Doom

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS for this CPU/GPU combo in Doom at 2560x1440 with High settings?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers an average of 141 FPS at 2560x1440 on the High preset, with no minimum or maximum values recorded for that specific configuration.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1920x1080?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 296 FPS, while the Ultra preset reaches 178 FPS. This represents a difference of 118 FPS, meaning Low is roughly 66% faster than Ultra at this resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 3840x2160 on Medium settings?

A: The data shows a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS at 4K with Medium settings, resulting in an average of 90 FPS. This is the only 4K configuration with both min and max values listed.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested CPU/GPU combinations in Doom?

A: The combination ranks 1118 out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all systems tested for this game. The data is marked as measured, not estimated.

Q: What is the boost clock of the CPU and the game clock of the GPU?

A: The CPU has a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, while the GPU's game clock is listed at 2070 MHz. The GPU's boost clock is 2520 MHz, and the base clock is 1330 MHz.

Q: Does the GPU have more VRAM than the 16 GB listed, and what type is it?

A: No, the GPU has exactly 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 644.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This is the only memory configuration listed for the AMD Radeon RX 9070.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory running at an effective 20.1 Gbps, which translates to a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s across a 256-bit bus. This substantial bandwidth is critical for Doom's fast-paced texture streaming and high-resolution rendering. The GPU's 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs work in concert to push pixel rates of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rates of 564.5 GTexel/s.

Clock behavior is notable: the base clock sits at 1330 MHz, but the game clock is rated at 2070 MHz, with a boost ceiling of 2520 MHz. This wide boost range suggests the card can aggressively scale clocks under load, which the measured FPS data reflects. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 296 FPS average, indicating the boost clocks are sustained well under lighter workloads. The FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS and identical FP16 throughput (1:1 ratio) provide ample compute headroom for Doom's Vulkan-based rendering.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 25381 places it at the 69th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (0.6% faster), AMD Radeon RX 6800S (0.8% slower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (1.1% faster), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (1.2% slower). These deltas are marginal, meaning the RX 9070 sits in a tightly contested performance band. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 further confirms its modern architecture capabilities.

The 4 nm process node from TSMC allows the GPU to pack 53,900 million transistors into a 357 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 151.0M per mm². This efficiency enables the 220 W TDP to deliver the observed frame rates without requiring exotic cooling. With PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, the GPU is well-equipped for Doom's API requirements.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear progression across presets at every resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 218 FPS, which is already far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. Moving to Ultra reduces that to 178 FPS, a 40 FPS drop for presumably marginal visual gains. The Medium preset at 258 FPS and Low at 296 FPS show diminishing returns for lower settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, High produces 141 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Ultra drops to 115 FPS, while Medium sits at 167 FPS and Low at 192 FPS. The sweet spot for 1440p appears to be High, as it maintains high frame rates while likely preserving most visual fidelity. The gap between High and Ultra (26 FPS) suggests Ultra imposes a significant cost that may not be justified on all displays.

At 3840x2160, High averages 76 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. Medium manages 90 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS, making it the most balanced 4K option. Ultra drops to 62 FPS, which may feel sluggish for Doom's demanding combat. Low reaches 104 FPS at 4K, but the visual compromise is substantial.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the optimal balance: 141 FPS average with no recorded minimum dips. Alternatively, 1080p High at 218 FPS provides maximum headroom for high-refresh-rate displays. At 4K, Medium is the recommended preset, as its 90 FPS average with a 77 FPS floor keeps gameplay fluid without sacrificing too much detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low averages 296 FPS, Medium averages 258 FPS with a min of 219 and max of 296, High averages 218 FPS, and Ultra averages 178 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 118 FPS, showing how dramatically settings impact frame rates at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but scales down proportionally. Low averages 192 FPS, Medium averages 167 FPS with a min of 142 and max of 192, High averages 141 FPS, and Ultra averages 115 FPS. The delta from Low to Ultra here is 77 FPS, indicating a tighter relative spread as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low averages 104 FPS, Medium averages 90 FPS with a min of 77 and max of 104, High averages 76 FPS, and Ultra averages 62 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 42 FPS, suggesting that at 4K, the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck regardless of settings.

