Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the AMD Radeon 8050S delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, but 4K Ultra demands compromises. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 2146th out of 2930 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database, yet the measured frame rates reveal a capable setup for this fast-paced FPS. The CPU, a 14-core, 18-thread Meteor Lake part with a 3.60 GHz base and 4.50 GHz boost clock, sits in the 79th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU, an RDNA 3.5 Strix Halo chip with 2048 shading units, ranks in the 89th percentile against all GPUs. Together, they handle Doom’s demands well at lower resolutions, but the data shows a clear performance ceiling as resolution and settings scale up.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with average FPS ranging from 113 at Ultra to 188 at Low. At 2560x1440, averages drop to 73-122 FPS, while 3840x2160 yields only 40-66 FPS, making 1080p the most reliable choice for high refresh rates.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H has an average benchmark score of 27507. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, scores 27535, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the Ultra 5 is essentially tied. The Intel Core i5-12600K and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X both score 27578, putting them 0.3% ahead, while the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G lags slightly at 27382, which is 0.5% behind.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance standing relative to similar cards?

A: The AMD Radeon 8050S has an average benchmark score of 62108. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, which is 0.3% lower, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 63693, putting it 2.5% ahead. The AMD Radeon RX 7600M scores 63775 (2.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP scores 63830 (2.7% higher). This places the 8050S just below a cluster of slightly faster mobile GPUs.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor in Doom. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 188 FPS, and at 1440p Low it hits 122 FPS, indicating strong scaling from the GPU. The CPU’s 14-core/18-thread configuration and passmark single-thread score of 3399 provide ample headroom for this title, which relies more on GPU throughput.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H has a launch MSRP of $375. This is a mobile processor with a 28 W TDP, designed for laptops and compact systems, and it uses an integrated Arc Xe-LPG 96EU graphics solution alongside the discrete Radeon 8050S.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in Doom?

A: The combo ranks 2146th out of 2930 tested combinations. This places it in the 73rd percentile of all tested combos, meaning roughly a quarter of tested systems perform worse, but a significant majority perform better, reflecting the mid-range nature of this hardware pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 139 FPS, which is excellent for a fast-paced FPS like Doom, where smoothness directly impacts gameplay. The Medium preset averages 164 FPS, a 25 FPS improvement over High, but the visual difference between Medium and High in this title is often minor, making Medium the better choice for competitive play. Low pushes to 188 FPS, but that sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a marginal gain over Medium. Ultra drops to 113 FPS, which is still playable, but the jump from High to Ultra typically adds shadows and post-processing effects that are less noticeable during fast movement, so High remains the sweet spot for 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the situation shifts. High averages 90 FPS, which is smooth but not as fluid as 1080p. Medium averages 106 FPS, providing a 16 FPS buffer over High, and this becomes the recommended preset for 1440p because it maintains high frame rates while keeping the resolution’s sharpness. Low reaches 122 FPS, but at 1440p, dropping to Low negates the resolution’s benefits, as textures and details become flat. Ultra falls to 73 FPS, which is borderline for a shooter; the data shows a 33 FPS drop from Medium to Ultra, so unless the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity over frame rate, Medium is the pragmatic pick.

For 3840x2160, the data reveals a tough trade-off. High averages 49 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium averages 57 FPS, the best of the presets, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. Low averages 66 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that hits a playable frame rate, but it requires dropping to the lowest settings. Ultra averages 40 FPS, which is noticeably stuttery for a game like Doom. The recommendation is to use Medium at 4K if 57 FPS is acceptable, but the better experience comes from dropping to 1440p Medium, where the combo delivers 106 FPS with far more headroom. The measured min FPS data, available only for Medium settings, shows 49 FPS at 4K, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 139 FPS at 1080p, indicating that Medium settings provide stable frame pacing without severe drops.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Medium or High presets offer the best experience, with Medium providing a noticeable FPS boost over High at minimal visual cost. For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, Medium at 164 FPS is ideal; for 1440p panels, Medium at 106 FPS is the choice; for 4K, the data suggests accepting either Low at 66 FPS or stepping down to 1440p for a fluid experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the AMD Radeon 8050S scales under increasing pixel load. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 164 FPS at 1920x1080, 106 FPS at 2560x1440, and 57 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K, showing a steep decline as resolution increases. The GPU’s pixel rate of 179.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 358.4 GTexel/s are the primary drivers of this scaling, as Doom’s rendering demands more fill rate at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the drop is similar: 139 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35% and 46%, respectively, matching Medium’s scaling pattern. This consistency indicates that the limiting component is the GPU’s raw throughput, not the CPU or memory bandwidth. The CPU’s 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 18 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient for Doom’s scenes, as evidenced by the fact that FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count rather than showing CPU-related stalls.

At Low settings, the combo reaches 188 FPS at 1080p, 122 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35%, and from 1440p to 4K is 46%, again mirroring the other presets. This uniformity suggests that the Radeon 8050S is consistently GPU-bound across all settings, with no single preset introducing a CPU bottleneck. The GPU’s boost clock of 2800 MHz and base clock of 1295 MHz provide the compute power, but the system-shared memory bandwidth, listed as “System Dependent,” likely becomes a constraint at 4K, where the 57 FPS at Medium falls short of the 60 FPS target.

