Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a formidable 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, though 4K Ultra settings will demand compromises. This analysis breaks down the CPU and GPU contributions, ranks the combination against other tested hardware, and details the measured frame rates across resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates on the AMD Socket AM4 platform with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The chip’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are key factors for gaming, ensuring that the CPU can feed frames to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. In the broader context of all tested CPUs, this processor sits in the 79th percentile, indicating strong overall performance for a desktop part.

Its benchmark scores reveal a balanced profile. In Cinebench R23, the processor achieves a multicore score of 18309 and a single-core score of 2584. The single-thread performance is critical for older titles like Doom, which often rely heavily on a few cores for game logic and draw calls. The 3DMark results show a scaling pattern from 1737 in the 2-thread test to 5659 in the max-thread test, demonstrating that while the CPU has headroom for multithreaded workloads, its single-thread strength is what drives consistent frame pacing in fast-paced shooters. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5600’s average benchmark score of 21765 is 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon D-1746TER, and essentially on par with the AMD EPYC 9554P and EPYC 9534, which score 21899 and 21900 respectively.

For Doom, a game from 2016, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain high minimum frame rates and avoid stalls. The data shows that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU load is lightest, the system achieves 312.6 FPS. This high ceiling indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600’s 4.40 GHz boost clock and efficient Zen 3 architecture are more than sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4070’s output at lower resolutions. The processor’s performance in the Passmark physics test, scoring 1285, also suggests it can handle the game’s physics calculations without issue. Ultimately, the CPU is not the limiting factor here; it provides a solid foundation for the GPU to stretch its legs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the star of this configuration for Doom. This GPU, based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and the AD104 chip, is manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The high bandwidth is crucial for feeding the large textures and geometry at higher resolutions. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz, combined with 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs, delivers a raw pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s. With an FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS, this card is exceptionally well-equipped for a high-refresh-rate title like Doom.

In terms of its standing, the RTX 4070 ranks in the 81st percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 37283 places it very close to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which scores 37507, a difference of only -0.6%. This proximity in synthetic benchmarks is interesting, but the measured game FPS will show the true real-world advantage of the newer architecture. The RTX 4070’s 12 GB of VRAM is also a significant asset, ensuring that even at 4K resolution, the game will not run out of memory, allowing for smoother texture streaming and higher fidelity settings without stuttering.

The GPU’s performance is the primary driver of the FPS differences across settings. For instance, at 1440p, moving from Low to Ultra settings results in a drop from 205.1 FPS to 122.7 FPS. This 40% reduction is entirely due to the increased shading and texture work demanded by the higher settings. The RTX 4070’s architecture is efficient, but the data shows that Doom’s Ultra settings, which include advanced lighting and post-processing effects, still require significant GPU resources. The card is clearly the dominant component in this pairing, as the frame rate scales predictably with resolution and settings, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 468th out of 1681 combos for Doom. This places it in the top 28% of all tested hardware pairings, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. This rank suggests that while the combo is powerful, there are many other configurations with more expensive CPUs or newer GPUs that achieve higher average frame rates.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s performance, as the RTX 4070 is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The combo’s position in the 468th spot indicates that it is capable of outperforming the majority of systems, but it is not at the absolute top tier. For context, the ranking implies that users with top-of-the-line CPUs like the Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel Core i9-14900K, paired with the same GPU, would likely achieve slightly higher scores due to better CPU overhead management at lower resolutions. However, this gap narrows significantly at 4K, where the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor. The data indicates that this specific pairing is a sweet spot for 1440p gaming, providing high frame rates that rival much more expensive configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the combo’s capabilities. At 1080p, the system is exceptionally fast. With Low settings, the average FPS is 312.6, which is a phenomenal result for competitive play. Medium settings yield 274.5 FPS, High settings drop slightly to 230.9 FPS, and Ultra settings still manage a very high 186.6 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the RTX 4070 is barely stressed, and the Ryzen 5 5600 is successfully feeding it enough data to maintain triple-digit frame rates even at the highest quality preset.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates remain excellent. The Low preset delivers 205.1 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. Medium settings produce 178 FPS, High settings see a more substantial drop to 146.7 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 122.7 FPS. These figures show that 1440p is the ideal resolution for this pairing, as it offers a perfect balance between visual fidelity and performance. The game remains highly playable at all settings, with even the Ultra preset delivering over 120 FPS.

At 4K (3840x2160), the GPU starts to work harder. High settings produce an average of 80.6 FPS, Medium settings achieve 93.7 FPS, and Low settings reach 109.2 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, drops to an average of 64.6 FPS. This is still playable, but it highlights the increased demand of 4K resolution. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44.6 FPS, showing that the GPU is the primary component being taxed. For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it offers a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. Across all settings, the FPS drops significantly as resolution increases. For example, with High settings, the average FPS goes from 230.9 at 1080p to 146.7 at 1440p, and then to 80.6 at 4K. This represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the rendering resolution is the dominant factor in performance, confirming that the RTX 4070’s compute and memory bandwidth are being fully utilized.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings, which further solidifies the conclusion that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU’s performance remains constant regardless of resolution, so the FPS drop is purely attributable to the increased pixel count and shading workload on the GPU. At 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound in some scenarios, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS difference between Medium (274.5) and High (230.9) settings. However, at 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the difference between Low and Ultra settings is much more pronounced. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where it can maintain high frame rates across all settings, while 4K gaming is viable but requires a compromise on the Ultra preset for a locked 60 FPS experience.