Doom

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a smooth 1080p experience in Doom, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 231 FPS, which drops to 166.4 FPS at High and 135.1 FPS at Ultra. This scaling pattern—a 41.5% reduction from Low to Ultra at 1080p—indicates the CPU is doing heavy lifting at lower settings, but the GPU begins to assert itself as visual fidelity increases.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates compress into a tighter band: 146 FPS at Low, 130.9 FPS at Medium, 106.7 FPS at High, and 88.6 FPS at Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra shrinks to 39.3%, but more telling is the absolute drop from 1080p Low (231 FPS) to 1440p Low (146 FPS), a 36.8% decline. This suggests the RTX 4060 is becoming the primary limiter even at lower settings once pixel count rises.

At 3840x2160, the story becomes unambiguous. The combo averages 79.6 FPS at Low, 67.2 FPS at Medium, 59.3 FPS at High, and 47.9 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 39.8%, but the overall performance ceiling is far lower. The transition from 1440p Low to 4K Low cuts frame rates by 45.5%, and from 1080p Low to 4K Low the drop is a massive 65.5%. This is textbook GPU-bound behavior. The 9800X3D’s 8 cores and 16 threads, boosted by its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, are not the constraint here; the 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 128-bit memory bus of the RTX 4060 are.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions tells a clear story about which component governs performance. At 1080p, the differences between settings are pronounced—231 FPS at Low versus 135.1 FPS at Ultra—which indicates the CPU and its 5.20 GHz boost clock can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower loads. The 9800X3D’s single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1212, keeps the frame pipeline full.

At 1440p, the frame rates become more moderate but still respect the settings hierarchy. The jump from Ultra (88.6 FPS) to Low (146 FPS) shows headroom, yet the absolute numbers suggest the GPU is now working closer to its limits. The 4K results confirm this shift: even at Low settings, the combo only reaches 79.6 FPS, and Ultra falls below 50 FPS at 47.9. The pattern is consistent—every 4x increase in pixel count from 1080p to 4K exacts a heavy toll, and the GPU’s 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes a hard ceiling.

The limiting component is clearly the RTX 4060 at higher resolutions. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a passmark_multithread result of 40009 and a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 34004, show it has ample compute headroom. The data indicates that players targeting 4K will need to dial settings down to Low to stay near 60 FPS, while 1440p users can enjoy High settings at over 100 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing ranks 974 out of 1681 combos in Doom, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field. This position might seem underwhelming given the CPU’s strength, but it reflects the reality that the RTX 4060 is a modest performer relative to the broader GPU landscape. The combo rank is a composite measure, and the data shows that while the CPU is a top-tier part—ranking in the 90th percentile against all CPUs—the GPU sits in the 66th percentile against all GPUs.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811 avg score, 0.1% higher), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831, 0.1% higher), Intel Core i9-13900HK (38020, 0.6% higher), and Intel Core i5-13600KF (38028, 0.7% higher). These deltas are negligible, meaning the 9800X3D is effectively tied with those processors in average synthetic performance. The GPU’s rivals, meanwhile, include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, 0.6% higher), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338, 0.7% higher), Intel Arc B580 (23021, 0.7% lower), and AMD Radeon 760M (22999, 0.8% lower). The RTX 4060’s position in this group is tight, but its actual in-game results in Doom are what matter.

Given the CPU’s strength, the combo rank is likely dragged down by the GPU. In a game like Doom, which is not particularly demanding on modern hardware, the 9800X3D’s advantages are largely wasted at 4K but well-utilized at 1080p where the 231 FPS Low result demonstrates the CPU’s ability to push extremely high frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with an AD107 chip fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output pipelines. The boost clock runs at 2460 MHz, with a base clock of 1830 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU also includes 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, which support DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 APIs, though these features have limited impact on Doom’s traditional rendering.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role becomes apparent when comparing settings at a fixed resolution. At 1080p, Ultra settings (135.1 FPS) are 41.5% slower than Low (231 FPS), showing that the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are taxed by higher-quality effects. At 4K, the gap narrows in percentage terms (47.9 FPS Ultra versus 79.6 FPS Low, a 39.8% difference), but the absolute frame rates are far lower, indicating that the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints.

