Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS rows for Doom show a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 129 FPS at 1080p to 84 FPS at 1440p, then further to 45 FPS at 4K. That represents a 35% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The Low preset follows a steeper curve: 176 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K — a 65% loss from 1080p to 4K.

This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound title. The RX 6600’s pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s become increasingly strained as the render workload quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The CPU’s single-core performance (3dmark single thread score of 941) and multi-core throughput (3dmark max threads score of 10075) are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the frame rate collapse at 4K indicates that the Radeon RX 6600 is the limiting component above 1080p.

Consider the Medium preset: at 1080p, the average is 153 FPS with a min of 130 FPS. At 1440p, that falls to 99 FPS (min 84 FPS), and at 4K it drops to 54 FPS (min 46 FPS). The gap between the minimum and maximum at Medium narrows as resolution climbs — from a 46-FPS spread at 1080p (130–176) to a 16-FPS spread at 4K (46–62). This suggests that at 1440p and above, the GPU is consistently near its throughput ceiling, whereas at 1080p there is headroom for the CPU to drive higher peaks.

Ultra settings reinforce the same story: 106 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, 37 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below 40 FPS, which would be borderline for smooth play on a high-refresh display. The data indicates that 4K is only viable at Low settings (62 FPS average), and even then it is a significant drop from the 1080p Low result. The resolution scaling behavior is uniform across all four presets test — each preset loses roughly 65% of its 1080p average when moving to 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600’s specifications directly shape these results. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. For a 2016 FPS like Doom, 8 GB is sufficient at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with High or Ultra textures, the memory subsystem may be strained. The measured FPS at 4K High (45 FPS) and 4K Ultra (37 FPS) are the two lowest averages in the entire dataset, and the gap between 4K Medium (54 FPS) and 4K High (45 FPS) suggests that texture-heavy presets impose a large penalty.

Clock speeds matter here. The GPU’s base clock is 1626 MHz, with a boost clock of 2491 MHz and a game clock of 2044 MHz. The boost clock is the effective ceiling under load; the fact that the average FPS at 1080p Low is 176 FPS indicates the GPU is not purely clock-bound at lower settings — it has enough headroom to push beyond 100 FPS even at High. However, at 4K Ultra, the data shows only 37 FPS, which is a 79% drop from the 1080p Low result. This is a clear sign that the GPU’s compute units (1792 shading units, 112 TMUs) are overwhelmed rather than the boost clock being insufficient.

The GPU’s benchmarks place it at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 19036. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (0% delta), the RTX 4050 Mobile (-0.1%), and the Tesla K20m (-0.3%). This context shows the RX 6600 is a mid-range card in aggregate, but for Doom specifically, the game’s optimization for Radeon RDNA 2.0 architecture (RX 6000 series) likely provides a better outcome than those raw scores suggest. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 are relevant for modern driver paths, but the game itself is older, so the GPU’s 8 TFLOPS FP32 (8.0 TFLOPS) is more than ample for 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combos for Doom, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2883 out of 3712 combos. That places it in the 22nd percentile of all tested CPU-GPU pairs for this game (since 2883 is the 78th percentile from the bottom). This is lower than the CPU’s individual standing (87th percentile among all CPUs) and the GPU’s standing (63rd percentile), indicating that the pairing underperforms relative to what each component alone would suggest.

The rank of 2883 out of 3712 means that 829 combos perform worse, and 2882 perform better. This is a mid-low ranking, which is surprising given the CPU’s strength. The Ryzen 9 5900X has 12 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, and its 3DMark multi-thread score is 10075 — yet the GPU is the bottleneck. In Doom, which is a fast-paced FPS, the game’s engine may be more dependent on GPU memory bandwidth and pixel throughput than on CPU cores. The CPU’s single-core score (941 in 3DMark) and multi-core (9075) are high, but the RX 6600’s 8 GB memory and 224 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards.

The combo’s rank is likely dragged down by the GPU’s 4K performance (37 FPS at Ultra) and the fact that many other combos pair this CPU with stronger GPUs. In aggregate, the CPU’s nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% delta) and the Core Ultra 7 356H (0.4% delta), but those CPUs are typically matched with higher-tier graphics cards. The data shows that this combo’s strength is at 1080p, where it exceeds 100 FPS in every preset except the Ultra (106 FPS), but it falls below 60 FPS at 4K in any preset except Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want to stay above 60 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 84 FPS, Low gives 114 FPS, and Medium gives 99 FPS, all above 60. At 3840x2160, only Low (62 FPS) and Medium (54 FPS) are close, but only Low breaks 60 FPS. So 1440p is the sweet spot for 60+ FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset at 4K compare to the 1080p Low result?

