Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 presents a peculiar combination in Doom: a modern, high-IPC Zen 4 processor working alongside a 2017 Polaris GPU. The measured data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, yet shows surprising viability at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate a classic bottleneck scenario where the CPU’s potential remains largely untapped due to the GPU’s age and architecture.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, clearly demonstrating that the Radeon RX 580 is the limiting component in this pairing. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 75 FPS at 1920x1080 to 49 FPS at 2560x1440, a substantial 26 FPS reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 High yields just 26 FPS average, representing a 65% loss from the 1080p baseline. This pattern is uniform across all settings levels, with the scaling curve indicating that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are being saturated well before the CPU’s Zen 4 cores become a factor.

At Low settings, the resolution penalty is slightly less severe in absolute terms: 102 FPS at 1080p drops to 66 FPS at 1440p and further to 36 FPS at 4K. The relative percentage losses remain high, suggesting that even at the lowest graphical loads, the RX 580’s 256-bit memory bus and 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 throughput cannot sustain playable frame rates at 4K. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p or, with compromises, 1440p gaming. The jump from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing—at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 58 to 31, a 27 FPS decline that pushes the experience below the threshold of smoothness.

The measured minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 49, while at 4K Medium it is 27, indicating that frame pacing becomes increasingly erratic at higher resolutions. This is characteristic of a GPU operating at its limits, where transient spikes in rendering load cause noticeable hitches. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 7600’s 5.10 GHz boost clock and 6 cores are not the constraining factor here; the RX 580’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 1340 MHz boost clock simply cannot keep up with the pixel throughput demands of 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 sits in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 12928. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (deltaPct -0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (deltaPct -0.4), placing it in the mid-range tier of performance. The GPU’s 8 GB GDDR5 memory operates at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective), delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth across a 256-bit bus. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and even 1440p in Doom, but the 4K results confirm that the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a severe bottleneck.

The clock speeds of 1257 MHz base and 1340 MHz boost are modest by modern standards, and the GCN 4.0 architecture lacks the efficiency of newer designs. In Doom, which is known for its well-optimized Vulkan path, the RX 580 manages to produce 102 FPS at 1080p Low, but this figure drops to 62 FPS at Ultra settings—a 40 FPS spread that highlights the GPU’s sensitivity to fill-rate and shading load. The GPU’s 32 ROPs and 144 TMUs are the physical units responsible for these results, and the data indicates that at 1080p Ultra, the card is just barely able to maintain a playable 62 FPS average.

The GPU’s end-of-life production status and 14 nm process node (GlobalFoundries) are consistent with its performance profile. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 22 FPS average, which is effectively unplayable. The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database—the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and GTX 1660 SUPER—would likely fare better in this scenario, but the data for this combo shows that the RX 580’s 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the ceiling. The memory clock of 2000 MHz, while standard for the card, is insufficient for 4K texture streaming, contributing to the low minimum FPS figures observed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 75 FPS average, which is a solid balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 62 FPS average, which is still playable but shows a noticeable 13 FPS penalty over High. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p provides 102 FPS average, offering the highest frame rates measured in this dataset. The Medium preset at 1080p, with 89 FPS average and a minimum of 76 FPS, is the safest choice for consistent frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. The High preset produces 49 FPS average, which is borderline acceptable for slower-paced segments but may feel sluggish in combat. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 58 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS, making it the recommended choice for this resolution if visual fidelity is a priority. The Low preset at 1440p offers 66 FPS average, which is the only setting that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 40 FPS average, which is not recommended for any gameplay scenario.

At 3840x2160, none of the settings reach playable thresholds. The Low preset at 4K averages 36 FPS, the Medium preset averages 31 FPS, and the High preset averages 26 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the worst performer at 22 FPS average. The data strongly suggests avoiding 4K entirely with this combo, as even the lowest settings fail to provide a smooth experience. The best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1080p High or Medium, where the balance between visual quality and frame rate is optimal for the RX 580’s capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3397 out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom. This places it in the bottom 8.5% of all combos, which is a poor showing but not entirely unexpected given the GPU’s age. The rank is heavily influenced by the 4K results, which drag down the overall average. If the ranking were based solely on 1080p performance, the combo would likely score much higher, as the 75 FPS High and 102 FPS Low results are respectable for a mid-range card.

