Doom

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptionally strong performance profile in Doom, making it a top-tier configuration for this title. The measured data shows that this combo ranks in the 823rd position out of 3,712 tested configurations, placing it comfortably within the top 22% of all possible system pairings. This ranking reflects a system capable of maxing out high-refresh-rate monitors at standard resolutions while remaining very playable at 4K, though the settings chosen will significantly shape the experience.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data clearly indicates that the High preset is the optimal choice for balancing visual fidelity with frame rate across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, the High preset produces an average of 81 FPS, which is a 20.9% improvement over the Ultra preset's 67 FPS while delivering nearly identical visual quality in most scenes. The jump from High to Ultra costs you 14 FPS at 4K, a 17.3% performance penalty that most players will find difficult to justify given the marginal visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 150 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for even 144Hz displays. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 123 FPS, still playable but 18% slower. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1440p delivers 204 FPS, which is the sweet spot for 200Hz+ monitors, though you sacrifice significant visual quality. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 178 FPS, representing the best compromise for players who want high refresh rates without dropping to the lowest visual settings.

At 1920x1080, the situation becomes less critical because every preset exceeds 190 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 190 FPS, which is already above most 144Hz displays' refresh rates. The Medium preset hits 275 FPS, while Low reaches 316 FPS. Given that all presets at 1080p are playable on high-refresh displays, the recommendation here is to prioritize visual quality and choose Ultra unless you own a 240Hz or faster monitor.

The data shows diminishing returns when moving from High to Ultra, but a substantial jump when moving from Low to Medium. At every resolution, the gap between Low and Medium is roughly 15-20%, while the gap between Medium and High is approximately 8-10%. This suggests the High preset captures the vast majority of visual improvements without the performance hit associated with Ultra settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 plays the dominant role in this configuration's Doom performance, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. The GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far more than Doom requires, even at 4K with Ultra settings, meaning memory capacity is never a bottleneck in this title. The 384-bit memory bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide ample throughput for the game's texture streaming and geometry processing.

The RTX 4090's clock behavior is worth noting: its base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are relatively modest for a flagship GPU, but the Ada Lovelace architecture compensates through raw compute resources. With 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, the GPU has massive parallel processing capability. This translates to 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is more than sufficient to drive Doom at high frame rates even at 4K resolution.

The GPU's 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores are present but play a minimal role in Doom, as this title primarily relies on traditional rasterization. The measured performance shows that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 67, suggesting that even this flagship GPU cannot fully saturate the CPU's capabilities at the highest settings. However, at lower resolutions and settings, the GPU's headroom becomes apparent, allowing the CPU to push frame rates well beyond 300 FPS.

The GPU's 450 W TDP and 850 W suggested PSU indicate this is a power-hungry component, but the performance data justifies this power draw. The triple-slot cooler and 304 mm length require a spacious case, though this is a standard consideration for flagship graphics cards. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the game's data transfer needs, and the 16-pin power connector delivers the necessary current for sustained high-clock operation.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales across the three tested resolutions, providing insight into which component limits performance at each setting. At the High preset, average FPS drops from 232 at 1080p to 150 at 1440p, a 35.3% reduction, and then to 81 at 4K, a 46% reduction from 1440p. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where pixel count directly impacts frame rate.

At the Low preset, the scaling is even more dramatic: 316 FPS at 1080p drops to 204 FPS at 1440p (35.4% reduction) and then to 111 FPS at 4K (45.6% reduction). The consistent percentage drops across presets suggest that the GPU's pixel throughput is the primary constraint at every setting level. The RTX 4090's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are being fully utilized at 4K, as evidenced by the substantial frame rate penalties.

The Medium preset shows similar scaling with 275 FPS at 1080p, 178 FPS at 1440p, and 96 FPS at 4K. Interestingly, the 4K Medium result includes a minimum FPS of 82, which is only slightly below the High preset's 4K average of 81. This suggests that frame time consistency at 4K is reasonable regardless of settings, though Ultra at 4K dips to 67 FPS average without reported minimums.

