Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a remarkably consistent gaming experience in Doom, with the data showing a clear progression from excellent 1080p performance to playable 4K. The benchmark results indicate that this combination is well-balanced, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor only at the highest resolution, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, with the most dramatic drop occurring between 1440p and 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 147 FPS, which falls to 95 FPS at 1440p, representing a 35% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K High, the average FPS drops from 95 to 51, a 46% decrease. This scaling pattern strongly indicates that the Radeon RX 6650 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit memory bus become the primary constraint at 4K, as the pixel throughput requirement overwhelms the GPU's capabilities.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (200 FPS) and Ultra (120 FPS) is 80 FPS, while at 4K the same comparison yields only a 28 FPS difference (70 FPS Low versus 42 FPS Ultra). This compression of performance at 4K suggests that the GPU is fully saturated regardless of settings, with the rendering resolution being the dominant factor. The 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS is only 35% of the 1080p Low result of 200 FPS, highlighting how severely the pixel count impacts this mid-range GPU.

Interestingly, the 1440p results show the most balanced scaling, with the gap between Low (129 FPS) and Ultra (78 FPS) representing a 39% performance penalty for maximum quality. This suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot where both the CPU and GPU contribute meaningfully to the final frame rate. The 4K Medium result of 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS indicates that even at this demanding resolution, the combination can maintain playable frame rates, though the 42 FPS Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for fast-paced FPS gameplay.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT's specifications directly explain the observed performance patterns. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has sufficient resources for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The boost clock of 2635 MHz and game clock of 2410 MHz provide solid raw compute power, evidenced by the 10.79 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are well-suited for Doom's id Tech engine, which favors raw pixel throughput.

The GPU's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, with its average benchmark score of 19765 nearly matching the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885, -0.6% delta) and slightly exceeding the AMD FirePro D300 (19637, 0.7% delta). These rival comparisons from the benchmark database show that the RX 6650 XT performs competitively with professional-grade cards from previous generations, though those rivals lack modern gaming features. The 4K results, particularly the 42 FPS Ultra and 51 FPS High, suggest that the 8 GB memory capacity is adequate for Doom's textures but the memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 62 and Vulkan score of 81306 indicate strong API support, with Doom's Vulkan path likely benefiting from the RDNA 2 architecture. The 32 ray accelerators are present but do not appear to impact these traditional rasterization results, as Doom does not utilize ray tracing. The pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s explain why the card excels at 1080p where fill rate requirements are moderate, but struggle at 4K where the 3840x2160 resolution demands nearly four times the pixel throughput of 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors. The 1440p Medium result of 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS maintains smooth gameplay even during intense combat sequences. For 4K, Medium produces 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS, which is playable but may require adaptive sync technology to smooth out frame time variances.

The High preset is recommended for 1440p gaming, where it achieves 95 FPS, offering a 17% visual quality improvement over Medium while still maintaining fluid motion. At 1080p, High at 147 FPS remains excellent and is the recommended choice for users prioritizing visual fidelity over maximum frame rates. The Ultra preset should be avoided at 4K, where the 42 FPS result falls below acceptable thresholds for competitive play, though it remains viable at 1080p with 120 FPS and 1440p with 78 FPS.

For users with high refresh rate displays (144 Hz or above), the Low preset at 1080p delivers 200 FPS, ensuring the GPU never becomes the limiting factor. However, the visual compromise may not be worth the extra 26 FPS over Medium. The data suggests that Medium at 1080p or High at 1440p provides the optimal experience for most users, with the 4K Medium setting being the only viable option for 4K displays without significant frame rate sacrifices.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The measured data shows 51 FPS at High settings and 61 FPS at Medium settings for 4K resolution. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play?

A: The 1080p Low preset delivers 200 FPS, providing the highest frame rates for competitive advantage. Medium at 1080p still offers 174 FPS, which is sufficient for most high refresh rate monitors.

Q: How does the RX 6650 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 19765 is 0.6% below the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885) and 0.7% below the AMD FirePro W7000 (19905), while being 0.7% above the AMD FirePro D300 (19637) and 0.8% above the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602).

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Doom?

A: The measured data indicates that 8 GB is adequate for all settings at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU's memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s being the limiting factor at 4K rather than capacity. The 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS suggests memory pressure, but Medium and High presets remain playable.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p?

A: The data shows 129 FPS at Low, 113 FPS at Medium, 95 FPS at High, and 78 FPS at Ultra for 2560x1440 resolution. All settings maintain playable frame rates, with Medium and High offering the best balance.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600's multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309, appears sufficient to avoid bottlenecking. The 1080p Low result of 200 FPS indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at high frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600's specifications and benchmark scores explain why this CPU does not limit performance in Doom. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 Vermeer architecture, the processor provides ample computational power for the game's engine. The base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz deliver strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads, reducing memory latency and improving frame pacing.

The CPU's 74th percentile ranking among all processors places it in the upper mid-range tier, with an average benchmark score of 20468. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20454, 0.1% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (20425, 0.2% delta), showing that the 5600 performs competitively with much newer processors. The 3DMark multi-threaded score of 5659 and single-thread score of 882 indicate strong performance across both lightly and heavily threaded workloads.

Doom's id Tech engine is known for effective multi-threading, and the 5600's 12 threads provide sufficient parallelism. The PassMark multithread score of 21541 and physics score of 1285 suggest that the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI calculations without becoming a bottleneck. The data from 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 200 FPS, demonstrates that the CPU can sustain frame rates well beyond what most displays can show, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support are adequate for gaming, though the 4K results show that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s is the more critical constraint at higher resolutions. The 7 nm process node and 65 W TDP indicate efficient power delivery, allowing the CPU to maintain boost clocks during extended gaming sessions without thermal throttling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results show excellent performance across all settings: Low delivers 200 FPS, Medium produces 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and maximum of 200 FPS, High achieves 147 FPS, and Ultra reaches 120 FPS. The spread of 80 FPS between Low and Ultra demonstrates that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, with even the most demanding preset maintaining playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected decline: Low produces 129 FPS, Medium delivers 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and maximum of 129 FPS, High achieves 95 FPS, and Ultra reaches 78 FPS. The 51 FPS difference between Low and Ultra indicates that the GPU is beginning to feel the impact of increased pixel count, but all settings remain above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset's minimum of 96 FPS is particularly notable, suggesting consistent frame delivery during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the results highlight the GPU's limitations: Low produces 70 FPS, Medium delivers 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS, High achieves 51 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. The 28 FPS difference between Low and Ultra is the smallest across all resolutions, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated and settings have diminished impact. The Medium preset's minimum of 52 FPS falls below the 60 FPS ideal, but remains playable. The 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS is the only measured value that would be considered marginal for a fast-paced FPS, suggesting that users with 4K displays should stick to Medium or High settings for the best experience.

The data shows consistent scaling patterns, with each resolution step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K producing roughly 35-46% reductions in frame rates for the same settings. The Medium preset consistently provides the best minimum frame rates relative to average, indicating more stable performance. The combo's rank of 2418 out of 3712 combinations in Doom places it in the 65th percentile, indicating above-average performance for this game specifically.