Doom

# Doom: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 produces a fascinating split personality in Doom. At 1080p, this combo delivers smooth, high-refresh gameplay, but as resolution climbs to 4K, the frame rate collapses to sub-60 territory. The data reveals a system where the GTX 1070, a GPU that ranks in the 51st percentile of all graphics cards, becomes the dominant constraint at higher resolutions, while the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 5800X3D — which sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs — provides ample headroom that never seems to be the limiting factor. This benchmark analysis examines how this pairing behaves across three resolutions and four quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about which component is in charge. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 96.8 FPS; stepping up to 1440p Ultra drops that to 60.6 FPS, a decline of roughly 37%. Pushing further to 4K Ultra yields just 35.7 FPS, which is a 63% reduction from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario — the Ryzen 7 5800X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than capable of feeding frames, but the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus simply cannot keep pace as pixel count explodes.

The trend across all settings is consistent. At Low settings, 1080p delivers 157.4 FPS, 1440p drops to 102.2 FPS, and 4K falls to 54.4 FPS. The percentage drops are similar across presets, suggesting that resolution scaling is nearly linear and independent of quality level. This linearity implies that the GTX 1070's raw fillrate and shading capacity are the bottleneck — not memory capacity or some other factor that would manifest differently at varying quality settings.

What is particularly revealing is that even at 4K Low, the system only manages 54.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the baseline for smooth play. The gap between 1440p and 4K at every setting is roughly 30-35 FPS, regardless of whether on Low or Ultra. This consistent cliff edge between 1440p and 4K strongly suggests that the GPU's 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth is being saturated at 4K, and no amount of quality reduction can fully compensate.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D brings substantial processing muscle to this pairing. With 8 cores, 16 threads, and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, it ranks in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26574. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-11900K (deltaPct 0.1%), AMD Ryzen 5 7600 (deltaPct -0.2%), and Intel Core i9-12900HK (deltaPct -0.4%) — all essentially tied in synthetic performance. In Doom, however, the CPU's role appears secondary; the measured FPS deltas between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution are entirely attributable to GPU workload changes.

The CPU's 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a notable feature for gaming, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24063 and single-core score of 3397 indicate strong per-thread performance. Yet the data shows that even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the system reaches 157.4 FPS — impressive but not CPU-limited territory. Doom's id Tech engine is known for scaling well with multiple threads, and the 5800X3D's 16 threads should handle any draw call or physics workload the game throws at it. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7299 and max-thread score of 7285 suggest that adding more threads beyond 16 yields negligible gains, which aligns with a game that's well-optimized for 8-core CPUs.

The fact that the FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 60.6 FPS (157.4 vs 96.8) while at 4K it's only 18.7 FPS (54.4 vs 35.7) further confirms the CPU is not the constraint. If the CPU were limiting, we'd expect the Low-to-Ultra gap to shrink at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work — but the opposite occurs. The CPU is providing a stable, high-performance foundation that the GPU simply cannot exploit at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the clear limiting factor in this configuration. Based on the Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process, this GPU features 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a boost clock of 1683 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's average benchmark score of 12331 places it in the 51st percentile of all graphics cards, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (deltaPct 0.7%) and GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (deltaPct -1.4%).

The GTX 1070's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for 1080p gaming, but the 4K results tell a different story. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 35.7 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for a fast-paced FPS like Doom. Even at 4K Low, the 54.4 FPS result is borderline. The GPU's DirectX 12 score of 48 in Passmark, compared to its DirectX 11 score of 100, suggests that the Pascal architecture may not be optimally efficient in modern API workloads, though Doom's Vulkan support could mitigate this.

