Doom

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 70th out of 1,681 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the top 4.2% of all tested systems. This is a strong position, though not at the very top, which reflects the balance between the CPU's mid-range standing and the GPU's near-flagship performance. The CPU itself sits at the 83rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks at the 91st percentile among all graphics cards. The combination leverages the GPU's high percentile more heavily, as Doom's frame rates scale significantly with graphics hardware.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4090 shows a Passmark G3D score of 38,194, placing it just 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40 in average benchmark scores. The CPU's average benchmark score of 26,214 is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-11900KF and the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, indicating that the processor is not a bottleneck in most scenarios. The combo's rank of 70 suggests that the RTX 4090 boosts the system well above what the CPU alone would achieve, as the GPU's raw compute power (82.58 TFLOPS FP32) dominates Doom's rendering workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for this combination. At 1920x1080, every preset delivers frame rates well above 240 FPS, with Low hitting 353.4 FPS, Medium at 335.9 FPS, High at 317.2 FPS, and Ultra at 266.3 FPS. The differences between presets are relatively small at this resolution, so the Ultra preset remains viable for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness, as even the lowest Ultra figure exceeds 260 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low settings produce 287.2 FPS, Medium drops to 252.7 FPS, High reaches 213.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 171.1 FPS. All presets remain above 144 FPS, which suits high-refresh-rate monitors. For competitive play, Medium or Low offers headroom above 250 FPS, while High still provides a comfortable margin over 200 FPS. Ultra remains playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing might matter for esports titles.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a steeper decline. Low settings deliver 157.4 FPS, Medium drops to 134.8 FPS, High falls to 113.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 92.4 FPS. The High preset still exceeds 100 FPS, which is adequate for most displays, but Ultra dips below 100 FPS. For 4K gaming, the High preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate, as the 113.2 FPS average remains fluid while the jump from High to Ultra costs 20.8 FPS (18.4% reduction) for marginal visual gains. The Medium preset at 134.8 FPS is a reasonable alternative if higher refresh rates are prioritized over texture detail.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for Doom at 1080p?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, even the Ultra preset achieves 266.3 FPS, while Low reaches 353.4 FPS. This far exceeds typical 144Hz or 240Hz display refresh rates, so the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution.

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 produces 113.2 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay. Ultra drops to 92.4 FPS, making High the recommended choice for 4K.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance affect Doom?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X has a single-thread Passmark score of 3,385 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 921. These values support high frame rates at lower resolutions, as evidenced by 353.4 FPS at 1080p Low, where CPU overhead becomes more significant.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity impact Doom's performance?

A: The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. Doom is not a VRAM-intensive title at the presets tested, so the capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor, as the FPS scaling follows a consistent pattern across settings.

Q: What is the expected performance difference between 1440p and 4K?

A: At High settings, the jump from 2560x1440 (213.2 FPS) to 3840x2160 (113.2 FPS) represents a 46.9% reduction in frame rate. This reflects the increased pixel count and shading load at 4K.

Q: Can this combo maintain 144 FPS at 1440p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers 171.1 FPS, which exceeds the 144 FPS target. Even the most demanding preset at this resolution stays above the threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all presets. Low leads with 353.4 FPS, followed by Medium at 335.9 FPS, High at 317.2 FPS, and Ultra at 266.3 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 87.1 FPS, or 24.6% lower at Ultra. This indicates that the RTX 4090 is not heavily taxed at this resolution, and the CPU begins to assert more influence on the upper limits.

At 2560x1440, the ordering remains consistent: Low at 287.2 FPS, Medium at 252.7 FPS, High at 213.2 FPS, and Ultra at 171.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 116.1 FPS (40.4% reduction). The transition from High to Ultra costs 42.1 FPS, which is the largest single-preset drop at this resolution, suggesting that Ultra's additional effects impose a notable rendering burden.

At 3840x2160, the trend continues but with lower absolute values. Low produces 157.4 FPS, Medium 134.8 FPS, High 113.2 FPS, and Ultra 92.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 65.0 FPS (41.3% reduction). Interestingly, the percentage gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (41.3%) is nearly identical to that at 1440p (40.4%), indicating that the relative cost of higher presets remains stable as resolution increases. The absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra (92.4 FPS) are the only measured values below 100 FPS, making this the sole scenario where the combo falls short of high-refresh-rate targets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, with its Passmark G3D score of 38,194 placing it at the 91st percentile among all GPUs. The card's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, which provides ample data throughput for Doom's textures and geometry. The GPU's base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz enable sustained high frame rates, with the memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

The RTX 4090's architecture, Ada Lovelace, includes 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, which translate to a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. In Doom, these specifications allow the GPU to process the game's fast-paced rendering demands efficiently. The FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is particularly relevant, as Doom's Vulkan-based engine leverages compute shaders for various effects. The GPU's average benchmark score of 66,473 is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and 0.5% ahead of the Tesla P40, though those are workstation cards; the RTX 4090's gaming-oriented design shows in its measured FPS results.

The measured FPS data reveals that the GPU scales predictably with resolution. At 1080p High, the card achieves 317.2 FPS, which drops to 113.2 FPS at 4K High—a 64.3% reduction. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is fully utilized at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the CPU becomes a more significant factor. The 24 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond Doom's requirements, as evidenced by the consistent performance across presets without any indication of memory-related stutters.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X provides 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The processor's 3DMark single-thread score of 921 and Passmark single-thread score of 3,385 indicate solid per-core performance, which is crucial for Doom's game logic and draw-call processing. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, contributing to consistent frame pacing.

In multi-threaded workloads, the 5700X achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22,620 and a Passmark multithread score of 26,612. While Doom is not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's 16 threads ensure that background tasks do not interfere with game performance. The CPU's percentile rank of 83 among all processors places it in the upper tier, though its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-11900KF (0.1% higher avg score) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (0.2% lower avg score), indicating that the 5700X is competitive with newer and older options.

The CPU's role becomes more visible at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 353.4 FPS, which is only 18.9% higher than at 4K Low (157.4 FPS). This smaller gap at Low settings suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance begins to cap the frame rate at 1080p, where the GPU has spare capacity. The 5700X's 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,821 and 4-thread score of 3,512 indicate that the processor can handle the game's primary thread plus auxiliary threads, but the 353.4 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low likely reflects CPU limitations rather than GPU constraints.