Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a highly playable experience in Doom, with the data showing a clear relationship between resolution, graphical presets, and frame rate. The measured results indicate that the system is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p, while 4K performance requires more conservative settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows an expected trajectory, but the degree of the drop depends heavily on the selected settings preset. At the Low preset, the average frame rate moves from 176 FPS at 1920x1080 down to 114 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 62 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a reduction of approximately 35% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% drop when moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling at Low settings suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases, but the CPU still has enough headroom to maintain a substantial frame rate at lower resolutions.

At the Ultra preset, the scaling is more severe. The average frame rate drops from 106 FPS at 1080p to 68 FPS at 1440p, a 36% reduction, and then to 37 FPS at 4K, a further 46% reduction. The absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra are below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay, which indicates that the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity places a significant load on the RX 6600. The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra presets widens as resolution increases, with a 70 FPS difference at 1080p (176 vs 106) growing to a 25 FPS difference at 4K (62 vs 37).

The Medium preset offers a middle ground in scaling behavior. Starting at 153 FPS at 1080p, it drops to 99 FPS at 1440p and then to 54 FPS at 4K. The minimum frame rates measured at Medium settings provide additional insight: at 1080p, the minimum is 130 FPS, at 1440p it is 84 FPS, and at 4K it is 46 FPS. These minimum values indicate that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate remains within a playable range at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Medium may experience noticeable dips below 50 FPS.

The pattern across all presets points to the GPU as the scaling bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is unlikely to be the limiting factor at 4K given the significant frame rate reductions observed. The data suggests that users targeting 4K gameplay should expect to use the Low or Medium presets to maintain frame rates near or above 60 FPS, while 1080p and 1440p offer more flexibility across all settings levels.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. Its clock speeds are listed with a base clock of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. The GPU contains 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 28 ray tracing cores.

In the context of Doom, the 8 GB VRAM allocation is sufficient for the tested settings, as the game's requirements at 4K Ultra do not appear to exceed this capacity, given that all measured rows returned valid frame rates. The memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s is adequate for the game's texture streaming demands, which is reflected in the relatively stable frame rates observed across resolutions. The GPU's FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s contribute to its ability to handle the game's fast-paced rendering requirements.

The benchmark results for the RX 6600 show a Passmark G3D score of 15096, placing it at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 19036 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro K6000, which scores 19030 with a deltaPct of 0, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 with a deltaPct of -0.1. This positioning suggests that the RX 6600 is a mid-range GPU, which aligns with the measured performance in Doom where it can handle 1080p at high frame rates but struggles at 4K with maximum settings.

The GPU's DirectX 12 performance, as measured by Passmark, shows a score of 51, which is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 152. This discrepancy may explain why the Ultra preset in Doom, which likely utilizes more advanced rendering features, results in lower frame rates compared to lower presets. The Vulkan API score of 67623 in Geekbench suggests that the GPU is well-suited for Vulkan-based titles, which is relevant given Doom's engine capabilities.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU has a 65 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. It includes 32 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core.

The CPU's Passmark multithread score is 36470, with a single-thread score of 4691. These results place the Ryzen 7 9700F at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, indicating strong overall performance. Its average benchmark score of 69996 is closely matched by its nearest rivals: the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 with a deltaPct of 0.2, the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163 with a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515 with a deltaPct of 0.7. This narrow range of scores suggests that the 9700F is positioned competitively among high-end desktop processors.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. Given that the game is from 2016 and is well-optimized for multi-threaded processing, the 8-core, 16-thread configuration of the 9700F is more than sufficient. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low, reaching 176 FPS, indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. Even at 1440p Low, where the frame rate reaches 114 FPS, the CPU maintains adequate performance.

