Doom

# Doom Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers exceptional frame rates in Doom, with the measured data showing this combination ranking 55th out of 1,681 tested combos in this title. The CPU sits in the 90th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 89th percentile among all graphics cards, placing this pairing firmly in the upper echelon of gaming systems. The benchmark results span twelve configuration points across three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive picture of how this hardware handles the 2016 FPS title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D brings 8 cores and 16 threads to the table, running at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosting to 5.20 GHz. This Zen 5 architecture chip, built on TSMC's 4 nm process, features a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which proves advantageous for game workloads. The processor's benchmark scores reflect its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34,004 and a single-core score of 4,800 indicate robust performance across both lightly-threaded and fully-threaded scenarios. In 3DMark testing, the chip achieves 10,081 with 16 threads and 1,212 in single-thread tests.

The CPU's influence on Doom's frame rates becomes evident when examining the scaling across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 423 FPS average, while the same settings at 4K yield 147.9 FPS. The massive gap between these figures suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU's ability to feed the GPU is the limiting factor, whereas at 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's single-thread performance, demonstrated by its Geekbench single-core score of 3,341 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,430, helps maintain high frame rates even when the graphics load is modest.

The processor's average benchmark score of 37,780 places it within 0.1% of the Intel Xeon 6353P and Intel Core Ultra 5 225, and within 0.7% of the Intel Core i5-13600KF. This tight clustering among rivals indicates that the CPU's raw compute capability is competitive with these alternatives, though the 3D V-Cache configuration may provide advantages in gaming-specific workloads that general benchmarks do not fully capture.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The card's boost clock reaches 2,617 MHz, with a base clock of 2,295 MHz, and it houses 10,752 shading units alongside 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores. The GPU's FP32 compute throughput of 56.28 TFLOPS provides substantial headroom for modern game rendering. In synthetic benchmarks, the card scores 36,565 in PassMark G3D and 8,637 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, with an average benchmark score of 59,188.

The GPU's memory configuration becomes relevant when analyzing Doom's performance at high resolutions. At 4K Ultra settings, the system achieves 88.3 FPS, which remains comfortably playable. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K with maximum settings, the game does not encounter memory-related stutters or texture pop-in. The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Arc A570M (1.6% higher average score), Intel Arc Pro A60 (1.9% lower), Intel Arc A580 (2.5% higher), and AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (2.6% higher), though none of these alternatives approach the RTX 5080's gaming performance in this title.

The graphics card's role in Doom becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. Between 1080p and 1440p, the frame rate drop at High settings is substantial (from 313.3 FPS to 205.5 FPS), and the further drop to 4K (110.2 FPS) demonstrates the GPU's workload scaling with pixel count. The RTX 5080's high texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s help sustain these frame rates even under demanding rendering conditions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals clear patterns in how performance scales across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions. At Low settings, the system produces 423 FPS at 1080p, 274.5 FPS at 1440p, and 147.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 46.1% further drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU may be limiting performance, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly.

At Medium settings, the pattern continues: 372.9 FPS at 1080p, 241.7 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops between resolutions are 35.2% and 45.0%, respectively. High settings show 313.3 FPS at 1080p, 205.5 FPS at 1440p, and 110.2 FPS at 4K, with drops of 34.4% and 46.4%. Ultra settings produce the most significant scaling: 257.4 FPS at 1080p, 162.7 FPS at 1440p, and 88.3 FPS at 4K, representing 36.8% and 45.7% drops.

The consistent drop pattern across all quality presets indicates that the limiting component shifts from CPU-bound at 1080p to GPU-bound at 4K. At 1080p, even Ultra settings exceed 240 FPS, which suggests the CPU can still feed the GPU effectively. However, the 4K results across all presets (88.3 to 147.9 FPS) show that the GPU's rendering capability becomes the primary constraint at this resolution. The RTX 5080's 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears sufficient for Doom's textures, as the frame rate drops align with the increased pixel count rather than sudden bandwidth limitations.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows across all twelve configurations, the High preset at 1440p delivers 205.5 FPS, which represents a strong balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, even Ultra settings produce 257.4 FPS, making this the recommended configuration for competitive play on high-refresh-rate monitors. The data shows that moving from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 55.9 FPS (from 313.3 to 257.4), a 17.8% reduction, while the visual improvement may not justify this loss for all users.

For 4K gaming, the High preset at 110.2 FPS provides the best experience among the measured settings, as it remains above the 100 FPS threshold while offering better visual fidelity than Medium (133 FPS) or Low (147.9 FPS). The Ultra preset at 88.3 FPS at 4K may be preferable for users prioritizing maximum image quality, but the 21.9 FPS difference versus High represents a 19.9% performance penalty. The Medium preset at 133 FPS at 4K offers a middle ground, though the visual differences between Medium and High in Doom are typically more noticeable than those between High and Ultra.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 241.7 FPS and High at 205.5 FPS both provide excellent experiences for high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset at 274.5 FPS offers minimal benefit over Medium unless the user has a 240 Hz or higher refresh rate monitor and prioritizes maximum frame rate above all visual considerations. Overall, the High preset appears to be the optimal choice across all three resolutions, balancing performance and visual quality according to the measured data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 55 out of 1,681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the top 3.3% of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's high rasterization capabilities. The CPU's 90th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 89th percentile among all graphics cards independently confirm that both components are high performers, and their combination produces excellent results in this title.

The ranking becomes more meaningful when considering that Doom is a well-optimized FPS title that can scale across a wide range of hardware. The system's ability to maintain above 88 FPS at 4K Ultra settings demonstrates that this combo can handle the most demanding configuration measured. The 55th rank out of 1,681 suggests that only a handful of more powerful combinations (likely featuring higher-tier GPUs or CPUs with higher benchmark scores) outperform this pairing in Doom. The measured data confirms that both components are operating near their expected performance levels, with no apparent bottleneck in either direction at any tested resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum frame rate this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 423 at 1080p with Low settings. At 1080p Ultra, the system still achieves 257.4 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9800X3D compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 37,780 is within 0.1% of the Intel Xeon 6353P (37,811) and Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37,831), and within 0.7% of the Intel Core i9-13900HK (38,020) and Intel Core i5-13600KF (38,028).

Q: Is the RTX 5080's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Doom at 4K?

A: The measured data shows smooth performance at 4K across all settings, with the lowest result being 88.3 FPS at Ultra. The 16 GB VRAM and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this title's requirements.

Q: What settings provide the best experience at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 205.5 FPS offers an excellent balance. Medium runs at 241.7 FPS, while Ultra drops to 162.7 FPS, making High the recommended choice for most users.

Q: How does this combo's ranking compare to other tested systems in Doom?

A: This combination ranks 55th out of 1,681 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.3% of all systems tested in this game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the bottleneck at different resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to limit performance, as evidenced by the 423 FPS ceiling at Low settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the constraint, with frame rates scaling down to 88.3 FPS at Ultra settings.