Doom

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 1051 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places the pairing in the lower-middle portion of the field, indicating that while it can run the game, it is far from the top-tier experiences possible with this title. The combo's percentile standing reflects a system that is balanced but not exceptional, with the GPU's overall benchmark percentile at 63 and the CPU's at 79. The data shows a configuration that sits comfortably within the playable range for most resolutions, but the rank suggests that many other combinations will deliver higher frame rates.

In terms of direct competition, the CPU sits almost exactly at parity with its nearest rivals. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 20897, a delta of -0.1% compared to the Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 20875. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE is within -0.1% at 20900, while the AMD EPYC 7J13 is 0.1% ahead at 20845. The Intel Core i5-12600T trails by -0.2% at 20917. These numbers indicate that the processor's compute potential is not a differentiator in this matchup; the performance headroom is remarkably consistent across these chips.

For the GPU, the nearest rival data shows a more interesting picture. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT's average benchmark score of 20146 is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 at 20088. The RX 7600, a non-XT variant, is 0.6% ahead at 20258. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER trails by 1.9% at 19774, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is 1.9% ahead at 20534. These deltas are small, meaning the RX 7600 XT is not decisively faster than its closest alternatives in synthetic tests, yet the measured in-game FPS tells a more nuanced story about its capabilities in Doom specifically.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is listed at 2250 MHz, translating to 18 Gbps effective. This large frame buffer is a notable asset for Doom, which can be demanding on VRAM at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's base clock is 1980 MHz, with a game clock of 2470 MHz and a boost clock of 2755 MHz. These clocks are substantial, and the data suggests they are the primary drivers of performance in this title, as the GPU's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are relatively modest for the 7000 series.

The measured FPS across different settings reveals how the GPU's architecture handles Doom's workload. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 73.2, but this drops to 53.8 at High and 40.1 at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 33.1 FPS, which is a substantial penalty for higher visual fidelity. The GPU's texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s are adequate for the game's demands, but the data shows that the RX 7600 XT is not overpowered at 4K Ultra. The 16 GB VRAM is never a bottleneck in the measured rows, as even the most demanding preset fails to exceed the available memory, but the compute performance limits the frame rate.

The GPU's FP32 compute of 22.57 TFLOPS and its RDNA 3.0 architecture with 32 RT cores suggest it is built for modern titles, but Doom's engine rewards raw rasterization speed. The passmark G3D score of 17132 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2348 place it in a midrange tier, and the measured FPS aligns with that positioning. The RX 7600 XT is the clear bottleneck at lower resolutions, where the CPU has more headroom, but at 4K, the GPU's limits become the defining factor.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting component as resolution rises. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 203.2. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low drops this to 131, a reduction of 72.2 FPS or roughly 35.5%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 73.2, which is 64 FPS lower than 1440p and 130 FPS lower than 1080p. This pattern holds across all settings, with the most extreme drop occurring at Ultra: 121.1 FPS at 1080p, 80.8 at 1440p, and 40.1 at 4K.

The data shows that the scaling is not linear. The jump from 1080p to 1440p at High reduces FPS from 149.7 to 93.8, a 55.9 FPS decrease, while the jump from 1440p to 4K at High reduces it from 93.8 to 53.8, a 40 FPS decrease. This suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily at higher resolutions, but the CPU is still able to keep up at 1440p. At 4K, the RX 7600 XT's 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 176.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are stretched thin, leading to the observed drops.

The limiting component shifts clearly as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz are sufficient to push frame rates above 200 FPS at Low, indicating the GPU is the primary cap even here. At 4K, the GPU's compute becomes the undeniable bottleneck, with the CPU's role diminishing. The data indicates a system that is GPU-bound in all measured scenarios, but the degree of GPU saturation intensifies with resolution, making 4K Ultra an unrealistic target for smooth play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are robust across all presets. Low settings produce 203.2 FPS, Medium yields 174.2 FPS, High reaches 149.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 121.1 FPS. These numbers show that the combo can easily handle high refresh rate monitors at this resolution, with even the most demanding preset staying above 120 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 82.1 FPS, which is a significant range but still leaves Ultra comfortably playable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but less extreme. Low settings average 131 FPS, Medium drops to 111.4 FPS, High reaches 93.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 80.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution narrows to 50.2 FPS, showing that the GPU's headroom is shrinking. The data shows that 1440p High is still a viable target for smooth gameplay, while Ultra remains above 80 FPS, which is acceptable for most users.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more modest. Low settings average 73.2 FPS, Medium hits 60 FPS exactly, High drops to 53.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 33.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain high frame rates at this resolution. The exact 60 FPS at Medium is notable, as it suggests a hard limit that aligns with common display refresh rates, but the High and Ultra presets fall below this threshold, making them less ideal for fluid motion.

Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent in direction but varies in magnitude. At 1080p, the drop is 40.4% from Low to Ultra; at 1440p, it is 38.3%; and at 4K, it is 45.2%. The larger percentage drop at 4K indicates that the GPU's resources are more strained at higher resolutions, and the visual quality gains from Ultra are not worth the frame rate cost.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the sweet spot for this combo across most resolutions. At 4K, Medium averages exactly 60 FPS, which is the minimum for smooth play on standard displays. This preset delivers a 6.2 FPS improvement over High at 4K, while still providing better visual fidelity than Low. At 1440p, Medium hits 111.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a 17.6 FPS advantage over High. At 1080p, Medium reaches 174.2 FPS, which is only 29 FPS below Low but 24.5 FPS above High, making it a balanced choice.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low is the clear option. At 1080p, Low exceeds 200 FPS, and at 1440p it stays above 130 FPS. Even at 4K, Low manages 73.2 FPS, which is playable. However, the jump from Low to Medium is substantial in terms of visual quality, and the frame rate cost is relatively modest—at 1080p, the drop is 29 FPS; at 1440p, it is 19.6 FPS; and at 4K, it is 13.2 FPS. This makes Medium the recommended preset for most scenarios, as it provides a good balance of performance and fidelity.

High and Ultra are only advisable at 1080p or 1440p for users with high refresh rate displays. At 1080p Ultra, the 121.1 FPS average is still smooth, and at 1440p Ultra, 80.8 FPS is acceptable. At 4K, however, neither preset is recommended. High at 53.8 FPS and Ultra at 40.1 FPS fall below the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual improvements are unlikely to justify the frame rate penalty. The data suggests that the RX 7600 XT is not suited for 4K Ultra in Doom, and users should either drop to Medium or reduce the resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 16 MB of L3 cache is a modest amount for gaming, but the CPU's benchmark scores indicate solid single-thread and multi-thread performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and single-core score of 2319 show that the chip is capable of handling modern game engines, while the PassMark single-thread score of 3058 places it in a competitive range.

In Doom, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS scales heavily with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 203.2 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU enough frames at this setting. The 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and 2-thread score of 1645 indicate that the processor's per-core performance is adequate for the game's threading model. The 12 threads are likely underutilized, as Doom is not a heavily multi-threaded title, but the CPU's high boost clock helps maintain minimum frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 0.2% of its average score, which means that swapping to an Intel Core i5-12500 or a Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in Doom. The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this combo, as even at 4K Ultra, where FPS drops to 40.1, the bottleneck is the GPU's compute not the processor's throughput. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node contribute to its efficiency, but the benchmark results confirm that its performance is average for its class, with a percentile of 79 among all CPUs.