Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 shows a predictable but telling scaling pattern as resolution climbs. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 288 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 191 FPS, a reduction of roughly 34%. Pushing to 4K High further reduces the average to 104 FPS, which is another 45% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern reveals that the system is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, as the RTX 4080's workload increases dramatically with pixel count.

The Low settings preset tells a similar story but with a flatter curve at the top end. At 1080p Low, the average is 321 FPS. At 1440p Low, it falls to 260 FPS, a 19% decrease. At 4K Low, the average is 141 FPS, a 46% drop from 1440p. The fact that 1080p Low and 1080p High are only 33 FPS apart (321 vs 288) suggests that at this resolution, the CPU is starting to become a limiting factor, since even with the graphics load reduced significantly, the frame rate cannot climb much higher.

The Medium preset shows intermediate behavior. At 1080p Medium, the average is 305 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 260 FPS and maximum of 351 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 226 FPS, with a minimum of 192 FPS and maximum of 260 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 123 FPS, with a minimum of 104 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS grows with resolution, indicating that frame pacing becomes less consistent as the GPU is pushed harder.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates across all resolutions, as expected. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 241 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it is 156 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 85 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is a 35% reduction, and from 1440p to 4K is a 45% reduction. This pattern is similar to the other presets, confirming that the RTX 4080 is the primary bottleneck at every quality level.

What this data suggests is that the Ryzen 5 5500, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is capable of feeding the RTX 4080 enough frames at 1080p to reach over 300 FPS on lighter presets, but the GPU's performance ceiling is what defines the experience at 4K. The 4K Low score of 141 FPS versus the 4K High score of 104 FPS shows a 37 FPS difference, which is substantial and indicates that Doom's rendering load scales strongly with both resolution and quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a combo rank of 358 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom. This places the system in the top 10% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given the CPU's mid-range positioning. The rank reflects that the RTX 4080 does most of the heavy lifting in this game, as Doom is not particularly demanding on the processor at high resolutions.

The Ryzen 5 5500's individual benchmark percentile is 73, meaning it outperforms 73% of all CPUs in the database's synthetic tests. Its average benchmark score is 19593. Its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark charts are the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 with an average score of 19617, which is 0.1% higher, and the Intel Core i5-12500 with an average score of 19668, which is 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, 0.5% lower, and the Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19723, 0.7% higher. These margins are all within 1%, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5500 sits in a very crowded performance tier.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 holds a percentile of 86 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209, a negligible 0.1% difference. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, 1.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, 2.7% higher. These deltas are small, showing that the RTX 4080 is competitively positioned within its class.

The combo rank of 358 out of 3712 is particularly notable because it shows that even with a relatively modest CPU like the Ryzen 5 5500, the RTX 4080 can push the system to near the top of the charts in Doom. This is a game where GPU throughput dominates the frame rate equation, so the CPU's limitations are largely masked. The data indicates that users with this combo are getting performance that rivals much more expensive CPU-GPU pairings, at least in this specific title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its role becomes clearer when examining its specifications alongside the measured frame rates. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This memory configuration is ample for Doom at any resolution, as the game's textures and geometry do not appear to exceed the available capacity, even at 4K Ultra where the average FPS is still a playable 85.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed with a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz. The memory clock is 1400 MHz, which translates to 22.4 Gbps effective. These clocks are consistent with the Ada Lovelace architecture's design goals, prioritizing high throughput over raw clock speed. The RTX 4080's 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units provide the computational muscle needed to sustain the high frame rates observed in the data.

The GPU's benchmark results further contextualize its performance. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6567, and its Geekbench OpenCL score is 214739, with a Vulkan score of 263779. The Passmark G3D score is 34457, with a GPU compute score of 20671. These synthetic results correlate well with the measured Doom frame rates, where the GPU consistently delivers over 100 FPS at 4K on High settings and over 300 FPS at 1080p on Low settings.

The RTX 4080's transistor count of 45,900 million on a 5 nm process node from TSMC, with a die size of 379 mm², explains its efficiency. The GPU's TDP is listed at 320 W, which is a significant power draw but justified by the performance on offer. The suggested power supply is 700 W, and the card uses a 16-pin power connector. These power requirements mean that the system needs a robust power delivery setup, but the performance payoff is evident in the frame rate data.