The GTX 1070's memory configuration is particularly relevant here. With 8 GB of GDDR5, the card has sufficient capacity for Doom at any resolution, but the 256.3 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at 4K. The pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s is simply insufficient for 8.3 million pixels at 4K when combined with modern shading techniques. The GPU's boost clock of 1683 MHz is respectable for its era, but the architecture's age shows in the scaling patterns observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 157.4 FPS, Medium yields 134.6 FPS, High drops to 115.6 FPS, and Ultra manages 96.8 FPS. The spread of 60.6 FPS between Low and Ultra at this resolution indicates that the GPU has enough headroom to handle quality increases without collapsing. For competitive play, Low or Medium settings would easily drive a 144 Hz monitor, while Ultra remains smooth on a standard 60 Hz display.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings average 102.2 FPS, Medium hits 87 FPS, High achieves 76.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 60.6 FPS. The 1440p results show that this combo is right at the edge of high-refresh gaming — even Low settings can't quite sustain 120+ FPS, but all presets except Ultra clear the 60 FPS bar. The drop from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35% performance across all settings, consistent with the pixel count increase of 78%.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low settings average 54.4 FPS, Medium drops to 45.8 FPS, High manages 38.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35.7 FPS. No preset at 4K achieves 60 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to just 18.7 FPS. This narrowing suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that quality settings have diminishing impact — the card is simply running out of computational and bandwidth resources regardless of workload. The 4K results are playable only for less demanding titles or with significant resolution scaling enabled.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: No. The highest 4K result is 54.4 FPS at Low settings, with Ultra averaging just 35.7 FPS. All 4K presets fall short of 60 FPS, indicating the GTX 1070 cannot handle 4K in this game.

Q: What is the best resolution for high-refresh gameplay?

A: At 1080p, Low settings deliver 157.4 FPS and Ultra manages 96.8 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where the combo can drive a 144 Hz monitor. At 1440p, Low hits 102.2 FPS but Ultra drops to 60.6 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X3D's average benchmark score of 26574 is within 0.4% of the Intel Core i9-11900K, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, and Intel Core i9-12900HK. It ranks in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is the GTX 1070 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests partial bottlenecking. The 60.6 FPS difference between Low (157.4) and Ultra (96.8) at 1080p shows the GPU is working hard, but the high absolute frame rates indicate the CPU is not limiting performance.

Q: What GPU scores does the GTX 1070 achieve in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070's average benchmark score is 12331, placing it in the 51st percentile. Its Passmark G3D score is 13498, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 47395.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 1425th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the lower percentile of configurations despite the strong CPU.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p gaming, Ultra settings at 96.8 FPS provide the best visual quality while remaining above 60 FPS, making this the recommended choice for most players. Those with 144 Hz displays should consider High settings at 115.6 FPS or even Low at 157.4 FPS for maximum competitive advantage — the difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is 18.8 FPS, which is noticeable on high-refresh monitors.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts to Medium settings, which deliver 87 FPS and represent the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness. High at 76.8 FPS is also viable, but Ultra dips to 60.6 FPS, which is borderline for a fast-paced FPS where frame timing consistency matters. Low settings at 102.2 FPS are the choice for esports-focused players who prioritize frame rate over visuals.

For 4K, no preset is truly recommended for competitive play, but Low at 54.4 FPS is the most playable option. Medium at 45.8 FPS and High at 38.6 FPS are increasingly compromised, and Ultra at 35.7 FPS should be avoided unless the player values visual quality over gameplay smoothness. The data shows that at 4K, the GTX 1070 is simply out of its depth, and players should either reduce resolution or accept sub-60 FPS performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 1425th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the bottom 15% of all pairings. This low ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strength — the Ryzen 7 5800X3D's 83rd percentile standing suggests it should be capable of driving higher frame rates. However, the GTX 1070's 51st percentile ranking and the game's heavy GPU dependence at higher resolutions drag the combo down significantly.

The CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Core i9-11900K, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, and Intel Core i9-12900HK — all have nearly identical average benchmark scores within 0.4% of the 5800X3D. This suggests that swapping among these CPUs would produce negligible performance differences in Doom. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals — the Quadro K4200, GTX 880M, GTX 1650 SUPER, and Tesla K20Xm — are all within 1.7% of the GTX 1070's average score, indicating that this GPU sits in a tightly clustered performance tier.

The rank disparity between the components and the combo highlights a key insight: in Doom, the GPU is the overwhelming determinant of performance. A top-tier CPU paired with a mid-range GPU will rank poorly because the game's frame rates are governed by graphics processing at all resolutions above 1080p. Players looking to improve this combo's standing should prioritize GPU upgrades over CPU upgrades, as the data shows the 5800X3D has substantial headroom that the GTX 1070 cannot utilize.