Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, though 4K Ultra pushes the graphics card to its limits. Measured frame rates across four quality presets and three resolutions show a system that scales predictably, with the CPU providing ample headroom at lower resolutions and the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count rises.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for Doom reveals a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 241 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. This indicates the CPU and GPU combination is capable of saturating high-refresh-rate displays at the lowest settings. The Medium preset drops to an average of 210 FPS, with a minimum of 179 FPS and a maximum of 242 FPS. The High preset averages 178 FPS, while Ultra brings the average down to 145 FPS. Every 1080p preset stays well above the 144 Hz threshold, making any setting viable for competitive play. However, the data suggests that High offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance headroom, as it remains above 144 FPS average while providing significantly improved visuals over Low.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 156 FPS, Medium averages 136 FPS, High averages 115 FPS, and Ultra averages 94 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. For 1440p users with 144 Hz monitors, High is the recommended preset because it stays above the 100 FPS average mark while still delivering a substantial upgrade in graphical quality over Medium. Ultra at 1440p dips below 100 FPS average, which may introduce noticeable stutter on high-refresh-rate panels. Low at 1440p, while fast, sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that benefits from atmospheric lighting and texture work.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. Low averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 74 FPS, High averages 62 FPS, and Ultra averages 51 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K records a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 85 FPS. For 4K displays, the High preset is borderline, hovering near 60 FPS average, which is the bare minimum for smooth gameplay. Ultra at 4K drops to 51 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS target and likely to feel sluggish during intense combat sequences. The data clearly shows that Medium is the optimal 4K preset, as it maintains a 74 FPS average with a minimum of 63 FPS, ensuring consistent performance above the 60 FPS floor. Low at 4K offers higher frame rates but at a significant cost to visual quality, making Medium the sweet spot for resolution-conscious players.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. These specifications position the card as a mid-range enthusiast option, and the Doom benchmark data reflects this. The GPU’s percentile ranking against all GPUs is 58, meaning it outperforms a majority of the database’s tracked graphics cards but sits below the top tier. Its average benchmark score of 15852 places it in close competition with the AMD Radeon R9 370X (deltaPct -0.1), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (deltaPct -1), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (deltaPct 1.1), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (deltaPct -1.7).

In Doom, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the RX 7700 delivers frame rates that exceed 200 FPS on Medium, indicating that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is more than sufficient for Doom’s texture-heavy environments, even at Ultra settings, where the game’s assets can consume significant memory. At 1440p, the GPU still holds its own, with High averaging 115 FPS, but the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as the GPU begins to work harder. At 4K, the RX 7700’s compute resources become the primary constraint. The drop from 85 FPS on Low to 51 FPS on Ultra represents a 40% reduction in average frame rate, directly correlating with the increased shading and texture work demanded by higher presets.

The clock speeds play a notable role in this scaling. The boost clock of 2459 MHz allows the GPU to push higher frame rates when thermal headroom permits, but the sustained load at 4K Ultra likely causes the card to settle near its game clock of 2041 MHz. The memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the larger frame buffer requirements and higher pixel throughput strain the memory subsystem. The data shows that the RX 7700 is a capable 1080p and 1440p card for Doom, but 4K Ultra is beyond its comfortable operating range. The 16 GB VRAM does not bottleneck at any tested setting, meaning the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth, rather than capacity, limit 4K performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1314 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 55th percentile of all system configurations tracked by the database. This rank reflects the overall balance of the pairing. The CPU’s high single-thread performance and the GPU’s solid mid-range capabilities combine to produce respectable, though not top-tier, results. The rank is heavily influenced by the 4K performance, where the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates on Ultra settings. At 1080p and 1440p, the combo would rank significantly higher due to the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU efficiently.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score provide context for its contribution. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D scores 44573 on average, with a deltaPct of 0.2 against the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466), 0.5 against the Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342), 0.6 against the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309), and -0.7 against the Intel Core i5-14600 (44889). This places the CPU in close competition with several high-end mobile and desktop parts, indicating that it is not a bottleneck in Doom. The GPU’s nearest rivals show a similar pattern, with the RX 7700’s average score of 15852 sitting within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129). This suggests that the GPU is the weaker link in the pairing, as its performance ceiling is lower relative to its CPU counterpart.

