Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 presents a stark contrast in capability within the 2016 FPS Doom. The data shows a system where the CPU’s high-end processing power is consistently bottlenecked by the GPU’s entry-level performance, a dynamic that becomes more pronounced as resolution and settings increase.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 93.8 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops the average to 58 FPS, a reduction to roughly 62% of the 1080p figure. Scaling to 3840x2160 yields just 30.2 FPS, which is only about 32% of the 1080p Low result. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated, as the pixel throughput demand at 4K far exceeds the GTX 1650’s capabilities.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. For instance, at High settings, the transition from 1080p (67.4 FPS) to 1440p (42.6 FPS) represents a 37% drop in performance. The gap between 1440p and 4K is even more severe, with the 4K High average of 23.6 FPS being only about 55% of the 1440p figure. These results indicate that the Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the constraining factor at any resolution. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588, are far beyond what is needed to feed a GPU of this class. The data suggests that the GTX 1650’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128-bit bus are overwhelmed by the geometry and texture loads at higher resolutions, making the GPU the definitive performance ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

Given the GTX 1650’s performance envelope, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1920x1080, the data shows that the Medium preset, with an average of 81.5 FPS, is the most sensible choice. The High preset at 67.4 FPS also provides a playable experience, but Medium offers a more substantial headroom. The Ultra preset at 53.9 FPS is only marginally below the 60 FPS threshold, but the jump from High to Ultra yields a 20% performance cost, making it a less attractive option for those prioritizing frame rate consistency.

At 2560x1440, achieving 60 FPS is not possible. The Low preset delivers an average of 58 FPS, which is very close to the target but still not a guaranteed lock. The Medium preset at 52.5 FPS is a more stable fallback, while the High preset at 42.6 FPS is playable but with noticeable compromises. For 4K, the data shows a challenging environment for this GPU. The Low preset at 30.2 FPS is the only option that approaches a console-like experience, while High (23.6 FPS) and Ultra (17 FPS) are not recommended for consistent action. The best experience per the measured rows is therefore Medium at 1080p, offering a balance of visual fidelity and performance that keeps the average FPS well above the 60 FPS mark.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. With a 4 GB frame buffer and a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s, it is fundamentally an entry-level card designed for 1080p gaming. The benchmark results confirm this, with a PassMark G3D score of 7880 placing it in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100, are within a 0.5% performance delta, indicating this GPU is at the cusp of its class.

The card’s clocks, with a base of 1485 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, are modest by modern standards. Its FP32 performance of 2.984 TFLOPS is sufficient for older titles like Doom at lower settings but struggles with the game’s more demanding presets. The data shows that even at 1080p Ultra, the GPU can only muster 53.9 FPS, highlighting its limitations in shading and texture processing. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is particularly problematic at 4K, where the Ultra preset drops to 17 FPS, suggesting that memory capacity or bandwidth is being exhausted, leading to severe performance degradation. The GPU’s end-of-life production status also indicates that its architecture, while supporting DirectX 12, is not optimized for the higher fidelity workloads of modern titles.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The data shows that only at 1920x1080 with Medium (81.5 FPS) or High (67.4 FPS) settings does the average FPS exceed 60. At 2560x1440, even the Low preset (58 FPS) falls short of the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rival in raw performance?

A: The benchmark results place the GTX 1650 with an average score of 8713. Its closest competitor, the NVIDIA Quadro P2200, has an average score of 8671, indicating the GTX 1650 is 0.5% faster. The AMD Radeon 550X is 0.4% faster, showing they are essentially equivalent in performance.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700X bottleneck the GTX 1650 in Doom?

A: No. The CPU’s high multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by a PassMark multithread score of 37161, far exceed the demands of the GPU. The FPS scaling with resolution shows a clear GPU limitation, not a CPU one.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 53.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. At 2560x1440, it drops to 34.4 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 17 FPS, making it unplayable at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the performance delta between the Low and High presets at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 93.8 FPS, while the High preset averages 67.4 FPS. This represents a 28% reduction in performance when moving from Low to High settings.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Medium preset compared to the 4K Medium preset?

A: The 1080p Medium preset averages 81.5 FPS, while the 4K Medium preset averages 26.6 FPS. The 1080p result is approximately 3 times faster, illustrating the significant impact of resolution on this GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this pairing of a Ryzen 7 9700X and a GTX 1650 ranks 1643 out of 1681 combos for Doom. This ranking places it in the bottom 2.3% of all systems tested for this game, which is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limited performance. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs (with a strong average benchmark score of 36029) does little to boost the combo’s standing because the game’s performance is dominated by the graphics card. The data shows that this is a profoundly unbalanced pairing, where the processor’s potential is left largely untapped.

The ranking indicates that almost every other combination of CPU and GPU in the database delivers a better experience in Doom. This is not a reflection of the CPU’s quality but rather the mismatch between a high-end desktop processor and an entry-level graphics card. The combo’s rank is a clear signal that for this specific game, the GPU is the primary determinant of overall system performance, and its 43rd percentile ranking among GPUs is the key factor in the low overall position.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a high-performance desktop processor that is significantly overqualified for pairing with a GTX 1650. Its 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture, provide a substantial amount of computational power. The processor’s benchmark scores are strong across the board: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588, a Geekbench multicore score of 17002, and a PassMark multithread score of 37161. In synthetic tests, it sits within 0.8% of rivals like the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H and the Intel Core i5-14500HX, indicating its competitive position in the CPU market.

However, in Doom, this CPU power is largely irrelevant. The measured FPS is entirely constrained by the GPU’s output. The data shows that the CPU does not become a bottleneck at any tested resolution or settings. For example, the jump from 1080p Ultra (53.9 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (34.4 FPS) is a 36% reduction, which is a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain more consistent across resolutions. The CPU’s high boost clock of 5.50 GHz and 32 MB of L3 cache are more than sufficient to handle the game’s logic and draw calls, leaving the GTX 1650 as the definitive performance ceiling. This pairing demonstrates that a powerful CPU cannot compensate for a weak GPU in a graphically intensive title like Doom.