Technical Analysis and Benchmarks – Doom: The Dark Ages (RTX 50 and RTX 40) – XanxoGaming (2025)

It's been several years since the release of the DOOM from 2016, which had a significant impact on fans of the franchise. Its revolutionary, agile style attracted both new and veteran players. DOOM Eternal, released in 2020, improved the combat system and implemented a more robust graphics engine. Today we take a look at its successor: Doom: The Dark Ages, this time with technical tests using graphics cards GeForce RTX 50 and 40 Series.

With this new title, Id Software not only does it change the setting towards a medieval-apocalyptic aesthetic, but it also presents a renewed graphics engine, the id Tech 8, developed to incorporate cutting-edge visual technologies: Ray Tracing, Path Tracing, DLSS 4, Reflex and Ray Reconstruction.

Thanks to close collaboration between Id Software, Bethesda Softworks y NVIDIA, the game has been optimized to take full advantage of RTX 50 and 40 Series cards, elevating the visual experience to a new level.

Early test code has been provided by NVIDIA GeForce Latin America.

Doom: The Dark Ages is built on id Tech 8, a significant evolution of the engine used in Doom Eternal (id Tech 7). This new engine has been redesigned from the ground up to allow:

• Hybrid rendering (Raster + Ray Tracing in real time)

• Advanced AI integration through DLSS-4

• Support for path tracing (via future patch)

• Fully dynamic lighting

• Performance scalability across different GPUs (from an RTX 2060 to a 5090)

The core API remains Vulkan, reaffirming the efficiency that characterizes titles developed by id Software. It's worth noting that this is the first game officially released with this engine. The only other title close in architecture would be Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, although this is still based on id Tech 7.

Unlike previous installments, Doom: The Dark Ages active Ray Tracing by default. This allows for substantial improvements in visual quality:

Ray-Traced Global Illumination (RTGI)

• Realistically reproduces the bounce of light between surfaces

• Soft and dynamic shadows

• Indirect lighting and color bleeding

• More precise ambient occlusion

Ray Traced Reflections

• Replace SSR and cubemaps with physically correct reflections

• Reflects objects outside the field of vision

• Bright, metallic and diffuse reflections in real time

These improvements are only possible if the graphics card has specialized cores for Ray Tracing.

With Blackwell architecture, DLSS-4 represents a radical evolution over previous generations (DLSS 3.5 and DLSS 3):

• Multi Frame Generation: Ability to generate multiple interpolated frames to increase performance without compromising visual quality

• DLSS Super Resolution: Smart scaling from lower resolutions

• DLAA: Neural network antialiasing at native resolution

• DLSS Ray Reconstruction: Substantial improvement in Ray Tracing by eliminating traditional denoising

• NVIDIA Reflex: Minimizes input latency

Note: Although I have no official confirmation, it is likely that the title will also support alternative technologies such as FSR y xess.

id Software has confirmed that the game will feature a post-release patch that will enable Complete Path Tracing:

• Reproduces all possible light paths in the scene

• Reflections, refractions, light scattering and global shadows in a single technique

• Requires powerful hardware with RT Cores and AI acceleration

This will take graphical realism to the next level, albeit at a technically demanding pace. I'll be conducting additional testing when the patch is available.

id Software has confirmed that the game will feature a post-release patch that will enable Complete Path Tracing:

• Reproduces all possible light paths in the scene

• Reflections, refractions, light scattering and global shadows in a single technique

• Requires powerful hardware with RT Cores and AI acceleration

This will take graphical realism to the next level, albeit at a technically demanding pace. I'll be conducting additional testing when the patch is available.

The new engine also features significant improvements in other areas:

• Dynamic Tessellation: Improves stone surfaces, walls, floors, and demon skin.
• Volumetric particles with real lighting.
• Advanced dismemberment with GPU-dependent physics.
• Motion Blur by object, enhancing the cinematic effect.
• Depth of field and atmospheric effects in gothic settings.

