Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT combination delivers a remarkably strong performance in Doom, decisively favoring high refresh rate gameplay across all tested resolutions. The data indicates a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, with the CPU providing ample headroom to push frame rates well beyond display refresh rate thresholds at 1080p and 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear and expected pattern: the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 194 FPS at 1920x1080 to 126 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 68 FPS (35%). Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 at High settings shows a further decline to 68 FPS, a 58 FPS (46%) drop from the 1440p result. This steep decline at 4K indicates that the RX 7700 XT is being fully utilized, with the 8-core processor no longer able to compensate for the GPU's workload.

The scaling pattern is similar across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 264 at 1080p to 171 at 1440p (a 35% decrease) and then to 93 at 4K (a 46% decrease from 1440p). This consistent proportional drop suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline, particularly its memory bandwidth and rasterization throughput, is the bottleneck. The RX 7700 XT's 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 244.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key specifications driving this behavior, as these figures directly influence how many pixels can be processed per second.

At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 56, which is the lowest recorded result in the dataset. This 56 FPS average at 4K Ultra versus 68 FPS at 4K High illustrates a 12 FPS (18%) penalty for the Ultra preset over High, a smaller relative difference than the 35% penalty seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even significant reductions in settings yield only marginal gains, confirming that pixel throughput is the limiting factor rather than shader complexity or texture detail.

The data strongly indicates that this combo is not CPU-limited in Doom at any resolution. The Ryzen 7 5700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, provides more than enough processing power. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau across resolutions, but instead we see consistent and substantial declines as resolution increases. The 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings are classic signatures of a GPU-bound scenario.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting high refresh rate monitors at 1080p, the Low preset delivers a staggering 264 FPS average, which is far beyond what most displays can show. However, the Medium preset at 230 FPS still provides an exceptional experience with only a 13% performance penalty compared to Low, making it the recommended choice for 1080p gaming. The High preset at 194 FPS remains excellent and is arguably the sweet spot for 1080p, offering a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while still maintaining frame rates well above 144 Hz.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 126 FPS, which is above the 120 Hz threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 149 FPS offers even more headroom for high refresh rate displays, and the measured minimum FPS of 127 at Medium settings indicates very stable frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 103 FPS is still playable but drops below the 120 FPS mark, making High or Medium the better choices for competitive or fast-paced play. The Low preset at 171 FPS is unnecessarily fast for most 1440p displays and sacrifices visual fidelity for performance that cannot be fully appreciated.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The High preset at 68 FPS is the highest quality setting that maintains a playable frame rate, though it falls below the 72 FPS threshold for some high refresh rate displays. The Medium preset at 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS provides a slightly safer margin for frame time consistency. The Ultra preset at 56 FPS is only suitable for slower-paced gameplay or for players who prioritize visual quality over responsiveness. The Low preset at 93 FPS is the only option that approaches 100 FPS at 4K, but it does so at a significant visual cost.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is the High preset at 1440p, which strikes an ideal balance between a 126 FPS average and the visual fidelity that Doom's fast-paced action benefits from. The High preset at 1080p is equally compelling for players with 144 Hz monitors, offering 194 FPS with ample headroom. For 4K users, the Medium preset is the most balanced choice, providing 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS, which avoids the more jarring frame drops that can occur at Ultra settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 264, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The second-highest is 230 FPS at 1080p Medium, and the third is 194 FPS at 1080p High.

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, at 4K with Medium settings, the combo averages 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS. At 4K High, it averages 68 FPS, and at 4K Low, it averages 93 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset is the only one that dips below 60 FPS, averaging 56 FPS.

Q: How does the 1080p High preset compare to the 1440p High preset?

A: The 1080p High preset averages 194 FPS, which is 68 FPS (54%) higher than the 1440p High preset at 126 FPS. This demonstrates a significant performance advantage at the lower resolution.

Q: What settings provide the most stable frame rates at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p shows the most stability, with a minimum FPS of 127 and a maximum of 171, resulting in an average of 149 FPS. The High and Ultra presets do not have recorded minimum or maximum values in the data.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for this game at 4K?

