Doom

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a robust experience in Doom, with the data showing a clear preference for high refresh rates at 1440p and 1080p, while 4K Ultra remains a challenging target. The measured FPS across twelve distinct resolution and settings combinations reveals a system that is well-balanced for this title, though the performance ceiling at 4K is dictated by the GPU's capabilities. The combo ranks 921st out of 1681 tested configurations, placing it in the 55th percentile of all system pairings, indicating a solid but not top-tier standing for this specific game.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the sweet spot, with an average of 107.8 FPS at High settings and 91.8 FPS at Ultra, comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining high visual fidelity.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 80.9 at Low settings down to 47.1 at Ultra, meaning playable frame rates are achievable only at Low through High presets.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset cost compared to High?

A: Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset reduces average FPS by roughly 17-24% compared to High settings. For example, at 1920x1080, the drop is from 170.8 FPS to 141.1 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The benchmark results indicate that at 1920x1080, the system is heavily GPU-bound, as evidenced by the massive FPS headroom (141.1 to 230.8) which allows the CPU to push frames well beyond typical monitor refresh rates.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 33721 is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800, which scores 33493, and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000, which scores 33294.

Q: What is the performance delta between the Ryzen 9 9900X and its closest competitor?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 54450, which is just 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D's score of 54681, making the performance difference negligible in synthetic tests.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary driver of frame rates in Doom, as the measured FPS scales directly with the graphics settings. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the texture loads at 4K but becomes a constraint at Ultra settings. The core clocks are notably high, with a base of 2321 MHz, a game clock of 2424 MHz, and a boost of 2581 MHz, allowing the 2560 shading units to process geometry efficiently.

The GPU's 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs contribute to a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s, which explains why the FPS drops are consistent when moving from Low to Ultra. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 47.1 FPS, a steep decline from the 80.9 FPS at Low settings, demonstrating that the GPU's compute resources (13.21 TFLOPS FP32) are the bottleneck. The 40 RT cores are present, but Doom's rendering pipeline appears to rely more on raw rasterization, as the FPS scaling is linear with settings rather than showing any RT-specific overhead.

The GPU's performance percentile of 77 versus all GPUs places it firmly in the upper-midrange, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800, is only 0.7% faster on average. This close margin suggests that the 6700 XT is well-tuned for this game, as the measured FPS does not show any unusual dips that would indicate driver or architecture inefficiencies. The 12 GB memory capacity is adequate for 4K, but the 192-bit bus width may cause minor bandwidth limitations at the highest settings, which is visible in the 4K Ultra result.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and the RX 6700 XT ranks 921st out of 1681 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the 54.8th percentile of all systems. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths, but it reflects the game's engine optimization and the balance between CPU and GPU. The Ryzen 9 9900X's percentile of 94 versus all CPUs is excellent, while the GPU's percentile of 77 is average, meaning the overall combo ranking is dragged down by the graphics card.

In the context of the combo ranking, the data implies that many other systems with faster GPUs or better CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher FPS in Doom. The 921st rank suggests that while this combo is fully playable, it does not stand out among the 1681 tested configurations. The gap between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's mid-pack rank indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, as a stronger GPU would likely push this combo much higher in the rankings.

The benchmark results confirm that the combo is not CPU-limited, as the Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom. The ranking also reflects the fact that Doom is a well-optimized title that does not heavily stress the CPU, so the system's overall performance is entirely dependent on the GPU's ability to render frames. For users seeking a top-500 rank, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, but for standard gaming, this combo's position is acceptable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance, with average FPS ranging from 230.8 at Low to 141.1 at Ultra. The High preset yields 170.8 FPS, and Medium produces 203.2 FPS, showing that even the most demanding settings maintain frame rates well above 144 Hz. This resolution is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU has no trouble feeding the GPU with enough data to sustain these high numbers.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS drops are significant but still very playable. Low settings average 152 FPS, Medium hits 128.3 FPS, High achieves 107.8 FPS, and Ultra settles at 91.8 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 33% reduction at High settings (from 170.8 to 107.8), which is a typical scaling factor for a GPU with 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. The average FPS at Low is 80.9, Medium is 71.4, High is 61.7, and Ultra drops to 47.1. The 4K results show a clear pattern of diminishing returns, as the GPU's 13.21 TFLOPS are stretched thin. The difference between 1440p High (107.8 FPS) and 4K High (61.7 FPS) is a 43% reduction, which is substantial and highlights the GPU's memory bandwidth limitations at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals that the RX 6700 XT is the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 230.8 at 1080p to 152 at 1440p (a 34% reduction) and then to 80.9 at 4K (a 47% reduction from 1440p). This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU's shading units are saturated at 4K, while the CPU has minimal impact on the frame rate.

At High settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 170.8 FPS at 1080p, 107.8 FPS at 1440p, and 61.7 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% and 43% respectively, indicating that the GPU's texture rate and pixel rate become the limiting factors as resolution increases. The 4K High result of 61.7 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, showing that the combo can barely maintain playable frame rates at this resolution.

The scaling pattern also indicates that the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads are not a limiting factor at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a clear decline, proving the GPU is the limiting component. The Ryzen 9 9900X's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 64 MB L3 cache are more than sufficient for Doom's single-threaded engine, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 107.8 FPS. This setting provides a 17% performance headroom over the 60 FPS target, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. For users prioritizing smoothness, the Medium preset at 1440p achieves 128.3 FPS, which is 19% faster than High while still maintaining good visual fidelity.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, as the 141.1 FPS average is more than sufficient for competitive play. The High preset at 1080p (170.8 FPS) is also excellent, but Ultra offers a noticeable visual improvement at no practical cost to responsiveness. For 4K gaming, the High preset is the only viable option, as the 61.7 FPS average is playable, but the Medium preset (71.4 FPS) may be preferable for a more stable experience.

The data suggests that Low settings should be avoided unless maximum frame rates are required, as the visual quality trade-off is significant. The Ultra preset at 4K (47.1 FPS) is not recommended, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stuttering. Overall, the 1440p High setting is the sweet spot for this combo, offering a 107.8 FPS average that balances quality and performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X plays a secondary but important role in this combo. With 12 cores and 24 threads, the CPU provides 4.40 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost clocks, which are more than adequate for Doom's engine. The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 46438 and a single-core score of 6555, indicating strong per-thread performance that is critical for game logic.

The CPU's 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) ensure that the GPU is never starved for data. In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game physics and AI, which are not heavily threaded, so the 12 cores are largely underutilized. The data shows that the CPU's performance percentile of 94 versus all CPUs is not reflected in the game's FPS, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck.

The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, has an average score of 54681, just 0.4% higher, but this difference does not translate to meaningful FPS gains in Doom. The Intel Core i7-14700F scores 54097, which is 0.7% lower, and the Core Ultra 5 245K scores 55304, which is 1.5% higher, but all of these CPUs would produce identical FPS in this game due to the GPU limitation. The CPU's architecture (Zen 5, Granite Ridge) and 4 nm process node contribute to its efficiency, but the game's performance is entirely dictated by the RX 6700 XT's capabilities.