Doom

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers a formidable experience in Doom, landing at rank 255 out of 3712 tested combos, placing it comfortably within the top 7% of all configurations. This pairing leverages a 12-core, 24-thread Zen 5 processor with a high-end Ada Lovelace GPU to produce frame rates that range from playable at 4K Ultra to exceptionally fast at 1080p Low, making it a top-tier choice for this classic fast-paced FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 255 out of 3712 tested configurations places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPU-GPU pairings tested for Doom. This means that only about 6.9% of all tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this game, according to the benchmark data. The position reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is a significant bottleneck at most settings, though the data reveals some interesting shifts at the extremes of resolution and quality presets.

To contextualize this ranking, the CPU itself sits in the 92nd percentile against all CPUs in the broader benchmark suite, with an average benchmark score of 57,498. Its nearest rivals in aggregate CPU performance are the AMD EPYC 9015 (average score 57,555, a delta of -0.1%), the AMD EPYC 7313 (average score 57,399, a delta of 0.2%), the Intel Core i9-14900 (average score 58,115, a delta of -1.1%), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (average score 58,323, a delta of -1.4%). These tiny percentage differences show that the 9900X is essentially tied with a group of high-end server and desktop parts in general compute, but in Doom specifically, the combination’s rank is driven more by the GPU’s ability to push frames at high resolutions.

The GPU’s aggregate benchmark performance is also strong, with an average score of 54,209 and a percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (average score 54,247, a delta of -0.1%), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (average score 54,828, a delta of -1.1%), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (average score 55,698, a delta of -2.7%), and the AMD Radeon 8060S (average score 55,757, a delta of -2.8%). The fact that the RTX 4080 SUPER is within 0.1% of the non-SUPER RTX 4080 in aggregate benchmarks suggests that in this game, the combo’s rank is not solely dependent on the GPU’s raw compute lead over its immediate predecessor, but rather on the synergy with the 9900X.

The data shows that this combo is a top-tier performer, but the rank of 255 out of 3712 also indicates that there are a significant number of configurations that achieve higher frame rates, likely those using even more powerful GPUs or CPUs that excel in low-resolution, high-frame-rate scenarios. For a game like Doom, which is known for its scalability, the combination’s position reflects a system that can handle 4K Ultra at 84 FPS, but also one that can exceed 399 FPS at 1080p Low, making it a versatile choice for both high-fidelity and competitive play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of frame rates in this combo, especially at higher resolutions. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is sufficient for Doom’s textures and geometry at 4K resolution. The GPU’s base clock is 2295 MHz, with a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and memory runs at 1438 MHz, which translates to 23 Gbps effective. These clocks are relatively high, allowing the GPU to sustain the heavy compute load that Doom’s id Tech 6 engine can impose.

The RTX 4080 SUPER features 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. These figures contribute to a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 52.22 TFLOPS, which is the same as the FP16 figure, indicating a 1:1 ratio. This raw compute power is what allows the combo to achieve 103 FPS at 4K High, but it also means that at lower resolutions, the GPU is often not the limiting factor.

Looking at the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role becomes clearer. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 84, which is a 40% reduction from the 140 FPS at 4K Low. This indicates that the GPU is heavily stressed at the highest quality settings. However, at 1080p, the GPU’s performance scales dramatically: 399 FPS at Low, 348 FPS at Medium, 294 FPS at High, and 240 FPS at Ultra. The jump from 4K Ultra to 1080p Ultra is from 84 FPS to 240 FPS, a 185% increase, showing that the GPU has ample headroom when resolution is lowered.

The GPU’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, but Doom (2016) does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, so these features do not directly impact the measured results. The GPU’s role is purely rasterization, and its 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the key specification driving performance. The 16 GB VRAM is also not a constraint in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is limited by compute and memory bandwidth rather than capacity. The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is a capable 4K card for Doom, but it truly shines at 1440p and 1080p, where it can push well beyond 240 FPS on high settings.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS data, the sweet spot appears to be 2560x1440 at High settings, where the combo achieves an average of 190 FPS. This provides a high refresh rate experience while maintaining visual quality. For maximum frame rates, 1920x1080 at Low settings yields 399 FPS, while 3840x2160 at Ultra drops to 84 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the non-SUPER RTX 4080 in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54,209, while the RTX 4080 scores 54,247. This represents a delta of -0.1%, meaning the two cards are virtually identical in overall benchmark performance. In Doom specifically, the SUPER’s advantage does not translate into a significant rank difference for this combo.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X a bottleneck at 1080p in Doom?

A: The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 399 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for this game. However, the CPU’s single-thread score in Cinebench R23 is 2,253 and Geekbench single-core is 3,010, indicating strong per-core performance. The bottleneck at 1080p Low is likely a mix of CPU and game engine limits, but the 12-core, 24-thread processor still delivers exceptional frame rates.

Q: What is the combo’s rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 255 out of 3,712 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the top 6.9% of all configurations, indicating that it is a high-end setup that outperforms the vast majority of tested systems in this game.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM on the RTX 4080 SUPER ever become a limiting factor in Doom?

A: No, the measured FPS data does not indicate VRAM capacity being a constraint. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 84, which is likely limited by GPU compute or memory bandwidth (736.3 GB/s) rather than the 16 GB capacity, as Doom’s textures are not excessively demanding by modern standards.