The combo’s rank of 1314 out of 2930 means that 1616 tested combinations outperform it, while 1313 perform worse. This places the setup in the upper-middle tier of the database. For a system targeting 1080p or 1440p gaming, this rank understates its capabilities, as the 4K results drag down the overall standing. The data shows that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p play, where it can deliver frame rates that rival more expensive configurations. The ranking also reflects that the RX 7700, despite its 16 GB VRAM and modern architecture, does not compete with top-tier GPUs in the most demanding scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 241 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 51 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the CPU’s performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44573, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX, 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 records a minimum FPS of 116, with a maximum of 156 and an average of 136.

Q: Does the GPU’s 16 GB VRAM cause any bottlenecks in Doom?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related issues; the 16 GB capacity is sufficient across all tested settings and resolutions, with performance limited by compute and bandwidth rather than memory capacity.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations in Doom?

A: The combo ranks 1314 out of 2930 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a predictable scaling pattern that highlights the shifting bottleneck between CPU and GPU. At 1080p, the combo delivers 241 FPS on Low, 210 FPS on Medium, 178 FPS on High, and 145 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, these numbers drop to 156 FPS on Low, 136 FPS on Medium, 115 FPS on High, and 94 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the figures fall further to 85 FPS on Low, 74 FPS on Medium, 62 FPS on High, and 51 FPS on Ultra.

The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K varies by preset. For Low, the average frame rate falls from 241 FPS to 85 FPS, a reduction of approximately 65%. Medium drops from 210 FPS to 74 FPS, a 65% decrease. High falls from 178 FPS to 62 FPS, a 65% reduction. Ultra drops from 145 FPS to 51 FPS, a 65% decrease. This consistent 65% decline across all presets indicates that the GPU is the dominant limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU’s performance headroom at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS on Medium, suggests that it is not constraining the system even at the highest settings.

The scaling also shows that the GPU’s workload scales nearly linearly with pixel count. Doubling the resolution from 1080p to 4K quadruples the pixel count, and the observed 65% frame rate drop aligns with this increased demand. The RX 7700’s 16 GB VRAM and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to feed the GPU at 4K, but the shading units and texture units cannot keep pace at higher presets. The data indicates that the system is GPU-bound at 1440p and 4K, with the CPU providing more than enough throughput to avoid becoming a bottleneck. For players targeting 4K, the Medium preset is the highest playable option, while those on 1080p or 1440p can push to High or Ultra with acceptable frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, manufactured on TSMC’s 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming workloads. Its average benchmark score of 44573 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong overall performance. In Doom, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, tasks that benefit from the large L3 cache and high single-thread performance.

The CPU’s single-thread score of 3494 in PassMark testing is a key indicator of its gaming capability. Doom is a game that relies heavily on single-threaded performance for its id Tech 6 engine, and the 7500X3D’s boost clock of 4.50 GHz ensures that individual cores operate at high speeds. The multithread score of 25047 shows that the processor can also handle multi-threaded workloads, though Doom’s engine does not scale perfectly across 12 threads. The CPU’s nearest rivals all have similar average scores, with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H at 44466 and the Intel Core i9-13950HX at 44342, confirming that the 7500X3D is competitive with top-tier mobile and desktop parts.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 241 FPS, which is well above what a 6-core/12-thread processor with a 4.50 GHz boost clock would bottleneck. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average of 145 FPS indicates that the CPU can sustain high frame rates without becoming a constraint. The 96 MB L3 cache is particularly beneficial for Doom, as the game’s level data and texture streaming can fit within this cache, reducing memory latency and improving frame pacing. The CPU’s 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support also contribute to smooth performance, though the GPU’s memory subsystem handles most of the graphics-related data transfer.

The CPU’s percentile ranking of 89 versus the GPU’s 58 highlights the imbalance in this pairing. The processor is a high-end part that outclasses the mid-range GPU, meaning that in CPU-bound scenarios, the system will perform well, but the GPU will limit maximum frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios. The TDP of 65 W indicates that the CPU is efficient, generating less heat, which allows the system to maintain boost clocks for longer periods. In Doom, this efficiency translates to consistent frame rates across extended gaming sessions, as the CPU does not throttle under sustained load. The combination of high single-thread performance, large cache, and efficient power draw makes the Ryzen 5 7500X3D an excellent match for the RX 7700, providing a solid foundation for the GPU to operate at its full potential.