Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Doom, with the measured data showing that even the most demanding preset remains playable at 4K. The strongest balance of visual quality and performance is found at the High preset across all resolutions, making it the clear recommendation for this combination.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the High preset is the optimal choice for this hardware pairing. At 1080p, High delivers an average of 166.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate displays, while at 1440p it maintains a strong 110 FPS average. Even at 4K, the High preset holds an average of 61.5 FPS, placing it just above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The Ultra preset shows a significant performance cost that outweighs its visual benefits. At 1080p, Ultra drops to 139.6 FPS, which is a 16.4% reduction compared to High. The gap widens at higher resolutions: 1440p Ultra averages 86.4 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 47.4 FPS, dipping below the playable threshold for many users. The data suggests that the visual improvements from Ultra are not worth the substantial frame rate losses.

The Medium preset offers a reasonable middle ground, with 199.9 FPS at 1080p and 127 FPS at 1440p, but it does not provide enough headroom over High to justify the reduced visual fidelity. At 4K, Medium averages 67.6 FPS, which is only 6.1 FPS higher than High, making High the better choice for those seeking both quality and performance.

The Low preset is only necessary for extreme performance targets. It delivers 225.5 FPS at 1080p, 144.9 FPS at 1440p, and 78.4 FPS at 4K. Given that High already provides excellent results, Low is best reserved for competitive play where maximum frame rates are prioritized over visual quality.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, the High preset at 3840x2160 averages 61.5 FPS, which is playable. The Medium preset achieves 67.6 FPS, while Ultra drops to 47.4 FPS and is not recommended for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The High preset averages 110 FPS at 2560x1440, which is close to the 144Hz target but not fully saturating it. The Low preset reaches 144.9 FPS, exactly matching a 144Hz refresh rate, but with reduced visual quality.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: Ultra averages 139.6 FPS compared to High’s 166.9 FPS at 1920x1080, representing a 27.3 FPS drop. This is a meaningful performance penalty for the extra visual effects.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 the bottleneck at 4K in this game?

A: The data indicates a GPU-limited scenario at 4K. The frame rate scales significantly with resolution, and the CPU’s strong single-thread performance is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: What frame rate can I expect with the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 199.9 FPS, which is very close to the Low preset’s 225.5 FPS and well above the High preset’s 166.9 FPS.

Q: Does the combo rank high among all tested systems for this game?

A: This combo ranks 975th out of 1681 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the field. This is consistent with the mid-range positioning of the RTX 4060.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X provides substantial computational headroom for Doom. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it offers ample parallelism, though this game’s engine benefits most from strong single-thread performance. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and Geekbench single-core score of 3353 indicate excellent per-core capability, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in FPS titles.

The CPU’s boost clock of 5.50 GHz ensures that it can keep up with the RTX 4060’s output at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the measured frame rates reach as high as 225.5 FPS on the Low preset, demonstrating that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this scenario. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 and single-core score of 4459 further confirm that the Ryzen 7 9700X has the processing power to handle both game logic and background tasks without impacting frame delivery.

The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth help reduce latency in data-intensive scenes. The PassMark physics score of 2241 and integer math score of 120142 show strong computational throughput, which supports the game’s physics and AI systems. The Ryzen 7 9700X ranks in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, placing it well above the average processor, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14500HX, shows only a 0.2% difference in average benchmark score.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 975th out of 1681 tested combinations in Doom. This position places it in the upper 58% of all tested systems, which is a reasonable result for a mid-range GPU paired with a strong CPU. The ranking reflects the RTX 4060’s performance class, as the GPU sits in the 66th percentile among all graphics cards.

The RTX 4060’s nearest rivals show how close the performance margins are. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 0.6% higher on average, while the Intel Arc B580 scores 0.7% lower. This tight grouping suggests that the RTX 4060 is well-positioned within its segment, and the combo’s ranking is more influenced by the GPU than the CPU. The Ryzen 7 9700X, in comparison, outperforms its nearest rivals by a slim margin, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H being 0.8% slower and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 being 0.6% faster.

The combo ranking indicates that while the CPU is capable of driving higher frame rates, the RTX 4060’s 8 GB of memory and 128-bit bus width limit performance at higher resolutions. The 4K results, where Ultra drops to 47.4 FPS, show the GPU struggling with the increased pixel count. At 1080p, however, the combo performs excellently, with all presets exceeding 139 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance scaling. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces the average frame rate from 166.9 FPS to 110 FPS, a 34.1% decrease. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings further drops the frame rate to 61.5 FPS, another 44.1% reduction. This consistent scaling indicates that the RTX 4060 is the primary limiting component, as the CPU’s performance headroom is not depleted until frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling, from 225.5 FPS at 1080p to 78.4 FPS at 4K, a 65.2% decrease. This suggests that even on Low settings, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset exhibits a similar pattern, dropping from 139.6 FPS at 1080p to 47.4 FPS at 4K.

The near-linear relationship between resolution and frame rate confirms that Doom is heavily GPU-limited with this hardware. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1280, ensures that it is not a limiting factor until frame rates reach approximately 200 FPS. Below that threshold, the RTX 4060’s 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power determine the output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest measured resolution, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 225.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 199.9 FPS, High at 166.9 FPS, and Ultra at 139.6 FPS. These results show that the CPU has ample headroom to push beyond 200 FPS, and the GPU is the primary constraint even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable. The Low preset averages 144.9 FPS, Medium at 127 FPS, High at 110 FPS, and Ultra at 86.4 FPS. The 1440p results show a more pronounced difference between presets, with Ultra being 40.3% slower than Low.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4060’s limitations become apparent. The Low preset averages 78.4 FPS, Medium at 67.6 FPS, High at 61.5 FPS, and Ultra at 47.4 FPS. While the High preset remains playable, the Ultra preset falls below 50 FPS, making it unsuitable for consistent smooth gameplay. The 4K results highlight the GPU’s 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus width as the key constraints, as the CPU continues to perform well above the required thresholds.