Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 reveals a clear and predictable pattern as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system delivers 173.6 FPS. Stepping up to 2560x1440 drops that to 112 FPS, a reduction of roughly 35%. Moving to 3840x2160 further reduces performance to 62 FPS, another 45% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling suggests that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom that the GPU is not the only limiting factor, but as pixel count climbs, the RX 6600 becomes increasingly dominant in determining frame rates.

Looking at the Ultra preset, the same trend holds: 1080p produces 108.1 FPS, 1440p drops to 66.9 FPS, and 4K falls to 39.8 FPS. The percentage drops between resolutions are steeper at Ultra than at Low, which indicates that the higher settings amplify the GPU's workload. At 4K Ultra, the system barely maintains playable frame rates, hovering just below the 40 FPS mark. This points to the RX 6600's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus being strained by the combination of high resolution and maximum detail levels.

The data implies that the Ryzen 9 7900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is not the bottleneck at any resolution tested. Even at 1080p Low, where CPU overhead typically matters most, the system achieves 173.6 FPS — a figure that suggests the processor has ample headroom. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows only a 37% performance penalty, while at 4K the penalty jumps to 36% between Low and Ultra, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting smooth gameplay, the measured rows offer clear guidance. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 154.2 FPS, which is only 11% lower than Low but provides noticeably better visual quality. High at 1080p still hits 132.1 FPS, making it a strong choice for those wanting detail without sacrificing responsiveness. Ultra at 1080p drops to 108.1 FPS, which remains above common 60 Hz display refresh rates but begins to trade away the high-refresh advantage.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. Medium produces 97.2 FPS, comfortably above 60 FPS and close to 100 FPS for smoother motion. High at 1440p yields 83.5 FPS, still playable but with less margin for demanding scenes. Ultra at 1440p falls to 66.9 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced play but might feel less fluid in fast combat. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p, balancing visual fidelity with a 44% performance uplift over Ultra.

For 3840x2160, the measured results are more constrained. Low achieves 62 FPS, which is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 4K produces 55.2 FPS, while High drops to 44.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.8 FPS. Given that Doom is a fast-paced FPS, the Low preset at 4K appears to be the only viable option for maintaining fluid gameplay, unless the player prioritizes visuals over frame rate and can tolerate sub-60 FPS performance. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is only 11%, so players with some tolerance for dips might still consider Medium.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, and built on a 5 nm process. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it carries a TDP of 170 W. In Doom, a game originally released in 2016, the CPU's role is less demanding than in modern titles, but the data still shows how this processor's characteristics influence results.

The 7900X's high boost clock of 5.60 GHz helps maintain high frame rates in scenes that rely on single-threaded performance. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1093 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6168 indicate strong per-core performance, which is relevant for Doom's game logic and physics. However, the game's engine is known to scale across multiple cores, and the 7900X's 12 cores and 24 threads provide substantial parallel capacity. The multi-threaded scores — Cinebench R23 multicore at 43695 and Geekbench multicore at 17830 — suggest that the CPU is unlikely to bottleneck even when the GPU is under heavy load.

The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 173.6 FPS, which is close to what one might expect from a GPU-limited scenario. At 4K, the frame rates drop to 62 FPS at Low, further indicating that the CPU is not the limiting component. The 7900X's 64 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth also contribute to reducing potential stalls when feeding the GPU. The processor's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 50556, places it just 0.1% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and 0.8% below the Intel Core i9-13980HX, confirming its high-end positioning.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Doom?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 delivers the highest frame rates, with Low at 173.6 FPS and Ultra at 108.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 97.2 FPS, while 4K only reaches 62 FPS at Low settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 7900X's core count affect Doom's performance?

A: With 12 cores and 24 threads, the 7900X provides ample parallel processing for Doom's engine. The measured FPS drops from 173.6 at 1080p Low to 62 at 4K Low, which is a GPU-driven reduction, not a CPU limitation.

