Doom

# FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X compare to its closest rivals in overall CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X scores 27,606 in average benchmark score, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. It is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27,535), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27,708) and Intel Core i7-13700H (27,716), and 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i5-12600KF (27,827). The deltas are tight, meaning these processors are essentially equivalent in aggregate performance.

Q: What is the strongest benchmark result for the Ryzen 7 5800X?

A: The highest single score comes from Cinebench R23 multi-core at 23,571 points. The processor also shows strong results in PassMark multi-thread (27,732) and Cinebench R20 multi-core (9,899). These numbers highlight the CPU's multi-threading capability, which aligns with its 8-core, 16-thread configuration.

Q: How does the RX 580's GPU benchmark standing look relative to its peers?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13,559, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. It is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13,564, 0% delta), 0.1% ahead of the GTX 950 (13,549), 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (13,416), and 1.1% behind the NVIDIA P106-090 (13,716). This puts the card in the lower-middle tier of the GPU landscape.

Q: Which measured FPS row shows the largest gap between adjacent settings?

A: At 2560x1440, moving from High (51.4 FPS) to Ultra (39.9 FPS) represents an 11.5 FPS drop, while Low (68.9 FPS) to Medium (58.7 FPS) is a 10.2 FPS difference. At 4K, the Low-to-Medium gap is 7.8 FPS (38.3 to 30.5), and Medium-to-High is 1.4 FPS (30.5 to 29.1). The largest relative drop occurs at 1440p going from High to Ultra, which is a 22.4% reduction.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the RX 580 ranks 1,538 out of 1,681 tested combos for Doom. This places the system in the bottom 8.5% of all configurations tested, indicating that while the components are competent individually, the pairing is not optimized for this particular game.

Q: Does the RX 580 use AMD's newer RDNA architecture?

A: No, the RX 580 is based on the older GCN 4.0 architecture (chip codename Polaris 20) built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It features 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GPU's peak FP32 performance is 6.175 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 6.175 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a Zen 3 (Vermeer) processor with 8 physical cores and 16 threads, base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This is a desktop-class chip on the AMD Socket AM4 platform with dual-channel DDR4 memory support and a 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth. The CPU's 32 MB L3 cache and 4,150 million transistors on a 74 mm² die (7 nm TSMC process) provide substantial compute headroom for modern games.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The 5800X's single-thread performance is strong for its generation — it scores 943 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,397 in Cinebench R20 single-core — which is critical for game engines that rely on a few high-frequency threads. The multi-thread results (7,578 in 3DMark max threads, 23,571 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) suggest the CPU can also handle background tasks without bottlenecking.

However, the data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 101.6 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it falls to 64.1 FPS — a 37.5% drop that is far larger than any CPU-bound scaling would produce. The GPU is clearly the constraint. The 5800X's percentile rank (84th) versus the RX 580's (53rd) reinforces this: the CPU is far stronger relative to its peers than the GPU is relative to its own class.

The CPU's 16 threads and 4.70 GHz boost clock mean that even in heavy combat scenarios with many enemies on screen, the processor should maintain consistent frame pacing. The measured FPS data shows no min FPS values, so we cannot verify frame-time stability, but the average FPS figures suggest the CPU is never the bottleneck — the GPU's 6.175 TFLOPS of compute throughput is what ultimately caps performance.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Ryzen 7 5800X and RX 580 ranks 1,538 out of 1,681 tested system combinations for Doom. This is a bottom-tier placement, suggesting that this pairing is mismatched for this game's demands. The 5800X is a high-end CPU (84th percentile), while the RX 580 sits near the median (53rd percentile). This creates a significant imbalance where the CPU's potential is largely untapped.

To contextualize the rank: with 1,681 total combos, the 1,538th position means only 143 configurations performed worse. This places the system in the lowest 8.5% of all tested setups. Given that Doom is a well-optimized FPS title (released in 2016) that scales well across hardware, this low rank suggests the RX 580 is the primary bottleneck. The GPU's average benchmark score of 13,559 (53rd percentile) is simply insufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming at demanding settings.

