Doom

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combination produces an average of 106 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 68 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 37 FPS. This represents a 64% reduction in average frame rate from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra, indicating that the GPU becomes the overwhelmingly dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern across all settings tells a consistent story. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 176 FPS, which drops to 114 FPS at 1440p and 62 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are steep: from 1080p to 1440p, the Low preset loses 35% of its frame rate, and from 1440p to 4K, it loses another 46%. This non-linear degradation is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher pixel counts.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the RX 6600 is still the primary constraint, but the Ryzen 9 5950X's 16 cores and 32 threads provide ample headroom. The 5950X's single-thread score of 3470 in Passmark and its 3DMark single-thread score of 944 indicate strong per-core performance that does not bottleneck even the highest frame rates observed here. At 1080p Low, the 176 FPS average shows the CPU can feed the GPU effectively, but the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become more relevant as resolution climbs.

At 4K, the frame rates across all settings fall within a narrow band. The Low preset averages 62 FPS, Medium averages 54 FPS, High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 25 FPS, whereas at 1080p the spread is 70 FPS (from 176 FPS Low to 106 FPS Ultra). This compression of performance at 4K strongly indicates that the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth are exhausted regardless of the graphics settings, with the pixel fill rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s being insufficient to maintain high frame rates at that resolution.

The limiting component is definitively the GPU. The Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, is far more capable than the RX 6600 in this context. The CPU's percentile rank of 91 against all CPUs versus the GPU's percentile rank of 63 against all GPUs reinforces this conclusion. Even at the lowest settings and highest frame rates, the GPU is the bottleneck; the CPU's 3DMark max-thread score of 11597 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017 suggest it could drive far higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful graphics card.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this CPU-GPU combination?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds 100 FPS across all settings. At 1440p, only the Low preset breaks 100 FPS with an average of 114 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches even 63 FPS. For high refresh-rate monitors, 1080p is the recommended resolution.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in overall benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 19036, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 with a score of 19030, a 0% delta. The GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile scores 19049, a -0.1% delta, and the Tesla K20m scores 19089, a -0.3% delta. These are effectively statistical ties.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X bottleneck the RX 6600 in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 176 FPS, and the 5950X's single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 3470) is strong. The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking versus the CPU's 91st percentile shows the GPU is the weaker component in this pairing.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset averages 114 FPS while Ultra averages 68 FPS, a difference of 46 FPS. The Medium preset sits at 99 FPS and High at 84 FPS. The scaling is nearly linear across presets, with each step up in quality costing roughly 15 FPS.

Q: Is the RX 6600's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Doom at 4K?

A: The measured results show playable frame rates at 4K only on Low (62 FPS) and Medium (54 FPS) presets. The High preset drops to 45 FPS and Ultra to 37 FPS. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth appears adequate for the game's demands, as the bottleneck is more likely the GPU's compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for Doom?

A: This specific combination of the Ryzen 9 5950X and RX 6600 ranks 2883 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the lower portion of the distribution, reflecting that the GPU is a mid-range component while the CPU is high-end.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 plays the decisive role in determining Doom's performance across all measured configurations. The GPU's specifications show a mid-range part: 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz are respectable for the RDNA 2 architecture, but the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The GPU's clock behavior helps explain the performance scaling. The base clock is 1626 MHz, with the boost clock reaching 2491 MHz under load. In Doom, the GPU appears to sustain high clocks at 1080p where the frame rates range from 106 FPS at Ultra to 176 FPS at Low. However, at 4K, the average frame rates drop to between 37 and 62 FPS, suggesting the GPU cannot maintain its boost clock when the pixel workload increases dramatically.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the combo still renders at 37 FPS rather than experiencing a hard crash or severe stuttering due to memory overflow. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) provides the bandwidth needed for the game's textures and geometry. The GPU's FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS is the raw compute that must handle the game's rendering, and this figure correlates with the observed performance: adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but strained at 4K.

The RX 6600's overall benchmark profile places it at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 19036. Its nearest rivals are closely matched: the Quadro K6000 at 19030, the RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049, and the Tesla K20m at 19089. The delta percentages range from -0.3% to 0.4%, indicating that the RX 6600 sits in a tightly contested performance tier. In Doom specifically, this translates to playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but sub-60 FPS averages at 4K for all settings except Low.

The GPU's 28 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) are features that may not be heavily utilized in this 2016 title, which was released before ray tracing became mainstream. The game's renderer likely relies more on the traditional rasterization pipeline, where the RX 6600's 64 ROPs and 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate determine fill-rate limited scenarios. At 4K, the pixel rate becomes a critical constraint, explaining why even the Low preset only manages 62 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Ryzen 9 5950X and Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2883 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This places the pairing in the 22nd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 78% of tested combos perform better in this game. The rank reflects the significant mismatch between the high-end CPU and mid-range GPU.