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

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57,498. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 9015, scores 57,555, which is only 0.1% higher. The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58,115, which is 1.1% higher, while the AMD EPYC 7313 scores 57,399, which is 0.2% lower. These differences are minor in aggregate, but the 9900X’s high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,253) helps in games like Doom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Doom is comprehensive, covering three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 399 FPS, Medium settings produce 348 FPS with a minimum of 296 and a maximum of 400, High settings produce 294 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 240 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the combo is capable of delivering frame rates well above 240 Hz on the highest quality preset, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates decrease as expected: Low settings produce 259 FPS, Medium settings produce 225 FPS with a minimum of 191 and a maximum of 259, High settings produce 190 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 155 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the combo still maintains over 150 FPS at Ultra, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on most 1440p displays.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more moderate: Low settings produce 140 FPS, Medium settings produce 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 and a maximum of 140, High settings produce 103 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 84 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K Ultra is the most demanding scenario, with the average FPS dipping below 90, but still playable. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 104, showing that even in the worst-case scenario at this resolution, the combo avoids major stutters.

The data reveals a clear pattern: the RTX 4080 SUPER scales well with resolution, but the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial. For instance, at High settings, the frame rate goes from 294 FPS at 1080p to 190 FPS at 1440p (a 35% drop) and then to 103 FPS at 4K (a 65% drop from 1080p). At Ultra settings, the drop is from 240 FPS at 1080p to 155 FPS at 1440p (a 35% drop) and then to 84 FPS at 4K (a 65% drop from 1080p). This consistent reduction across settings suggests that the GPU is the primary scaling factor.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data shows how the combo’s performance degrades as pixel count increases. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 35% across all settings. For example, at Low settings, the drop is from 399 FPS to 259 FPS, a reduction of 140 FPS or 35.1%. At Medium settings, the drop is from 348 FPS to 225 FPS, a reduction of 123 FPS or 35.3%. At High settings, the drop is from 294 FPS to 190 FPS, a reduction of 104 FPS or 35.4%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 240 FPS to 155 FPS, a reduction of 85 FPS or 35.4%. This uniformity indicates that the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is almost perfectly linear, which is typical for GPU-bound scenarios.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced. At Low settings, the drop is from 259 FPS to 140 FPS, a reduction of 119 FPS or 45.9%. At Medium settings, the drop is from 225 FPS to 122 FPS, a reduction of 103 FPS or 45.8%. At High settings, the drop is from 190 FPS to 103 FPS, a reduction of 87 FPS or 45.8%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 155 FPS to 84 FPS, a reduction of 71 FPS or 45.8%. The consistent 45.8% drop from 1440p to 4K, compared to the 35.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p, suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (736.3 GB/s) and pixel throughput (285.6 GPixel/s) are becoming more limiting at 4K.

The overall scaling from 1080p to 4K results in a 65% reduction in frame rate at each settings level. For instance, at High settings, the drop is from 294 FPS to 103 FPS, a reduction of 191 FPS or 65.0%. This steep decline indicates that while the RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of 4K gaming, it is less comfortable there than at lower resolutions. The data also shows that the limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the CPU’s performance is unlikely to be a factor at these frame rates. At 1080p Low, the 399 FPS figure may be approaching the CPU’s limit, but the CPU’s 12 cores and 24 threads, plus its high single-thread performance, ensure that it does not overly constrain the GPU at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X plays a supporting role in this combo, providing the computational foundation for the RTX 4080 SUPER to excel. With 12 cores and 24 threads, a base clock of 4.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, the CPU offers substantial multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. Its architecture is Zen 5, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on a 4 nm process from TSMC, with a total of 16,630 million transistors across two 70.6 mm² dies. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of shared L3 cache, which is ample for gaming workloads.

In Doom, which is a game that can be sensitive to single-thread performance, the 9900X’s benchmark results are strong. The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2,253, and the Geekbench single-core score is 3,010. These numbers are critical for maintaining high frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU must feed the GPU quickly enough to achieve 399 FPS at Low settings. The multi-threaded performance is also excellent, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,172 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 22,174, but Doom does not heavily utilize more than a few cores, so the 12-core configuration is more about future-proofing than immediate need.

The CPU’s memory support is DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for the game, but it is also a potential limiting factor at very high frame rates. However, the measured FPS data does not show any signs of CPU-induced stuttering, as the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 296, which is still very high. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 5 support with 24 lanes ensures that the GPU has full bandwidth for data transfer, though the RTX 4080 SUPER uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

The CPU’s percentile rank against all CPUs is 92, and its average benchmark score is 57,498. This places it just behind the Intel Core i9-14900, which has an average score of 58,115 and a delta of -1.1%. In aggregate, the 9900X is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 9015 and EPYC 7313, but those are server parts with different power characteristics. For gaming, the 9900X’s boost clock of 5.60 GHz is a key asset, as it allows for rapid response to single-threaded game code. The CPU’s TDP is 120 W, which is modest for a 12-core part, indicating efficient power delivery.

In terms of its role in this combo, the data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. At 1440p, the CPU still has headroom, as frame rates exceed 150 FPS on Ultra. At 1080p, the CPU is more involved, but the 399 FPS at Low settings shows that it can keep up with the GPU’s demands. The CPU’s integrated graphics are present (Radeon Graphics), but they are not used in this configuration. Overall, the Ryzen 9 9900X provides a stable platform that allows the RTX 4080 SUPER to perform at its best, with enough processing power to avoid limiting frame rates in this game.