The boost clock of 5.50 GHz is particularly beneficial for single-threaded workloads, which are common in game logic and scene management. The Passmark single-thread score of 4691 is strong, and the data shows that at 1080p, the frame rate is high enough that the CPU must be keeping pace with the GPU's output. The 32 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is important for maintaining consistent frame pacing in fast-paced FPS titles like Doom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2255 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 23rd percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the overall balance of the components, where the CPU is significantly more powerful than the GPU. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs contrasts sharply with the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking, indicating a substantial performance imbalance in favor of the processor.

This imbalance is evident in the measured frame rates. At 1080p, the system achieves frame rates that are likely limited by the GPU, as the CPU has ample headroom. The 176 FPS at Low settings suggests that the GPU is reaching its maximum output, and the CPU could potentially support higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful GPU. The ranking of 2255 out of 2930 indicates that many other combinations deliver better overall performance in this game, likely those with more balanced or GPU-heavy configurations.

The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals show that the RX 6600 is closely matched with several other GPUs, all within a 0.4% range of average benchmark scores. This means that the specific GPU choice has a moderate impact on the combo's ranking, while the CPU's high performance does not fully compensate for the GPU's mid-range capabilities in a graphics-intensive game like Doom. The data suggests that users with this combo should prioritize GPU settings over CPU settings to achieve optimal frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this system depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 129 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 1080p provides 106 FPS, which is also playable but with a 23 FPS reduction compared to High. The Medium preset offers 153 FPS, which may be preferable for competitive play where higher frame rates are beneficial.

For 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 84 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios. The Medium preset at 99 FPS provides a better balance between visual quality and performance, while the Low preset at 114 FPS maximizes frame rate but sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is still playable but may experience occasional dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the recommended settings are more constrained. The Low preset yields 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the best playable experience at this resolution. The Medium preset at 54 FPS is borderline, with minimum frame rates of 46 FPS that could result in noticeable stuttering. The High preset at 45 FPS and Ultra preset at 37 FPS are below the smooth gameplay threshold and should be avoided for a consistent experience.

The data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best overall balance across all resolutions, providing a 153 FPS average at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. This preset also has measured minimum frame rates, which are 130 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K, giving users a clear picture of expected performance during intense gameplay moments.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates across presets are as follows: Low achieves 176 FPS, Medium achieves 153 FPS with a minimum of 130 FPS and maximum of 176 FPS, High achieves 129 FPS, and Ultra achieves 106 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 70 FPS, indicating that graphical settings have a significant impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low achieves 114 FPS, Medium achieves 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, High achieves 84 FPS, and Ultra achieves 68 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 46 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p but still notable.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low achieves 62 FPS, Medium achieves 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS, High achieves 45 FPS, and Ultra achieves 37 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 25 FPS, which is the smallest absolute difference across all resolutions, but the relative impact is significant given the lower baseline frame rates.

The data shows a consistent pattern where the Medium preset provides a balance between the extremes, with frame rates that are approximately 87% of the Low preset at 1080p, 87% at 1440p, and 87% at 4K. The High preset delivers about 73% of the Low preset's performance at 1080p, 74% at 1440p, and 73% at 4K. The Ultra preset provides roughly 60% of the Low preset's frame rate at all resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60 FPS or higher?

A: At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 60 FPS, with the lowest being Ultra at 106 FPS. At 2560x1440, all presets except Ultra (68 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 114 FPS and Medium at 99 FPS. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (62 FPS) achieves an average above 60 FPS.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, which is 0.2% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, which is 0.7% lower.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 114 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 68 FPS. This represents a difference of 46 FPS, with Ultra delivering approximately 60% of the Low preset's performance.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 4K gaming?

A: The data clearly shows that this combo is better suited for 1080p gaming. At 1080p, all presets deliver over 100 FPS, while at 4K, only the Low preset reaches 62 FPS. The GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum frame rate is 130 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 84 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 46 FPS. These values provide insight into worst-case performance during demanding scenes.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark performance compare to the RTX 4050 Mobile?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 19036, while the RTX 4050 Mobile scores 19049. The deltaPct is -0.1, meaning the RTX 4050 Mobile is approximately 0.1% faster in aggregate benchmarks.