Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a highly capable 1080p experience in Doom, but the data reveals a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. Across the measured spectrum, this combination shows a strong CPU headroom, with the GPU becoming the primary limiter at 4K. The benchmark results indicate a well-balanced pairing for high-refresh gaming at 1440p, though the 4K Ultra setting pushes the hardware to its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a significant performance drop that clearly identifies the RTX 4060 as the limiting component at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 166.2 FPS at 1080p to 105.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 36.3%. Moving to 4K, the average drops to 61.9 FPS, representing a further 41.5% decline from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load increases exponentially with pixel count.

The data for Low settings reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 229.7 FPS, which suggests the CPU is still capable of pushing well beyond typical display refresh rates. At 1440p Low, the average is 150.1 FPS, and at 4K Low it settles at 81.7 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 64.4%, which is slightly less severe than the 62.7% drop at High settings, indicating that the GPU’s fill-rate and memory bandwidth constraints become more pronounced as visual complexity increases.

The scaling from Medium to Ultra settings at each resolution provides further evidence of GPU limitation. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 92.4 FPS (from 229.7 to 137.3 FPS). At 1440p, this spread narrows to 60.7 FPS, and at 4K, it compresses to just 31.3 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU’s compute resources are being saturated, leaving less headroom for settings-based performance differentiation. The 4K Ultra result of 50.4 FPS is the only measured point below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combination is not suited for maximum fidelity at 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 229.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates substantial CPU headroom, as the Ryzen 5 9600X is capable of feeding the RTX 4060 well beyond typical 1080p high-refresh requirements.

Q: Is this combination viable for 4K gaming in Doom?

A: At 4K High settings, the average frame rate is 61.9 FPS, which is playable. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 50.4 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS standard. The data suggests that 4K gaming is possible with adjusted settings, but not at maximum fidelity.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 28246, placing it 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13490F and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 230. It is 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and 0.5% behind the Intel Core i5-14500T. These deltas are minimal, indicating near-identical multi-threaded performance among these processors.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4060 sits at the 66th percentile of all GPUs based on average benchmark scores. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, which scores 0.6% higher, and the Intel Arc B580, which scores 0.7% lower.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate at Low settings is 150.1 FPS, while at Ultra settings it is 89.4 FPS. This represents a 40.5% performance penalty for enabling maximum visual quality, which is a significant but manageable trade-off.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 1080p Ultra?

A: Yes, the average at 1920x1080 Ultra is 137.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. The lowest measured setting at this resolution, which is Ultra, still provides a comfortable margin.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 950th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 56.5th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of systems but sits firmly in the middle of the distribution. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the strong individual benchmark scores of both components, but it reflects the specific demands of Doom’s engine and the balance between CPU and GPU capabilities.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmark performance is strong, with an average score of 28246 and an 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13490F, scores nearly identically at 28173, a delta of just 0.3%. The GPU, however, is less dominant, holding a 66th percentile position among all GPUs. The RTX 4060’s closest competitor, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, outperforms it by 0.6%, while the Intel Arc B580 trails by 0.7%.

The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU explains the mid-pack ranking. In Doom, a game that is generally well-optimized for high frame rates, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p. The data suggests that this combo would rank higher in CPU-bound scenarios or at lower resolutions, but the measured results in Doom show a system that is held back by its graphics card in more demanding settings. The rank of 950 out of 1681 indicates that while the system is competent, there are many other combos that deliver better balanced performance for this specific title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates strong performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 229.7 FPS, Medium produces 198.8 FPS, High produces 166.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 137.3 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent, with each step up in quality costing roughly 20-30 FPS. This resolution is clearly CPU-limited at Low settings, as the 229.7 FPS result is likely near the engine’s maximum frame rate cap or the CPU’s single-thread limit.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains robust but begins to show GPU constraints. Low settings average 150.1 FPS, Medium averages 130.1 FPS, High averages 105.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 89.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 60.7 FPS, compared to 92.4 FPS at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU is becoming a more significant factor, as the pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting component. Low settings average 81.7 FPS, Medium averages 71.5 FPS, High averages 61.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 50.4 FPS. The performance spread is just 31.3 FPS between Low and Ultra, showing that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are nearly exhausted at this resolution. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured point below 60 FPS, making it the only setting where the system fails to maintain a smooth experience on a standard 60 Hz display.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 plays a decisive role in determining the system’s performance limits in Doom, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, operating on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is a key constraint at 4K. The data shows that the frame rate drops from 61.9 FPS at High to 50.4 FPS at Ultra, a 18.6% reduction, which suggests that the memory subsystem and shading units are being pushed to their limits.

The GPU’s clock speeds are listed as a base of 1830 MHz and a boost of 2460 MHz. The boost clock is notable for a mid-range card, and the benchmark results indicate that the GPU is able to sustain high performance in less demanding scenarios. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 229.7 FPS, which is likely close to the engine’s frame rate limit, meaning the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution. However, the scaling to 4K shows that the GPU’s 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at maximum pixel counts.

The GPU’s memory configuration is a notable factor. With 8 GB of VRAM, the card may face capacity issues in texture-heavy scenes at 4K Ultra, though the measured data does not explicitly confirm this. The 128-bit memory bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is moderate for a modern GPU. The performance drop from 4K High to 4K Ultra suggests that the increased texture and shading demands at Ultra settings are straining the memory bandwidth, resulting in the observed 11.5 FPS loss.

The RTX 4060’s percentile ranking of 66th among all GPUs places it in the upper-mid range of performance. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, is 0.6% faster on average, while the Intel Arc B580 is 0.7% slower. In Doom specifically, the measured frame rates indicate that the GPU is a capable performer for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its limitations become clear at 4K. The data shows that for this game, the GPU is the primary bottleneck at resolutions above 1080p, and users seeking higher 4K performance would need to consider a more powerful graphics card.