The rank also implies that many cheaper or older CPUs paired with better GPUs would outperform this combo. The 5800X's strength is wasted when paired with a GPU that cannot translate CPU headroom into higher FPS. In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals (all within 0.8% of its average score) would likely produce nearly identical results in this pairing, as the GPU is the limiting factor.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows playable performance across most settings. Low preset delivers 101.6 FPS, Medium yields 88.3 FPS, High produces 73.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 64.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 37.5% reduction, which is substantial but still keeps the game above 60 FPS at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings produce 68.9 FPS, Medium drops to 58.7 FPS, High falls to 51.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 39.9 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra reduction is 42.1%, showing that higher resolutions amplify the GPU's limitations. Only Low and Medium settings maintain playable frame rates above 55 FPS.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system struggles. Low settings yield 38.3 FPS, Medium produces 30.5 FPS, High manages 29.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 25.1 FPS. All 4K results are below 40 FPS, making the game effectively unplayable at this resolution unless the user accepts significant visual compromises. The Low-to-Ultra drop is 34.5%, but even the best case at Low is below the 60 FPS threshold.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: at each resolution, the gap between Medium and High is smaller than the gap between High and Ultra. For example, at 1440p, Medium-to-High is 7.3 FPS, while High-to-Ultra is 11.5 FPS. This suggests Ultra settings impose a disproportionately heavy load on the GPU's 32 ROPs and 144 TMUs.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a Polaris 20 GPU built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1257 MHz and boost clock of 1340 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, delivering 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate and 193.0 GTexel/s texture rate.

In Doom, the GPU is the clear performance bottleneck. The evidence is in the resolution scaling: when moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, FPS drops from 73.9 to 51.4 (a 30.4% reduction), and from 1440p to 4K at High, it drops further to 29.1 (a 43.4% reduction). These are GPU-bound scaling patterns, where the fill rate and memory bandwidth become increasingly strained.

The RX 580's 256.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest by modern standards, and at 4K, the 8 GB frame buffer is likely under pressure with Ultra textures. The 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for high-fidelity rendering at higher resolutions. The GPU's 53rd percentile ranking (average score 13,559) places it just above entry-level, and its nearest rivals (GTX 570, GTX 950) are equally dated.

The GPU's API support includes DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which is relevant because Doom uses the Vulkan API. The 1.3 Vulkan support means the GPU can leverage modern rendering features, but the underlying hardware limits the benefits. The GPU's 185 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this class, but the performance per watt is clearly behind newer architectures.

# Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data suggests prioritizing Medium settings at 1080p as the sweet spot. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 88.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This is only 13.3 FPS lower than Low (101.6 FPS) but provides noticeably better visual quality. High settings at 1080p (73.9 FPS) are also viable, but Ultra (64.1 FPS) dips closer to the 60 FPS line, risking frame drops in intense scenes.

At 1440p, Medium settings (58.7 FPS) are the recommended starting point, though users seeking consistent 60+ FPS should consider Low (68.9 FPS). High settings (51.4 FPS) are borderline, and Ultra (39.9 FPS) should be avoided. The 1440p data shows that the GPU's 32 ROPs struggle with the increased pixel count, making Ultra settings particularly punishing.

At 4K, no settings preset achieves 60 FPS. Low (38.3 FPS) is the only option that approaches playability, and even then, users will experience noticeable stutter. Medium (30.5 FPS) and High (29.1 FPS) are nearly identical, suggesting a fill-rate bottleneck that preset changes cannot overcome. Ultra (25.1 FPS) is effectively unplayable.

The measured data indicates that Medium at 1080p offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance, delivering 88.3 FPS while maintaining the GPU's 53rd-percentile hardware within its comfort zone. For users with 1440p monitors, Low settings are the pragmatic choice to stay above 60 FPS.

# Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the system goes from 101.6 FPS at 1080p to 68.9 FPS at 1440p (a 32.2% reduction) and then to 38.3 FPS at 4K (a 44.4% reduction from 1440p). At High settings, the progression is 73.9 → 51.4 → 29.1 FPS, representing 30.4% and 43.4% drops respectively.

These scaling patterns are characteristic of a GPU-bound system. When the resolution increases, the pixel count grows exponentially (1080p to 4K is 4x the pixels), and the GPU's 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's role in resolution scaling is minimal — the 5800X has ample headroom to handle draw calls at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect FPS to remain relatively flat across resolutions, which is clearly not the case.

The data also shows that the gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p in percentage terms. This suggests that the GPU's 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 32 ROPs are particularly strained at 4K, where the frame buffer demands are highest. The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory is sufficient in capacity, but the bandwidth is insufficient for high-texture workloads at 4K.

The resolution scaling implies that users seeking higher resolutions must make substantial sacrifices in settings. Dropping from Ultra to Low at 4K only recovers 13.2 FPS (25.1 to 38.3), which is far less than the 37.5 FPS recovery at 1080p (64.1 to 101.6). This confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck at all measured resolutions, and the 5800X's strengths are never fully utilized. The system is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver playable frame rates across most settings.