The resolution scaling data indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting component at 4K, while the CPU has more headroom at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 300 FPS on Low, which likely approaches the CPU's maximum throughput for this game's engine. The 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with its 5.10 GHz boost clock provides sufficient single-thread performance to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4090 at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured results show a clear hierarchy across settings. The Low preset averages 111 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates the game's optimization. Medium improves visual quality while dropping to 96 FPS average, with a minimum of 82 FPS and maximum of 111 FPS. High further refines visuals at 81 FPS average, while Ultra pushes detail to maximum at 67 FPS average. The 44 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K demonstrates the significant performance cost of higher settings.

At 2560x1440, all presets deliver excellent frame rates. Low achieves 204 FPS average, Medium reaches 178 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS and maximum of 205 FPS, High hits 150 FPS, and Ultra maintains 123 FPS. The 81 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p shows that players have substantial flexibility in choosing their visual quality without sacrificing playability. Even the Ultra preset at 1440p exceeds 120 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh displays.

At 1920x1080, performance is exceptional across the board. Low peaks at 316 FPS average, Medium delivers 275 FPS with a minimum of 234 FPS and maximum of 316 FPS, High achieves 232 FPS, and Ultra maintains 190 FPS. The 126 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is the largest of any resolution, indicating that CPU and GPU resources are both heavily utilized at this resolution. The minimum FPS of 234 at Medium settings shows that even the lowest frame rates remain well above typical display refresh rates.

The frame time data reveals that the Medium preset at every resolution reports a minimum FPS that is roughly 15% below the average, suggesting some occasional frame hitches. However, these minimums are still high enough to avoid noticeable stuttering. The High and Ultra presets do not report minimum FPS values, but the averages suggest consistent performance without major frame time spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 823 out of 3,712 tested configurations places this system in the top 22.2% of all pairings benchmarked in Doom. This ranking is particularly impressive given that the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is a mobile processor with a 55 W TDP, paired with a desktop flagship GPU. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads, combined with its 64 MB of L3 cache, provide strong gaming performance, as reflected in its 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the overall benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (1.6% higher average score), AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (1.6% higher), Intel Core i9-14900K (1.7% lower), and AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX (2.0% higher). These deltas are minimal, indicating that the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 performs competitively with top desktop processors despite its mobile form factor. The 2% gap to the Ryzen 9 8945HX and 1.7% gap to the Core i9-14900K suggest that the Strix Halo chip is not significantly disadvantaged in gaming workloads.

The RTX 4090's percentile ranking of 88th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347, places it well above most competing graphics cards. Its nearest rivals in the GPU database are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% higher delta), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (2.5% lower), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (2.9% higher). These rivals are professional workstation cards, not gaming-oriented GPUs, which highlights the RTX 4090's dominance in the consumer gaming segment.

The combination of a top-5 percentile CPU with a top-12 percentile GPU results in a system that ranks in the top 22% for Doom specifically. This ranking suggests that while the individual components are exceptional, the game's engine may not fully utilize the CPU's multi-threading capabilities, as Doom is known to be more GPU-dependent. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation, with frame rates scaling predictably with resolution and settings rather than showing CPU-related fluctuations.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 averages 81 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. Ultra drops to 67 FPS, while Medium offers 96 FPS but with reduced visual fidelity. For 60 FPS+ gaming at 4K, High is the recommended choice.

Q: Can this system drive a 240Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 204 FPS average, which is below 240Hz. The Medium preset delivers 178 FPS, and High drops to 150 FPS. To fully utilize a 240Hz display at 1440p, you would need to use the Low preset, though frame rates may occasionally dip below the refresh rate.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to the Intel Core i9-14900K?

A: The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 35,314 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,044 in singlecore. Its average benchmark score is 77,740, which is 1.7% lower than the Core i9-14900K's 79,097. In gaming, this small delta has minimal impact, as observed in the Doom frame rates.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM necessary for this game?

A: Doom does not require 24 GB of VRAM at any tested resolution or settings. The GPU's memory capacity is far beyond the game's needs, meaning VRAM never limits performance. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth and 384-bit bus provide more relevant performance benefits.

Q: What minimum FPS can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the minimum measured FPS is 234, with an average of 275 and maximum of 316. This ensures consistent performance without stuttering, even during intense action sequences.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Doom?*

A: This system ranks 823rd out of 3,712 tested combos, placing it in the top 22.2% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the strong combination of the Ryzen AI Max+ 395's 95th percentile CPU performance and the RTX 4090's 88th percentile GPU performance.