Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a highly playable Doom experience, though the data clearly shows that the graphics card is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases. The combination achieves a solid 137.2 FPS at 1080p High settings, but this drops to 47.3 FPS at 4K High, illustrating a steep performance curve that is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a pronounced scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 186.4 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU ample frames. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 120.7 FPS, representing a 35.2% reduction from the 1080p figure. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 66.1 FPS, which is a 45.2% decrease from the 1440p result. This trend of increasingly larger percentage drops at higher resolutions is a clear indicator that the RX 5700 XT’s rendering pipeline becomes the bottleneck.

The scaling behavior is more dramatic when examining the High preset. The transition from 1080p High (137.2 FPS) to 1440p High (90.4 FPS) results in a 34.1% performance loss. However, the jump from 1440p High to 4K High (47.3 FPS) is a stark 47.7% decline. This accelerating performance degradation at 4K strongly suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are saturated, as the pixel count quadruples from 1440p to 4K, placing an immense load on the 8 GB frame buffer and the 448.0 GB/s memory interface.

The data indicates that this system is not well-suited for 4K gaming in Doom. Even at the lowest settings, the 66.1 FPS average at 4K is below the 70 FPS threshold that many users consider optimal for a fast-paced FPS. In contrast, the 1440p resolution presents a much more viable option, with all presets except Ultra (71.8 FPS) exceeding the 90 FPS mark. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is steep but manageable, whereas the scaling to 4K is prohibitive for maintaining high frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the decisive component in this configuration’s Doom performance. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The benchmark results show that this memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but it becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS plummets to 42.1. The GPU’s boost clock of 1905 MHz and base clock of 1605 MHz, combined with 2560 shading units, deliver a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s. These specifications are adequate for the id Tech engine’s demands at lower resolutions.

The GPU’s relative performance is contextualized by its benchmark scores. It achieves a passmark G3D score of 16277 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 73091, which places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, it sits just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763 avg score) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Arc A350M (24647 avg score). This positioning suggests that the RX 5700 XT is a mid-range performer in the current landscape, which aligns with its observed behavior in Doom where it can handle 1440p well but struggles with 4K.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a critical factor. At 4K Ultra, the game’s texture requirements likely exceed the available memory, causing the GPU to rely on slower data paths. This is evidenced by the dramatic drop from 4K Medium (59.4 FPS) to 4K Ultra (42.1 FPS), a 29.1% decrease that is disproportionate to the visual fidelity gain. The data suggests that the RX 5700 XT’s memory subsystem is the primary constraint at 4K, not the raw compute power of the Navi 10 chip.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is achieved at 1440p with Medium settings. This configuration yields an average of 106.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS baseline and provides a smooth experience for Doom’s fast-paced combat. The difference between Medium and High at 1440p is 15.4 FPS (from 106.8 to 90.4), a noticeable but not game-breaking gap. For users prioritizing frame rate, 1440p Low delivers 120.7 FPS, but the visual compromise may not be worth the extra 13.9 FPS over Medium.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 113.5 FPS is the recommended choice for users with high refresh rate monitors, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium (163.7 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate above 100 FPS. The High preset at 1080p offers 137.2 FPS, which is a good middle ground, but the data shows that this combo has enough headroom to run Ultra without sacrificing playability.

For 4K, the recommendations are more constrained. The High preset at 47.3 FPS and Ultra at 42.1 FPS are both below the 60 FPS target and would result in a suboptimal experience. The Low preset at 66.1 FPS is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability, but it requires significant graphical compromises. The data suggests that users should avoid 4K with this combo and instead focus on 1440p or 1080p for the best experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 5700 XT ranks 1287 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the lower 23.4% of all tested configurations, indicating that while the system is functional, it is not a top-tier performer for this specific game. The ranking is likely dragged down by the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions, as the CPU is clearly a high-end part.

The CPU itself is a powerhouse, with an average benchmark score of 37780 and a percentile ranking of 90 against all CPUs. It sits just 0.1% behind the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811 avg score) and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i5-13600KF (38028 avg score). This suggests that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is not the bottleneck in this system. The GPU, on the other hand, has an average benchmark score of 24731 and a percentile ranking of 68 against all GPUs. The disparity between the CPU’s 90th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 68th percentile ranking highlights the imbalance in this combo, which is reflected in the overall rank of 1287.

This rank implies that many other combinations with less powerful CPUs but stronger GPUs would outperform this setup in Doom, particularly at higher resolutions. The data indicates that the combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the overall ranking is moderated by its poor 4K performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS is 113.5, which is the highest preset available at this resolution and remains playable.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Doom?

A: The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 42.1, and at 4K High it is 47.3. Only the Low preset at 4K achieves 66.1 FPS, so 4K is generally not recommended.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 24731, which is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Arc A350M (24647).

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this combo?

A: The 1440p resolution with Medium settings provides 106.8 FPS, which offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 113.5 FPS is also a strong choice.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1287 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the lower portion of the database.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more in this game?

A: At higher resolutions, the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has a 90th percentile ranking, while the GPU has a 68th percentile ranking, and the FPS drops significantly from 1440p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low settings produce 186.4 FPS, Medium produces 163.7 FPS, High produces 137.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 113.5 FPS. This shows a smooth progression where each preset step down from Low costs approximately 13-26 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 120.7 FPS, Medium at 106.8 FPS, High at 90.4 FPS, and Ultra at 71.8 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 16.4 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 18.6 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 66.1 FPS, Medium at 59.4 FPS, High at 47.3 FPS, and Ultra at 42.1 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 12.1 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 5.2 FPS. This data shows that the 4K resolution is only playable at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is below the 70 FPS mark.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D provides a robust foundation for this gaming system. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The processor’s 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a significant advantage for gaming, as it allows for faster data access compared to standard cache configurations. The CPU’s benchmark results are impressive, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800, which positions it as a top-tier processor for both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.

The CPU’s performance is further validated by its 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 37780 is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831), with deltaPct values of -0.1% and -0.1%, respectively. This indicates that the 9800X3D is on par with these competing processors in synthetic benchmarks.

In the context of Doom, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 186.4 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame generation capability for this game. This is evidenced by the fact that the FPS drops are much larger when moving from 1080p to 1440p than from 1440p to 4K, suggesting that the CPU is less of a constraint at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s high single-thread performance, as shown by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1212, ensures that it does not bottleneck the RX 5700 XT in most scenarios, making the GPU the definitive performance limiter in this configuration.