Doom

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within the 2016 FPS title Doom. The data reveals a system where the GPU's raw might is consistently tempered by the CPU's architectural limits, particularly at lower resolutions. This analysis dissects the measured frame rates to understand where the true performance ceiling lies for this specific combination.

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

The measured FPS data shows a clear and expected trend: as resolution increases, average frame rates decrease across all settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 280.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 241.5 FPS, and at 4K, it falls further to 155.9 FPS. This scaling is not linear, however, which is the first clue about the system's behavior.

The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 14%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is a much steeper 35%. This non-linear decline suggests that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound; the RTX 4090 is capable of far more, but the Ryzen 7 3700X cannot feed it frames fast enough. As resolution climbs to 4K, the GPU's workload increases, shifting the balance toward a more GPU-limited scenario. The data indicates that the RTX 4090's immense power is largely wasted at 1080p, where the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads become the primary constraint. At 4K, the GPU begins to stretch its legs, but the frame rates still suggest that even at this high resolution, the CPU is holding back what could be an even higher performance ceiling.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an absolute behemoth on paper, with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 2520 MHz. For a game like Doom, which is known for its scalability, this hardware should theoretically demolish any obstacle. However, the measured results show that this GPU is often idling, waiting for the processor to catch up.

The VRAM capacity is a non-issue; 24 GB is far beyond what Doom requires, even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s ensures that texture streaming is never a bottleneck. The data suggests the GPU's role is to provide virtually unlimited headroom for the CPU. The fact that the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is only 50 FPS (280.8 vs 230.6) highlights this point. The GPU is so fast that even substantial changes in graphical fidelity barely move the needle because the CPU is the wall. The RTX 4090's performance percentile of 91 versus all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 66473 reinforce that this is a top-tier part, but its capabilities are simply not being utilized to the fullest in this pairing at lower resolutions.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo in Doom?*

A: The highest measured average is 280.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How much of a frame rate penalty is incurred by moving from 1440p to 4K on High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 High, the average is 213.1 FPS. At 3840x2160 High, it drops to 116.7 FPS. This represents a substantial 96.4 FPS penalty, or roughly a 45% reduction.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: No. The data implies the CPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p, the frame rates are high but the scaling from Low (280.8 FPS) to Ultra (230.6 FPS) is relatively small, suggesting the GPU is not being fully taxed.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for Doom?*

A: The combo ranks 168th out of 1681 tested combinations, placing it in the top 10% of all systems tested.

Q: Does the data show a benefit to using Ultra settings over High at 4K?

A: No, the opposite is true. At 4K, Ultra yields 92.3 FPS, while High yields 116.7 FPS. The higher preset provides a lower frame rate, indicating a significant performance cost for the extra visual fidelity.

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

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings at each resolution. At 4K, the High preset is the only viable option for a fluid experience, delivering 116.7 FPS. Ultra at 4K drops to 92.3 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 24.4 FPS loss for presumably marginal visual gains. Medium at 4K (138.5 FPS) and Low (155.9 FPS) offer higher frame rates but sacrifice visual quality.

At 1440p, the story shifts. Low (241.5 FPS) and Medium (226.3 FPS) are so close in performance that Medium is arguably the better choice, providing better visuals with only a 15.2 FPS penalty. High (213.1 FPS) remains excellent, but Ultra (174.8 FPS) shows a significant drop-off. For 1080p, where the CPU is the bottleneck, the differences are smaller. Low (280.8 FPS) is objectively the fastest, but Medium (263.6 FPS) offers a superior visual experience for only a 17.2 FPS loss. The data suggests that Medium is the optimal balance for most users, providing a significant visual uplift over Low while staying far ahead of the High and Ultra presets in frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 168 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the top 10% of all systems, which is a strong showing. However, the rank is perhaps lower than one might expect for a system with an RTX 4090, which is the most powerful consumer GPU in the data.

The rank of 168 suggests that many other combinations of CPUs and GPUs produce higher average frame rates. This is a direct consequence of the CPU bottleneck identified earlier. The data implies that the RTX 4090 is being held back by the Ryzen 7 3700X, preventing the system from climbing higher in the rankings. If the GPU were paired with a faster processor, the rank would likely be much higher. The 168th position confirms the GPU's raw power, but it also serves as a warning that pairing a top-tier GPU with a mid-range CPU from a previous generation will leave performance on the table.

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

This section provides the exact average FPS values for every measured configuration.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 280.8 FPS
• Medium: 263.6 FPS
• High: 251.3 FPS
• Ultra: 230.6 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 241.5 FPS
• Medium: 226.3 FPS
• High: 213.1 FPS
• Ultra: 174.8 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 155.9 FPS
• Medium: 138.5 FPS
• High: 116.7 FPS
• Ultra: 92.3 FPS

The data shows a consistent pattern: lowering settings always yields a higher FPS, but the magnitude of the improvement shrinks as resolution decreases, reinforcing the CPU-bound nature of the system at 1080p.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 2 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19087 and a single-core score of 2694. It ranks in the 85th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28631.

In the context of Doom, the CPU's 8 cores are more than sufficient for the game's threading model. However, the single-threaded performance, which is critical for high-FPS gaming, appears to be a limiting factor. The data indicates that the CPU simply cannot keep up with the RTX 4090's frame-generating capability. This is evident in the relatively small FPS gains from lowering settings at 1080p. The CPU is the bottleneck, and the GPU is left waiting for the next frame to be queued. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz, while high for its generation, is a limiting factor compared to the demands of a GPU like the RTX 4090. The data strongly suggests that to fully unlock the RTX 4090's potential in Doom, a CPU with significantly higher single-threaded performance would be required.