Q: Is the RX 6600 sufficient for 4K gaming in Doom?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves 62 FPS, which is above 60 FPS. Medium drops to 55.2 FPS, High to 44.1 FPS, and Ultra to 39.8 FPS, suggesting that 4K is only viable at lower settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: High produces 83.5 FPS, while Ultra produces 66.9 FPS — a 20% reduction. This gap indicates that Ultra's additional visual effects come at a noticeable cost to frame rate.

Q: How does the 7900X compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The 7900X has an average benchmark score of 50556, which is 0.1% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT, and 0.8% below the Intel Core i9-13980HX. Its percentile ranking is 93 among all CPUs.

Q: Does the RX 6600's memory bandwidth affect Doom's performance?

A: The GPU has 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 39.8 FPS, suggesting that memory capacity and bandwidth are strained at high resolutions and settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. Its clocks are set at a base of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz with a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Doom, the RX 6600's performance is the primary driver of frame rates as resolution and settings increase. At 1080p, the GPU can handle all presets, with Ultra still achieving 108.1 FPS. This indicates that the 8 GB VRAM is sufficient at this resolution, even with high texture detail. At 1440p, the GPU begins to show strain, with Ultra dropping to 66.9 FPS, a 38% reduction from 1080p Ultra. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overtaxed: Ultra drops to 39.8 FPS, and even Low only manages 62 FPS.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1492, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 80492. The passmark G3D score of 15096 places it at the 69th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 25235 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon 890M (0% delta), slightly above the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (0.2% ahead), and 0.5% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. This data suggests that the RX 6600 is a capable mid-range card, but its 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit its performance at high resolutions in demanding games like Doom.

The measured FPS numbers confirm that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, where the gap between Low and Ultra is only 36% (62 vs. 39.8 FPS), compared to a 38% gap at 1440p and a 38% gap at 1080p. This consistency suggests that the GPU's raw compute power, rather than memory limitations, is the main constraint at all resolutions, but the 8 GB VRAM likely contributes to the steep drop at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 173.6 FPS on Low, 154.2 FPS on Medium, 132.1 FPS on High, and 108.1 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 38% reduction in frame rate, with each preset step costing roughly 12-18% performance.

At 2560x1440, the results are 112 FPS on Low, 97.2 FPS on Medium, 83.5 FPS on High, and 66.9 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 40%, slightly steeper than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU's workload increases disproportionately with resolution. The gap between Medium and High is 14%, while High to Ultra costs 20%, suggesting that Ultra's effects are particularly demanding.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 62 FPS on Low, 55.2 FPS on Medium, 44.1 FPS on High, and 39.8 FPS on Ultra. The reduction from Low to Ultra is 36%, and the step from High to Ultra is 10%. This is the closest gap among all resolutions, suggesting that at 4K, the GPU is already so constrained that additional settings have diminishing impact on frame rate.

Comparing across resolutions, the 1080p to 1440p transition costs roughly 35-38% performance depending on the preset, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs 44-45%. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are increasingly taxed as resolution climbs. For players seeking a specific frame rate target, the data shows that 60 FPS is achievable at 4K only on Low, at 1440p on all presets except Ultra (which hits 66.9), and at 1080p on all presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 1351st out of 1681 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the bottom 20% of all combos. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than the CPU's high-end capabilities. The 7900X alone sits at the 93rd percentile among CPUs, while the RX 6600 sits at the 69th percentile among GPUs, so the combo's low rank is driven entirely by the graphics card.

The data indicates that this pairing is unbalanced for a game like Doom, where the CPU has significant headroom that the GPU cannot utilize. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 173.6 FPS, but this is likely limited by the GPU's rendering capabilities rather than the CPU's processing power. The 7900X's high single-thread and multi-thread scores — such as the Cinebench R23 multicore of 43695 and the 3DMark max threads score of 12536 — suggest that a more powerful GPU could push frame rates much higher.

The combo's rank of 1351 out of 1681 suggests that most other tested configurations outperform this pairing in Doom. Given that the GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 890M (0% delta in average score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (0.2% ahead), the RX 6600 is competitive within its class, but the overall combo ranking indicates that Doom favors systems with stronger GPUs. Players using this combo should expect solid 1080p performance but will need to lower settings at 1440p and 4K to maintain playable frame rates. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield far greater benefits than upgrading the CPU for this game.