Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a lopsided combination in Doom—one where the GPU is clearly the dominant force. The benchmark data shows this pairing delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions, firmly placing it in the top tier of performance for this title’s database. While the CPU is a capable six-core Zen 3 part, the RX 7900 XTX’s massive 24 GB frame buffer and high memory bandwidth drive the experience, even when the Ryzen 5 5500’s PCIe Gen 3 interface might theoretically bottleneck in other scenarios. Here is a breakdown of how this specific configuration behaves.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the differences are relatively compressed, with Ultra still delivering an average of 220 FPS. However, the gap widens dramatically as resolution increases, making the choice of preset more consequential at higher pixel counts.

For the absolute best experience, the High preset is the optimal choice. At 2560x1440, it delivers an average of 174 FPS, which is more than adequate for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 3840x2160, it still maintains a robust 94 FPS average. The jump from High to Ultra costs a significant amount of performance—a drop of 31 FPS at 1440p and 17 FPS at 4K—without a correspondingly massive visual uplift in most fast-paced FPS titles. The data suggests High is the sweet spot, providing a substantial frame rate buffer over Ultra while maintaining strong visual fidelity.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative if you prioritize frame rate above all else, especially at 4K. It yields 112 FPS at 3840x2160, which is 18 FPS higher than High. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium at 4K is 95, which is still very smooth. At 1440p, Medium hits 206 FPS, and at 1080p, it reaches 305 FPS. The Low preset offers the highest raw frame rates—321 FPS at 1080p, 237 FPS at 1440p, and 128 FPS at 4K—but it sacrifices too much visual quality for a system with this level of hardware. The Ultra preset, while playable at 1080p and 1440p, pushes the GPU too hard at 4K, resulting in 77 FPS average, which dips below the ideal threshold for competitive play. Thus, High strikes the best balance between visual fidelity and the high frame rates this hardware is clearly capable of producing.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is unequivocally the star of this pairing in Doom. Its specifications paint a picture of a graphics card designed for high-resolution, high-refresh-rate gaming. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a staggering 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This bandwidth is critical for feeding the RDNA 3.0 architecture’s 6144 shading units at high resolutions. The card’s boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz ensure it can push those pixels quickly.

The benchmark results confirm this. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score is 31238, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6841. These numbers place it in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a high-end part. The data shows that the GPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration; even at 4K Ultra, it manages 77 FPS, which is a demanding load. The fact that it can scale from 220 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 77 FPS at 4K Ultra demonstrates its raw compute power. The VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Doom, a game with a release date in 2016, meaning the 24 GB frame buffer is far from being a constraint in this title. The GPU’s role is to saturate the display with as many frames as possible, and the measurements show it does so effectively across all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At 1920x1080, the High preset produces an average of 269 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, that average drops to 174 FPS, which is a 35% decrease. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 94 FPS, which is a 65% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep drop-off indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is the expected behavior when the GPU is the primary processor of the workload.

This scaling pattern suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. While the Ryzen 5 5500 has a PassMark multithread score of 19330, its single-thread score of 3058 is modest compared to newer parts. However, in Doom, the data shows that the combination can push 321 FPS at 1080p Low. If the CPU were severely limiting performance, we would see a plateau in FPS as resolution decreases. Instead, the frame rate continues to climb, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck. The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling; the 80 FPS drop (from 174 to 94) at High settings shows that the RX 7900 XTX is being fully utilized. The game’s engine is clearly scaling with resolution, and this combination has the headroom to handle it.

How This Combo Ranks

The database places this specific CPU-GPU combination at rank 576 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This puts it in the top 15.5% of all configurations tested, which is an impressive feat. This high ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU’s performance. The RX 7900 XTX’s average benchmark score is 19410, and it sits in the 64th percentile of all GPUs. While its nearest rivals in the database include cards like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp, the RX 7900 XTX’s real-world performance in this title is far superior due to its architectural advantages and memory subsystem.

The CPU’s contribution to this rank is secondary. The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 19593, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, Intel Core i5-12500, and Intel Core i7-10700F, with delta percentages of -0.1%, -0.4%, and 0.5% respectively. This shows the CPU is a solid mid-range performer. However, the data strongly indicates that the GPU is the deciding factor for this combo’s ranking. If the CPU were swapped for a weaker part, the rank would likely drop, but the RX 7900 XTX’s raw power ensures that this pairing remains a high performer in the database.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination overkill for playing Doom at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows it is extremely powerful for 1080p. At 1920x1080, the combination achieves 321 FPS on Low, 305 FPS on Medium, 269 FPS on High, and 220 FPS on Ultra. These are exceptionally high frame rates that far exceed the refresh rate of most standard 1080p monitors.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this setup?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At this resolution, the High preset delivers 174 FPS, and even the Ultra preset maintains 143 FPS. This provides an excellent balance between visual detail and the high frame rates needed for a smooth experience, while 4K at Ultra dips slightly lower.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, it can handle 4K gaming. At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers a 94 FPS average, and Medium delivers 112 FPS. While the Ultra preset drops to 77 FPS, the High and Medium presets provide a very playable and fluid 4K experience.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings?

A: The difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 237 on Low to 143 on Ultra, a 94 FPS difference. At 3840x2160, the drop is from 128 FPS on Low to 77 FPS on Ultra, a 51 FPS difference. The gap is more significant at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 bottlenecking the RX 7900 XTX?

A: The data indicates it is not a significant bottleneck in this game. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, which is a sign of a GPU-bound workload. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would not increase as much when lowering the resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The measured data includes minimum FPS only for the Medium preset at each resolution. The minimums are 260 FPS at 1080p, 176 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. These minimums are still very high, indicating stable performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measurements for each resolution and settings preset combination.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | Low | 128 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 112 | 95 | 129 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 94 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 77 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 237 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 206 | 176 | 237 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 174 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 143 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 321 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 305 | 260 | 351 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 269 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 220 | N/A | N/A |

The data shows that the High preset is consistently the most balanced option, offering a significant frame rate advantage over Ultra while retaining a high level of visual quality. For players with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, this combination is particularly well-suited, as it exceeds 144 FPS on the High preset and even on Ultra. At 4K, the Medium preset provides a solid 112 FPS average, which is smoother than the 94 FPS on High, despite the slight reduction in visual fidelity. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates, is generally unnecessary for this hardware, as the other presets already provide excellent performance.