A: No, the data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate drops consistently as resolution increases, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide sufficient processing power for Doom's engine.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings average 264 FPS while Ultra settings average 159 FPS. This represents a 105 FPS (66%) difference, showing that Ultra settings impose a significant performance cost at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset leads with an average of 264 FPS. The Medium preset averages 230 FPS, with a measured minimum of 196 FPS and a maximum of 265 FPS. The High preset averages 194 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 159 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 105 FPS, indicating that visual settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance remains high but shows a clear step down. The Low preset averages 171 FPS. The Medium preset averages 149 FPS, with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 171 FPS. The High preset averages 126 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 103 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 68 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but a similar relative difference when accounting for the lower starting point.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. The Low preset averages 93 FPS. The Medium preset averages 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. The High preset averages 68 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 56 FPS. The Low to Ultra spread at 4K is 37 FPS, showing that the GPU's pixel throughput limit compresses the range of achievable frame rates regardless of settings.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum is 196 FPS; at 1440p, the minimum is 127 FPS; and at 4K, the minimum is 69 FPS. This progression shows that the minimum frame rate scales consistently with resolution, reinforcing the GPU-bound analysis. At 4K, the minimum of 69 FPS is particularly notable as it shows the system can maintain a playable frame rate even under the heaviest load in the dataset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT ranks 1396 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This places the combo in the top 37.6% of all tested configurations, indicating a solidly above-average performance level for this specific game. The rank of 1396 is a holistic measure that incorporates all measured FPS data across resolutions and settings, providing a single comparative metric.

The rank of 1396 out of 3712 is noteworthy because it reflects the combo's consistent performance across the entire test suite. While the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile against all CPUs and the GPU ranks in the 67th percentile against all GPUs, their combined rank in Doom is slightly lower, at the 62.4th percentile. This suggests that Doom's engine is not perfectly optimized for this particular pairing, or that other combos with more powerful GPUs or CPUs achieve better aggregate results despite the individual component strengths.

The RX 7700 XT's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 has an average benchmark score of 22895, which is 1.5% higher than the RX 7700 XT's 22549. Conversely, the RX 7700 XT is 0.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (22435) and 1.7% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (22170). These small deltas indicate that the RX 7700 XT sits in a competitive performance band, and its actual in-game results in Doom will be heavily influenced by driver optimizations and the game's specific rendering paths.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a very tight grouping. The Intel Core i5-12600K has an identical average score of 27578, with a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is 0.2% slower at 27636, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 is 0.2% faster at 27535. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 5700X's performance is essentially tied with several other mid-range processors, meaning the CPU choice is unlikely to be a differentiator in Doom when paired with a GPU of this class.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. It operates at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. In terms of synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 13184 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1499 in single-core. Its PassMark multithread score is 26612, and its single-thread score is 3385. These figures place the CPU in the 79th percentile against all CPUs, indicating strong all-around performance.

For Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for this game, which was released in 2016 and does not heavily utilize more than a few threads. The single-core performance, evidenced by the Geekbench single-core score of 2016 and the PassMark single-thread score of 3385, is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, as game engines often have a primary thread that handles most of the work.

The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates at 1080p Low (264 FPS) would likely plateau at higher resolutions rather than dropping consistently. The fact that the frame rates scale almost linearly with pixel count indicates that the CPU has significant headroom. The Ryzen 7 5700X's boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with the Zen 3 architecture's efficient instruction pipeline, ensures that even at the highest frame rates recorded (264 FPS), the CPU can maintain adequate frame pacing.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache is another factor that contributes to its strong gaming performance. This cache size is well-suited for game workloads that frequently access the same data, reducing latency and improving overall throughput. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth, while not the fastest available, is sufficient for the CPU's needs in Doom, as the game's memory access patterns are not particularly bandwidth-intensive. The data confirms that this CPU is not holding back the RX 7700 XT in Doom, and its performance is effectively a non-factor in the final frame rates.