For this review I will be evaluating the performance of Doom: The Dark Ages using 12 different models of video cards, both from the series GeForce RTX 50 as RTX 40, in the resolutions 1080p, 1440p y 2160p.
It is important to note that the game does not allow you to disable Ray Tracing, Thus, All tests were performed with RT activated.

I will also include tests with DLSS enabled (Balanced) and once the patch is available path tracing, I will run a new set of benchmarks including the function Multi-Frame Generation with DLSS 4.
These tests will allow us to observe both the pure performance in rasterization + RT and the impact and benefit of using DLSS.

A statistic reminder...

AVG FPS (Average Frames Per Second):

This is the average number of frames per second during a benchmark. It represents the overall performance of the graphics card and shows how smooth a game will be on average.

• Importance: It allows you to compare overall performance between cards, but does not reflect possible drops or instabilities.

1% Percentile:

Measures the average of the lowest FPS (worst 1% of performance). Indicates performance drops and overall stability.

• Importance: It reveals how consistent the experience is. A low 1% Percentile implies potential stuttering, even if the average is high.

Relationship:

The AVG FPS shows overall speed, while the 1% Percentile reflects fluidity. Together, they offer a complete performance assessment.

The new tests are measured with MsBetweenDisplay.

The revamped test bench features the best processor I have in my hands, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3DWe used this processor, since it is the one that will generate the least bottleneck to the GPUs tested in scenarios where the limiter may be the CPU (video link).

The approach is aimed at achieving the 100% performance of the video card under test.

Use Windows 11 24H2, but I have disabled VBS (Virtualization-Based Security), as it significantly reduces performance in certain scenarios or causes stuttering.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (https://amzn.to/4h5d7eR)
Board: ROG STRIX B650E-E GAMING WIFI (BIOS 3222) (https://amzn.to/4abMKAY)
RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz CL30 AMD EXPO Intel XMP (https://amzn.to/404P6gk)
T.video (under test): Several models
Operating system: Windows 11 Home Edition 24H2 – VBS OFF
Liquid refrigeration: DeepCool Mystique 360
SSD: Crucial T500 1TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 Internal Gaming SSD with Heatsink (https://amzn.to/3RP89HN)
SSD #2: FN970 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 (https://amzn.to/3PuXPn8)
Driver: NVIDIA Press Driver 576.36
Power supply: NZXT C1200 ATX 3.1 (https://amzn.to/3ChugT4)

1080p

1440p

2160p

1080p

1440p

2160p

In my opinion, the minimum acceptable experience for a shooter like Doom: The Dark Ages is 100 FPS, especially considering that most gaming monitors start from the 144 HzWhile you can play at 60 FPS, the jump in fluidity is very noticeable when you reach 100.

1080p

• Without DLSS, you need an RTX 4070 at least to achieve 100 FPS.

• With DLSS, any RTX 40 or 50 card achieves that goal in my benchmark scene.

1440p

• Without DLSS, it is required an RTX 5080 to reach 100 FPS average.

• With DLSS, an RTX 4070 is enough to maintain a smooth experience.

2160p (4K)

• INCLUDED an RTX 5090 does not reach 100 FPS without DLSS.

• DLSS is required. To get close to 100 FPS, I recommend at least one RTX 5080Otherwise, you'll need to lower the graphics quality or use DLSS in Performance mode.

Note: 8 GB of VRAM might be insufficient on Ultra Nightmare settings, especially at 2160p. They might also present limitations at 1440p with Path Tracing, although I prefer to wait to confirm this when the patch is released. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which also uses Path Tracing, VRAM consumption was considerable.

With all this in mind, Doom: The Dark Ages It's not only poised to be one of the most ambitious shooters of the year, but also one of the most graphically advanced. idTech 8 and DLSS 4 prove that when modern technologies are combined with good design, the result can be as fluid as it is visually stunning.