Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shows a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop tells a clear story about where the bottleneck sits. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 231 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops that to 150 FPS, a reduction of 81 FPS. At 3840x2160 High, the average falls to 81 FPS, which is roughly one-third of the 1080p figure.

The Low settings preset illustrates the scaling curve even more starkly. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 314 FPS. At 1440p Low, it hits 203 FPS. At 4K Low, it drops to 110 FPS. The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows a 204 FPS swing, which indicates that the GPU is under heavy load at higher pixel counts. The fact that the 4K Low figure (110 FPS) is still above the 4K Ultra figure (66 FPS) by 44 FPS reinforces that the rendering workload, not the CPU, is the limiting factor at 4K.

Benchmark results indicate that the scaling from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger than from 1080p to 1440p. At High settings, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 81 FPS (a 35% reduction), while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 69 FPS (a 46% reduction). This non-linear behavior is typical for a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count outpaces the compute resources. The RTX 4070's 12 GB GDDR6X memory with a 192-bit bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for the game's demands, but the sheer pixel throughput at 4K clearly taxes the GPU harder than the CPU.

The Medium preset provides the only min/max data in the pack. At 1080p Medium, the average is 273 FPS with min 232 and max 314. At 1440p Medium, the average is 177 FPS with min 150 and max 204. At 4K Medium, the average is 96 FPS with min 81 and max 110. These ranges show that the frame time variance is consistent across resolutions, with the min FPS at each resolution being roughly 85% of the average. This suggests stable frame pacing rather than sporadic stutters, which is a positive sign for gameplay smoothness.

The Ultra preset shows the most demanding scenario: 189 FPS at 1080p, 122 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure of 66 FPS is the lowest measured in the entire set, yet it remains playable for a single-player FPS. The gap between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is 123 FPS, which is a 65% drop. This is a substantial reduction, but the absolute 66 FPS floor means the combo never falls below a reasonable threshold even at the highest settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) processor on the AMD Socket AM5 platform, built on 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 5.60 GHz. The cache configuration is notable: 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 96 MB shared L3. The processor's percentile ranks at 92 among all CPUs, and its avgBenchmarkScore is 58386, which places it just above the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323, +0.1%) and Intel Core i9-14900 (58115, +0.5%), while sitting slightly below the Intel Xeon w5-2545 (58504, -0.2%) and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826, -0.7%).

For Doom, the CPU's role is significant at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 314 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate. This suggests that the CPU's multi-core and single-core performance are both strong enough to feed the GPU without creating a CPU-side ceiling. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and single-core score of 2228 indicate balanced performance, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4704 (with a 4704 duplicate entry) confirms strong per-core capabilities.

The 96 MB shared L3 cache is likely a contributing factor for Doom's engine, which can benefit from large cache pools for frequently accessed game data. The CPU's base clock of 4.70 GHz is already high, and the 5.60 GHz boost clock provides headroom for lightly threaded workloads. The TDP is 120 W, which is moderate for a desktop CPU with this core count, and the 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die represent a dense design that keeps power and thermal characteristics manageable.

At 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, the CPU's role diminishes. The 66 FPS figure at 4K Ultra is far below what the CPU could theoretically support, as evidenced by the 314 FPS at 1080p Low. This means that if a user were to pair this CPU with a more powerful GPU, the CPU would likely not hold back performance in this game. The data shows that the CPU's performance headroom is substantial, and the 92nd percentile ranking among all CPUs underscores that this is a top-tier processor for gaming workloads.

The nearest rivals list includes both server-class and consumer parts. The Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M has an avgScore of 58323, just 0.1% below the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is a negligible difference in real-world terms. The Intel Core i9-14900 (58115, +0.5%) is also close. These comparisons indicate that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D sits in a performance band where minor score differences do not translate into meaningful FPS changes in Doom.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip on Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. Memory consists of 12 GB GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU's percentile ranks at 81 among all GPUs, and its avgBenchmarkScore is 37648, placing it near the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, +0.1%) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, +0.4%), while slightly under the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, -1.3%) and above the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157, +1.3%).

