Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Doom, but the data reveals a clear hierarchy where resolution dictates performance. At 1080p, the combo is exceptionally fast, but as pixel count climbs, the GPU becomes the primary limiter, and frame rates drop accordingly.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 144.8 FPS at 1080p to 94.7 FPS at 1440p, a drop of 50.1 FPS. Moving to 4K, the High preset average plummets to 47.7 FPS, which is a 97.1 FPS reduction from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates a shift in bottleneck from the CPU at lower resolutions to the GPU at higher ones.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings also widens dramatically with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (192.1 FPS) and Ultra (118.2 FPS) is 73.9 FPS. At 1440p, that spread narrows to 53.8 FPS (127.1 vs 73.3). At 4K, the spread tightens further to 27.0 FPS (67.1 vs 40.1). This narrowing suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s raw throughput is the dominant constraint, and reducing settings yields diminishing returns compared to the massive gains seen at 1080p.

The 4K numbers are telling. Even on Low settings, the system only manages 67.1 FPS, which is below the 144Hz refresh rate many gamers target. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 40.1 FPS, which is a significant compromise. The data suggests that 4K is only viable if you prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, and even then, the High preset’s 47.7 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay. For a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Low preset is the only option that clears the threshold.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7600 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip. Its memory configuration is a critical factor: 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This bandwidth is sufficient for Doom’s texture-heavy environments, but the 8 GB capacity could be a concern at higher resolutions, although the benchmark data does not directly measure VRAM usage. The GPU’s boost clock of 2655 MHz and game clock of 2250 MHz (with a base of 1720 MHz) are high for the class, and the 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance shows a strong peak throughput.

In the context of the benchmark results, the GPU’s role is dominant. The score of 16634 in Passmark G3D places it at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the RX 7600 XT (0.6% ahead), the RX 460 (0.8% ahead), and the RTX 3070 Mobile (1.3% behind). These small deltas indicate that the RX 7600 sits in a highly competitive performance tier. However, in Doom, the GPU’s limitations are clearly visible at 4K, where even the best settings fail to reach 60 FPS.

The GPU’s FP16 performance of 43.50 TFLOPS (2:1) is double its FP32 throughput, but Doom is not a compute-heavy title that would leverage this. The 64 ROPs and 128 TMUs are adequate for the game’s fill-rate demands, but the 128-bit memory bus is the likely culprit for the steep 4K performance cliff. The pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are respectable, yet the data shows that at 2160p, the card simply runs out of steam.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Only at the Low preset, which achieves 67.1 FPS. The High preset drops to 47.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.1 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain over 100 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 107.8 FPS, and Low hits 127.1 FPS. At 1920x1080, all presets except Ultra exceed 140 FPS, with High at 144.8 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The average FPS drops from 192.1 on Low to 118.2 on Ultra, a reduction of 73.9 FPS, representing a 38.5% decrease in frame rate.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. The transition from 1080p High (144.8 FPS) to 1440p High (94.7 FPS) shows a 50.1 FPS loss, which is a substantial hit that points to GPU-bound rendering.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its closest rival, the RX 7600 XT?

A: The RX 7600’s average benchmark score is 0.6% lower than the RX 7600 XT, placing them in the same performance tier. In Doom, this small delta would likely translate to a few frames per second at most.

Q: Should I use the Ultra preset at 1080p?

A: Yes, if you have a 120Hz monitor. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 118.2 FPS, which is above 120 FPS and provides a high-quality visual experience with a smooth frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear sweet spot for different hardware configurations. For a 1080p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate, the High preset is the optimal choice, delivering 144.8 FPS. This hits the refresh rate ceiling precisely and offers better visual fidelity than Medium (169.1 FPS) or Low (192.1 FPS), which exceed the monitor’s capability. The Ultra preset at 118.2 FPS is also viable on a 120Hz panel, but High provides a better balance.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point. At 107.8 FPS, it is well above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a good balance of visuals and speed. The High preset at 94.7 FPS is also excellent for a 100Hz monitor. The Low preset at 127.1 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rate is paramount, as the visual downgrade is noticeable.

At 4K, the situation changes drastically. The Low preset’s 67.1 FPS is the only option that approaches a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 56.9 FPS and High at 47.7 FPS are playable but will show judder on fast-moving scenes. The Ultra preset at 40.1 FPS should be avoided unless you are capturing screenshots. For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the practical choice, though it sacrifices most of the game’s visual richness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings. The Low preset achieves 192.1 FPS, Medium 169.1 FPS, High 144.8 FPS, and Ultra 118.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 73.9 FPS drop, showing that even the highest settings cannot push the frame rate below 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to assert itself. Low hits 127.1 FPS, Medium 107.8 FPS, High 94.7 FPS, and Ultra 73.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 53.8 FPS. This resolution is the best balance for the RX 7600, as it allows the CPU’s strong single-thread performance to still help push frame rates above 70 FPS even on Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the sole bottleneck. Low averages 67.1 FPS, Medium 56.9 FPS, High 47.7 FPS, and Ultra 40.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is only 27.0 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the limiting factor, not the settings. The frame rates at 4K are all below the 1440p results by a significant margin, confirming that this is a 1080p and 1440p class card.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is a Zen 4 (Raphael) part with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 4.50 GHz, boosting to 5.40 GHz. This high boost clock is crucial for Doom, which is a game that benefits from strong single-thread performance. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1090 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4281 are strong, and its Passmark single-thread score of 4190 places it in the top tier.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 34313 places it at the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13500, is only 0.4% behind, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is 0.8% behind. This indicates that the 7700X is a top performer, but its advantage over rivals is slim. In Doom, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with enough data to avoid bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

At 1080p with Low settings, the 192.1 FPS result is likely hitting a CPU limit, as the GPU is not stressed. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s of DDR5 memory bandwidth help maintain high frame rates. However, at 4K, the CPU’s performance becomes irrelevant, as the GPU’s 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is the bottleneck. The data shows that the 7700X is more than capable of handling Doom’s engine, ensuring that the RX 7600 is the sole performance limiter at higher resolutions.