Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and AMD Radeon RX 580 pairing in Doom presents a fascinating study in generational asymmetry: a modern 5 nm Zen 4 processor paired with a 14 nm Polaris GPU from 2017. The measured frame rates reveal a system almost entirely constrained by the graphics card, yet the CPU’s headroom ensures that the experience is defined by settings and resolution choices rather than processor limitations.

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

The Ryzen 5 7600X brings six cores and twelve threads to the table, built on the Zen 4 architecture and codenamed Raphael. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz are exceptionally high, and the 32 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample bandwidth for game logic. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates remarkable single-thread strength, scoring 3,406 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 1,060 in 3DMark single-thread tests. Those numbers place it in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26,272.

What this means for Doom is that the CPU is never the bottleneck. The game, released in 2016, is well-known for its scalability across older and newer hardware, but the 7600X’s performance here is almost academic. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 104.8 FPS, and the fact that this drops only to 77.5 FPS at High settings suggests the CPU can feed the GPU far more frames than the RX 580 can render. The nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks—the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U (deltaPct 0), Ryzen 7 7735U (deltaPct -0.1), and Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE (deltaPct -0.2)—are all mobile or low-power parts, yet they score nearly identically to the 7600X on average. This indicates that raw multi-threaded throughput is not the differentiator here; rather, the 7600X’s high boost clocks ensure that even a single-threaded game engine would be fully fed. In Doom, the data shows the CPU’s role is to sit idle, waiting for the GPU to catch up—a position of strength that becomes more apparent at lower resolutions.

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

The Radeon RX 580 is the clear limiting factor in this pairing. With 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, it offers 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and its base clock of 1257 MHz boosts to 1340 MHz. The GPU’s 2304 shading units and 32 ROPs deliver 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is modest by modern standards. Its benchmark percentile of 53 places it squarely in the midrange, with an average score of 13,559—nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (deltaPct 0) and GTX 950 (deltaPct 0.1).

In Doom, the RX 580’s age shows clearly. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 20.6 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 62.5 FPS, while dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 104.8 FPS. This wide spread—a 42.3 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p—indicates that the GPU is heavily impacted by shading quality and texture filtering. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game’s assets at all tested settings, so the limitation is raw compute and fill rate, not memory capacity. The RX 580’s nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark list (GTX 570, GTX 950, Radeon Pro 455) are all older or lower-tier parts, yet they cluster within 1.1% performance of each other, suggesting that this GPU is at the bottom of a performance plateau that Doom’s engine can exploit only partially.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling data paints a textbook picture of a GPU-bound system. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings drops the average frame rate from 77.5 FPS to 48.7 FPS, a 37.2% reduction. Going from 1440p to 4K at the same settings further reduces the average to 23.8 FPS, another 51.1% drop. This compounding loss is typical of a rasterization-limited GPU, where pixel count directly dictates workload.

At Low settings, the pattern holds but with steeper absolute declines: 104.8 FPS at 1080p falls to 69.2 FPS at 1440p (34% less), then to 38.5 FPS at 4K (44% less). The fact that Low settings at 4K (38.5 FPS) barely beats High settings at 1440p (48.7 FPS) in terms of playability underscores that the RX 580’s pixel throughput is the primary constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to stay flat across resolutions, as the processor’s workload (draw calls, physics) remains constant. Instead, the data shows a consistent 2.7x performance gap between 1080p and 4K across all settings, confirming that the GPU is saturated. The CPU’s high single-thread score (3,406 in Cinebench R23) is irrelevant at 4K because the GPU cannot generate frames fast enough to utilize it.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 1,553 out of 1,681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 8% of all pairings. This low rank is entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU’s percentile rank (83rd) is far above the GPU’s (53rd). The data suggests that pairing a high-end 2022 processor with a 2017 midrange GPU creates a lopsided system where the CPU contributes little to overall gaming performance.

