Doom

# Doom with AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a fascinating study in bottleneck behavior within Doom, a 2016 FPS title that scales unusually well across hardware generations. This combination, ranking 2418th out of 3712 tested combos in this game, shows a system that is fundamentally GPU-limited at higher resolutions but surprisingly capable at 1080p, where the CPU's Zen 5 architecture demonstrates its strengths. The data reveals a pairing where the 8-core, 16-thread processor with a 5.50 GHz boost clock is rarely the limiting factor, leaving the Navi 23-based GPU to determine the experience across most settings and resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming progressively more dominant as the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination achieves 200 FPS average, but at 1440p this drops to 129 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 70 FPS — a decline of 35.5% from 1080p to 1440p and another 45.7% from 1440p to 4K. This steep scaling curve strongly indicates that the RX 6650 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are being saturated as pixel count rises, with the GPU's 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becoming the primary constraint.

The pattern holds across all settings, though the magnitude of the resolution penalty varies. At Ultra settings, the drop from 120 FPS at 1080p to 78 FPS at 1440p represents a 35% reduction, while the further decline to 42 FPS at 4K is another 46.2% cut. Interestingly, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is remarkably consistent across settings — roughly 35% — but the 1440p to 4K transition shows slightly more variance, ranging from 45.7% at Low to 46.2% at Ultra. This consistency suggests that the limiting factor is resolution-dependent pixel throughput rather than any particular setting's computational load.

What the data implies is that this system has a very clear performance ceiling at 4K, where even the lowest settings cannot reach 60 FPS (70 FPS at Low is the only 4K result above that threshold). At 1440p, the combination achieves playable frame rates across all settings, with Low at 129 FPS and Ultra at 78 FPS. The 1080p results are where this pairing truly shines, with every setting exceeding 120 FPS and Low reaching 200 FPS. The resolution scaling data suggests that users targeting 4K will need to accept either lower settings or a GPU upgrade, while 1440p represents the sweet spot for balanced performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X brings substantial processing power to this pairing, and the benchmark data shows that its role in Doom is primarily to stay out of the GPU's way. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, this processor posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485 and a single-core score of 2211, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and 2-thread score of 2525 illustrate strong per-core performance, which is crucial for a game like Doom that relies heavily on a few primary threads for game logic and rendering commands.

The processor's 5.50 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for this game, as Doom's engine benefits from high-frequency single-thread performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 4654 and the 3DMark 4-thread score of 4869 indicate that the CPU can handle the game's primary thread loads without becoming a bottleneck, even at 1080p where the GPU is producing 200 FPS at Low settings. The fact that FPS scales nearly linearly with resolution — rather than hitting a CPU-imposed cap — suggests that the 9700X is never the limiting component in this configuration.

Interestingly, the CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core i9-14901E and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, with delta percentages of just 0.1% in average score. This places the 9700X in a performance tier where it substantially exceeds what Doom requires, as evidenced by the 200 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low being the maximum measured in any configuration. The data indicates that at 4K, where FPS drops to 42-70 depending on settings, the CPU has ample headroom remaining, and the performance is entirely dictated by the GPU's capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combination in Doom?

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 200, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. Medium settings at 1080p also reach 174 FPS, while High and Ultra at 1080p deliver 147 FPS and 120 FPS respectively.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 70. At Medium settings, the average drops to 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS, while High and Ultra settings fall below the 60 FPS threshold at 51 FPS and 42 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 37943, which is just 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i9-14901E (37911) and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37904). It also edges out the Intel Core 5 211E (37829) by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 (37804) by 0.4%.

Q: What is the most consistent performance setting across all resolutions?

A: Medium settings show the most predictable scaling, with minimum FPS values recorded at every resolution: 148 FPS minimum at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K, with corresponding averages of 174, 113, and 61 FPS.

Q: Is this combination better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: Both resolutions are viable, but 1440p offers a better balance. At 1440p High, the combination achieves 95 FPS average, while 1080p High reaches 147 FPS. The 35% performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is acceptable given the resolution increase, whereas the further drop to 4K becomes prohibitive for high-refresh-rate play.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest competitors?

A: The RX 6650 XT has an average benchmark score of 19765, placing it 0.6% below the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885) and 0.7% below the AMD FirePro W7000 (19905), while being 0.7% above the AMD FirePro D300 (19637) and 0.8% above the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602).

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RX 6650 XT ranks 2418th out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 34.9th percentile of all configurations tested. This ranking is notably lower than what the individual components' percentiles might suggest — the CPU sits in the 86th percentile of all CPUs and the GPU in the 65th percentile of all GPUs — indicating that this pairing is not optimally matched for this particular game's demands. The data implies that the RX 6650 XT is the limiting factor, dragging the overall combo ranking down despite the CPU's strong performance.

