Doom

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G brings six cores and twelve threads to the test bench, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide the computational foundation for Doom's frame pacing. The 16 MB of L3 cache, split across the chip, helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, which matters for a fast-paced FPS where draw calls and physics updates happen every frame.

Looking at the synthetic benchmarks, the 5600G posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16758 and a single-core score of 2365. The single-thread performance is particularly relevant here because Doom's id Tech 6 engine is known for scaling well across cores but still placing significant weight on per-thread efficiency. The Geekbench single-core score of 1933 and multi-core of 7693 reinforce that this CPU has balanced throughput for both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads.

The 5600G's percentile ranking of 78 among all CPUs indicates it sits comfortably above the median, though its nearest rivals tell an interesting story. The Intel Core i7-11600H scores 19949 on average, a mere 0.2% behind the 5600G's 19983 average benchmark score. Conversely, the Intel Core i7-11800H and AMD EPYC 7713P both score 20024, landing 0.2% ahead. This tight clustering—within half a percentage point across four different processors—suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 5600G is effectively interchangeable with these competitors.

What does this mean for Doom specifically? At lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU has headroom to push more frames, the CPU's ability to feed the renderer becomes the bottleneck. The 5600G's 12 threads can handle the game's entity updates, collision detection, and AI logic without breaking a sweat, but the real question is whether its single-thread performance limits the maximum frame rate. With a PassMark single-thread score of 3177, the 5600G demonstrates strong per-core capability, which should translate to solid frame pacing in Doom's combat encounters.

# GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 6600, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, is the graphical workhorse in this pairing. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for a 2016-era title like Doom. The GPU's boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz represent the operational envelope where the card spends most of its time under load.

The RX 6600's specifications include 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. These translate to a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS gives a sense of raw compute capability, though Doom's Vulkan renderer typically leverages a mix of shading and memory bandwidth rather than pure compute throughput.

With a percentile ranking of 69 among all GPUs, the RX 6600 sits slightly above the midpoint of the performance distribution. Its average benchmark score of 25235 places it in a peculiar position relative to rivals: the AMD Radeon 890M matches it exactly at 25246 (0.0% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 25287, a 0.2% advantage. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti trails by 0.5% with a score of 25120, and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M is 0.2% ahead at 25180. This near-tie among four different GPUs suggests that the RX 6600's performance class is tightly contested, with no clear winner among these alternatives.

For Doom, the 8 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient—the game's textures and geometry fit comfortably within this allocation at all tested settings. The memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s becomes the more critical factor at higher resolutions, where the GPU must move more pixel data. The RX 6600's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides adequate bandwidth to the CPU, though the 5600G only supports PCIe Gen 3, which could theoretically limit data transfer rates in CPU-to-GPU communication.

# FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600G compare to its closest CPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The 5600G averages 19983, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-11600H (19949) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928). It trails the Intel Core i7-11800H and AMD EPYC 7713P by 0.2%, both scoring 20024.

Q: What is the RX 6600's performance position relative to the Radeon RX 580 2048SP?

A: The RX 6600 averages 25235, which is 0.2% behind the RX 580 2048SP's 25287. This is a remarkably small margin, indicating near-parity in synthetic benchmarks despite architectural differences.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the limiting factor at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the combo achieves 104.2 FPS average. Given that the CPU's single-thread performance is strong (Cinebench R23 single-core 2365), the GPU is likely the primary constraint at this setting, as the frame rate drops from 176 FPS at Low to 104.2 FPS at Ultra.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 115.4 at Low to 66.5 at Ultra, a reduction of 48.9 FPS. This 42.4% decrease indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the Ultra preset's additional graphical effects.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM on the RX 6600 sufficient for Doom at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the card still produces 38.7 FPS average, and the 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth handles the game's texture data without issue. The limiting factor at 4K is raw GPU compute, not memory capacity.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 1355 out of 1681 combos indicate?