To contextualize, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 26,272 sits just above the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X (deltaPct 0.2), yet that CPU would likely rank higher in Doom if paired with a stronger GPU. The combo’s rank of 1,553 is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability but rather the GPU’s inability to translate CPU horsepower into frame rate. In a game like Doom, which is known to scale well with multi-core processors, the 7600X’s 12 threads are more than sufficient, but the RX 580’s 6.175 TFLOPS cannot push beyond the measured figures. This rank effectively means that the system is held back by roughly 1,500 other GPU-better pairings, regardless of their CPUs.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 38.5 FPS. At Medium, High, and Ultra, the averages are 30.5, 23.8, and 20.6 FPS respectively, which are below smooth playability thresholds.

Q: What is the best resolution for a consistent experience?

A: 1080p is the only resolution where all settings remain above 60 FPS. At Low, Medium, and High, the averages are 104.8, 88.2, and 77.5 FPS, with Ultra at 62.5 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (69.2 FPS) and Medium (60.1 FPS) exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the CPU compared to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 5 7600X has an average benchmark score of 26,272, which is essentially identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U (26,262, deltaPct 0) and the AMD Ryzen 7 7735U (26,305, deltaPct -0.1). The differences are within 0.2%, making them statistically equivalent.

Q: Is the GPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Yes. The frame rate drops from 104.8 FPS at Low to 62.5 FPS at Ultra, a 40% reduction, indicating that the GPU’s shading and fill-rate limits are the primary constraint. The CPU’s performance headroom is evident from the fact that even at Low settings, the frame rate is not limited by processor speed.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its closest GPU rival?

A: The RX 580’s average benchmark score is 13,559, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13,549) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (13,416). It is 1.1% slower than the NVIDIA P106-090 (13,716).

Q: What does the combo rank of 1,553 out of 1,681 mean?

A: It means that 1,552 other CPU-GPU combinations tested in Doom deliver higher average frame rates. This rank is driven by the GPU’s low percentile (53rd) relative to the CPU’s high percentile (83rd), highlighting a significant performance mismatch.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 104.8 FPS, Medium 88.2 FPS, High 77.5 FPS, and Ultra 62.5 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 16.6 FPS, while Medium to High costs 10.7 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 15.0 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns at the top end but also that Ultra is still playable.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 69.2 FPS (Low), 60.1 FPS (Medium), 48.7 FPS (High), and 37.7 FPS (Ultra). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 34% for Low, 32% for Medium, 37% for High, and 40% for Ultra. This consistent scaling confirms the GPU’s pixel-rate bottleneck, with Ultra falling below the 40 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 38.5 FPS (Low), 30.5 FPS (Medium), 23.8 FPS (High), and 20.6 FPS (Ultra). None of these are ideal for fast-paced FPS gameplay, but Low settings are the only ones that approach a playable 30 FPS baseline. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 17.9 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is completely saturated and settings changes have reduced impact.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For a smooth 60+ FPS experience, 1080p with High settings offers the best balance, averaging 77.5 FPS with room to spare. Ultra at 1080p dips to 62.5 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium settings at 60.1 FPS is the only preset that hits the 60 FPS mark, but High at 48.7 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced play. Low at 1440p (69.2 FPS) is the safest choice for competitive play if resolution is prioritized.

At 4K, the data suggests avoiding this resolution entirely for Doom. Even Low settings at 38.5 FPS are below the standard 60 FPS target, and the visual upgrade from 1440p does not justify the performance loss. The recommended path is to play at 1080p High for a stable, high-refresh experience, or 1080p Ultra if visual fidelity is paramount and the player accepts a 62.5 FPS average. Given that the RX 580 is the limiting component, reducing resolution has a far greater impact than tweaking individual settings—the difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 66.3 FPS, while the difference between Low and Ultra at any single resolution is at most 42.3 FPS. Therefore, the data supports prioritizing resolution over preset quality for this pairing.