Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a dominant performance profile in Doom, with the data showing a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions and a CPU-limited ceiling at 1080p. This combination ranks in the top 22.4% of all tested configurations, making it a high-tier choice for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, but the scaling is not perfectly linear. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 252 FPS at 1920x1080 to 159.2 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 36.8%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average drops to 86.5 FPS, which is 65.7% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the RX 7900 XT’s rendering workload is scaling heavily with pixel count.

The pattern holds across all settings presets. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 201 FPS at 1080p to 129.9 FPS at 1440p (a 35.4% loss), and then to 70.8 FPS at 4K (a 64.8% loss from 1080p). The delta between 1440p and 4K is consistently around 45-50% for every preset, suggesting a consistent GPU compute and memory bandwidth limitation. Notably, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller in percentage terms than the gap between 1440p and 4K, reinforcing that the graphics card becomes the primary constraint as resolution climbs.

The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU has headroom, as the frame rates are exceptionally high, but the GPU still dictates the final output. At 4K, the GPU is unequivocally the limiting component, with the CPU’s role diminishing to a supporting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific CPU-GPU pairing achieves a combo rank of 376 out of 1,681 configurations, placing it in the top 22.4% of all systems. This is a strong result for a high-refresh-rate 1440p or entry-level 4K gaming setup. The ranking is not surprising given the individual component performance. The CPU sits at the 89th percentile against all CPUs, and the GPU sits at the 82nd percentile against all GPUs, indicating both parts are well above average.

The combination’s ranking is further contextualized by the nearest rival scores. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 34,313 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-13500 (34,175, a 0.4% delta) and the Intel Core i7-12800HX (34,136, a 0.5% delta). This suggests that the Ryzen 7 7700X is on par with those chips in synthetic tests, but the in-game results here are also influenced by the GPU. The GPU’s average score of 38,358 is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38,349, 0% delta) and slightly ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (38,225, 0.3% delta). This means the graphics performance is at the very top of the tested tier, even rivaling newer mobile parts.

The practical implication is that this pairing is well-balanced for Doom, avoiding a severe bottleneck in either direction. The high combo rank indicates that users can expect a smooth experience without needing to overclock or compromise on settings to achieve playable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, the High preset at 252 FPS is the sweet spot, as it provides a massive frame rate advantage over Ultra (201 FPS) while likely offering a negligible visual difference in a fast-paced FPS. The Low preset at 336.8 FPS is overkill for most monitors and sacrifices visual fidelity for an unnecessary margin.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 189.9 FPS, which is an excellent balance. It is 19.3% faster than High (159.2 FPS) and 46.2% faster than Ultra (129.9 FPS). For 1440p high-refresh-rate panels (165Hz or 240Hz), Medium is the recommended choice to fully utilize the display’s capabilities. If a user prefers maximum visual quality and has a 120Hz monitor, the Ultra preset at 129.9 FPS is still viable.

At 4K, the situation changes drastically. The High preset at 86.5 FPS is the best option for a smooth experience, as it is 22.2% faster than Ultra (70.8 FPS). The Medium preset at 101.3 FPS is also a strong contender, offering a 17.1% improvement over High. For 60Hz displays, the Ultra preset at 70.8 FPS is playable, but the data suggests that High or Medium is preferable for maintaining a higher framerate buffer. The Low preset at 118.2 FPS is the only way to approach 120 FPS at this resolution, but it comes with significant visual compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the average frames per second recorded for each configuration.

At 1920x1080, the results are:

• Low: 336.8 FPS
• Medium: 296.9 FPS
• High: 252 FPS
• Ultra: 201 FPS

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 220.6 FPS
• Medium: 189.9 FPS
• High: 159.2 FPS
• Ultra: 129.9 FPS

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 118.2 FPS
• Medium: 101.3 FPS
• High: 86.5 FPS
• Ultra: 70.8 FPS

The data shows a consistent hierarchy: Low is always the fastest, followed by Medium, High, and finally Ultra. The relative performance gap between Low and Ultra widens with resolution. At 1080p, Ultra is 40.3% slower than Low. At 1440p, that gap grows to 41.1%. At 4K, Ultra is 40.1% slower than Low. This consistency suggests the settings are scaling uniformly across resolutions, with the GPU’s shader and memory load increasing proportionally.

The jump from Medium to High is significant at every resolution, typically costing 15-20% performance. The jump from High to Ultra is similarly demanding, costing roughly 20-25% performance. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces expensive effects that heavily tax the GPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of the performance differences seen across resolutions. Its specifications—20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth—provide the necessary throughput for high-resolution textures and effects. The 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and 5376 shading units are substantial, but the data shows they are the limiting factor at 4K.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also relevant. The base clock is 1387 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The memory runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). These clocks allow the card to maintain high utilization, but the frame rate drops at 4K indicate that raw compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 38,358 places it in the 82nd percentile, and its nearest rival, the RTX 5080 Mobile, has an identical score (0% delta), confirming that this is a top-tier graphics solution.

The 20 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in Doom at these settings, as even the 4K Ultra preset runs without issue. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s are high enough to handle the game’s demands, but the data suggests that the card’s theoretical limits are reached at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls below 71.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X provides a solid foundation for this GPU, but its influence on the final frame rates is secondary at higher resolutions. With 8 cores and 16 threads running at a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth) ensure low latency and high throughput for game logic and physics.

At 1080p, the CPU’s performance is more visible. The frame rates exceed 200 FPS in all presets, and the delta between High (252 FPS) and Low (336.8 FPS) is 33.7%, indicating that the CPU has headroom to process frames faster, but the GPU’s output limit is still the bottleneck. The CPU’s benchmark scores support this: a single-thread score of 4,281 in Cinebench R23 and a multi-core score of 30,325 place it well above average. The 3DMark scores (e.g., 8,859 for 16 threads and 1,090 for single-thread) show strong scaling across cores.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 89% against all CPUs and its average score of 34,313, which is within 0.8% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, suggest that it is not holding back the RX 7900 XT in any measurable way. The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting component in this pairing for Doom, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale much more with resolution changes than with settings changes at a fixed resolution.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance of image quality and performance. At Medium settings, it achieves 189.9 FPS, which is high enough for most high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, the frame rates drop below 120 FPS even at Low settings, making 1440p the sweet spot.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom smoothly?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 86.5, which is playable on a 60Hz or 75Hz monitor. For a smoother experience, the Medium preset offers 101.3 FPS. The Ultra preset at 70.8 FPS is also viable for 60Hz displays.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset (336.8 FPS) is 67.6% faster than Ultra (201 FPS). At 1440p, the gap is 69.8% (220.6 vs 129.9 FPS). At 4K, the Low preset (118.2 FPS) is 66.9% faster than Ultra (70.8 FPS).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K, the frame rate drops of 45-50% from 1440p indicate a GPU limit. At 1080p, the CPU provides high frame rates but the GPU still dictates the final output, as seen by the consistent 40% gap between Low and Ultra presets.

Q: How does this combo compare to other top-tier systems?

A: This combination ranks 376th out of 1,681 tested combos, placing it in the top 22.4%. The GPU’s average benchmark score is identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (0% delta), while the CPU’s score is within 0.8% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this setup?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 336.8 at 1080p with Low settings. For more realistic settings, the High preset at 1080p delivers 252 FPS, and the Medium preset at 1440p delivers 189.9 FPS.