Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a performance profile in Doom that is overwhelmingly constrained by the CPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU’s immense headroom becomes the defining factor at higher settings. The measured data indicates that this combination is capable of exceptional frame rates across all tested configurations, ranking in the 143rd position out of 2930 tested combos. This analysis breaks down the specific measured frames per second (FPS) data to provide clear guidance on the optimal settings and the role each component plays.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this specific combo suggests that the "High" preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, providing a substantial visual upgrade over lower settings while maintaining frame rates well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 1080p, the High preset achieves an average of 288 FPS, which is only 33 FPS behind the Low preset’s 321 FPS, yet it offers significantly better visual fidelity. At 1440p, the High preset delivers 231 FPS, and even at 4K, it maintains a robust 125 FPS average.

For users with 4K displays, the data shows a clear trade-off. The Ultra preset drops the average to 102 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 4K provides a safer average of 148 FPS with a minimum of 126 FPS, making it a more stable choice for maintaining high frame times. However, the High preset at 125 FPS average is the sweet spot, offering a significant improvement in visual quality over Medium while only sacrificing 23 FPS on average.

The Low preset is not recommended for this configuration, as the data shows it provides only marginal FPS gains over High at 1080p (321 vs. 288 FPS) and 1440p (277 vs. 231 FPS). Given the raw power of the RTX 5090 D, the visual compromises of Low settings are unnecessary. The Ultra preset is viable for users who prioritize image quality above all else, but the performance dip at 4K (102 FPS) and even at 1440p (189 FPS) suggests it is better suited for lower resolutions or for users with variable refresh rate monitors who can tolerate the lower frame rates.

Ultimately, the benchmark results indicate that the High preset provides the best experience per the measured rows, offering a compelling combination of high frame rates and enhanced graphical detail across all three tested resolutions. It avoids the extreme frame rate drops of Ultra while delivering a superior visual experience compared to Medium and Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, and its vast resources are clearly reflected in the measured FPS data. The GPU features a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a staggering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. This immense memory subsystem is more than sufficient for Doom at any resolution, ensuring that texture loading and memory-intensive operations never become a bottleneck.

The GPU’s clock speeds of 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, combined with its 21760 shading units, deliver extraordinary raw compute power. This is evident in the 4K results, where the RTX 5090 D maintains an average of 125 FPS on High settings and 102 FPS on Ultra. These numbers demonstrate that even at the highest resolution, the GPU has ample performance headroom to render the game’s demanding scenes. The GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate ensure that pixel and texture processing are not limiting factors.

The role of the GPU becomes less critical at lower resolutions where the CPU begins to limit performance. However, the data shows that the GPU’s raw power still pushes frame rates to extreme levels, such as 321 FPS at 1080p on Low settings. The 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 77712 underscore the RTX 5090 D’s position as a top-tier component. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with a -1.6% deltaPct, are significantly less powerful, yet the 5090 D’s performance in Doom is so high that the game is rarely GPU-bound outside of 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 serves as a capable but clearly secondary component in this configuration. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, it provides solid multi-threaded performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 19330. However, its single-thread performance, crucial for older game engines like the one powering Doom, is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 836.

The CPU’s influence on the measured FPS becomes apparent when examining the scaling between resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only 53 FPS (321 to 268), and the frame rate is consistently above 268 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is the primary limiter, as the GPU is capable of far higher frame rates. At 1440p, the frame rates are slightly lower, but the pattern remains, with High settings achieving 231 FPS. The CPU’s 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GPU, but they do not allow the system to fully exploit the RTX 5090 D’s potential at lower resolutions.

The CPU’s benchmark percentile of 73rd among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 19593 place it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-12500 with a -0.4% deltaPct and the Intel Core i7-10700F with a 0.5% deltaPct, have nearly identical average scores, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5500 is a standard mid-range performer. In Doom, this means the CPU will consistently deliver frame rates in the 260-320 FPS range at 1080p, regardless of settings, leaving the GPU’s vast power largely untapped at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to use for a 4K display with this combo?

A: The High preset is recommended for 4K. It delivers an average of 125 FPS, which is a substantial improvement over the Ultra preset’s 102 FPS average, while still offering high visual quality. The Medium preset provides a more stable experience with a minimum of 126 FPS and an average of 148 FPS.

