Doom

# Doom — AMD Ryzen 7 5800X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers an exceptional Doom experience, with measured frame rates that keep this 2016 FPS title firmly in high-refresh-rate territory across all tested configurations. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still maintains triple-digit average FPS even at 4K Ultra settings. This combo ranks in the 95th percentile among 1,681 tested combinations, confirming its position as a top-tier performer for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a predictable and healthy pattern of GPU limitation. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 361.7 FPS, dropping to 152.2 FPS at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 57.9% when pixel count increases roughly fourfold. This substantial drop indicates the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution climbs.

The scaling behavior across settings presets is consistent. At Ultra settings, the system delivers 254 FPS at 1080p, 164.4 FPS at 1440p, and 88.2 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 35.3%, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 46.4%. This slightly steeper decline at higher resolutions confirms that the RTX 5080's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, with no unexpected performance cliffs that would suggest driver or memory bottlenecks.

The Low settings curve shows the most extreme scaling: 361.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 273.2 FPS at 1440p (a 24.5% drop), then to 152.2 FPS at 4K (a 44.3% drop from 1440p). This pattern suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU remains the limiting factor at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU without significant constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo achieves rank 82 out of 1,681 tested combinations, placing it in the top 4.9% of all systems tested for Doom. This ranking reflects the strength of both components: the RTX 5080 sits in the 89th percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 5800X ranks in the 84th percentile among all CPUs. The combination of two above-average components produces a result that exceeds both individual percentiles, indicating synergistic performance with no obvious bottleneck.

The GPU's nearest rivals help contextualize its performance. The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59,188 is 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M (58,239), 2.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A580 (57,756), and 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (57,661). The data shows the RTX 5080 trails only the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326) by 1.9% among these comparable parts. For the CPU, the Ryzen 7 5800X's average score of 27,606 is 0.3% ahead of the Ryzen 7 5800 (27,535) and 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i5-12600KF (27,827), while sitting 0.4% behind both the Ryzen 5 8500GE (27,708) and Intel Core i7-13700H (27,716).

These margins are tight, but in Doom specifically, the combination's high ranking suggests that the RTX 5080's substantial pixel throughput and the 5800X's strong single-thread performance create a well-balanced pairing that maximizes frame rates across all settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports Ultra settings at 1080p and 1440p as the optimal experience, with both configurations exceeding 164 FPS. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the system delivers 254 FPS, which is 29.4% higher than the 164.4 FPS seen at 2560x1440 Ultra. For players with 1440p displays, Ultra settings provide a silky-smooth experience well above the 144Hz refresh rate typical of modern monitors.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts to High settings. The 110.4 FPS average at 3840x2160 High is 25.2% higher than the 88.2 FPS at Ultra, while still delivering a visually rich experience. The step from Medium (128.8 FPS) to High (110.4 FPS) costs 14.3% performance but likely provides meaningful visual improvements. Low settings at 4K (152.2 FPS) are only necessary for those targeting 144Hz at 4K, though the visual compromise may not be worth the 37.9% frame rate gain over High.

For competitive play at 1080p, Low settings (361.7 FPS) offer a 14.1% advantage over Medium (345.3 FPS) and a 42.4% advantage over Ultra (254 FPS). Given that Doom's fast-paced combat benefits from high refresh rates, players with 240Hz or 360Hz displays may prefer Low settings at 1080p, while those with 144Hz displays can comfortably use Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates scale from 361.7 FPS at Low, to 345.3 FPS at Medium, 312.8 FPS at High, and 254 FPS at Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium is only 4.5%, suggesting these presets impose similar GPU loads. The jump from Medium to High costs 9.4%, while High to Ultra costs an additional 18.8%. This indicates that Ultra settings at 1080p introduce rendering features that significantly increase GPU workload.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. Low delivers 273.2 FPS, Medium 240.4 FPS, High 205.9 FPS, and Ultra 164.4 FPS. The gaps between consecutive presets are 12.0% (Low to Medium), 14.4% (Medium to High), and 20.1% (High to Ultra). The widening gaps at higher resolutions suggest that the more demanding presets scale their GPU workload super-linearly with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the results are 152.2 FPS at Low, 128.8 FPS at Medium, 110.4 FPS at High, and 88.2 FPS at Ultra. The percentage drops between presets are 15.4% (Low to Medium), 14.3% (Medium to High), and 20.1% (High to Ultra). Notably, the High-to-Ultra gap remains consistent at 20.1% across both 1440p and 4K, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional workload scales proportionally with resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 features 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units, with a boost clock of 2617 MHz. Its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Doom's 2016-era texture requirements. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 56.28 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s indicate substantial raw compute capability that aligns with the measured frame rates.

The RTX 5080's benchmark results show strong DirectX performance, with a Passmark G3D score of 36,565 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 264,461. The GPU's Vulkan score of 257,942 is particularly relevant for Doom, which supports the Vulkan API. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,637 further confirms the GPU's capability in modern rendering workloads, though Doom's older engine may not fully exploit all of the Blackwell architecture's features.

The GPU's 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 59,188, places it well above the mid-range segment. The measured frame rates in Doom reflect this: even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 88.2 FPS, which is a demanding configuration for any GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X provides 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 (Vermeer) architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache and 4,150 million transistors on a 7 nm process deliver strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 943 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,327.

For Doom, the CPU's single-thread performance is critical, as the game's engine typically relies heavily on one or a few threads for main game logic. The 5800X's 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,846 and 4-thread score of 3,543 indicate that the CPU can handle lightly-threaded workloads with ease. The multi-threaded scores (3DMark max threads at 7,578 and Cinebench R23 multi-core at 23,571) show that the CPU also has substantial headroom for any additional background tasks or game threads.

The CPU's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27,606, places it 0.3% ahead of the Ryzen 7 5800 and 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i5-12600KF. This performance level is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5080 in Doom, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling patterns that show GPU limitation rather than CPU limitation at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 Ultra delivers 254 FPS, 2560x1440 Ultra delivers 164.4 FPS, and 3840x2160 Ultra delivers 88.2 FPS. For the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, 1440p Ultra is recommended, as it exceeds 144Hz while maintaining high detail.

Q: How much performance is lost by using Ultra settings instead of Low at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra settings produce 254 FPS compared to 361.7 FPS at Low — a performance reduction of 29.8%. This trade-off costs roughly one-third of the frame rate for maximum visual fidelity.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Doom?

A: The frame rate scaling between 1080p and 4K indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 361.7 FPS, while at 4K Low it drops to 152.2 FPS — a 57.9% reduction. The CPU's strong single-thread performance allows the GPU to become the bottleneck.

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K 120Hz?

A: At 4K High settings, the system averages 110.4 FPS, which is below 120Hz. However, at 4K Medium it reaches 128.8 FPS, exceeding the 120Hz threshold. Players can use Medium settings to achieve 120Hz at 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59,188 is 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M (58,239), 2.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A580 (57,756), and 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (57,661), but 1.9% behind the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326).

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings deliver 240.4 FPS while High settings deliver 205.9 FPS — a 14.4% reduction. This suggests High settings add meaningful visual features at a moderate performance cost.