Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three resolutions reveal a clear and predictable scaling pattern for this combination. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 157.1 FPS, which drops to 104.9 FPS at 1440p and further to 57.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% reduction from 1440p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling is steeper at higher quality presets — Ultra settings show 96.9 FPS at 1080p, 59.4 FPS at 1440p, and 35.7 FPS at 4K, a 38.7% drop between 1080p and 1440p and a 39.9% drop between 1440p and 4K.

The pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution increases, particularly at 4K. At 1080p, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's strong single-thread performance — evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 and Geekbench single-core score of 3341 — allows the GTX 1070 to stretch its legs, with frame rates exceeding 100 FPS even at Medium settings. The GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus width provide 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes strained at 4K where the average FPS falls below 60 across all presets.

The data suggests that 1440p represents the practical ceiling for maintaining playable frame rates with this combo. At High settings, 1440p delivers 77.1 FPS, which is 33.1% lower than the 1080p High result of 115.2 FPS but still comfortably above 60 FPS. The 4K results, ranging from 35.7 FPS at Ultra to 57.6 FPS at Low, indicate that 4K gaming is only marginally viable with the lowest settings, and even then the frame rate hovers near the edge of acceptable smoothness.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, built on the Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process from TSMC, operates with a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz. Its 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s. The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS places it in the 51st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12331.

The memory configuration is critical for Doom's performance. The 8 GB GDDR5 memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a bottleneck at 4K, where the data shows frame rates dropping to 39.4 FPS at High settings. The GPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (0.7% faster), the GeForce GTX 880M (1.3% slower), and the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (1.4% slower), indicating the GTX 1070 sits in a competitive mid-range position.

The GPU's DirectX 12 (12_1) support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are relevant for Doom, which leverages modern rendering APIs. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 48 and DirectX 11 score of 100 suggest the card handles legacy and current APIs reasonably well, though the Vulkan score of 47395 in Geekbench indicates strong compute performance. The GTX 1070's 150 W TDP and single 8-pin power connector make it a straightforward addition to systems, though the combination with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D (120 W TDP) requires adequate power delivery.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured FPS across all presets and resolutions, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance occurs at 1440p with High settings, delivering 77.1 FPS. This is 16.8% slower than the Medium preset at the same resolution (91.8 FPS) but offers superior visual fidelity while maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1080p, the High preset at 115.2 FPS provides an excellent experience, with the Ultra preset at 96.9 FPS still offering smooth gameplay for users prioritizing visual detail. The Medium preset at 136.6 FPS and Low at 157.1 FPS cater to competitive players seeking maximum frame rates, though the difference between Medium and High (21.4 FPS) is more substantial than between Low and Medium (20.5 FPS).

For 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The Low preset comes closest at 57.6 FPS, followed by Medium at 47.4 FPS, High at 39.4 FPS, and Ultra at 35.7 FPS. Users targeting 4K must accept either reduced settings or lower frame rates. The data suggests that 4K Low is the only viable option for playable performance, and even then, the 57.6 FPS average is borderline.

The scaling between presets at each resolution follows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is 15.9% slower than High, while at 1440p the difference is 22.9%, and at 4K it is 9.4%. This indicates that the Ultra preset's additional visual features impose a relatively smaller penalty at 4K because the GPU is already heavily limited by resolution, whereas at 1440p the extra load is more noticeable.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination ranks 1403 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the lower 17th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the significant mismatch between the CPU's capabilities and the GPU's performance class. The CPU alone sits in the 90th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 37780, while the GPU is in the 51st percentile with an average score of 12331.

This disparity explains why the combo's in-game ranking is substantially lower than either component's individual standing. The CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Xeon 6353P (0.1% slower), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (0.1% slower), Intel Core i9-13900HK (0.6% slower), and Intel Core i5-13600KF (0.7% slower) — all demonstrate similar CPU performance, yet the GTX 1070's position relative to its rivals (Quadro K4200 at 0.7% faster, GTX 880M at 1.3% slower, GTX 1650 SUPER at 1.4% slower) means the GPU constrains overall game performance.

The rank of 1403 out of 1681 indicates that the majority of tested combos outperform this pairing in Doom. This is expected given the GPU's age — it was released in 2016 and is now end-of-life — and its position in the 51st percentile of all GPUs. The data shows that while the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, the GTX 1070's architectural limits become the decisive factor in determining frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions and quality settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data shows 1440p with High settings delivers 77.1 FPS, providing the best balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay. At 1080p, frame rates range from 96.9 FPS (Ultra) to 157.1 FPS (Low), while 4K fails to reach 60 FPS at any preset.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331, which is 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200, 1.3% faster than the GeForce GTX 880M, and 1.4% faster than the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER. It sits in the 51st percentile of all GPUs.

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

A: At 4K, the highest playable frame rate is 57.6 FPS with Low settings. Medium achieves 47.4 FPS, High reaches 39.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 35.7 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS standard, making 4K only marginally viable with reduced settings.

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to other processors?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (0.1% slower), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (0.1% slower), Intel Core i9-13900HK (0.6% slower), and Intel Core i5-13600KF (0.7% slower).

Q: How much FPS is gained by dropping from Ultra to Low settings?

A: At 1080p, dropping from Ultra (96.9 FPS) to Low (157.1 FPS) yields a 60.2 FPS improvement. At 1440p, the gain is 45.5 FPS (from 59.4 to 104.9 FPS), and at 4K, the gain is 21.9 FPS (from 35.7 to 57.6 FPS).

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Doom?

A: The combo ranks 1403 out of 1681 tested combinations, placing it in the lower portion of all tested configurations. This reflects the GPU being the primary bottleneck despite the CPU's high performance percentile.