Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT delivers a powerful experience in Doom, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions. The data shows this combination is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K remains highly playable at most settings. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance ensures high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions clearly illustrate the performance drop as pixel counts increase. From 1080p to 1440p, the performance scales in a way that shows a less pronounced drop than from 1440p to 4K, which indicates the system is becoming increasingly GPU-limited at the higher end.

• 1080p to 1440p (High): The average FPS drops from 215 to 139, a 35% reduction. This is a substantial drop, but the resulting 139 FPS remains highly playable, showing the combination still has headroom in most scenarios.
• 1440p to 4K (High): The average FPS drops from 139 to 75, a 46% reduction. This steeper decline highlights the heavy lifting the GPU is doing at 4K, where the 16 GB frame buffer and graphics architecture are more taxed.
• 1080p to 4K (High): A total drop from 215 to 75 FPS, a 65% reduction over the two steps. This demonstrates that while the Ryzen 7 9700X's CPU headroom is not the limiting factor at 1080p, the RX 6800 XT begins to struggle with the pixel workload at 4K, but still delivers an average of 75 FPS.

The same pattern emerges at other settings. With Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 254 at 1080p, to 165 at 1440p, to 89 at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 35% drop, while the 1440p to 4K step is a 46% drop. The 4K result shows the lowest average (89 FPS) and a minimum of 76 FPS, which is still within a smooth range but indicates the GPU is under the most stress.

At the Ultra preset, the trend is even more pronounced: 176 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 35%, but the 1440p to 4K drop is 46%. The 4K result of 62 FPS is the only setting where the average dips below the 75 FPS threshold, but it is still playable for many users, especially with the "High" preset showing a 75 FPS average.

The data shows that the Rx 6800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, is the primary driver of performance at 4K, while the 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7 9700X provides a solid baseline. At 1080p, the combination can push beyond 250 FPS on Medium, showing the system is not bound by the CPU in this title.

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

The Radeon RX 6800 XT is a high-end GPU from the RX 6000 series, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. This ample frame buffer is a critical factor for Doom at 4K, as it allows the card to handle the game's texture-heavy scenes without hitting memory limits, the most demanding settings.

The GPU's core clocks — a base of 1825 MHz, a boost of 2250 MHz, and a game clock of 2015 MHz — are evidence of its high-performance design. These clocks, combined with the RDNA 2.0 architecture, drive the card's rasterization power. The card has a pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s, which are directly related to how quickly the game's scenes can be filled and textured. The FP32 performance of 20.74 TFLOPS and the 4608 shading units are the raw compute power behind the shading and lighting effects.

In the measured results, the GPU shows its strength in the high and ultra presets at 4K, where the average FPS is 75 and 62 respectively. At 1080p, the GPU is capable of outputting up to 292 FPS on Low, which shows it's not a bottleneck at that resolution. The card's performance across the presets shows a clear decline from Low to Ultra, with the 4K Ultra average being 62 FPS, a 39% drop from the 4K High average of 75 FPS.

Benchmark results for the GPU place it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48477. Its nearest rival in the data is the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, which has a score of 47743, a 1.5% difference, and the Intel Arc A550M with 49737, a 2.5% difference. These scores confirm that the RX 6800 XT is a high-end product, and the measured FPS aligns with this position.

The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is also a forward-looking feature for a game like Doom, which has a large texture budget at 4K. The data indicates the card is not memory-starved, as the minimum frame rates do not show the stuttering that would indicate a memory bottleneck. The card's 128 ROPs handle the final output, and its 288 TMUs support the texture filtering, all of which help deliver the smooth frame rates seen in the measurements.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, which is a high frequency for a desktop chip. This high boost clock is key for game physics and scene rendering, which often rely on a small number of threads.

