Doom

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers an average of 88.1 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which is the most demanding preset tested at that resolution.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 110.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 67.9 FPS at 2560x1440, and further down to 38 FPS at 3840x2160. The jump from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 represents a 44% reduction in average FPS.

Q: Which settings preset offers the highest frame rate at 3840x2160?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 51.4 FPS, which is the highest measured value at that resolution. The Ultra preset at the same resolution only achieves 28.7 FPS average.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 2560x1440 across all settings presets?

A: No. The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 60.5 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset is more comfortable at 67.9 FPS average, while Medium and Low presets reach 86 FPS and 98.8 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the CPU and GPU individually?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER sits in the 55th percentile among all GPUs. This indicates the CPU is a much stronger component relative to its peers than the GPU.

Q: How does the combo's overall ranking in this game compare to the total number of tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1466th out of 1681 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the lower portion of the tested pool despite the CPU's high individual percentile.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly shows that the GPU is the limiting factor for this combo in Doom. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 88.1 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at the same resolution improves the average to 110.5 FPS, a substantial 25% gain over Ultra. For most users targeting smooth gameplay at standard 1080p displays, the High preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset barely reaches 60.5 FPS average, which may result in noticeable drops during intense combat sequences. The High preset at this resolution produces 67.9 FPS average, providing a more stable experience. Given that the gap between High and Medium is significant (67.9 FPS versus 86 FPS), the Medium preset is recommended for 1440p if consistent frame pacing is a priority, as it delivers an 27% improvement over High.

For 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve a fully smooth 60 FPS experience. The Low preset reaches 51.4 FPS average, which is the only setting above 50 FPS at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 43 FPS average, while High and Ultra fall to 38 FPS and 28.7 FPS respectively. Users with 4K displays should either accept the Low preset for playable frame rates or consider lowering the resolution to 2560x1440, where the Medium preset offers a much better experience at 86 FPS average.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is only viable at 1920x1080, where it provides 88.1 FPS average. For all other resolutions, stepping down to High or Medium yields disproportionately large performance improvements relative to the visual quality loss.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU116 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. Its memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective.

The GPU's memory configuration is directly relevant to Doom's performance at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop dramatically across all settings presets, with the Ultra preset averaging only 28.7 FPS. The 6 GB VRAM capacity and 192-bit memory bus are likely stressed at 4K resolution, as the game's texture and geometry data requirements increase with pixel count. The memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor when pushing higher resolutions.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities, including a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s, support its measured performance profile. The FP32 throughput of 5.027 TFLOPS places this GPU in a mid-range segment, which aligns with its 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The measured frame rates in Doom reflect this positioning, with the GPU struggling to maintain high frame rates at 4K while handling 1080p and 1440p more comfortably.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers Doom's rendering requirements. The Vulkan API support is particularly relevant given Doom's engine, though the measured data does not differentiate between API paths. The 125 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a power-efficient card that should operate within typical desktop constraints.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset achieves an average of 151 FPS, which is the fastest measured result across all resolutions and settings. Medium produces 131.8 FPS average, High reaches 110.5 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 88.1 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline of approximately 20 FPS per step, indicating consistent scaling across preset levels.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve shifts downward. Low delivers 98.8 FPS average, Medium achieves 86 FPS average, High reaches 67.9 FPS average, and Ultra bottoms out at 60.5 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 38.3 FPS, compared to 62.9 FPS at 1080p. This compression suggests the GPU is becoming more of a bottleneck as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates fall below playable thresholds for most presets. Low achieves 51.4 FPS average, Medium drops to 43 FPS average, High reaches 38 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 28.7 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 22.7 FPS, indicating that even the lowest settings cannot overcome the GPU's resolution limitations.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings preset reveals the scaling cost. At High settings, 1080p yields 110.5 FPS, 1440p drops to 67.9 FPS (a 39% reduction), and 4K falls to 38 FPS (a 66% reduction from 1080p). At Ultra settings, the same pattern holds: 88.1 FPS at 1080p, 60.5 FPS at 1440p, and 28.7 FPS at 4K. The relative performance loss from 1440p to 4K is more severe at Ultra than at High, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional graphical demands amplify the GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 131.8 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. Low settings provide the least degradation, moving from 151 FPS at 1080p to 98.8 FPS at 1440p and 51.4 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that Low settings are the only viable option for 4K gaming with this combo, and even then, the frame rate hovers near the edge of smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1466th out of 1681 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the bottom 13% of all tested combos. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its processing capability. The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49166, which is 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 9 5950X's average score of 49062. The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 49367, representing a 0.6% advantage over the AMD chip. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 49595, which is 1.1% higher. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698, placing it 0.7% below the Ryzen 9 5950X. These deltas are minimal, indicating that the CPU is competitive with its nearest peers in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a different picture. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 has an average score of 14314, which is 0.2% higher than the GTX 1660 SUPER's 14286. The Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics scores 14315, also 0.2% higher. The AMD Radeon Vega 11 scores 14352, representing a 0.5% advantage. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT scores 14389, which is 0.7% higher. These small deltas place the GTX 1660 SUPER at the lower end of its immediate performance cluster.

The contrast between the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and the GPU's 55th percentile ranking explains the combo's overall position. The CPU is a high-end desktop processor with 16 cores and 32 threads, capable of handling demanding workloads, but the GPU is a mid-range card from a previous generation. In a GPU-bound game like Doom at higher resolutions, the CPU's potential is largely unrealized, as the measured frame rates are constrained by the GPU's throughput. The combo's 1466th rank reflects this imbalance, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck across all tested settings and resolutions.