Doom

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer), built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and reaches a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The processor's defining feature is its large 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is substantially larger than typical designs and directly benefits games that repeatedly access the same data sets, such as fast-paced FPS titles.

In this Doom configuration, the CPU's role is largely about maintaining high minimum frame rates and ensuring the GPU is fed with enough data to sustain high average FPS. The 5800X3D's multi-threaded performance is strong: it scores 14,317 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 11,765 in Geekbench multi-core. More telling for gaming, its 3DMark scores scale well with thread count — 7,299 with 16 threads and 7,285 at max threads — indicating that the CPU's performance does not degrade when all cores are utilized, which is relevant for modern game engines that can spawn many worker threads.

Single-thread performance is also robust, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 884 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,017. For a game like Doom, which relies on both high-frequency single-threaded tasks (game logic, physics) and multi-threaded rendering tasks, this balance is critical. The 5800X3D's PassMark physics score of 2,884 and integer math score of 88,608 further underscore its capability in compute-heavy scenarios that games generate.

The CPU's memory bandwidth is rated at 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4, and it supports ECC memory, which is not typical for consumer gaming CPUs but adds stability. With PCIe Gen 4 support and 20 lanes, the CPU can interface with the GPU at full bandwidth, which is important for Doom's streaming of textures and geometry.

Benchmark results indicate that the 5800X3D performs at the 80th percentile compared to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27,896. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (score 27,887, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i9-10900K (score 27,872, 0.1% delta), showing that the 5800X3D is competitive with high-end desktop and mobile parts from adjacent generations. The Intel Core i5-12600KF trails by 0.3% (score 27,799), while the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 leads by 0.1% (score 27,932). These small deltas indicate that for CPU-bound workloads, the 5800X3D is essentially at parity with these alternatives.

In the context of Doom, the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 301 FPS on average, which is a clear sign that the CPU can push very high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU's large cache helps with the game's level geometry and entity management, reducing memory latency and improving frame pacing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 1,054 out of 3,712 tested combos for Doom. This places the combo in the upper-middle tier of all tested configurations, which is notable given that many combos include newer hardware. The rank of 1,054 means that roughly 71.6% of tested combos perform better in this specific game, but it is important to contextualize this rank against the hardware's age — the CPU was released in April 2022 and the GPU in August 2020.

The combo's position suggests that while this pairing is capable, it is not at the very top of the leaderboard for Doom. Higher-ranked combos likely include more recent CPUs and GPUs with higher clock speeds and more cores. However, the rank must be interpreted with the understanding that Doom is an older title (released May 2016), and the game's engine may not fully utilize the latest hardware features, which could compress the performance differences between top-tier and mid-tier combos.

The data shows that the combo achieves its best performance at lower resolutions, where the CPU's strengths in cache and single-thread speed are most visible. At 1080p, the combo is likely limited by the GPU at higher settings, but at Low settings, the FPS reaches 301, suggesting the CPU can handle even very high frame rates. The rank of 1,054 out of 3,712 is a holistic measure that includes all settings and resolutions, weighting higher resolutions more heavily, where the GPU becomes the primary driver of performance.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the 5800X3D's aggregate performance is nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 6800U and Core i9-10900K, so the combo's rank is more strongly influenced by the RTX 3080's performance. The GPU's percentile rank of 68 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,172, indicates that the RTX 3080 is a solid performer but not exceptional in the broader database. This aligns with the combo's mid-tier rank.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p High settings, the combo averages 221 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops the average to 143 FPS, a reduction of 35.3%. At 4K High, the average falls to 78 FPS, a further 45.5% reduction from 1440p. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance headroom is not fully taxed until the pixel count increases.

The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 181 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 117 FPS (a 35.4% reduction), and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 63 FPS (a 46.2% reduction from 1440p). The consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~45% drop from 1440p to 4K across both High and Ultra settings strongly suggests that the RTX 3080's rendering throughput is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

At Low settings, the scaling tells a slightly different story. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 301 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 195 FPS (a 35.2% reduction), and at 4K Low, to 105 FPS (a 46.2% reduction from 1440p). The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical across settings indicates that the scaling is resolution-driven, not settings-driven. This is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates even at Low settings, but the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities limit performance as pixel count increases.

The data shows that the system is heavily GPU-limited at 4K across all settings, with the 63-105 FPS range indicating that the RTX 3080 cannot maintain high refresh rates at this resolution. At 1440p, the combo is capable of high refresh rates (117-195 FPS depending on settings), making it suitable for 144Hz displays. At 1080p, the combo exceeds 180 FPS even at Ultra, and reaches 301 FPS at Low, which is ideal for 240Hz or higher refresh rate monitors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 301 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 262 FPS, with a minimum of 223 FPS and maximum of 301 FPS observed. High settings average 221 FPS, while Ultra settings average 181 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 120 FPS, or 39.9% of the Low value, indicating that the GPU's shading workload significantly impacts performance even at this resolution.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high but show a clear step down. Low settings average 195 FPS, Medium averages 170 FPS (with a minimum of 144 FPS and maximum of 195 FPS), High averages 143 FPS, and Ultra averages 117 FPS. The transition from Low to Ultra at 1440p represents a 78 FPS reduction, or 40% of the Low value, which is consistent with the 1080p scaling.

