Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread desktop processor built on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its L3 cache totals 96 MB shared across all cores, a configuration that generally benefits gaming workloads. In synthetic testing, this CPU achieves a single-thread score of 959 in 3dmark and a multi-thread score of 7,980 in the 16-thread test, with a max-thread score of 7,967. Its average benchmark score of 31,580 places it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, positioning it slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-12700F (31,543, 0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX (31,495, 0.3% delta).

For Doom, this CPU’s core and thread configuration provides ample headroom. The measured frame rates at 1080p with High settings reach 153.9 FPS, while at 4K High the average drops to 57.6 FPS. The gap between these resolutions is not primarily a CPU limitation; even at 4K Low, the system produces 77.1 FPS, which is still well above the High setting at the same resolution. This indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the 210.4 FPS at 1080p Low demonstrates the processor’s ability to feed a high frame rate pipeline. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,887 reinforces that single- and low-thread performance is sufficient for the game’s typical engine demands, while the 8-thread score of 6,539 shows scaling that keeps up with modern multi-threaded render paths.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is nearly identical, with all delta values under 0.6%. This means that in CPU-bound scenarios, swapping to a comparable chip would yield negligible FPS changes. The data shows that for Doom, the CPU is a stable foundation, and the variance in frame rates across settings is driven by the GPU and rendering workload, not the processor’s core count or clock speed.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for the best experience based on resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 125.1 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and still smooth for fast-paced action. However, the Medium preset at 187.2 FPS offers a 50% improvement over Ultra, and Low at 210.4 FPS is the highest measured value. For competitive play at 1080p, Medium is the most balanced choice, as it maintains a high refresh rate without the visual degradation of Low. The drop from Medium to Ultra is 62.1 FPS, a significant cost for graphical fidelity that may not be worth it on a 144Hz display.

At 1440p, the situation shifts. High settings produce 103.6 FPS, which is a comfortable experience for most monitors. Medium is slightly higher at 120.6 FPS, but the jump to Low (137.5 FPS) is only a 14% gain over Medium. Ultra at 85 FPS remains playable but falls below the 100 FPS mark that many users prefer. The data indicates that High is the optimal preset at 1440p, offering a 21.9% improvement over Ultra while staying within 14% of Medium’s performance. For users with 144Hz panels, Medium is a viable alternative, but High provides a better visual experience per the measured rows.

At 4K, the choices are constrained. Ultra averages 43.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard for fluid gameplay. High at 57.6 FPS is close to the threshold but still not locked. Medium at 66.4 FPS is the first setting to exceed 60 FPS, and Low at 77.1 FPS provides the most headroom. The recommendation at 4K is Medium, as it delivers a playable frame rate while preserving more visual detail than Low. The gap between Medium and High is 8.8 FPS, which is a 13.3% reduction, making High a risky choice for variable scenes. The data shows that the best experience per the measured rows is Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and Medium or High at 1080p depending on refresh rate preference.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component in this pairing. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 125.1 at 1080p to 85 at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and then to 43.8 at 4K (a 65% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at higher resolutions, as pixel throughput requirements quadruple from 1080p to 4K.

Conversely, the CPU’s influence is visible in the Low settings row. At 1080p Low, the system hits 210.4 FPS, but at 4K Low, it falls to 77.1 FPS. The absolute drop of 133.3 FPS is larger than the Ultra drop, but the relative percentage (63.3%) is similar. However, the fact that 4K Low still exceeds 4K Ultra (77.1 vs. 43.8) by 76% indicates that the GPU’s fill-rate and shading capabilities are the primary constraint. The CPU’s 3DMark max-thread score of 7,967 suggests it could push higher frame rates if the GPU were faster, but the measured data shows the GPU saturates first.

The scaling pattern also shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 1440p. The difference between High at 1440p (103.6 FPS) and High at 1080p (153.9 FPS) is 50.3 FPS, which correlates with the GPU’s workload increase. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the 1440p to 1080p gap would be smaller. The data supports a conclusion that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component across all settings, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid frame drops in CPU-light scenes. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,980 and the 2-thread score of 1,887 both confirm that the processor is not struggling with the game’s thread utilization.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 103.6 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D has an average benchmark score of 31,580, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-12700F (31,543) and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G (31,407).

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 43.8, while 4K Low achieves 77.1 FPS. This significant difference indicates the GPU is the primary limiter, as lowering settings (which reduces GPU load) increases FPS far more than any CPU change would.

Q: What is the best preset for a 60 FPS target at 4K?

A: Based on the measured rows, Medium settings at 3840x2160 deliver an average of 66.4 FPS, which is the lowest preset that exceeds the 60 FPS target. High at 57.6 FPS and Ultra at 43.8 FPS both fall below.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 210.4 FPS, which is 85.3 FPS higher than Ultra’s 125.1 FPS, representing a 68.2% improvement.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22,206.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip, featuring 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s FP32 compute is rated at 9.062 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 113.3 GPixel/s. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 18,169 in Passmark G3D and 1,651 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, with a Vulkan score of 94,918 in Geekbench.

The GPU’s role in Doom is decisive based on the measured FPS data. At 1080p High, the GPU delivers 153.9 FPS, but this drops to 103.6 FPS at 1440p and 57.6 FPS at 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU that has a fixed memory bandwidth and compute throughput. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the combination of higher resolution and more demanding effects likely stresses memory capacity and bandwidth, contributing to the 43.8 FPS average. The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking places it below the RTX 4060 Mobile (22,729, -2.3% delta) but above the GTX TITAN Z (22,006, 0.9% delta), indicating it is a mid-range performer in the current landscape.

The relationship between GPU settings and FPS is nonlinear. At 1440p, going from Low (137.5 FPS) to Ultra (85 FPS) costs 52.5 FPS, a 38.2% reduction. At 4K, the same setting change costs 33.3 FPS (from 77.1 to 43.8), a 43.2% reduction. This shows that the GPU’s shading units and texture rate (283.2 GTexel/s) are increasingly overwhelmed as resolution rises. The measured data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck in this pairing, as the CPU’s performance metrics suggest it could support higher frame rates if the GPU were faster. The GPU’s Passmark DirectX 12 score of 67 is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 151, which may reflect driver or benchmark characteristics, but the in-game FPS at 1080p High (153.9) demonstrates that it handles the game’s engine well at lower resolutions.