In Doom, the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 314 FPS, which is close to the practical ceiling for many displays. At 1440p Low, it drops to 203 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 110 FPS. These figures show that the RTX 4070 has ample compute power for this game at lower settings, but the pixel throughput at 4K begins to strain the GPU.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is worth noting for Doom at high resolutions. The game was released in 2016, so its texture and geometry demands are modest by modern standards. The 4K Ultra setting produces 66 FPS, which suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline, rather than VRAM capacity, is the limiting factor. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s and the 192-bit bus are adequate for the game's data transfer needs, and the fact that the 4K Ultra frame rate does not collapse below 60 FPS indicates the VRAM is not being exhausted.

The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz is a key contributor to its performance. The FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS (with 1:1 FP16) provides substantial compute headroom for the game's rendering effects. The pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are both strong figures that support high-resolution rendering. The 64 ROPs are well-suited for the fill-rate demands of 4K, though the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is still the bottleneck.

The nearest rival comparisons for the GPU show that it sits in a competitive band. The RTX 4070's avgBenchmarkScore of 37648 is essentially tied with the Tesla P4 (37628) and RX Vega 56 (37507), but the RTX 4070 is 1.3% behind the RTX 4080 Mobile. This suggests that in compute-heavy benchmarks, the RTX 4070 is a mid-to-high tier part, and its Doom performance reflects that positioning. At 1080p, it can push well past 200 FPS, which is more than adequate for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, it can maintain playable frame rates, though Ultra settings will demand compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 651 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the top 22% of all combinations. This rank is influenced by both the CPU's strong 92nd percentile and the GPU's respectable 81st percentile, but the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing. The data shows that the combo's rank is not at the very top because the RTX 4070, while capable, is not a flagship GPU. However, the rank is solidly above average, reflecting that this is a well-balanced setup for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with acceptable 4K performance.

The rank of 651 out of 2930 means that approximately 2279 other combos perform worse, which validates that this CPU-GPU pairing is a strong choice for Doom. The CPU's high single-thread performance and large cache help at high frame rates, while the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and Ada Lovelace architecture handle the rendering workload. The fact that the combo breaks 300 FPS at 1080p Low and stays above 60 FPS at 4K Ultra demonstrates a wide performance envelope that covers most gaming scenarios.

It is worth remembering the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14900, have nearly identical avgBenchmarkScores, so swapping the CPU for a comparable part would likely yield similar combo rankings. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals, including the RX Vega 56, have slightly lower scores, which means the RTX 4070's position in the ranking is justified by its benchmark performance. The 651st rank is not an outlier; it is consistent with the individual component rankings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 314, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium setting at 1080p reaches 273 FPS, and High reaches 231 FPS.

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

A: Yes, it can. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 110 FPS at Low settings to 66 FPS at Ultra settings. The Medium preset averages 96 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D has an avgBenchmarkScore of 58386, which is 0.1% above the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323) and 0.5% above the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115). It is 0.2% below the Intel Xeon w5-2545 (58504) and 0.7% below the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826).

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and why does it matter for Doom?

A: The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. For Doom, this is sufficient, as the 4K Ultra settings still produce 66 FPS, indicating no VRAM capacity bottleneck.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the combo delivers 231 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 150 FPS, which represents a 65% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: The data shows that both are viable, but 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the combo averages 150 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1080p High, the 231 FPS figure exceeds most display refresh rates, making the extra performance less noticeable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. With Low settings, the average FPS is 314. The Medium preset averages 273 FPS, with a minimum of 232 and a maximum of 314. High settings produce 231 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 189 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 125 FPS, which shows that the GPU has significant headroom even at the highest quality preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down noticeably. Low settings average 203 FPS. Medium averages 177 FPS, with a minimum of 150 and a maximum of 204. High settings reach 150 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 122 FPS. The 1440p figures are still very playable, with even the Ultra preset maintaining an average above 120 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Low settings average 110 FPS. Medium averages 96 FPS, with a minimum of 81 and a maximum of 110. High settings drop to 81 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 66 FPS. The 4K results show that while the combo can handle 4K, the settings must be tuned to match the desired frame rate target. For 60 FPS gaming at 4K, even Ultra settings are acceptable, as the 66 FPS average exceeds that threshold.