In Doom specifically, the GPU's role is to render the fast-paced action at high frame rates. The data shows that the RTX 4080 is rarely the limiting factor until 4K Ultra, where the average FPS of 85 is still respectable. At lower resolutions and settings, the GPU has headroom to spare, as evidenced by the 321 FPS average at 1080p Low, which suggests that the CPU or game engine's frame rate cap is the only thing preventing even higher numbers.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this combo depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 4K gaming, the High preset at 104 FPS average is the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 85 FPS is playable but noticeably slower, while the Medium preset at 123 FPS offers only a marginal improvement over High in terms of fluidity but sacrifices visual fidelity. The Low preset at 141 FPS is the fastest at 4K, but the visual downgrade is significant for a 37 FPS gain over High.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 191 FPS average, which is well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 156 FPS is also excellent, and the difference of 35 FPS between the two may not be worth the visual compromises of dropping to High. The Medium preset at 226 FPS and Low at 260 FPS are excessive for most displays, as 1440p monitors with refresh rates above 240 Hz are rare. For competitive play, the Low or Medium presets could be justified, but for most users, High or Ultra will provide the best experience.

At 1080p, the situation is different because the CPU begins to become a bottleneck. The Low preset at 321 FPS and Medium at 305 FPS are nearly identical in performance, suggesting that the system is hitting a ceiling around 300-320 FPS regardless of settings. The High preset at 288 FPS is still excellent, and the Ultra preset at 241 FPS is the only one that dips below 300 FPS. For esports titles or high-refresh-rate competitive play at 1080p, the Medium preset at 305 FPS is the sweet spot, as it offers better visual quality than Low with essentially the same frame rate.

The data suggests that the RTX 4080 is powerful enough to run Doom at maximum settings at 1080p and 1440p without issue, and the High preset is the recommended choice for 4K. The Ultra preset is only worth using if visual fidelity is paramount and the user is willing to accept a lower frame rate. The Medium and Low presets are best reserved for scenarios where the highest possible frame rate is required, such as competitive multiplayer, but the gains over High are modest at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo in Doom is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 321 FPS. The Medium preset averages 305 FPS, with a minimum of 260 FPS and a maximum of 351 FPS. The High preset averages 288 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 241 FPS. These figures show a clear progression, but the gap between Low and High is only 33 FPS, indicating diminishing returns as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 260 FPS. The Medium preset averages 226 FPS, with a minimum of 192 FPS and a maximum of 260 FPS. The High preset averages 191 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 156 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a total drop of 104 FPS, which is a 40% reduction in performance. This is a much steeper curve than at 1080p, showing that the GPU is being pushed harder at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 141 FPS. The Medium preset averages 123 FPS, with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS. The High preset averages 104 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 85 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56 FPS, which is a 40% reduction from the Low baseline. The 4K Medium minimum of 104 FPS exactly matches the 4K High average, suggesting that frame pacing is consistent across these settings.

The minimum and maximum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 260 FPS and the maximum is 351 FPS, a spread of 91 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 192 FPS and the maximum is 260 FPS, a spread of 68 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 104 FPS and the maximum is 141 FPS, a spread of 37 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent, reducing frame time variance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 plays a supporting role in this configuration, but its specifications still influence the results. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture with the Cezanne codename, manufactured on a 7 nm process node from TSMC. The base clock is 3.60 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The TDP is 65 W, and it uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 16 MB L3 cache.

The CPU's memory support is DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. This is a potential bottleneck for the RTX 4080, as the GPU's 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth vastly exceeds what the CPU can feed it. However, in Doom, this does not appear to be a significant issue, as the frame rates are still very high. The PCIe interface is Gen 3, which is an older standard compared to the GPU's PCIe 4.0, but this does not seem to limit performance in this title.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 5500 scores 16429 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2319 in single-core. Its Geekbench multicore score is 7976, with a single-core score of 1730. The Passmark multithread score is 19330, and the single-thread score is 3058. These scores place the CPU in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19593. Its nearest rivals are all within 1% of its score, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5500 is competitively positioned in its tier.

The CPU's role in Doom is primarily to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 321, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame rate capability. At 1080p High, the FPS drops to 288, showing that the GPU is still the primary bottleneck even at this resolution. The fact that 1080p Low and Medium are within 16 FPS of each other (321 vs 305) suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands at these settings, but the GPU's performance ceiling is what ultimately limits the frame rate.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence diminishes further, as the GPU takes longer to render each frame. The 4K Low average of 141 FPS versus the 1080p Low average of 321 FPS shows a 180 FPS drop, which is entirely attributable to the GPU's workload. The CPU is not a limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rates scale proportionally with resolution changes. For users considering this combo, the Ryzen 5 5500 provides adequate performance for Doom, but it is clear that the RTX 4080 is the star of the show.