Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 delivers a playable but dated experience in Doom, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and settings. The combination ranks in the lower percentile of tested systems, and the data suggests that while the CPU is capable, the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The most balanced experience is at 1920x1080 with High settings, yielding an average of 75 FPS. For maximum smoothness, 1920x1080 with Low settings produces 102 FPS, while 4K Ultra is the worst at 22 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37,018 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Core Ultra 5 225, but 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 and 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i9-12900T.

Q: Is the GPU more powerful than its closest competitors?

A: The RX 580 scores 12,928 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, but 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, and 0.5% and 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon 740M and AMD FirePro W5100, respectively.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 89 at 1920x1080 to 58 at 2560x1440, and finally to 31 at 3840x2160. This represents a 65% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the CPU have enough threads for modern gaming?

A: Yes, it has 6 cores and 12 threads, which is a standard configuration for gaming. Its Passmark multithread score is 20,363, and its single-thread score is 2,941, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for Doom at 1080p but may be a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, and it features a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This cache configuration is designed to improve gaming performance by reducing memory latency. In the benchmark data, the CPU shows a strong single-thread score of 2,941 and a multithread score of 20,363, which are indicative of a processor well-suited for handling game logic and physics.

Given its 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, the Ryzen 5 5500X3D is not a bottleneck in this system for Doom. The measured FPS data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 102 FPS, which is a high frame rate. However, as the resolution increases to 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the average FPS drops significantly, even at lower settings. This pattern suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data, but the GPU's rendering capacity becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which is 0.2% faster, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, which is also 0.2% faster. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 is 0.2% slower, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.3% slower. These differences are marginal, indicating that the 5500X3D performs on par with its direct competition. In Doom, this level of CPU performance is more than adequate, as the game's engine is not particularly demanding on the processor, allowing the system to push frame rates as high as the GPU will allow.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 2,675 out of 2,930 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 8.7th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms only a small fraction of configurations. This low ranking is primarily due to the age and performance level of the RX 580, which holds back the otherwise capable CPU.

In the context of the measured FPS, this ranking makes sense. The system can achieve playable frame rates at 1080p, with a high of 102 FPS on Low settings and 75 FPS on High settings. However, it struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 1440p, with High settings yielding only 49 FPS. At 4K, the system falls below playable thresholds, with even Low settings only reaching 36 FPS. This performance profile is consistent with a mid-range GPU from 2017 paired with a modern CPU, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor.

The combo's rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capability but rather the GPU's limitations. The CPU, with its high single-thread performance and large cache, is designed to support high frame rates in games like Doom. However, the RX 580's 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 256.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are simply not enough to push high frame rates at higher resolutions. This results in a system that is well-balanced for 1080p gaming but falls short at 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo performs across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 102 FPS on Low settings, 89 FPS on Medium, 75 FPS on High, and 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium settings row shows a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 66 on Low, 58 on Medium, 49 on High, and 40 on Ultra. The Medium settings row at this resolution shows a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, which means the system can dip below 60 FPS during intense moments. At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal: the system averages 36 FPS on Low, 31 FPS on Medium, 26 FPS on High, and 22 FPS on Ultra. The Medium settings row at 4K has a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 36 FPS.

These numbers show a consistent scaling pattern across settings. For example, at 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average FPS by 39%, from 102 to 62. At 1440p, the same change reduces FPS by 39%, from 66 to 40. At 4K, the reduction is 39% as well, from 36 to 22. This consistent percentage drop suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck across all resolutions, as the relative cost of higher settings remains the same.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a graphics card based on the Polaris 20 chip, which uses the GCN 4.0 architecture. It operates at a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The card has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. It features 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, delivering a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s.

In Doom, the GPU's performance is the defining factor in this combo's results. The card's 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is sufficient for 1080p gaming, as shown by the 75 FPS average on High settings. However, at 1440p and 4K, the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The RX 580's 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its mid-range status, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.1% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (0.4% faster).

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is a key factor in its performance at higher resolutions. At 4K, the system averages just 31 FPS on Medium settings, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. This indicates that the GPU is limited by its raw compute power and memory bandwidth, rather than the CPU or system memory. The RX 580's 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for Doom, but the card's overall performance is not enough to handle 4K rendering at acceptable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's priority for frame rate versus visual quality. At 1920x1080, the High preset provides an excellent balance, with an average of 75 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the visual quality is significantly better than Low or Medium. For users with high refresh rate monitors, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 102 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play, though it sacrifices visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the best choice, yielding an average of 58 FPS. While this is slightly below 60 FPS, the minimum of 49 FPS means that most gameplay will be playable, and the visual quality is a step up from Low. The High preset at 1440p drops to 49 FPS, which may be acceptable for some users but is not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 40 FPS, is not recommended for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, no settings provide a truly smooth experience. The Low preset offers the highest average at 36 FPS, which is below the standard playability threshold. The Medium preset at 31 FPS and High at 26 FPS are playable but will feel sluggish. The Ultra preset at 22 FPS is not recommended. For the best experience at 4K, users should consider lowering the resolution or reducing the settings to Low, as the visual difference between Low and Ultra is not worth the 39% drop in frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by approximately 26% across all settings. For example, at High settings, the FPS drops from 75 to 49, a 35% reduction. From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the drop is more severe, with High settings falling from 49 to 26 FPS, a 47% reduction. Overall, from 1080p to 4K, the average FPS drops by approximately 65% at High settings.

This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not increase significantly with resolution. However, the data shows a significant drop, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The RX 580's rendering capabilities are simply not sufficient to handle the increased pixel count at 1440p and 4K.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p represents a 2.25x increase in pixel count, which would theoretically reduce FPS by 55% if the GPU were perfectly scalable. The observed 35% drop at High settings is less than this, suggesting that the CPU is still providing some headroom. However, the drop from 1440p to 4K is a 2.25x increase in pixels, and the FPS drops by 47%, which is closer to the theoretical expectation. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is fully saturated, and the CPU is no longer a factor. The data overall points to the GPU as the primary constraint, with the CPU capable of supporting higher frame rates if the GPU were more powerful.