Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT reveals a clear progression of performance degradation as resolution increases, with the most substantial drop occurring between 1440p and 4K. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 141 FPS average, which falls to 91 FPS at 1440p High — a 35.5% reduction — and then to 49 FPS at 4K High, representing another 46.2% decline from the 1440p figure. This pattern strongly indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting component as pixel count rises, since the CPU's substantial 12-core, 24-thread configuration with a 5.60 GHz boost clock is more than capable of feeding frames at lower resolutions.

Looking at the Low settings row across resolutions, the scaling curve steepens further: 192 FPS at 1080p, 124 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35.4%, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs another 46.0%. The consistency of these percentages across both High and Low settings is telling — it suggests that the resolution penalty is largely independent of the graphics configuration, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The RX 6600 XT, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, appears to hit a wall when the pixel workload quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The Medium settings measurements provide additional insight into frame pacing. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 59 with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 67, showing a spread of 17 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 108 with a minimum of 92 and maximum of 124, a 32 FPS spread. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 167 with a minimum of 142 and maximum of 192, a 50 FPS spread. This widening variance at lower resolutions indicates that while the GPU is still the primary constraint, there is more headroom for frame rate fluctuation when the GPU is less saturated — the CPU can push frames faster, but the GPU's rendering times become more variable.

The Ultra preset data confirms the GPU bottleneck thesis. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 40 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a range of 27 FPS (from 67 down to 40), while at 1080p the same settings span produces a 77 FPS range (from 192 down to 115). This compression of the settings range at 4K is another indicator that the GPU is running out of compute headroom — the additional shading units and texture units demanded by higher presets cannot be fully utilized when the pixel fill rate requirement is already at the limit.

What this scaling analysis suggests is that the Ryzen 9 9900X is never the bottleneck in this pairing for Doom. The CPU's benchmark scores — including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253 — place it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 9015 and Intel Core i9-14900, both of which have comparable aggregate performance. The RX 6600 XT, sitting in the 70th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 24442, is the clear performance ceiling. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% ahead) and the Intel Arc A350M (0.8% behind), placing it in mid-range GPU territory that is simply outclassed by 4K demands.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Doom?

A: Only at Medium settings, where the measured average FPS is 59 with a minimum of 50. At High settings the average drops to 49 FPS, and at Ultra it falls further to 40 FPS. Low settings achieve 67 FPS average, so 4K playable performance is possible but requires sacrificing visual quality.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU pairing?

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At High settings, the combo produces 91 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings at 1440p still deliver 75 FPS average, making 1440p the highest resolution where Ultra preset remains comfortably playable.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in aggregate performance?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498, placing it 0.1% behind the AMD EPYC 9015 (57555) and 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313 (57399). It trails the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115) by 1.1% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323) by 1.4%.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor in this game at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 192 FPS average, which suggests the CPU can push very high frame rates. However, the GPU's 70th percentile ranking and 8 GB VRAM capacity indicate it is still the primary constraint — the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking shows it has far more headroom than the GPU.

Q: What frame rate variance can be expected at Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a minimum of 142 FPS and maximum of 192 FPS at 1080p Medium, a minimum of 92 and maximum of 124 at 1440p Medium, and a minimum of 50 and maximum of 67 at 4K Medium. The variance narrows as resolution increases, indicating more consistent frame delivery when the GPU is more fully utilized.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score is 24442. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 scores 0.7% higher at 24277, while the Intel Arc A350M scores 0.8% lower at 24647. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER scores 1.1% higher at 24170, and the GTX 780 Ti scores 0.8% higher at 24236.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT plays the decisive role in determining Doom's performance in this configuration, and the measured FPS data makes this abundantly clear. The GPU's RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process with 11,060 million transistors, provides 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. These compute resources translate to a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 10.60 TFLOPS. For a game like Doom, which relies heavily on rapid texture sampling and pixel throughput, these specifications determine the ceiling at each resolution.

The VRAM configuration deserves particular attention. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the RX 6600 XT delivers 256.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. At 4K resolution, the increased texture and geometry data demand can pressure this 8 GB capacity, and the measured FPS drop from 67 at Low to 40 at Ultra at 4K suggests that memory bandwidth and capacity constraints are contributing to the performance collapse at higher presets. The 16 Gbps effective memory clock is respectable for the segment, but the narrow 128-bit bus limits aggregate bandwidth compared to wider-memory GPUs.

Clock speeds play a notable role in the GPU's behavior. The base clock is 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. The boost behavior is critical for maintaining frame rates in Doom's fast-paced action sequences — the gap between base and boost clocks is 621 MHz, which represents a 31.6% potential uplift when the GPU can sustain boost frequencies. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (192 FPS average) suggests the GPU is operating near its boost ceiling, while the 4K Ultra result (40 FPS) indicates the GPU is likely throttling or hitting power limits under sustained heavy load.

The GPU's TDP of 160 W and the suggested 450 W PSU provide context for its thermal and power characteristics, though the measured FPS data is what matters for gameplay. The combination of 32 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support means the GPU can handle modern rendering features, but Doom's 2016 release date means the game's engine does not heavily leverage ray tracing — the more traditional rasterization workload plays to the RX 6600 XT's strengths in raw pixel throughput.

