Doom

# Doom with AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with the measured frame rates showing a clear GPU-bound progression as resolution climbs. The combo ranks 2660th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the 28th percentile overall, yet the actual gameplay data reveals a system that excels at high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming and remains playable at 4K with settings adjustments. This analysis examines how the resolution scaling, GPU architecture, and CPU capabilities interact to produce the measured FPS values, and what those numbers mean for players targeting different display configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which strongly indicates that the Radeon RX 6600 XT becomes the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 192 FPS at 1080p to 124 FPS at 1440p, a 35% reduction, and then further to 67 FPS at 4K, which is 65% below the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that has sufficient raw throughput for 1080p but begins to struggle with the 4x pixel count of 4K resolution.

The gap between 1440p and 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 108 at 1440p to 59 at 4K, a 45% drop that mirrors the 2.25x increase in pixel count between these resolutions. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend: 75 FPS at 1440p versus 40 FPS at 4K, representing a 47% decline. These consistent percentage drops across all settings presets confirm that the limiting component is the GPU's fill rate and shading throughput rather than any CPU bottleneck, as the Ryzen 5 5600's six Zen 3 cores would not show such dramatic resolution-dependent scaling.

Interestingly, the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p is proportionally smaller than the drop from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the decline from 141 to 91 FPS is a 35% reduction, while the 4K High result of 49 FPS represents a further 46% decline from 1440p. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB of VRAM and 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p workloads, but the 4K resolution pushes against the card's architectural limits, particularly its 128-bit memory bus and 64 ROPs.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6600 XT, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, provides the graphical muscle for this combination. Its 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a peak FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS, which the measured FPS data shows is well-matched to Doom's engine at 1080p and 1440p resolutions. The card's boost clock of 2589 MHz and game clock of 2359 MHz are among the highest in the RX 6000 series, and the 165.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 331.4 GTexel/s texture rate directly influence how the game renders at different quality presets.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears to be a critical factor at 4K resolution. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 40 at 3840x2160, suggesting that the card is not only fill-rate limited but also potentially memory-bandwidth constrained when handling the larger texture sets and higher resolution buffers that the Ultra preset demands. The measured minimum FPS of 50 at 4K Medium, with a maximum of 67, shows that even the Medium preset causes the GPU to operate near its memory subsystem's limits.

The card's 32 ray accelerators and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) indicate modern API readiness, though Doom's 2016 release date means the game likely does not heavily utilize these features. The GPU's average benchmark score of 24442 places it in the 70th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% lower score) and the Intel Arc A350M (0.8% higher score). This mid-range positioning is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows the card delivering excellent 1080p performance but requiring settings compromises at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 provides 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. With a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, this CPU offers strong single-threaded performance that is well-suited to Doom's game engine. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth ensure that the CPU can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck at the measured resolutions.

The CPU's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 882 in 3dmark and 2584 in Cinebench R23, with a multicore score of 18309 in R23. These figures indicate that the Ryzen 5 5600's per-core performance is more than adequate for Doom, which was released in 2016 and is known to be less demanding on multi-core scaling than modern titles. The CPU's 74th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (0.1% higher average score), reinforces that this processor is not the limiting component in this combination.

The fact that FPS scales so dramatically with resolution — from 192 FPS at 1080p Low to 67 FPS at 4K Low — while the CPU remains constant, is the clearest evidence that the Ryzen 5 5600 is not constraining performance. Even at 1080p with Low settings, where the CPU would be most likely to bottleneck due to the high frame rate, the measured 192 FPS average suggests the processor has headroom. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a TDP of just 65 watts, represent a balanced pairing for a GPU like the RX 6600 XT, and the data shows no signs of CPU-induced frame pacing issues or minimum FPS drops at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Ryzen 5 5600 and RX 6600 XT ranks 2660th out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 28% of all configurations tested. This ranking might seem surprising given the strong absolute FPS numbers, but it reflects the fact that Doom is a highly optimized game that runs well on a wide range of hardware, and many tested combos include higher-end GPUs or newer CPUs that push frame rates even higher.

