Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. The combination ranks 947th out of 1681 tested combos in this game, placing it in the middle of the pack while still offering frame rates that comfortably exceed display refresh rate targets at lower resolutions. The measured results show a system that is heavily CPU-limited at 1080p, transitioning to a GPU-limited scenario at 4K, with the quality settings dictating how smoothly that transition occurs.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates show a dramatic scaling curve across the three resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 229.2 FPS, which drops to 148.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 79.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, but the magnitude of the drop intensifies with higher quality settings.

For Ultra settings, the scaling is steeper: 141 FPS at 1080p falls to 88.7 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 48.5 FPS at 4K (a 45% drop from 1440p). The High preset follows a similar trajectory, going from 167.7 FPS at 1080p to 109.2 FPS at 1440p and 57.1 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s strong single-thread performance is keeping the GPU fed, but the RX 6700 XT begins to struggle as pixel count increases.

The 4K results are particularly telling. Even at Low settings, the card only manages 79.3 FPS, which indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at this resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 30.8 FPS (79.3 vs 48.5), which is a 39% performance penalty for enabling the highest quality settings. This is a larger relative gap than at 1080p, where Low to Ultra spans 88.2 FPS (229.2 vs 141). The data implies that the RX 6700 XT’s 12 GB VRAM and 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset pushes the GPU into a territory where each setting increment costs noticeable frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

With a rank of 947 out of 1681 combos, this pairing sits in the 56th percentile of all tested configurations for Doom. That places it slightly above the median, which is a reasonable outcome given the GPU’s age and the CPU’s flagship status. The CPU alone ranks in the 90th percentile against all processors, but the GPU’s 77th percentile ranking drags the combined score down.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context for its contribution. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D scores 37780 on average, which is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811, deltaPct -0.1) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831, deltaPct -0.1). It trails the Intel Core i9-13900HK (38020) and Core i5-13600KF (38028) by 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. These deltas are minuscule in real-world gaming, meaning the CPU is not the differentiator here.

On the GPU side, the RX 6700 XT’s average benchmark score of 33721 puts it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals. It is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (33493) and 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294), but 1% behind both the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (34050) and AMD Radeon RX 480 (34059). The RX 6700 XT’s position in this cluster suggests that Doom’s engine is not particularly sensitive to the architectural differences between these cards, and the ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status.

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

The RX 6700 XT brings 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. At 1080p, this is more than adequate, as evidenced by the 229.2 FPS Low result. The card’s base clock of 2321 MHz and boost clock of 2581 MHz, with a game clock of 2424 MHz, allow it to maintain high throughput in a fast-paced FPS like Doom. The 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are the key specs driving fill rate, which matters for this game’s particle effects and lighting.

The memory operates at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed. This bandwidth becomes a constraint at 4K, where the 48.5 FPS Ultra result suggests the card is struggling to feed the render pipeline. The 192-bit bus is narrower than what higher-tier cards use, and the data shows this limitation clearly: the 4K Ultra frame rate is only 34% of the 1080p Low result. The FP32 compute of 13.21 TFLOPS is respectable for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K numbers indicate the card is hitting its architectural limits.

Interestingly, the GPU’s closest rival in benchmarks, the RX 6800, scores only 0.7% higher on average. Yet in Doom, the RX 6700 XT manages to keep frame rates playable at 1440p across all settings, with the lowest result being 88.7 FPS at Ultra. This suggests the card’s 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game’s texture requirements, and the bottleneck at 4K is more about raw compute than memory capacity.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

At 1080p, the High preset at 167.7 FPS is the sweet spot. It offers a 19% improvement over Ultra’s 141 FPS while delivering a visually rich experience. The Medium preset at 201.3 FPS is also viable for competitive play, but the jump from Medium to High costs only 33.6 FPS while providing substantial visual gains. Low at 229.2 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing maximum refresh rates on a 240 Hz display.

At 1440p, the High preset at 109.2 FPS is the recommendation. It stays above the 100 FPS threshold that most gamers consider smooth, while Ultra at 88.7 FPS is still playable but starts to dip below that mark. Medium at 132.9 FPS is a solid alternative for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but High offers the best balance of the two.

At 4K, the situation changes. Low at 79.3 FPS is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS, making it the default choice for 4K gaming. Medium at 72.7 FPS is a viable alternative, but High at 57.1 FPS and Ultra at 48.5 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS comfort zone. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires sacrificing visual quality to maintain playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured results are: Low 229.2 FPS, Medium 201.3 FPS, High 167.7 FPS, and Ultra 141 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 88.2 FPS, which represents a 38% performance penalty for the highest quality settings. This resolution shows the smallest relative drop between presets, indicating the CPU is the limiting factor here.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low 148.6 FPS, Medium 132.9 FPS, High 109.2 FPS, and Ultra 88.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 59.9 FPS, a 40% penalty. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35% of frame rate across all presets, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 79.3 FPS, Medium 72.7 FPS, High 57.1 FPS, and Ultra 48.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 30.8 FPS, a 39% penalty. The 4K results show a more compressed range, with even Low settings struggling to reach 80 FPS. This indicates the GPU is saturated at this resolution, and the CPU’s headroom is irrelevant.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but only at Low or Medium settings. The measured results show 79.3 FPS at Low and 72.7 FPS at Medium, while High drops to 57.1 FPS and Ultra to 48.5 FPS. The 60 FPS threshold is crossed between Medium and High.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: High at 109.2 FPS is the recommended balance. It stays above 100 FPS while offering better visual quality than Medium’s 132.9 FPS. Ultra at 88.7 FPS is also playable but dips below the 100 FPS mark.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. The frame rates range from 141 FPS at Ultra to 229.2 FPS at Low, and the relatively small spread between presets indicates the GPU has headroom that the CPU cannot fully utilize.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rival in benchmarks?

A: The RX 6700 XT scores 33721 on average, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000. It trails the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and RX 480 by 1% each.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the combo delivers 167.7 FPS at 1080p, 109.2 FPS at 1440p, and 57.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66% drop from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM cause any issues in Doom?

A: The measured data shows no VRAM-related stuttering or crashes. The 12 GB capacity appears sufficient, as the bottleneck at 4K is compute-bound rather than memory-bound, evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops across all presets.

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

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on Zen 5 architecture, running at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.20 GHz. It features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a critical asset for gaming. The CPU’s benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800, while Geekbench multicore reaches 18413 and single-core 3341.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p. The frame rates across all settings remain high, with even Ultra producing 141 FPS. The 3DMark results provide context: 16-thread score of 10081 and max-thread score of 10067 indicate that the processor’s thread scaling is nearly linear, which helps in a game that can utilize multiple cores. The single-thread score of 1212 in 3DMark is less impressive, but the high boost clock compensates in gaming workloads.

The CPU’s 120 TDP and 4 nm process node from TSMC allow it to sustain high clocks without thermal throttling, which is important for maintaining consistent frame rates. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures the CPU can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s advantage diminishes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor, but at 1080p, the 9800X3D’s combination of high single-thread performance and large cache allows the RX 6700 XT to reach its full potential.