Q: Is this CPU or GPU bottlenecked at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the system is CPU-bound at 1080p. The frame rate difference between Low (321 FPS) and Ultra (268 FPS) is relatively small, suggesting the CPU cannot feed the GPU fast enough to push frame rates much beyond 321 FPS, despite the GPU’s immense power.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's memory affect performance in Doom?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures that memory capacity and bandwidth are never a limiting factor. This allows the GPU to maintain high frame rates even at 4K with high-resolution textures, as the data shows no significant memory-related stutters.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Medium and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 264 FPS with a minimum of 225 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 189 FPS. This represents a 75 FPS drop for Ultra, which is a significant trade-off for increased visual fidelity.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a good match for the RTX 5090 D in this game?

A: For Doom, the Ryzen 5 5500 is a limiting factor at lower resolutions, capping performance around 321 FPS at 1080p. At 4K, the CPU is less of a bottleneck, and the GPU’s performance is more fully utilized, showing that the pairing is better suited for high-resolution gaming.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 143rd out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the top 5% of all tested systems. This high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 5090 D’s performance, which offsets the CPU’s mid-range capabilities.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern of how performance scales with resolution, highlighting the shift in bottleneck from CPU to GPU. At 1080p, the average FPS across settings is extremely high, with Low achieving 321 FPS, Medium at 305 FPS, High at 288 FPS, and Ultra at 268 FPS. The relatively small spread of 53 FPS between Low and Ultra suggests that the CPU is the primary limiting factor, as the GPU is not being fully taxed at this resolution.

Moving to 1440p, there is a noticeable drop in frame rates. The Low preset falls to 277 FPS, Medium to 264 FPS, High to 231 FPS, and Ultra to 189 FPS. This scaling indicates that the GPU is beginning to take on a more significant role, though the CPU still provides a high baseline. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced for the High preset, which loses 57 FPS, while the Low preset loses 44 FPS.

At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck. The frame rates drop dramatically, with Low achieving 170 FPS, Medium at 148 FPS, High at 125 FPS, and Ultra at 102 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is substantial, with the High preset losing 106 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 87 FPS. This steep decline demonstrates that the RTX 5090 D’s capabilities are being fully utilized at this resolution, and the CPU’s role is diminished.

The data shows that the CPU limits performance at 1080p, while the GPU limits performance at 4K. The 1440p resolution represents a balance point where both components contribute significantly to the final frame rate. The largest relative drop occurs between 1440p High (231 FPS) and 4K High (125 FPS), a 46% reduction, which underscores the GPU’s growing workload at higher pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset, based on the provided data.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 321 FPS. The Medium preset averages 305 FPS, with a minimum of 260 FPS and a maximum of 351 FPS. The High preset delivers an average of 288 FPS. The Ultra preset provides an average of 268 FPS. The data shows a consistent decline from Low to Ultra, but all settings maintain frame rates well above 250 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but begins to show more variation. The Low preset averages 277 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 264 FPS, with a minimum of 225 FPS and a maximum of 304 FPS. The High preset delivers 231 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 189 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is now 88 FPS, indicating a greater sensitivity to settings at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop significantly, reflecting the increased GPU load. The Low preset averages 170 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 148 FPS, with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 170 FPS. The High preset delivers 125 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 102 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is now 68 FPS, showing that the GPU is the primary limiter at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently shows a minimum FPS that is lower than its average, indicating potential frame time spikes. For instance, at 4K Medium, the minimum is 126 FPS against an average of 148 FPS. This suggests that while the average is high, there can be occasional dips in performance, which is a consideration for users sensitive to frame pacing.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 143rd out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places the system in the top 5% of all tested configurations, a signal of the GPU’s overwhelming performance. The ranking is particularly impressive given that the CPU is a mid-range part, as evidenced by its 73rd percentile ranking and an average benchmark score of 19593.

The combo’s high rank is almost entirely attributable to the RTX 5090 D. The GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 77712 place it among the most powerful graphics cards available. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with a 1.1% deltaPct, are far less capable, yet the 5090 D still achieves these high frame rates. The CPU, in contrast, is a more modest performer, with its nearest rivals like the Intel Core i5-12500 showing a -0.4% deltaPct in average score.

The rank of 143rd out of 2930 indicates that there are 142 other combinations that perform better in this specific game. These higher-ranked systems likely feature more powerful CPUs, such as higher-core-count or higher-clock-speed processors, which would reduce the CPU bottleneck observed at 1080p. However, the sheer power of the RTX 5090 D ensures that this combo remains a top-tier performer, especially for users targeting 4K or high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, where the GPU’s strengths are fully realized.