Doom

# AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + AMD Radeon RX 9070 in Doom: Benchmark Analysis

This combo ranks 563rd out of 1,681 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the upper third of all tested systems. The pairing of an 8-core Zen 5 processor with a 16 GB RDNA 4 graphics card produces frame rates that range from 60.7 FPS at 4K Ultra to 298.8 FPS at 1080p Low, with the data showing a system that remains highly capable across all tested configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

The 563rd position out of 1,681 tested combos places this system comfortably above the median, though not at the very top of the leaderboard. This ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other in Doom's engine. The CPU's 89th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 79th percentile among all graphics cards suggest both components contribute meaningfully to the final result.

Benchmark results indicate the CPU's average benchmark score of 36,029 sits within 0.8% of its nearest rivals. The Intel Core i5-14500HX trails by just 0.2%, while the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H leads by 0.4%. This tight grouping means the Ryzen 7 9700X's performance class is well established, though the delta between these processors is negligible in real-world gaming scenarios. The GPU's average benchmark score of 34,780 places it within 0.8% of the NVIDIA A2, which leads by 0.2%, and the AMD Radeon HD 7970, which trails by 0.7%. These margins are small enough that game-specific optimization matters more than raw synthetic differences.

The combo ranking in Doom specifically suggests the game responds well to this hardware configuration. With measured FPS data confirming actual performance, the 563rd rank reflects a system that delivers smooth gameplay at most settings, with only the 4K Ultra preset dropping below 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X provides 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz boosts to 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP that keeps thermal demands modest. The L3 cache totals 32 MB shared across all cores, with 80 KB L1 and 1 MB L2 per core. This configuration delivers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,280 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3,353.

In Doom, the CPU's role becomes increasingly important at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,824 and max-thread score of 9,771 indicate the processor can feed the GPU effectively even at high frame rates. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31,588 confirms substantial multi-threaded headroom, though Doom's engine does not heavily tax all 16 threads simultaneously.

The processor's single-thread capabilities matter most for this game. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,459 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,654 demonstrate strong per-core performance that helps maintain high minimum frame rates in busy scenes. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking versus all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of installed processors, reducing the likelihood of CPU-induced frame pacing issues.

FAQ

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700X bottleneck the RX 9070 in Doom?

A: The data shows no significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 298.8 FPS, which approaches the practical limits of most displays. The CPU's 3DMark max-thread score of 9,771 and single-thread score of 1,280 provide sufficient headroom to keep the GPU fed even at low resolutions where CPU load is highest.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60 Hz 4K display?

A: The 4K High preset delivers 76.5 FPS, while 4K Medium achieves 89.9 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 60.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. For a 60 Hz display, 4K High with 76.5 FPS provides the best visual quality while maintaining headroom above the refresh rate.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p with high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 140.8 FPS, Medium reaches 166.1 FPS, and Low hits 192.9 FPS. These results comfortably drive 144 Hz and even 165 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 114.4 FPS still exceeds 100 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh gaming.

Q: Is the RX 9070's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Doom at maximum settings?

A: The measured data shows the Ultra preset at 4K achieves 60.7 FPS, indicating the 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth handles the game's texture requirements without issue. The 256-bit memory bus provides ample bandwidth for this title.

Q: How does this combo compare to the nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core i5-14500HX?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X scores 36,029 in average benchmarks, while the Intel Core i5-14500HX scores 35,940, a difference of only 0.2%. This negligible gap means the CPU choice has minimal impact on Doom performance, with the GPU becoming the primary differentiator.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 delivers 179.9 FPS. This is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on 1080p gaming monitors, and even the High preset at 215.3 FPS provides additional headroom for demanding scenes or streaming overhead.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 298.8 FPS, Medium reaches 258.2 FPS, High delivers 215.3 FPS, and Ultra settles at 179.9 FPS. These results show a progression where each settings tier reduces performance by approximately 15-20%, with the gap from Low to Ultra representing a 39.8% reduction in frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low produces 192.9 FPS, Medium hits 166.1 FPS, High delivers 140.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 114.4 FPS. The percentage reduction from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 40.7%, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. This consistency suggests the GPU remains the primary performance driver at 1440p, with the CPU not introducing additional bottlenecks.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates decline more substantially. Low achieves 103.8 FPS, Medium delivers 89.9 FPS, High reaches 76.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 60.7 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K is 41.5%, continuing the trend. However, the absolute numbers show that even the most demanding preset maintains playable performance, with Ultra just barely crossing the 60 FPS threshold.

The settings scaling from Low to Ultra shows remarkably consistent behavior across resolutions, with roughly 40% performance reduction from lowest to highest quality. This consistency indicates the GPU's compute resources scale predictably with the increasing workload, without hitting memory bandwidth or cache limits.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by 35.4% at Low settings (from 298.8 to 192.9 FPS), 35.7% at Medium (from 258.2 to 166.1 FPS), 34.6% at High (from 215.3 to 140.8 FPS), and 36.4% at Ultra (from 179.9 to 114.4 FPS). These reductions are remarkably uniform, suggesting the GPU's pixel throughput scales linearly with the 1.78x increase in pixel count from 1080p to 1440p.

The step from 1440p to 4K produces larger frame rate drops. Low falls from 192.9 to 103.8 FPS, a 46.2% reduction. Medium drops from 166.1 to 89.9 FPS, a 45.9% reduction. High declines from 140.8 to 76.5 FPS, a 45.7% reduction. Ultra falls from 114.4 to 60.7 FPS, a 46.9% reduction. The 4K resolution represents 2.25x the pixel count of 1440p, and the frame rate reductions of roughly 46% align closely with the expected scaling if the GPU were the sole limiting factor.

The consistent scaling pattern across all settings and resolutions indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck throughout the tested range. The CPU's performance headroom, evidenced by its strong single-thread scores, only becomes relevant at 1080p Low where frame rates approach 300 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate become the determining factors, with the 16 GB VRAM providing sufficient capacity for all texture detail levels.

The data suggests that users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to reduce settings from Ultra to High, gaining 15.8 FPS (from 60.7 to 76.5 FPS), or to Medium for 29.2 FPS improvement (from 60.7 to 89.9 FPS). These trade-offs between visual fidelity and smoothness are well within the system's capabilities, with even the most demanding configuration remaining playable.