Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER reveals a clear pattern: resolution scaling has a substantial impact on performance, but the severity of that impact varies significantly with the selected graphics preset. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 211.9 FPS average, which drops to 138 FPS at 1440p and further to 72.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The scaling behavior changes character when moving to higher quality presets. At Ultra settings, the frame rate falls from 126.1 FPS at 1080p to 84.4 FPS at 1440p, then to 43.2 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling: it is less than half the 1080p Ultra figure, and the gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra (a 49% drop) is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra (a 33% drop). This nonlinear scaling suggests that at 4K Ultra, the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed hard, with the GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 throughput becoming the dominant constraint.

At Medium settings, the pattern holds: 185.4 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 64.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result is 65% lower than 1080p Medium. High settings show similar behavior with 158.5 FPS at 1080p, 103 FPS at 1440p, and 55.5 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that for 4K gaming, even Low settings (72.7 FPS) barely cross the 60 FPS threshold, and any preset above Low will struggle to maintain smooth gameplay at that resolution. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads boosting to 4.80 GHz, is not the bottleneck in these scenarios; the consistent scaling across all presets points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific combination of CPU and GPU, the measured data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience at each resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 158.5 FPS, which is only 27% below the Low preset's 211.9 FPS but offers substantially better visual quality. Medium at 185.4 FPS sits between them, but High provides the best balance of visual fidelity and headroom above typical 144 Hz refresh rates. Ultra at 126.1 FPS remains playable and is the choice for maximum visual quality, but the 20% drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains for competitive play.

At 1440p, the High preset stands out with 103 FPS average, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and within reach of 100 Hz displays. Medium at 117 FPS offers even more headroom, while Low at 138 FPS is clearly GPU-bound rather than CPU-bound, as evidenced by the diminishing returns when dropping from Medium to Low. Ultra at 84.4 FPS is still smooth but represents a 18% reduction from High. For most users at 1440p, High is the recommended preset because it delivers 103 FPS while maintaining the visual quality that justifies the resolution upgrade over 1080p.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset achieves 72.7 FPS, Medium drops to 64.3 FPS, and High falls to 55.5 FPS, with Ultra at 43.2 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires a trade-off: Low settings for smooth 70+ FPS, or Medium for a compromise that stays above 60 FPS. High and Ultra are not recommended for 4K because they fall below the 60 FPS threshold, which is the minimum for a responsive first-person shooter experience. The recommendation across all resolutions is High for 1080p and 1440p, and Medium for 4K if visual quality matters more than the marginal FPS gain from Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with maximum settings?

A: No. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields only 43.2 FPS average, which is well below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 55.5 FPS also falls short, so 4K gaming requires Medium (64.3 FPS) or Low (72.7 FPS) for playable performance.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: 1440p is the optimal resolution. At High settings, the combo achieves 103 FPS, which is smooth and visually rich. At 1080p, the 158.5 FPS High result is excellent but the resolution does not leverage the system's full capability. 4K requires significant quality compromises.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 211.9 FPS result suggests the CPU with its 8 cores and 16 threads can push very high frame rates. However, the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (211.9 to 126.1 FPS) indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase, since the CPU workload remains relatively constant while GPU load rises.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: Ultra delivers 84.4 FPS compared to High's 103 FPS, an 18% reduction. The visual difference between these two presets in Doom is typically modest, so High is the better choice for maintaining higher frame rates at 1440p.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 185.4 FPS at 1080p Medium. This is 27 FPS higher than High and 85 FPS higher than Ultra, making Medium a strong option for high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p.

Q: Does this combo support ray tracing in Doom?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has 40 RT cores, but Doom's measured FPS data does not include ray tracing benchmarks. The game's original 2016 release predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so the available data reflects traditional rasterization performance only.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results range from 211.9 FPS at Low settings to 126.1 FPS at Ultra. The intermediate presets show a clear progression: Medium at 185.4 FPS and High at 158.5 FPS. The spread of 85.8 FPS between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates the GPU's sensitivity to settings changes at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 138 FPS for Low, 117 FPS for Medium, 103 FPS for High, and 84.4 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 53.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to hit its performance ceiling. The step from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 21 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 14 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 18.6 FPS. This pattern shows diminishing returns at higher settings but not a dramatic cliff.