The combo ranking is more informative when considered alongside the individual component percentiles. The CPU's 74th percentile ranking is significantly higher than the combo's overall percentile, while the GPU's 70th percentile is also above the combo's position. This discrepancy suggests that the combo ranking is dragged down by the specific pairing's performance in Doom, which may be limited by the GPU's 4K capabilities. At 1080p and 1440p, the combo delivers frame rates that would rank much higher, but the 4K results — with averages as low as 40 FPS at Ultra — likely pull the overall ranking down.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance tier. The RX 6600 XT scores 0.7% higher than the GTX 1630 secret and 1.1% higher than the RTX 2080 SUPER, while being 0.8% lower than the Arc A350M. These small deltas in average benchmark scores suggest that the card sits in a competitive mid-range segment, and the Doom results reflect this positioning — capable but not top-tier. The combo's 2660th rank out of 3712 means that roughly 1052 combos perform worse, but the majority of tested systems achieve higher FPS in Doom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 6600 XT delivers outstanding frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 192 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 167 FPS with a minimum of 142 and maximum of 192, showing that even the minimum frame rate stays well above 144 Hz for high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings reach 141 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 115 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p gaming is not a challenge for this combination, with even the most demanding Ultra preset maintaining an average above 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable but show the GPU beginning to work harder. Low settings deliver 124 FPS average, which is still excellent for high-refresh 1440p displays. Medium settings average 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 and maximum of 124, keeping the experience smooth. High settings produce 91 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 75 FPS. These results suggest that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, as even the Ultra preset maintains an average above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more variable and settings-dependent. Low settings achieve 67 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for competitive gaming. Medium settings drop to 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 67, showing that the GPU is now the clear bottleneck. High settings yield 49 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that this combo can handle 4K gaming only at Low or Medium settings, and even then, the frame rates hover near the 60 FPS threshold rather than comfortably exceeding it.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080 displays, the Ultra preset at 115 FPS average provides the best visual quality while still maintaining frame rates above 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for most players. Those with 144 Hz or higher refresh monitors might prefer High settings at 141 FPS, which offers a substantial FPS increase while sacrificing only minor visual details compared to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 91 FPS average strikes the best balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize image quality over frame rate, but High provides a 21% FPS improvement with minimal visual differences in most scenes. For players with 144 Hz 1440p monitors, the Medium preset at 108 FPS is worth considering, as it delivers a 19% FPS boost over High while maintaining a minimum frame rate of 92 FPS.

For 3840x2160, the recommendations are more constrained. The Low preset at 67 FPS average is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the default choice for smooth 4K gameplay. The Medium preset at 59 FPS is a viable alternative for those who want improved visuals and can tolerate occasional dips to 50 FPS, though the minimum frame rate approaches the edge of playability. The High and Ultra presets, at 49 and 40 FPS respectively, are only recommended for players who prioritize visual quality above all else and can accept sub-60 FPS performance.

FAQ

Q: Does this combo achieve 144 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at Low settings the average FPS is 192, and at Medium settings it is 167 FPS. However, at High settings the average drops to 141 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 115 FPS, so reaching 144 FPS consistently requires Medium settings or lower.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, the combo delivers 67 FPS at Low, 59 FPS at Medium, 49 FPS at High, and 40 FPS at Ultra settings. Only Low settings maintain an average above 60 FPS, so 4K gaming is possible but requires significant settings compromises.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Doom?

A: The resolution scaling data clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component. FPS drops by 35-47% when moving from 1440p to 4K, while the CPU's workload remains constant, indicating that the RX 6600 XT is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the recommended settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The High preset at 91 FPS average is the best balance for 1440p, offering strong visual quality while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS. For higher refresh rates, Medium at 108 FPS is recommended.

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

A: The combo ranks 2660th out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the 28th percentile. This ranking is lower than the individual component percentiles (74th for CPU, 70th for GPU) due to the GPU's limitations at 4K resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 50 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. All other settings presets at 1440p and below have minimum frame rates of 92 FPS or higher.