The CPU’s percentile vs all CPUs is 78, indicating that the Ryzen 5 7600 is a strong processor that outperforms 78% of all CPUs in the database. However, this strength is largely wasted in this pairing, as the GPU’s 53rd percentile ranking creates a massive imbalance. The combo rank of 3397 out of 3712 suggests that there are 315 other combos that perform worse, likely those with even older or lower-tier GPUs. The data indicates that this combo is essentially a bottlenecked system where the CPU’s potential is capped by the GPU’s limitations.

In comparison to the CPU’s nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (deltaPct 0.2), AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (deltaPct -0.3), and Intel Core i9-11900KF (deltaPct 0.4)—the Ryzen 5 7600 holds its own in synthetic benchmarks. However, these CPU differences are irrelevant in Doom at 4K, where the GPU is the sole limiting factor. The combo rank would improve significantly if the GPU were swapped for a more modern card, but as measured, the data shows a system that is poorly balanced for this game’s higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael), manufactured on TSMC’s 5 nm process. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and it features 32 MB of shared L3 cache plus 1 MB of L2 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12735 and a single-core score of 1852, placing it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. These numbers indicate a high-performance desktop processor that is more than capable of handling Doom’s engine demands.

However, the measured FPS data clearly shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 102 FPS, which is a high frame rate, but the CPU’s 65 W TDP and 6 cores are far from saturated. Doom is known to be a well-threaded game, and a 6-core/12-thread processor with a 5.10 GHz boost clock should easily sustain frame rates above 150 FPS in this title, if not for the GPU constraint. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s (DDR5 dual-channel) is also more than sufficient, as the GPU’s 256.0 GB/s is the limiting factor for texture streaming.

The CPU’s nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (avg score 26274, deltaPct 0.2) and Intel Core i9-11900KF (avg score 26212, deltaPct 0.4)—show that the Ryzen 5 7600 is competitive in raw compute, but this has no bearing on the Doom results. The data suggests that swapping the CPU for a lower-end model (e.g., a quad-core) would produce nearly identical FPS at 4K, as the GPU would remain the limiting factor. Conversely, upgrading the GPU would yield immediate performance gains, as the CPU has ample headroom to support a faster graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides 12 distinct measurement points, covering three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces the highest average FPS at 102, followed by Medium at 89 FPS (min 76, max 103), High at 75 FPS, and Ultra at 62 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear, linear scaling with settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary performance driver even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 66 FPS, Medium averages 58 FPS (min 49, max 66), High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 26 FPS, which is consistent with the 1080p spread of 40 FPS, showing that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with resolution and settings. The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 49, which is close to the average, indicating relatively stable frame pacing.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 36 FPS, Medium averages 31 FPS (min 27, max 36), High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with even the lowest settings failing to reach 40 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 27, which is a 4 FPS drop from the average, suggesting occasional stutters. The overall trend across all resolutions confirms that this combo is only suitable for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being a stretch and 4K being thoroughly unplayable.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Doom?

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all settings presets achieve playable frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 102 FPS average and the High preset at 75 FPS average.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: No. The 4K results range from 22 FPS average at Ultra to 36 FPS average at Low, all of which are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 has an average benchmark score of 26324, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900KF, showing it is a competitive processor.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance percentile?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 is in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12928, placing it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (deltaPct -0.1) and GTX 1660 SUPER (deltaPct -0.4).

Q: Which settings preset gives the highest FPS at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 produces the highest measured average FPS at 102, followed by Medium at 89 FPS, High at 75 FPS, and Ultra at 62 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in Doom?

A: The combo ranks 3397 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8.5% of all tested systems for this game.