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as seen in the 4K results where the frame rate drops below 60 FPS. At 1080p, the combo performs admirably, with all settings above 120 FPS, indicating that the CPU is sufficient to keep the GPU well-fed at lower pixel counts.

The combo ranking is a single point in a large dataset, but the measured FPS data provides context for why it lands at 2418. The 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS is below the 60 FPS target that many users expect, while the 1440p High result of 95 FPS is comfortably above it. This suggests that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear hierarchy across settings. Low settings deliver an average of 200 FPS, Medium provides 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and maximum of 200 FPS, High reaches 147 FPS, and Ultra drops to 120 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 80 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant performance cost, but even the lowest result at 1080p is well above any playability threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 129 FPS, Medium at 113 FPS (minimum 96, maximum 129), High at 95 FPS, and Ultra at 78 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 51 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p but represents a larger percentage drop (39.5%). The Medium preset's minimum of 96 FPS shows that even the worst-case frame rates remain above 90 FPS, making 1440p a very playable resolution for this combo.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 70 FPS, Medium at 61 FPS (minimum 52, maximum 70), High at 51 FPS, and Ultra at 42 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured point below 45 FPS, and the High preset's 51 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset's minimum of 52 FPS indicates that frame pacing can be inconsistent at 4K, with occasional dips below 55 FPS even on Medium settings.

The measured data includes min and max FPS only for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 148 to 200 FPS, representing a 52 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 96 to 129 FPS, a 33 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 52 to 70 FPS, an 18 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is working closer to its limits, reducing the variance but also lowering the average.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution reveals the performance cost of each preset tier. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 26 FPS (200 to 174), Medium to High costs 27 FPS (174 to 147), and High to Ultra costs 27 FPS (147 to 120) — a remarkably consistent 27 FPS per tier after the initial step. At 1440p, the steps are 16 FPS (129 to 113), 18 FPS (113 to 95), and 17 FPS (95 to 78), showing similar consistency. At 4K, the steps are 9 FPS (70 to 61), 10 FPS (61 to 51), and 9 FPS (51 to 42).

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 is the optimal resolution, as the High preset achieves 95 FPS and even Ultra maintains 78 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS. At 1080p, all settings exceed 120 FPS, but at 4K the High preset drops to 51 FPS.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings (70 FPS) or Medium settings (61 FPS). The High preset at 4K averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS, so higher quality settings require a resolution reduction to maintain 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 19593, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-12500, 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i7-10700F, and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-11600KF.

Q: Is the RX 6650 XT a bottleneck in this system?

A: The data suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU ranks in the 65th percentile while the CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile, and the 4K results show frame rates dropping below 60 FPS, indicating the GPU cannot keep pace with the CPU's capabilities at higher pixel counts.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p ranges from 200 FPS at Low settings to 120 FPS at Ultra settings, a difference of 80 FPS. The Medium preset averages 174 FPS and High averages 147 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2418 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom, placing it below the median. The CPU's 73rd percentile and GPU's 65th percentile positioning indicate that the GPU is the weaker component relative to the CPU in this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. The average of 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes, while the Medium preset's visual improvements over Low are substantial for only a 16 FPS cost at this resolution.

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1920x1080 delivers 120 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS threshold many competitive players prefer. The 27 FPS cost from High to Ultra at 1080p is worth it for the visual enhancements, especially since the minimum frame rate remains unmeasured but the average stays well above playable levels.

At 4K, the data recommends the Medium preset, which achieves 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, making it the only viable choice for 4K gaming with this combo. The High preset at 4K (51 FPS) and Ultra (42 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS target and would require adaptive sync technology to feel smooth.

For users with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p, the High preset at 147 FPS is the best choice, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (174 FPS) while still exceeding 144 Hz. The Low preset at 200 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized over visual quality.

The data does not support using the Ultra preset at 1440p for users who are sensitive to frame rate drops, as the 78 FPS average is below the 90 FPS that many users consider the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 1440p (95 FPS) is a safer choice for maintaining consistent frame pacing.

Ultimately, the measured results indicate that this combo is best utilized at 1440p with High settings or 1080p with Ultra settings, with the Medium preset at 4K serving as the only playable 4K option. The choice between these configurations depends on whether the user prioritizes resolution, visual effects, or frame rate, but the data provides clear performance boundaries for each setting tier.