The GPU's benchmark percentile placement — 70th among all GPUs — aligns with its measured game performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 16461 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804 provide synthetic reference points, but the game-specific data reveals that the GPU delivers playable frame rates up to 1440p Ultra (75 FPS) while struggling at 4K beyond Medium settings. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p in this game, but 4K Ultra likely exceeds comfortable memory allocation, contributing to the 40 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across four presets and three resolutions provides clear guidance for optimizing the Doom experience with this hardware combination. The primary consideration is whether the user prioritizes frame rate smoothness or visual fidelity, and the data shows distinct trade-offs at each resolution.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset delivers 115 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a high-refresh-rate experience on most monitors. The High preset at 141 FPS and Medium at 167 FPS offer progressively higher frame rates, but the visual improvement from Medium to Ultra is substantial in Doom's detailed environments. The data suggests that Ultra at 1080p is the recommended choice for users with standard 60-144 Hz displays, as even the 115 FPS average leaves headroom for demanding scenes. For users with 240 Hz displays, the Medium preset at 167 FPS or Low at 192 FPS would better utilize the display's capabilities, but the visual sacrifice is significant.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. The Ultra preset achieves 75 FPS average, which is playable but leaves little margin for frame drops in intense combat sequences. The High preset at 91 FPS provides a better balance — the visual difference between High and Ultra is often subtle in fast-paced gameplay, and the additional 16 FPS of headroom improves consistency. The Medium preset at 108 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, offering frame rates that approach 1080p Ultra performance while maintaining the higher resolution's clarity. For most 1440p users, High is the recommended preset, with Medium as the competitive alternative and Ultra reserved for slower-paced exploration.

At 4K, the data presents a more constrained picture. The Ultra preset at 40 FPS is below the 60 FPS standard and will feel noticeably stuttery in Doom's fast movement. The High preset at 49 FPS improves on this but still falls short of smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum is the only 4K option that approaches playable territory, though users will need to accept occasional drops below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 67 FPS achieves the 60 FPS threshold but sacrifices most visual quality, making the game look noticeably dated. For 4K users, the recommendation is Medium as the default choice, with Low as the competitive option and High/Ultra only for screenshot-worthy moments where frame rate is secondary.

The overall recommendation across all resolutions is that the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p High (141 FPS) and 1440p High (91 FPS), the frame rates are strong enough for smooth gameplay while maintaining Doom's detailed textures and lighting. The Medium preset serves as the fallback for 4K users or those seeking maximum frame rates, while Ultra is viable only at 1080p and 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 2660th out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 28.3rd percentile of all system configurations in the database. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning — the CPU is a top-tier performer in its own right, but the RX 6600 XT's 70th percentile GPU ranking drags the overall combo down relative to systems paired with stronger graphics cards.

The ranking position makes sense when considering the component-level benchmarks. The CPU's average benchmark score of 57498 places it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the AMD EPYC 9015 (delta -0.1%) and Intel Core i9-14900 (delta -1.1%) indicating the CPU is competitive with high-end server and desktop parts. The GPU's average benchmark score of 24442 places it in the 70th percentile, with nearest rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (delta +0.7%) and Intel Arc A350M (delta -0.8%) showing the GPU sits just above mid-range in synthetic performance.

The 2660th rank out of 3712 combos means that approximately 1052 tested configurations (28.3%) perform worse than this combo in Doom, while 2660 (71.7%) perform better. This distribution is expected given the GPU's mid-range status — systems with higher-tier GPUs like the RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT would naturally outperform this combo in a GPU-bound game like Doom, while systems with lower-tier GPUs would fall behind. The rank of 2660 is not a reflection of the CPU's capability, which is excellent, but rather the consequence of pairing a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU.

The delta between the CPU's 92nd percentile and the combo's 28th percentile in-game ranking is a clear illustration of the GPU bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 9900X is capable of much higher frame rates than the RX 6600 XT can deliver, meaning the combo's ranking is almost entirely determined by the GPU's performance ceiling. Users considering this combo should understand that upgrading the GPU would yield substantial improvements in Doom's frame rates without requiring a CPU change — the 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom for future GPU upgrades.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Doom with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is presented below, organized by resolution and settings preset. All values are measured averages unless otherwise noted, with minimum and maximum values provided for Medium settings.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 192 FPS average
• Medium: 167 FPS average, 142 FPS minimum, 192 FPS maximum
• High: 141 FPS average
• Ultra: 115 FPS average

At 1080p, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets, with even the most demanding Ultra setting maintaining a 115 FPS average. The Low preset's 192 FPS approaches the 200 FPS threshold that high-refresh-rate gamers target, and the Medium preset's 50 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates some frame pacing variance but nothing that would cause perceptible stuttering.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 124 FPS average
• Medium: 108 FPS average, 92 FPS minimum, 124 FPS maximum
• High: 91 FPS average
• Ultra: 75 FPS average

The 1440p results show a step down from 1080p but remain firmly in playable territory. The Low preset's 124 FPS is 35.4% lower than 1080p Low, while Ultra's 75 FPS is 34.8% lower than 1080p Ultra. The Medium preset's 92 FPS minimum still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, making 1440p with Medium or High settings the recommended configuration for smooth, visually appealing gameplay.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 67 FPS average
• Medium: 59 FPS average, 50 FPS minimum, 67 FPS maximum
• High: 49 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

The 4K results reveal the GPU's limitations. Only the Low preset achieves an average above 60 FPS, and the Medium preset's 50 FPS minimum falls below the playable threshold. The Ultra preset's 40 FPS average represents a 47.4% reduction from 1080p Ultra's 115 FPS, demonstrating the exponential cost of 4K rendering on this GPU. The Medium preset's 17 FPS spread between minimum and maximum is the tightest of any resolution, indicating that frame delivery becomes more consistent when the GPU is fully saturated.

The progression across all three resolutions and four presets provides a comprehensive picture of this combo's capabilities: 1080p users can play at any preset with excellent frame rates, 1440p users should stick to High or Medium for optimal smoothness, and 4K users must accept either Low settings for 60+ FPS or Medium for playable performance with better visuals. The data consistently points to the RX 6600 XT as the limiting factor, with the Ryzen 9 9900X's substantial compute headroom never becoming a constraint in Doom's engine.