At 3840x2160, the results are 72.7 FPS for Low, 64.3 FPS for Medium, 55.5 FPS for High, and 43.2 FPS for Ultra. The total spread is 29.5 FPS, the smallest of all resolutions, confirming that 4K is where the RTX 2070 SUPER's capabilities are most stretched. The relative differences between settings grow at 4K: Ultra is 41% slower than Low, compared to 40% slower at 1440p and 40% slower at 1080p. This consistency suggests the GPU's architecture scales predictably with workload, but the absolute numbers at 4K are too low for high-refresh gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1026 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places the system in the lower portion of the database, at roughly the 39th percentile of all combinations tested for this game. The ranking reflects the GPU's age and position in the performance hierarchy, as the RTX 2070 SUPER scores 18169 in Passmark G3D and sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with a 2.5% lead over the AMD Radeon RX 5700 and a 0.9% lead over the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z.

The CPU's performance is comparatively stronger. The Ryzen 7 5800XT achieves an average benchmark score of 29774, placing it at the 86th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (0.1% higher score), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (0.3% lower), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (0.3% higher). This indicates the CPU is not the weak link in the pairing; rather, the GPU's 65th percentile standing drags the overall combo ranking down. In Doom specifically, the measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo can reach 211.9 FPS, which is competitive with higher-ranked systems. The ranking of 1026 out of 1681 is thus more indicative of the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions and settings than any CPU deficiency.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a Zen 3 (Vermeer) architecture processor built on TSMC's 7 nm process, with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz can boost to 4.80 GHz, and it features 32 MB of L3 cache. The 3DMark benchmarks show strong scaling from 2 threads (1879) to 8 threads (6141) and near-saturation at 16 threads (7683), indicating that the CPU can handle heavily threaded workloads. In Doom, which is not particularly CPU-intensive due to its 2016 release date, the 8-core configuration provides ample headroom even at high frame rates.

The measured FPS data supports this assessment. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 211.9 FPS, which requires the CPU to feed frames quickly. The Ryzen 7 5800XT's single-thread performance, indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3359 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3538, is sufficient for this task. The CPU's 16 threads ensure that background processes do not interfere with game performance, and the 4.80 GHz boost clock provides the latency sensitivity needed for fast-paced shooters.

The CPU's role becomes less critical at higher resolutions, where the GPU dominates the workload. At 4K Ultra, the 43.2 FPS result is far below what the CPU could theoretically support, confirming that the Ryzen 7 5800XT is not a bottleneck in any tested configuration. The 105 W TDP and AM4 socket compatibility make it a straightforward upgrade path for existing systems, and its 86th percentile ranking among all CPUs underscores its capability for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary determinant of this combo's gaming performance. Based on the Turing architecture and built on TSMC's 12 nm process, the GPU features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and the GPU boosts to 1770 MHz. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but not directly relevant to Doom's traditional rendering pipeline.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 18169 places it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (0.5% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (0.9% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (2.5% slower). The RTX 4060 Mobile is 2.3% faster, indicating that desktop and mobile parts from different generations can overlap in performance.

In Doom, the GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the GPU can deliver 126.1 FPS at Ultra, but this drops to 84.4 FPS at 1440p and 43.2 FPS at 4K. The 8 GB VRAM capacity, while sufficient for Doom's textures at these settings, is not the bottleneck; rather, the raw compute and memory bandwidth are stretched at 4K. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking, combined with the CPU's 86th percentile ranking, explains why the combo ranks 1026 out of 1681 in Doom — the GPU holds the system back in GPU-bound scenarios, while the CPU excels in CPU-light situations.