The GPU’s 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for 1080p and 1440p in Doom, but at 4K, the higher resolution textures and effects may push against this limit, contributing to the sub-60 FPS Ultra result. The 128-bit memory bus, while efficient for the card’s class, is a bottleneck at 4K, as evidenced by the steep drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers excellent frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 231 FPS, Medium 196.6 FPS, High 166.4 FPS, and Ultra 135.1 FPS. These numbers are well above the 60 FPS threshold and even exceed 120 FPS for competitive play on all but Ultra settings. The 9800X3D’s high boost clock ensures that even the lowest settings do not leave performance on the table.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 146 FPS (Low), 130.9 FPS (Medium), 106.7 FPS (High), and 88.6 FPS (Ultra). This is a sweet spot for the combo, as High settings remain above 100 FPS and Ultra is still playable. The step from Low to Medium is a modest 10.3% drop, while High to Ultra is a 17% reduction, suggesting the GPU handles moderate settings well but struggles with the highest quality presets.

At 3840x2160, the results become more demanding. Low settings average 79.6 FPS, Medium 67.2 FPS, High 59.3 FPS, and Ultra 47.9 FPS. Only Low settings clear the 60 FPS bar comfortably, and Ultra falls below 50 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires accepting lower settings, and even then, the frame rates are not high enough for fast-paced competitive play.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low or Medium settings. The measured 4K averages are 79.6 FPS at Low and 67.2 FPS at Medium. High settings drop to 59.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 47.9 FPS.

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

A: The data suggests 1440p is the sweet spot. At 2560x1440, High settings produce 106.7 FPS, and even Ultra stays above 88 FPS, offering a balance of visual quality and smoothness.

Q: How does the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM affect Doom performance?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient, as frame rates remain high. At 4K, the combination of higher resolution and effects may strain the memory, contributing to the lower Ultra performance of 47.9 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 231 FPS average suggests the GPU is the limiter, as the CPU’s 5.20 GHz boost clock can handle the frame rate. The CPU’s high benchmark scores, like 34004 in cinebench_r23_multicore, indicate it is not the bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo compare to others in the database?

A: It ranks 974 out of 1681 combos in Doom. This places it in the lower-middle tier, largely due to the GPU’s modest performance relative to its peers.

Q: What settings should I use for a 120 Hz display?

A: At 1080p, Low (231 FPS), Medium (196.6 FPS), and High (166.4 FPS) all exceed 120 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (146 FPS) beats 120 FPS, while Medium (130.9 FPS) is close.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The TDP is 120 W, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU’s standout feature is its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is part of the 3D V-Cache design, though the fact pack does not explicitly list a vCache3d field.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p with lower settings. The 231 FPS Low result is a direct beneficiary of the high boost clock and large cache, which help maintain high minimum frame rates in fast-paced scenes. The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its capability: a 3dmark_max_threads score of 10067, a passmark_single_thread score of 4430, and a geekbench_singlecore score of 3341 all point to strong per-core performance.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 9800X3D is effectively tied with several Intel parts. The Intel Core i5-13600KF has an average score of 38028, which is 0.7% higher, while the Intel Core i9-13900HK scores 38020, 0.6% higher. The AMD part’s 96 MB L3 cache provides an advantage in games that benefit from larger caches, but in Doom’s measured results, the CPU’s impact is largely overshadowed by the GPU at higher resolutions. At 4K, the CPU’s performance is not a limiting factor, as frame rates are constrained by the RTX 4060’s rendering capabilities. The data shows that this CPU is a formidable partner, but it is ahead of the GPU’s capabilities in this pairing.