This rank disparity suggests that many other tested combinations feature more powerful GPUs paired with comparable or lesser CPUs, achieving better results in Doom's GPU-intensive rendering. The 4K results, where even the best settings yield only 42-70 FPS, likely contribute significantly to this lower ranking. At 1080p, the combination performs admirably, but the ranking system presumably weights all resolutions, and the system's 4K weakness penalizes it substantially.

The fact that this combo ranks in the lower third of all tested configurations, despite the CPU being in the top 14% and the GPU in the top 35% of their respective categories, highlights how game-specific performance can diverge from synthetic benchmark expectations. Doom's Vulkan-based engine appears to favor GPU throughput heavily, and the RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become increasingly inadequate as resolution scales, making this pairing more competitive at 1080p than the overall rank suggests.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combination depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all settings deliver playable performance, but Medium settings at 174 FPS average offer the best balance of visual quality and performance — the 26 FPS difference between Medium and High (147 FPS) is less impactful than the 54 FPS difference between Low (200 FPS) and Medium, yet Medium provides significantly better visuals than Low. For users with 144Hz or 165Hz displays, High settings at 147 FPS are arguably the best choice, pushing the average above most high-refresh monitors' capabilities while maintaining good image quality.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts to High settings, which deliver 95 FPS average. This provides a smooth experience for 60-100Hz displays while maintaining substantial visual fidelity. Medium at 113 FPS is also viable for users with 120Hz+ monitors, though the visual trade-off from High to Medium is more noticeable at this resolution. Ultra settings at 78 FPS are playable but represent a significant 17.9% performance hit compared to High, which may not justify the visual improvements in a fast-paced FPS where frame consistency matters.

For 4K, the data suggests that only Low settings (70 FPS) provide a consistently smooth experience, while Medium (61 FPS) hovers near the 60 FPS threshold with a minimum of 52 FPS that could cause noticeable stutters. High and Ultra settings at 51 FPS and 42 FPS respectively are below the threshold for comfortable play in a fast-paced shooter. Given these results, 4K gaming with this combo is only recommended on Low settings, and users seeking higher visual quality should consider 1440p as their primary resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 200 FPS, Medium achieves 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and maximum of 200 FPS, High reaches 147 FPS, and Ultra manages 120 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra represents a 40% performance reduction, with the gap between consecutive settings showing diminishing returns: 26 FPS from Low to Medium, 27 FPS from Medium to High, and 27 FPS from High to Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops consistently. Low settings average 129 FPS, Medium achieves 113 FPS with a range of 96 to 129 FPS, High delivers 95 FPS, and Ultra reaches 78 FPS. The percentage reduction from 1080p at each setting is remarkably uniform: 35.5% at Low, 35.1% at Medium, 35.4% at High, and 35.0% at Ultra. This consistency indicates that the GPU's pixel processing throughput scales linearly with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal for smooth gameplay. Low settings average 70 FPS, Medium achieves 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 and maximum of 70 FPS, High delivers 51 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS. The drop from 1440p is more severe than from 1080p to 1440p: 45.7% at Low, 46.0% at Medium, 46.3% at High, and 46.2% at Ultra. This accelerating decline suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s becomes increasingly insufficient as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K. The GPU's 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 337.3 GTexel/s of texture fill rate, figures that align with the measured performance scaling across resolutions.

The GPU's clock behavior — with a base of 2055 MHz, game clock of 2410 MHz, and boost of 2635 MHz — indicates that the card is running near its maximum potential in Doom's workload. The 176 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU requirement suggest the card is power-constrained relative to higher-tier RDNA 2 parts, which likely contributes to its performance ceiling. The 7 nm process node from TSMC, packing 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, represents a mature design that achieves 65th percentile standing among all GPUs.

Comparing to its nearest rivals in the database, the RX 6650 XT's average benchmark score of 19765 places it remarkably close to professional workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885, -0.6%) and AMD FirePro W7000 (19905, -0.7%), while slightly ahead of the AMD FirePro D300 (19637, +0.7%) and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602, +0.8%). This positioning in synthetic benchmarks belies its gaming performance in Doom, where its DirectX 12 score of 62 and Vulkan score of 81306 indicate strong API support, but the measured FPS data shows that the 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes the critical constraint at higher resolutions. The GPU's 32 ray accelerators and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are largely irrelevant for this 2016 title, which relies on the traditional rasterization pipeline that the RDNA 2 architecture handles efficiently at 1080p and 1440p.