Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT pairing in Doom delivers a clear split in workload responsibility. The CPU, an 8-core/16-thread Zen 5 part based on the Granite Ridge architecture, features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. For a game from 2016, this processor's high boost clock is the dominant factor in feeding the GPU, as Doom's engine is largely single-thread dependent. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache also helps keep frequently accessed game data close at hand, reducing latency spikes in fast-paced combat scenarios. The CPU's benchmark profile supports this: its Passmark single-thread score of 4691 places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it can handle the game's instruction-heavy frames without becoming the bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases, but at 1080p the RX 6600 XT is the primary driver of frame rate. The card operates with a boost clock of 2589 MHz and a game clock of 2359 MHz, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 2048 shading units. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for Doom's texture-heavy environments at 1080p and 1440p. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 16461 and its 70th percentile ranking among all GPUs show it is a mid-range part, but in Doom, which is known for its efficient Vulkan and OpenGL paths, it can stretch beyond its average standing. Notably, the card sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER in average benchmark scores, with a delta of just 1.1%, indicating that its raw compute capabilities are competitive with much older high-end hardware.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 7 9700F's specifications are almost overkill for Doom, but the data shows that its high-frequency design is beneficial. The processor's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than enough for a game that was designed around the 4-core/8-thread era, but its 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures that the engine's primary simulation thread has ample headroom. In the measured results, the gap between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution is primarily due to GPU load, not CPU limitation. For instance, at 1080p, the jump from Low (192 FPS) to Ultra (115 FPS) shows a 77 FPS drop, which is a GPU-bound scaling pattern. The CPU maintains its ability to issue draw calls and process game logic without faltering, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is heavily strained, the frame rate does not collapse to unplayable levels.

The CPU's benchmark data further contextualizes its gaming performance. A Passmark multithread score of 36470 and an integer math score of 120788 suggest that the processor has substantial headroom for background tasks or streaming, but these numbers do not directly translate to Doom's frame rate. The single-thread score of 4691 is the more relevant metric, as it places the 9700F in the top tier of processors for this workload. When compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 9 7940HX (deltaPct 0.2) and Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct -0.2), the 9700F is statistically tied in average benchmark performance, meaning that any differences in Doom would likely stem from cache latency or platform memory, not raw core count. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node also indicate it runs cool enough to sustain boost clocks without thermal throttling, which is a plausible reason why the frame rates remain consistent across all measured settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is the bottleneck in most of the measured scenarios, and its specifications reflect why. With 8 GB of VRAM, the card is right at the edge for 4K Ultra textures in Doom, which can exceed this capacity in certain scenes, leading to potential stutters or texture pop-in, though the average FPS data does not indicate a hard crash. The memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and the 128-bit bus are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the card's fill rate becomes a limiting factor. The GPU's texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s are solid for mid-range hardware, but they are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 40.

The GPU's clock behavior is also telling. The base clock of 1968 MHz and boost clock of 2589 MHz provide a significant overclocking headroom out of the box, and the game clock of 2359 MHz is the sustained frequency in gaming loads. This high frequency helps the card punch above its weight in Doom's Vulkan path, which is more efficient than DirectX 11 in draw call overhead. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 16461 puts it in the same league as the GTX 1630 (deltaPct 0.7) and the RTX 2080 SUPER (deltaPct 1.1), but these averages do not capture the game-specific optimizations. In Doom, the RX 6600 XT's RDNA 2 architecture with 32 ray accelerators and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate allows for advanced effects, but these are not heavily utilized in the base game, so the card instead relies on raw compute and memory speed. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows that at 4K, the card's performance drops off steeply, suggesting that memory capacity and bandwidth are the primary constraints.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of where the RX 6600 XT begins to struggle. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 141 FPS, which is a smooth experience for a fast-paced FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 91 FPS, a 35.5% reduction. This scaling is expected, as the GPU is rendering 1.78 times the pixels. However, the jump to 4K High yields only 49 FPS, a 46.2% drop from 1440p and a 65.2% drop from 1080p. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU is hitting a hard wall at 4K, likely due to memory bandwidth and fill rate limitations.