The CPU's cache hierarchy — 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and a 32 MB shared L3 cache — provides the low-latency access to data that game engines need. In Doom, which is a fast-paced FPS, the CPU must handle the game's AI, physics, and scene management. The 8 cores and 16 threads are more than enough to handle the load, as the data shows the system is not CPU-bound at any resolution.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its single-thread strength, which is crucial for gaming. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1280, the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2211, and the GeekBench single-core score of 3023 all point to a strong single-thread performance. This is reflected in the game's performance: at 1080p, the combination can reach 292 FPS on Low, which is a scenario where the CPU's single-thread performance is often the limiting factor. The fact that it reaches this high a frame rate shows the CPU is not holding back the GPU.

The Ryzen 7 9700X has a TDP of 65W, which is low for an 8-core chip, but the boost clock can push it higher. The CPU's multi-thread performance is also top-tier, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485, but in Doom, which is not a multi-threaded benchmark, the single-thread and the 3DMark 8-thread scores (8184) are more relevant. The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs is 86, and its average benchmark score is 37943, which is virtually tied with its nearest rivals in the data.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 and dual-channel memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is a further advantage, as the game can access data faster. The CPU's PCIe Gen 5 support (24 lanes) is also a match for the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, ensuring no bottleneck on the data pathway. The CPU's integrated Radeon Graphics is present but not used for this game, as the discrete GPU handles the rendering.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is ranked 1158 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the top 31% of all combinations, which is a strong showing. The rank is influenced by the GPU's high percentile and the CPU's strong single-thread performance, which are both important for this game.

The combo's ranking is not at the very top because the RX 6800 XT, while powerful, is not the absolute top tier GPU. The GPU has a percentile of 85, and the CPU is at 86. The combination of two "high-85th percentile" parts yields a high ranking, but the data shows there are many combos with more powerful GPUs that would rank higher.

The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX A1000 Mobile, is a mobile chip, but the data shows that the RX 6800 XT is a direct competitor in terms of average score, only 1.5% different. This shows the RX 6800 XT is a high-end desktop GPU. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14901E, is virtually tied, with a 0.1% difference. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 9700X is a top-tier processor for this task.

The rank of 1158 means that a significant portion of the combos out there will perform better, but the measured FPS at 1080p and 1440p are extremely high, showing that this rank is a reflection of the absolute top-end combos that are possible. For a user with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, this combo is a great fit. At 4K, the combo is still capable of a good experience, but the rank shows there is headroom to move up if the user has a high-refresh 4K display.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the resolution and the user's refresh rate.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the strongest choice. It delivers an average of 254 FPS with a minimum of 216 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz and 165Hz refresh rates. The High preset (215 FPS) also provides a smooth experience, but the Medium has a higher min FPS, making it more stable. The Low preset is the fastest at 292 FPS, but it sacrifices visual quality for a marginal frame rate that is beyond the monitor's capability for most users. The Ultra is also very playable at 176 FPS, but the Medium offers a great balance.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 139 FPS, which is excellent for a 144Hz display. The Medium preset is also strong (165 FPS), but the High preset provides a better visual quality for a small frame rate drop. The Ultra preset (114 FPS) is still good, but the High is a safer choice for a consistent experience. The Low preset (189 FPS) is fast, but the High is the recommended setting for a great balance of looks and speed.

At 3840x2160, the High preset is the best for a 60Hz display, delivering an average of 75 FPS with no dips below 60. The Medium is also good (89 FPS), but the High is more visually impressive. The Ultra preset (62 FPS) is playable, but it's close to the 60 FPS line, which could cause dips in intense scenes. The Low (102 FPS) is a high-performance option, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for a 4K experience.

In summary, for 1080p, Medium; for 1440p, High; and for 4K, High is the recommended preset. These settings provide the highest average FPS while keeping the minimum FPS above the refresh rate of typical displays.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K resolution with High settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 75.

Q: Can the combination reach 144 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 165 FPS, and the High preset delivers 139 FPS, so with the Medium preset, a 144Hz display is fully supported.

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 292 at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Is the system more CPU or GPU bound at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the system is not CPU-bound, as the CPU's single-thread performance is strong, and the GPU can still push out over 200 FPS, so the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 140, which is very smooth.

Q: How does the combination rank compared to other tested combos?

A: The rank is 1158 out of 3712 combos, placing it in the top 31% of all tested combinations.