A: 4K Ultra averages 37 FPS, which is 79% lower than the 1080p Low average of 176 FPS. The GPU’s pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s cannot keep up at 4K with Ultra settings.

Q: Does this combo benefit more from CPU or GPU upgrades?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The CPU’s 12 cores and 24 threads are adequate for this game, but the RX 6600’s 8 GB memory and 224 GB/s bandwidth cap the frame rates at all 4K settings. A stronger GPU would help more.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum is 84 FPS, with a maximum of 114 FPS, and an average of 99 FPS. This is within the playable range for a 60-144Hz display.

Q: Is the 1080p Ultra preset playable with this combo?

A: Yes, the average is 106 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 941 helps ensure smooth frame pacing at this resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank in Doom compared to other tested combos?

A: It ranks 2883 out of 3712 combos, meaning 77% of tested combos perform better. This is low for a CPU that is at 87th percentile, but the GPU’s 63rd percentile drags it down.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (Full HD)

• Low: 176 FPS average
• Medium: 153 FPS average (min 130, max 176)
• High: 129 FPS average
• Ultra: 106 FPS average

2560x1440 (QHD)

• Low: 114 FPS average
• Medium: 99 FPS average (min 84, max 114)
• High: 84 FPS average
• Ultra: 68 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K UHD)

• Low: 62 FPS average
• Medium: 54 FPS average (min 46, max 62)
• High: 45 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: each increase in resolution costs roughly 30-35% of the previous level’s average FPS, regardless of preset. For example, from 1080p High (129 FPS) to 1440p High (84) is a 35% reduction, and from 1440p High to 4K High (45) is a 44% reduction. The Medium preset follows a similar curve: 153 to 99 to 54. The minimum and maximum FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings; at 4K, the spread between min and max is 16 FPS (46 to 62), while at 1080p it is 46 FPS (130 to 176). This confirms that at 4K, the GPU is consistently near its peak load, leaving little variation between frames.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 5000 series, based on Zen 3 (Vermeer) architecture on a 7nm process with 8,300 million transistors. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boost clock 4.80 GHz, and it has 64 MB of L3 cache. The 3DMark scores show a single-thread score of 941 and a max-thread score of 10075, indicating strong single-core performance that is crucial for a fast-paced FPS like Doom, where game logic and input handling rely heavily on single-core throughput.

In this combo, the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 176, which means the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to hit that frame rate. The 3DMark 2-thread score is 1852, and the 4-thread score is 3588, which are high enough to avoid CPU bottlenecks in most scenes. The CPU’s percentile vs all CPUs is 87th, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% delta) and Core Ultra 7 356H (0.4% delta). For Doom, the CPU has headroom to spare; even at 1080p Ultra, the average is 106 FPS, which is still above 60.

However, the CPU’s high core count (12 cores) does not translate to better scaling in Doom, as the game is not highly multithreaded. The 3DMark max-thread score of 10075 shows the processor can handle heavy multi-threaded workloads, but in this game, the single-core score of 941 is more relevant. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is also not a bottleneck, as the game’s data is likely compressed in GPU memory.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and frame rate.

• For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset gives 106 FPS, which is well above 60 and deliverable on a 100Hz+ monitor. If you prefer higher framerates, the Medium preset at 153 FPS is a better choice if you want to take advantage of a 144Hz display. Low is 176 FPS, but the visual quality loss is not necessary given the GPU has headroom.

• For 2560x1440, the High preset at 84 FPS is the best balance, as it keeps above 60 FPS while offering improved visuals over Medium (99 FPS) and Low (114 FPS). The Ultra preset falls to 68 FPS, which is still playable but approaches the 60 FPS threshold. For a 75Hz monitor, Medium is fine; for a 144Hz panel, High is the maximum.

• For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 62 FPS is the only one that breaks 60 FPS. Medium gives 54 FPS, which is below 60 but may be acceptable on a 60Hz display with adaptive sync. High (45) and Ultra (37) are not recommended for smooth gameplay. If you must play at 4K, use Low or Medium; otherwise, drop to 1440p for a smoother experience.

In summary, the data suggests that the RX 6600 handles 1080p and 1440p well across all presets, but 4K requires Low or Medium settings. For the best experience, use 1440p High or 1080p Ultra, depending on your display’s refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 1440p (68 FPS) is also viable if you prefer maximum textures over frame rate.