Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a smooth experience in Doom, though the data reveals a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combo is heavily CPU-limited, with frame rates soaring past 200 FPS at Low settings. The 200.8 FPS average at 1920x1080 Low drops to 148.4 FPS at High, a 26% reduction that shows the GPU beginning to take on more work. The Ryzen 5 9600X’s single-thread strength, evidenced by its 3,603 Cinebench R23 single-core score, keeps the frame pipeline fed even at these high rates.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the balance shifts. The Low preset averages 126.9 FPS, while High settles at 94.9 FPS. The gap between Low and High narrows compared to 1080p, indicating the GPU is now the primary constraint. At 3840x2160, the GPU fully takes over. Ultra settings produce a 41.9 FPS average, which is playable but far from the high-refresh experience available at lower resolutions. The 4K Low figure of 70.9 FPS versus the 1080p Low figure of 200.8 FPS represents a 65% drop, a steep curve that points squarely at the Radeon RX 7600 XT’s 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth as the limiting factor.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. Moving from 1080p Medium (174.6 FPS) to 4K Medium (59.2 FPS) loses 66% of the frame rate. The 4K High result of 48.7 FPS is just above the 4K Ultra figure of 41.9 FPS, suggesting that the highest quality presets are heavily taxing the GPU’s 22.57 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The data supports a conclusion: at 1080p and 1440p, this is a capable high-refresh combo for Doom, but 4K gaming requires dropping settings to Medium or Low to maintain fluid motion.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, manufactured on a 6 nm process at TSMC. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a configuration that proves adequate for 1440p but becomes a bottleneck at 4K in Doom. The GPU’s boost clock of 2755 MHz and game clock of 2470 MHz are relatively high, yet the pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s are modest for driving 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU’s benchmark profile places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20,146. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600, which scores 20,258 and is 0.6% faster, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER at 19,774, which the RX 7600 XT leads by 1.9%. The RX 7600 XT also edges out the AMD Radeon RX 460 by 0.3%, though that older card’s score of 20,088 is surprisingly close. In Doom specifically, the GPU’s 16 GB frame buffer is never a capacity issue, but the bandwidth constraint shows up clearly in the 4K results.

The VRAM size is generous for this game, as Doom’s textures fit comfortably within 16 GB even at 4K Ultra. The bottleneck is raw throughput. The 4K Ultra average of 41.9 FPS versus the 4K Low average of 70.9 FPS demonstrates how much headroom the Low preset frees up by reducing shading and texture work. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 17,132 and DirectX 12 score of 65 give context: the card is competent but not exceptional, and Doom’s id Tech engine responds well to raw compute and memory bandwidth rather than specialized features.

Interestingly, the GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,348 is modest, yet it still delivers 123 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This suggests Doom is well-optimized for the RDNA 3.0 architecture, allowing the RX 7600 XT to punch slightly above its synthetic benchmark weight. The 190 W TDP and dual-slot design are reasonable for the performance class, and the 1x 8-pin power connector keeps installation straightforward.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 1,085 out of 1,681 combos for Doom. That places it in the 64th percentile of all tested systems, a solid mid-pack result that reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning. The CPU is not the limiting factor here; the Ryzen 5 9600X sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 28,246, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13490F (28,173, 0.3% slower) and the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (28,369, 0.4% faster).

The combo’s rank is dragged down almost entirely by the GPU. The RX 7600 XT’s 63rd percentile standing among GPUs means that in a CPU-heavy game like Doom, the graphics card holds the system back from higher rankings. The data shows that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would likely move the combo significantly higher in the rankings, as the processor has demonstrated headroom in synthetic tests. The 3DMark max threads score of 7,590 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25,525 indicate the CPU can feed much faster frame rates than the GPU can render.

The rank of 1,085 out of 1,681 should be read as “above average but not top tier.” For a 1080p gamer, this combo overdelivers, but for 4K enthusiasts, the ranking reflects the GPU’s limitations. The delta between the CPU’s 85th percentile and the GPU’s 63rd percentile is the key takeaway: the system is GPU-bound in Doom at all resolutions above 1080p Low, and the ranking is a direct consequence of that imbalance.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 41.9, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth play. Dropping to 4K Medium raises the average to 59.2 FPS, while 4K Low achieves 70.9 FPS. High settings sit at 48.7 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, Medium settings at 4K are the practical ceiling.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate play?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers 148.4 FPS on High and 174.6 FPS on Medium, both well above 144 Hz. At 1440p, High averages 94.9 FPS, which suits a 100 Hz monitor. For 144 Hz at 1440p, Low settings are needed, as they produce 126.9 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest rival, the RX 7600?

A: The RX 7600 XT scores 20,146 on average benchmarks, while the RX 7600 scores 20,258. This makes the RX 7600 0.6% faster in synthetic tests. In Doom, the 16 GB VRAM of the XT model provides no tangible advantage at these settings and resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in this game?

A: The data indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 9600X has a single-thread score of 3,603 in Cinebench R23 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4,570. At 1080p Low, the system hits 200.8 FPS, which is near the practical limit for the GPU’s rendering speed.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Ultra?

A: The measured average at 2560x1440 Ultra is 80.4 FPS. This is playable on a 75 Hz monitor but falls short of 144 Hz displays. High settings at 1440p improve to 94.9 FPS, which is a better match for 100 Hz panels.

Q: How much performance do you lose going from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the drop is from 148.4 FPS at 1080p to 48.7 FPS at 4K, a 67% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 200.8 FPS to 70.9 FPS, a 65% loss. The scaling is consistent, confirming the GPU as the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT covers three resolutions and four quality presets each. The results are as follows, with all values representing average FPS:

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 200.8 FPS
• Medium: 174.6 FPS
• High: 148.4 FPS
• Ultra: 123 FPS

The 1080p results show a clear progression: each step up in quality costs roughly 15-20% performance. The gap from Low to Ultra is 77.8 FPS, or 39% of the Low figure. This resolution is where the combo shines, with even Ultra settings comfortably exceeding 120 FPS, making it suitable for 120 Hz displays.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 126.9 FPS
• Medium: 112.5 FPS
• High: 94.9 FPS
• Ultra: 80.4 FPS

At 1440p, the frame rates remain respectable, though the drop from Low to Ultra is 46.5 FPS, representing a 37% reduction. The High preset’s 94.9 FPS is notable for being just shy of the 100 FPS mark, while Ultra’s 80.4 FPS is still viable for 75 Hz panels. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is a 36% reduction (148.4 to 94.9 FPS).

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 70.9 FPS
• Medium: 59.2 FPS
• High: 48.7 FPS
• Ultra: 41.9 FPS

The 4K results are the most demanding. Low settings are the only preset that clears 60 FPS, and just barely at 70.9 FPS. Medium falls to 59.2 FPS, which is marginal for smooth gameplay. High and Ultra dip below 50 FPS, making them suitable only for slower-paced play. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 29 FPS, a 41% drop, showing that even the lowest preset stresses the GPU heavily.

Across all resolutions, the data shows a consistent pattern: the RX 7600 XT scales predictably with settings, and the CPU maintains headroom. The 1080p Low result of 200.8 FPS is the peak, while the 4K Ultra result of 41.9 FPS is the floor. For users targeting 60 FPS minimums, 1440p High or 4K Medium are the recommended baselines based on these measurements.