The Ryzen 9 5950X is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 91st percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 51947. Its nearest CPU rivals are closely bunched: the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX scores 52073 (-0.2% delta), the AMD EPYC 8124P scores 52121 (-0.3% delta), the Intel Core i9-13900F scores 51730 (0.4% delta), and the Intel Core i7-14700 scores 52301 (-0.7% delta). This CPU is clearly not the constraint in this combo.

The RX 6600, by contrast, ranks in the 63rd percentile of GPUs, and this lower relative standing drags the overall combo rank down. In a game like Doom that can scale to very high frame rates, the GPU's mid-range position becomes the determining factor. The CPU could support much higher frame rates, as evidenced by its 3DMark max-thread score of 11597 and Passmark multi-thread score of 45424, but the GPU cannot deliver them.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is positioned for 1080p gaming. The measured frame rates at 1080p range from 106 FPS at Ultra to 176 FPS at Low, which are solid results. However, the combo rank of 2883 shows that many other pairings, likely those with more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates at the same resolutions. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads provide no additional benefit in this game beyond what a lesser CPU would offer, since the GPU is the limiting factor.

The rank also suggests that for this game, a more balanced pairing would be a mid-range CPU with a higher-tier GPU. The 5950X's 105 W TDP and $799 launch MSRP represent a significant investment that is not fully utilized when paired with the RX 6600 in Doom. The GPU's 132 W TDP and $329 launch MSRP are more modest, and the performance gap between the two components is evident in the combo's overall ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. All measurements are actual averages with some minimum and maximum values recorded for the Medium preset.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. The Low preset averages 176 FPS, the Medium preset averages 153 FPS with a minimum of 130 and maximum of 176, the High preset averages 129 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 106 FPS. This resolution shows the widest spread between settings, with a 70 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. All presets at 1080p exceed 100 FPS, making this the only resolution where the combo is consistently smooth on high refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. The Low preset averages 114 FPS, the Medium preset averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 and maximum of 114, the High preset averages 84 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 68 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 46 FPS. Only the Low and Medium presets maintain averages above 90 FPS, while Ultra falls below the 70 FPS threshold that many gamers consider the minimum for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. The Low preset averages 62 FPS, the Medium preset averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 62, the High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 37 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows further to 25 FPS. Only the Low preset achieves an average above 60 FPS, and even that is marginal. The Medium preset's minimum of 46 FPS indicates potential frame drops below 50 FPS during intense scenes.

The Medium preset's min/max values across all resolutions provide insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the Medium preset ranges from 130 to 176 FPS, a 46 FPS spread. At 1440p, it ranges from 84 to 114 FPS, a 30 FPS spread. At 4K, it ranges from 46 to 62 FPS, a 16 FPS spread. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing the variance between the easiest and hardest frames to render.

Across all resolutions, the High preset sits roughly midway between Medium and Ultra. At 1080p, High is 24 FPS below Medium and 23 FPS above Ultra. At 1440p, High is 15 FPS below Medium and 16 FPS above Ultra. At 4K, High is 9 FPS below Medium and 8 FPS above Ultra. This consistent ordering confirms that the settings presets scale predictably, with each step up in quality yielding a measurable performance cost.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data points to 1080p as the ideal resolution for this combo, with the Ultra preset delivering a 106 FPS average. This is the highest quality setting that still maintains a triple-digit frame rate, making it the optimal choice for gamers with 1080p displays who want the best visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The Ultra preset at 1080p provides the full visual experience of Doom while staying well above the 60 FPS threshold.

For gamers prioritizing competitive performance at 1080p, the Low preset at 176 FPS offers the highest frame rates, but the Medium preset at 153 FPS represents a better balance. The Medium preset's minimum of 130 FPS ensures that frame rates never drop below 130 FPS, which is critical for maintaining smooth gameplay during fast-paced action sequences. The 23 FPS difference between Medium and Low is less significant than the visual quality improvement Medium provides.

At 1440p, the data recommends the Medium preset as the best choice. With a 99 FPS average and a minimum of 84 FPS, it keeps gameplay fluid while offering better visual quality than Low (114 FPS) or High (84 FPS). The High preset at 84 FPS is still playable but approaches the 60-70 FPS range where frame drops become noticeable. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is only suitable for gamers who prioritize visuals over frame rate and can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS.

At 4K, the recommendation is more constrained. The Low preset at 62 FPS is the only setting that achieves an average above 60 FPS, making it the safest choice for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS will experience noticeable frame drops in demanding scenes. The High preset at 45 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS are not recommended for 4K gaming unless the player is willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance.

The overall recommendation is to play at 1080p with Ultra settings for the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 106 FPS average at this configuration is sufficient for most displays, and the CPU-GPU combo has enough headroom to handle the game's most intense scenes without dropping below the 60 FPS threshold. For 1440p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, offering near-100 FPS performance with good visual quality. For 4K, the Low preset is the only setting that provides a consistently playable experience, and even then, the 62 FPS average leaves little margin for error.