Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 580 pairing in Doom produces a clear performance hierarchy that shifts dramatically across resolutions. At 1080p, the combination delivers smooth, playable frame rates across all settings, but the experience degrades sharply as resolution climbs. The data suggests a system where the GPU is the primary constraint, though the CPU’s strong single-thread capabilities keep the lower-resolution results from becoming bottlenecked.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep decline when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 77.0 FPS at 1080p to 49.4 FPS at 1440p, then plunges to 23.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 69% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets, indicating a GPU-bound scenario where the RX 580’s rendering throughput is the limiting factor.

The Low preset tells a similar story: 104.4 FPS at 1080p falls to 67.1 FPS at 1440p and 34.6 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is roughly 48% for Low settings, while the drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 36%. This non-linear scaling suggests that memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate become increasingly significant at higher resolutions. The RX 580’s 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate are being taxed heavily at 4K, where the GPU must process four times the pixels of 1080p.

The data indicates that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo in Doom. Even at Low settings, the 34.6 FPS average falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, the results are more encouraging, with Medium and High settings both exceeding 49 FPS, though Ultra dips to 43.0 FPS. The 1080p results are uniformly strong, with every preset except Ultra staying above 77 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580, built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, is the dominant factor in these results. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but insufficient for 4K in a demanding title like Doom. The GPU’s boost clock of 1340 MHz and base clock of 1257 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability shows its age.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (deltaPct 0.0) and the GTX 950 (deltaPct 0.1), indicating that the RX 580 performs at a similar level to those older cards. The RX 580 has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, which explains its texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s.

Looking at the measured FPS, the GPU’s limitations become apparent at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 20.2 FPS, while 4K High yields 23.6 FPS. These numbers suggest that the RX 580’s 32 ROPs cannot efficiently handle the pixel workload at 4K. Even at 1440p Ultra, the 43.0 FPS result shows the GPU struggling to maintain playable rates with maximum settings. The memory clock of 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) is another constraint, as the bandwidth requirement for 4K textures and effects exceeds what the 256-bit bus can deliver.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X provides a strong foundation for this system. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) offers a boost clock of 5.40 GHz and a base clock of 3.90 GHz. The CPU’s benchmark results show excellent single-thread performance, with a 3dmark single-thread score of 1253 and a cinebench r23 single-core score of 3603. This is crucial for Doom, which benefits from strong per-core performance.

The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game physics and AI calculations. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The CPU’s passmark single-thread score of 4570 and multithread score of 30027 indicate a well-rounded processor.

In the context of Doom, the CPU’s role is evident in the 1080p results. At Low settings, the combo achieves 104.4 FPS, which is close to the CPU’s maximum frame delivery capability for this game. The fact that 1080p Ultra (60.8 FPS) is only 42% lower than 1080p Low (104.4 FPS) suggests that the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU is not holding back the system. The Ryzen 5 9600X’s percentile rank of 85 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28246, places it well above the RX 580’s relative standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results show a clear progression across settings. Low averages 104.4 FPS, Medium 90.2 FPS, High 77.0 FPS, and Ultra 60.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 43.6 FPS, or roughly 42%. This indicates that each quality tier costs approximately 10-15 FPS, with the most significant drop occurring between Medium and High (13.2 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the frame rates fall to 67.1 FPS (Low), 60.2 FPS (Medium), 49.4 FPS (High), and 43.0 FPS (Ultra). The delta between Low and Ultra is 24.1 FPS, a 36% reduction. Notably, the drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is substantial: Low loses 37.3 FPS, Medium loses 30.0 FPS, High loses 27.6 FPS, and Ultra loses 17.8 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are consistently below playable thresholds. Low averages 34.6 FPS, Medium 28.4 FPS, High 23.6 FPS, and Ultra 20.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 14.4 FPS, which shows that the GPU is so heavily constrained that quality settings have diminishing impact. The 4K results are 67% lower than 1080p results on average across all settings.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1080p in Doom?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 1920x1080, Low, Medium, and High settings all exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 104.4 FPS, Medium at 90.2 FPS, and High at 77.0 FPS. Only Ultra falls below 60 FPS at 60.8 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system in Doom?

A: Based on the measured results, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets are playable. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS, while High and Ultra fall below 50 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 35 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, which is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564, deltaPct 0.0) and the GTX 950 (13549, deltaPct 0.1). It is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (13416, deltaPct 1.1) and slightly behind the NVIDIA P106-090 (13716, deltaPct -1.1).

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 9600X bottleneck the RX 580 at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 104.4 FPS, and the CPU’s strong single-thread performance (cinebench r23 single-core score of 3603) indicates it can keep up with the GPU’s frame delivery at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the FPS impact of moving from High to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 77.0 FPS while Ultra averages 60.8 FPS, a drop of 16.2 FPS. At 1440p, the drop is 6.4 FPS (49.4 to 43.0). At 4K, the drop is 3.4 FPS (23.6 to 20.2). The impact diminishes as resolution increases because the GPU becomes more constrained.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Doom?

A: This combination ranks 1563 out of 1681 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 7% of all systems tested for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience at 1920x1080, the High preset is the optimal choice. It delivers 77.0 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while still providing improved visual quality over Medium (90.2 FPS) and Low (104.4 FPS). The 16.2 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual gains at Ultra, given that Ultra still achieves 60.8 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended setting. It produces 60.2 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target, while Low (67.1 FPS) offers minimal visual improvement over Medium. High at 49.4 FPS and Ultra at 43.0 FPS are both below the 50 FPS mark, which may result in noticeable stutter during intense combat sequences.

At 3840x2160, no preset is recommended for competitive or smooth play. The highest result, Low at 34.6 FPS, is below 35 FPS and would feel sluggish. The data suggests that this resolution should be avoided entirely with this combo in Doom. The RX 580’s 8 GB VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K rendering in this title, as evidenced by the 20.2 FPS result at Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1563 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 7% of all systems. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU’s age and performance level, as the RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, performs well above average, ranking at the 85th percentile with an average benchmark score of 28246.

The GPU’s benchmark data reinforces this disparity. The RX 580’s passmark g3d score of 8813 and 3dmark steel nomad dx12 score of 1005 are modest by modern standards. Its nearest rivals, the GTX 570 and GTX 950, are both older architectures, and the deltaPct values of 0.0 and 0.1 respectively indicate that the RX 580 is barely distinguishable from those cards in synthetic tests.

The measured FPS data in Doom shows that this combo’s ranking is consistent with its benchmark scores. The 1080p results are respectable, but the 4K results are among the lowest recorded for any system. The combo’s rank of 1563 out of 1681 suggests that while it can handle older or less demanding titles at lower resolutions, it is not competitive in a modern FPS at higher settings. The CPU’s strong performance is effectively wasted at resolutions above 1080p, as the GPU cannot deliver the frame rates needed to leverage the Ryzen 5 9600X’s capabilities.