The min/max data available only for Medium settings at each resolution provides insight into frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 219-296 FPS (77 FPS spread). At 1440p Medium, the range is 142-192 FPS (50 FPS spread). At 4K Medium, the range is 77-104 FPS (27 FPS spread). This tightening range at higher resolutions indicates more stable frame pacing when the GPU is more fully utilized.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1118 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the 70th percentile of all systems tested for Doom. This position reflects a strong but not elite standing, suggesting that while the Ryzen 9 7900X and RX 9070 deliver excellent raw performance, there are many higher-end configurations ahead in the rankings.

The CPU alone holds the 91st percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 53288. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7313P (0.2% higher score), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% lower), Intel Xeon 634 (0.6% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700F (0.6% lower). These tiny deltas indicate the 7900X is in a tightly packed performance tier.

The GPU sits at the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877. Its rival deltas are similarly tight: GTX TITAN Z (0.6% higher), RX 6800S (0.8% lower), RTX 3080 Mobile (1.1% higher), and RTX 2080 SUPER (1.2% lower). The near-parity with these rivals suggests the GPU is well-positioned but not dominant.

Given the CPU's higher percentile (91) versus the GPU's (69), the ranking of 1118/3712 suggests the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU has more headroom than the GPU, which is a common configuration for gaming systems but means the combo's overall standing is constrained by the graphics card's performance tier.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X contributes 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael codename), built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are notably high, allowing for excellent single-threaded performance that benefits Doom's primary game logic and rendering commands.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 64 MB shared L3 cache. This substantial L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing memory latency. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support provides 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which complements the GPU's 644.6 GB/s without creating a system-level bottleneck.

Benchmark results show strong scaling: 3DMark scores range from 1093 (single-thread) to 12536 (max threads), with 16-thread performance at 10972. Cinebench R23 scores of 29300 multi-core and 2016.5 single-core confirm the CPU's capability. Geekbench scores of 19267 multi-core and 2617 single-core further validate its performance.

In Doom specifically, the CPU's role is evident in the 1080p results where frame rates reach up to 296 FPS. At such high frame rates, the CPU must feed the GPU efficiently, and the 7900X's high boost clock and large cache clearly handle this task. The fact that 1080p Low achieves nearly 300 FPS indicates the CPU can drive the GPU to its limits without becoming a constraint.

The 170 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for potential tuning, though the stock configuration already demonstrates ample performance for this game. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 CPU lanes ensures the GPU has full bandwidth available, minimizing any data transfer bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 296 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 192 FPS (a 35% reduction), and at 4K Low, it reaches 104 FPS (a further 46% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

For High settings, the pattern is similar: 218 FPS at 1080p, 141 FPS at 1440p (35% drop), and 76 FPS at 4K (46% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the constraining resources, rather than the CPU.

The Ultra preset shows the same trend: 178 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p (35% drop), and 62 FPS at 4K (46% drop). This consistency across all settings indicates that resolution scaling is dominated by GPU workload, with the CPU maintaining adequate frame delivery even at lower resolutions.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 118 FPS; at 1440p, it's 77 FPS; at 4K, it's 42 FPS. This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes so heavily loaded that settings have less relative impact on frame rates. The pixel throughput demands at 4K overwhelm the differences between presets more than at lower resolutions.

The 4K Medium min/max range (77-104 FPS) versus 1080p Medium (219-296 FPS) highlights how frame pacing tightens at higher resolutions. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 4K textures, but the raw compute power limits absolute frame rates. This data implies that for this combo, 1440p High is the practical ceiling for high-refresh gaming, while 4K is viable at Medium settings for a 90 FPS experience.