At 4K, the combo is firmly in the 60-105 FPS range. Low settings average 105 FPS, Medium averages 92 FPS (with a minimum of 78 FPS and maximum of 106 FPS), High averages 78 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The Ultra setting at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS on average, though the Medium setting's minimum of 78 FPS indicates that frame pacing might have occasional dips.

The data shows that the Medium presets at each resolution provide the most balanced experience, with the 1080p Medium having a minimum of 223 FPS, 1440p Medium having a minimum of 144 FPS, and 4K Medium having a minimum of 78 FPS. These minimums are all above typical refresh rate thresholds (144Hz and 60Hz), suggesting that Medium settings are the safest choice for consistent performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is based on the Ampere architecture (GA102 chip), manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process with 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, with a TDP of 320 W. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s, which is ample for Doom's textures and geometry at all tested resolutions.

The RTX 3080 has 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. It also includes 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, though Doom does not use ray tracing, so the primary workload falls on the shading units and TMUs. The GPU's pixel rate is 164.2 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 465.1 GTexel/s, which are the key metrics for a game like Doom that relies heavily on texture sampling and pixel fill.

The GPU's FP32 performance is 29.77 TFLOPS, which is substantial for a 2020-era card. In benchmark tests, the RTX 3080 scores 25,086 in PassMark G3D and 14,397 in PassMark GPU Compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 4,407, and Geekbench Vulkan score is 33,620. These scores place the GPU at the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,172.

The GPU's nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the NVIDIA P106-100 (score 23,249, -0.3% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (score 23,250, -0.3% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (score 23,273, -0.4% delta), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (score 23,276, -0.4% delta). These deltas are all within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's score, indicating that the GPU's aggregate performance is closely matched by these parts, though the RTX 3080 has significantly higher memory bandwidth and shading resources, which the aggregate score does not fully capture.

In Doom, the GPU's role is dominant at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that from 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops by approximately 65% at any given setting, which is consistent with the GPU being the primary bottleneck. The RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for Doom at 4K Ultra, as the game's textures are not excessively memory-hungry by modern standards. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s ensures that texture streaming at 4K does not cause stuttering, as evidenced by the 4K Medium minimum FPS of 78.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 262 FPS with a minimum of 223 FPS, which is well above any refresh rate threshold and ensures smooth gameplay without any frame drops. At 1440p Medium, the average is 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS, which exactly matches the refresh rate of many high-end monitors, providing a consistent 144Hz experience. At 4K Medium, the average is 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and suitable for most displays.

The High preset is also viable, but it introduces a noticeable FPS penalty. At 1080p High, the average drops to 221 FPS, which is still high but 15.7% lower than Medium. At 1440p High, the average is 143 FPS, which is just below the 144Hz threshold, meaning some frame drops may be perceptible. At 4K High, the average is 78 FPS, which is playable but not as smooth as Medium.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding and is only recommended for 1080p use. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 181 FPS, which is still high. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 117 FPS, which is below 144Hz. At 4K Ultra, the average is 63 FPS, which is just above 60 FPS but may experience occasional dips below that threshold, as the Medium preset's minimum of 78 FPS suggests that Ultra will have lower minimums.

The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for marginal performance gains. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 301 FPS, but this is only 14.9% higher than Medium (262 FPS), and the visual degradation is significant. At 4K Low, the average is 105 FPS, which is only 14.1% higher than Medium (92 FPS), making the trade-off unfavorable.

For the best experience, the data supports using Medium settings at 1440p as the sweet spot, as it provides 170 FPS average with a 144 FPS minimum, which is ideal for 144Hz monitors. For 4K users, Medium is the only setting that guarantees a minimum above 60 FPS (78 FPS), making it the safest choice.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo in Doom?

A: The maximum average FPS is 301, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 63, which is above 60, but the minimum FPS is not listed for this setting, so occasional dips below 60 cannot be ruled out.

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

A: The combo ranks 1,054 out of 3,712 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p High settings?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor, as the FPS drops from 221 at 1080p High to 143 at 1440p High (a 35.3% reduction), which is consistent with GPU-bound scaling.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS at 3840x2160 Medium is 78, with a maximum of 106 and an average of 92.

Q: How does the CPU's aggregate performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 27,896, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i9-10900K (27,872) and 0% different from the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27,887).