Doom

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing delivers exceptional performance in Doom, with frame rates that comfortably exceed the refresh rates of most high-end displays. This combination of a 12-core Zen 4 processor and an Ada Lovelace flagship GPU produces a dataset that clearly separates the responsibilities of each component, revealing how the game scales across different resolutions and settings. The measured results show that even at the most demanding preset, the system maintains a high level of fluidity, while at lower settings, the CPU becomes the primary limiting factor. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to provide a clear picture of what this hardware combo achieves in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable trend: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop, but the severity of that drop depends heavily on the graphics settings. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average FPS falls from 295 to 191, a reduction of 104 frames. This pattern continues when moving to 3840x2160, where the High preset averages 104 FPS. The scaling is not linear across all presets; the gap between 1080p and 1440p is much larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K at the same settings. For instance, at Ultra settings, the average FPS goes from 241 at 1080p to 156 at 1440p, then to 85 at 4K.

This behavior indicates a shift in the bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames faster than the processor can feed it. The 401 FPS average at Low settings on 1080p is a strong indicator of this CPU-bound scenario. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s workload becomes more demanding, and the frame rate becomes more dependent on the RTX 4080’s rendering capabilities. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56 FPS (141 vs 85), which shows the GPU is under significant load at the highest settings.

The min and max FPS data for Medium settings provides additional context. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 123 FPS, with a minimum of 104 and a maximum of 141. This range suggests that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not dip below the average of the High preset at the same resolution. At 2560x1440 Medium, the min and max are 192 and 260, respectively, showing a wider variance but still maintaining a high floor. The 1080p Medium results show a min of 297 and a max of 402, which aligns with the Low preset’s maximum, reinforcing the idea that the CPU is capping performance in this regime.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a substantial 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for handling the texture data at 4K resolution, where the game’s assets require significant bandwidth to maintain high frame rates. The GPU’s boost clock of 2505 MHz and base clock of 2205 MHz are the driving forces behind its raw compute power, which is rated at 48.74 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

The GPU’s role becomes more apparent when looking at the performance delta between settings at a fixed resolution. At 3840x2160, moving from Low to Medium to High to Ultra produces average FPS of 141, 123, 104, and 85, respectively. This is a clear demonstration of the GPU’s workload scaling with visual fidelity. The RTX 4080’s architecture, with 9728 shading units and 304 texture mapping units, is well-suited for this task, as the game’s fast-paced action requires consistent frame times. The card’s performance places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 54247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209, a delta of just 0.1%.

The fact that the RTX 4080 is end-of-life and has been succeeded by a newer generation does not diminish its capabilities in this test. The measured data shows that it is more than adequate for Doom, even at 4K Ultra, where it maintains an average of 85 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions and settings, where the CPU’s limits are reached first. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor here, as the game does not appear to exceed it, given the consistent frame rates across all settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 401, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is closely followed by 350 FPS at Medium settings and 295 FPS at High settings on the same resolution.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 141 FPS on Low, 123 FPS on Medium, 104 FPS on High, and 85 FPS on Ultra. This indicates that even the most demanding preset is playable at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p, especially at lower settings. The jump from 295 FPS at High to 401 FPS at Low shows the GPU has headroom, but the frame rate is capped by the processor’s ability to handle the game’s draw calls.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 191 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 156 FPS. This is a difference of 35 FPS, which is a noticeable cost for the extra visual fidelity.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its immediate rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209. This puts the RTX 4080 at a 0.1% performance advantage, meaning they are effectively equivalent in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings at 4K?

A: The minimum FPS for Medium settings at 3840x2160 is 104, which is equal to the average FPS of the High preset at the same resolution. This shows that the Medium preset provides a consistent experience without significant drops.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations for Doom, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing ranks at position 215 out of 3712 total combos. This puts the system in the top 5.8% of all tested configurations, a strong showing that reflects its high-end components. The rank is a holistic measure of performance across all resolutions and settings, and it confirms that this pairing is significantly above average for this game.

The CPU’s individual performance is also a factor in this ranking. The Ryzen 9 7900X has a percentile rank of 91 among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 53288 is competitive with its nearest rivals. For instance, it scores 0.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 7313P, which has an average score of 53206, and 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon 634, which scores 52974. It is only 0.3% lower than the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 and 0.6% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700F. This indicates that the CPU is not holding back the GPU in most scenarios.

The GPU’s rank is slightly lower, at the 86th percentile, but its average score of 54247 is still very high. The RTX 4080’s nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1% behind, which is a negligible difference. This combo’s overall rank of 215 is a result of the synergy between these two components, where the CPU’s strong single-thread performance (evidenced by a 3dmark single-thread score of 1093) allows the GPU to stretch its legs at lower resolutions, while the GPU’s raw power handles the heavier loads at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low settings produce an average of 401 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 350 FPS, with a minimum of 297 and a maximum of 402, showing a tight range. High settings average 295 FPS, and Ultra settings average 241 FPS. This resolution is clearly CPU-bound, as the GPU has more than enough power to render frames well beyond 400 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but begin to show the GPU’s influence. Low settings average 260 FPS, Medium averages 226 FPS with a range of 192 to 260, High averages 191 FPS, and Ultra averages 156 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is substantial, with a reduction of 141 FPS at Low settings (401 to 260) and 85 FPS at Ultra (241 to 156). This is a 35% reduction at Low and a 35% reduction at Ultra, indicating a consistent scaling factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the primary driver of performance. Low settings average 141 FPS, Medium averages 123 FPS (min 104, max 141), High averages 104 FPS, and Ultra averages 85 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 56 FPS, which is the largest gap between presets at any resolution. This shows that the RTX 4080’s compute and memory bandwidth are being fully utilized at this resolution, and each increase in settings has a direct impact on the frame rate. The minimum FPS at Medium (104) matches the average FPS at High, which suggests that the Medium preset offers a more stable experience than High.

Settings Recommendations

For players using a 1080p or 1440p display, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, as the frame rates remain high enough to take advantage of high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1440p, the average of 156 FPS is still above the threshold for competitive play, and the visual upgrade from High is worth the 35 FPS cost. At 1080p, the 241 FPS average at Ultra ensures that the game remains smooth even in the most chaotic scenes, and the CPU’s performance is sufficient to feed the GPU.

At 4K resolution, the choice of settings depends on the target frame rate. If the goal is to hit 120 FPS or higher, the Low preset is the only option, with an average of 141 FPS. For a more balanced experience, the Medium preset offers an average of 123 FPS and a minimum of 104, which is a safe bet for maintaining a stable 100+ FPS experience. The High preset, with an average of 104 FPS, is also viable, but the Medium preset provides a higher minimum frame rate, which is better for consistency. The Ultra preset averages 85 FPS, which is playable but may not be ideal for fast-paced action where higher frame rates are preferred.

The data suggests that the Medium preset at 4K is the sweet spot for this combo, as it delivers a 123 FPS average with a minimum of 104, which is exactly the same as the High preset’s average. This indicates that the Medium preset has more headroom and is less likely to dip below 100 FPS. For those with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) displays, the High preset at 4K is also a strong choice, as the 104 FPS average is well within the range of most VRR monitors. Ultimately, the best preset is a trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate, and the measured data shows that this system can handle any of them, with the choice depending on the user’s preference for smoothness versus graphical detail.