A: This places the Ryzen 5 5600G + RX 6600 combo in the 19th percentile of all tested combinations for Doom. It means roughly 80% of tested combos deliver higher performance, but the ranking still represents a playable experience at most settings.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 176 FPS on Low settings, 151 FPS on Medium, 127.8 FPS on High, and 104.2 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that even at the most demanding 1080p preset, the system maintains well above 100 FPS, which is excellent for a fast-paced shooter.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally: 115.4 FPS on Low, 100.2 FPS on Medium, 83.2 FPS on High, and 66.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is roughly 30-35%, which aligns with the increased pixel count. At 1440p Ultra, the 66.5 FPS average remains playable, though it approaches the threshold where competitive players might notice reduced smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low settings produce 64.6 FPS, Medium drops to 53.6 FPS, High falls to 46.3 FPS, and Ultra manages just 38.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS target that many consider the minimum for a responsive FPS experience. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 25.9 FPS difference, indicating that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at this resolution.

# Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the system's limits lie. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 176 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 115.4 FPS (a 34.4% reduction); at 4K Low, it falls to 64.6 FPS (a 63.3% reduction from 1080p). This pattern holds across all settings, with the performance penalty growing as resolution increases.

For Ultra settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 104.2 FPS at 1080p, 66.5 FPS at 1440p (36.2% drop), and 38.7 FPS at 4K (62.9% drop from 1080p). The near-linear relationship between pixel count and frame rate indicates that the RX 6600 is the limiting component at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau when lowering resolution, but the consistent scaling suggests the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are the primary constraints.

The data implies that the sweet spot for this combo is 1080p or 1440p, where the CPU's strong single-thread performance can keep the GPU fed. At 4K, the GPU's 8.928 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth simply cannot maintain high frame rates with demanding settings.

# Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the measured data points to 1080p with High settings as the optimal balance: 127.8 FPS average provides headroom for smooth gameplay without sacrificing visual quality. The jump from Medium (151 FPS) to High (127.8 FPS) costs 23.2 FPS but delivers noticeably better graphical fidelity. Ultra at 1080p (104.2 FPS) is still playable, but the 23.6 FPS penalty over High may not justify the visual improvements.

At 1440p, High settings (83.2 FPS) represent the best compromise between frame rate and image quality. Medium (100.2 FPS) offers a smoother experience with slightly reduced visuals, while Ultra (66.5 FPS) dips below the 70 FPS threshold where many players perceive a loss of fluidity. For competitive play, Low settings at 1440p (115.4 FPS) maximize responsiveness.

At 4K, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. Low settings (64.6 FPS) are the only preset that approaches 60 FPS, while Medium (53.6 FPS) is borderline and High (46.3 FPS) or Ultra (38.7 FPS) should be avoided for fast-paced action. Players prioritizing visual quality over frame rate might accept Medium at 4K, but those seeking competitive performance should stick to 1080p or 1440p.

# How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 5 5600G + RX 6600 combo ranks 1355 out of 1681 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the bottom 19% of all systems. This ranking reflects the GPU's modest position in the performance hierarchy—the RX 6600's percentile of 69 among all GPUs means many alternatives offer higher frame rates. The CPU's percentile of 78 is stronger, but in a GPU-bound title like Doom at higher resolutions, the graphics card's limitations dominate the overall result.

The ranking suggests that while this combo delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p, it cannot compete with higher-tier configurations. The near-tie between the RX 6600 and its rivals (Radeon 890M, RX 580 2048SP, RX 6700M, RTX 3060 Ti) means that swapping the GPU for any of these would produce similar results, with deltas of 0.5% or less. This tight clustering indicates that the combo's rank is more a function of the GPU class than the specific card chosen.

For Doom specifically, this ranking means the system is best suited for 1080p gaming at High settings, where it delivers 127.8 FPS and remains competitive with other mid-range configurations. Pushing to 1440p Ultra or 4K any setting will expose the GPU's limitations, making the system feel underpowered compared to the top 80% of tested combos.