The settings scaling further confirms this. At 1080p, the difference between Low (192 FPS) and Ultra (115 FPS) is 77 FPS, showing that the CPU can handle the increased draw calls and physics calculations, but the GPU is still the main variable. At 4K, the difference between Low (67 FPS) and Ultra (40 FPS) is 27 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap but still a significant 40.3% drop. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that even reducing settings to Low does not free up enough resources to reach 60 FPS, let alone higher. The data indicates that the CPU is never the limiting factor in this game; even at 1080p Low, the 192 FPS result is likely close to the engine's framerate cap or the CPU's rendering thread limit, but the GPU is still providing enough throughput to hit that number. In summary, this combo is a 1080p and 1440p powerhouse, but it is not a 4K solution for Doom.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 7 9700F and RX 6600 XT ranks 2080th out of 2930 combos for Doom. This places it in the 29th percentile of all tested systems, which may seem low, but it is important to interpret this rank in the context of the hardware. The rank is based on average FPS across all settings and resolutions, and the 4K results drag down the overall score. If the ranking were limited to 1080p and 1440p, this combo would likely sit much higher, as the 141 FPS at 1080p High and 91 FPS at 1440p High are respectable scores. The low rank is also a reflection of the GPU's position in the market; it is a mid-range part from 2021, and the database includes many newer and more expensive GPUs that outperform it.

The combo's rank is not a verdict on its value, but rather a statement of its absolute performance relative to all other CPU+GPU pairings. The 2080th spot out of 2930 means that roughly 70% of tested combos produce higher average frame rates in Doom. This is expected, as the RX 6600 XT is not a high-end card. However, the data shows that this combo is highly capable for its intended resolution class. The CPU's high single-thread performance ensures that it does not hold back the GPU, and the GPU's efficient architecture delivers consistent results. The rank should be viewed as a baseline; for a gamer targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo is in the upper echelon of performance, but for 4K enthusiasts, it falls short.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured frame rates for this combo are consistent across the board, with no anomalies. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 192 FPS, Medium settings produce 167 FPS (with a min of 142 and max of 192), High settings produce 141 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 115 FPS. This shows a linear progression of performance loss as settings increase, with a 40% drop from Low to Ultra. The Medium setting's min FPS of 142 is only 1 FPS above the High average, indicating that the GPU is still maintaining a high floor even with moderate settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop but remain playable. Low settings average 124 FPS, Medium averages 108 FPS (min 92, max 124), High averages 91 FPS, and Ultra averages 75 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 39.5% drop, similar to 1080p. The Medium setting's min FPS of 92 is close to the High average, suggesting that the GPU is not experiencing any sudden spikes in load. At 3840x2160, the results show the GPU's limits. Low settings average 67 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS (min 50, max 67), High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 40.3%, consistent with the other resolutions, but the absolute numbers are below the 60 FPS threshold for most settings. Only Low settings achieve a playable average of 67 FPS, and even that is not a locked 60 FPS experience. The Medium setting's min FPS of 50 indicates that there are dips into the 50s, which can be noticeable in a fast-paced game.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with stable 60 FPS?*

A: No. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 40, and even at 4K Low, the average is 67 FPS. The Medium setting averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, so a stable 60 FPS is not achievable at 4K with any settings.

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU+GPU pairing in Doom?*

A: The data shows that 1080p is the sweet spot, with High settings achieving 141 FPS and Ultra achieving 115 FPS. 1440p is also viable, with High settings at 91 FPS and Ultra at 75 FPS.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo for Doom?*

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread score of 4691 is in the 94th percentile, and it maintains high frame rates even at 1080p Low (192 FPS). The GPU's performance drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, indicating a GPU bottleneck.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to the RTX 2080 SUPER in this game?

A: The RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score is 1.1% higher than the RTX 2080 SUPER, but this is a synthetic average. In Doom, the RX 6600 XT's actual frame rates are what matter, and they are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but not 4K.

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

A: At 1440p, Low settings average 124 FPS, while Ultra settings average 75 FPS. This is a 49 FPS drop, or a 39.5% reduction in performance.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM on the RX 6600 XT cause issues at 4K?

A: The data suggests that 8 GB is insufficient for 4K Ultra, as the average FPS drops to 40. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and 128-bit bus are also limiting factors at that resolution.