The data also shows that the GPU’s FP32 throughput of 11.47 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, which explains why 4K Ultra only achieves 40 FPS. Doom is a well-optimized title, but the 8050S, with its 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, simply lacks the fill rate for 4K at high presets. The scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting component across all resolutions, and users should expect to adjust resolution rather than settings to gain meaningful FPS improvements.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2146 out of 2930 places this pairing in the lower-middle tier of the database. This means that 784 tested combinations perform worse, while the majority of systems outperform it. The CPU’s percentile of 79 against all CPUs is respectable, but the GPU’s percentile of 89 against all GPUs is stronger, suggesting that the Radeon 8050S is the more capable component. However, the combo’s overall rank is dragged down by the fact that Doom is a GPU-heavy title, and the 8050S, while competent, does not match the top-tier mobile GPUs in this test suite.

Comparing to the nearest rivals, the GPU sits just below the AMD Radeon RX 7600M, which scores 63775 versus the 8050S’s 62108, a 2.6% difference. This small gap translates to meaningful FPS differences in Doom, as the measured results show the 8050S struggling at 4K Ultra. The CPU, on the other hand, is competitive with desktop parts like the Intel Core i5-12600K, scoring within 0.3%, which means the Ultra 5 125H is not the weak link. The combo rank reflects this imbalance: the CPU provides solid gaming performance, but the GPU holds the system back at higher resolutions.

In the context of all tested combos, the 2146th rank is not surprising for a mobile CPU paired with an integrated-class GPU. The Radeon 8050S is described as an IGP in the slot width field, despite its 2048 shading units and 11.47 TFLOPS, which is a high-end integrated solution but still below dedicated mobile GPUs. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, is a professional mobile GPU, and the 8050S edges it out by 0.3%, confirming that this is a mid-tier performer. Users seeking a higher rank would need a more powerful discrete GPU, but for a laptop with a 55 W GPU TDP, the 8050S delivers competitive results.

The rank also highlights that Doom’s performance is not CPU-limited. The CPU’s passmark multithread score of 21100 and cinebench r23 multicore score of 12804.5 are strong, but they do not compensate for the GPU’s limitations at 4K. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the rank would be significantly higher if measured per resolution, but the overall rank reflects the 4K results pulling it down.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8050S plays the central role in determining Doom’s performance. Its memory configuration is listed as “System Shared” for size, type, bus width, and bandwidth, meaning it relies on the system’s DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The bandwidth is “System Dependent,” which in this test setup likely uses the CPU’s 89.6 GB/s dual-channel memory bandwidth. This shared architecture is a double-edged sword: it allows for a larger memory pool, but it can bottleneck performance in memory-intensive scenes, especially at 4K where the 57 FPS at Medium suggests memory bandwidth constraints.

The GPU’s clocks are notable: a base of 1295 MHz and a boost of 2800 MHz. The boost clock is high for an integrated part, allowing the 2048 shading units to operate at up to 11.47 TFLOPS FP32. This compute power is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the 188 FPS at 1080p Low and 122 FPS at 1440p Low. The pixel rate of 179.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 358.4 GTexel/s directly influence Doom’s fill rate demands; at 4K, the pixel count quadruples from 1080p, and the GPU’s ROP count of 64 limits how quickly it can output those pixels, explaining the 40 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s RT cores, 32 in total, are present but Doom does not use ray tracing, so they have no impact on these results. The 64 ROPs are the critical bottleneck at 4K, as the measured FPS drops from 164 at 1080p Medium to 57 at 4K Medium, a 65% reduction that aligns with the pixel count increase. The texture units, 128 TMUs, handle Doom’s detailed textures well at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the texture rate of 358.4 GTexel/s becomes strained, contributing to the frame rate decline.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 62108 and 89th percentile ranking indicate that it outperforms most integrated graphics but lags dedicated GPUs. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, scores 61896, and the 8050S beats it by 0.3%, but the Radeon RX 7600M scores 63775, 2.6% higher. This small gap translates to the 8050S being unable to hit 60 FPS at 4K Medium, where it averages 57 FPS. The GPU’s system-shared memory is likely the cause, as dedicated GPUs have higher bandwidth, but the 8050S’s boost clock partially compensates, allowing it to remain competitive at 1080p.

In Doom specifically, the GPU is the sole determinant of performance scaling. The CPU’s 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth matches the GPU’s shared memory needs, and the lack of dedicated VRAM means the system must allocate memory dynamically. The measured results show that the GPU can handle 1080p Ultra at 113 FPS, which is a demanding preset, but 4K Ultra drops to 40 FPS, a 65% reduction. This pattern confirms that the GPU is maxed out at 4K, and users should consider the 8050S as a 1080p-to-1440p solution rather than a 4K one.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings average 188 FPS, with no min or max data recorded. Medium averages 164 FPS, with a min of 139 and max of 189, indicating stable frame delivery. High averages 139 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 75 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact at 1080p. The min FPS at Medium, 139, is still above the 60 FPS threshold, so even the worst-case frame times are smooth. This resolution is clearly where the combo shines, with all presets exceeding 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops but remains playable. Low averages 122 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS with a min of 90 and max of 122, High averages 90 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The Medium preset’s min of 90 FPS ensures no noticeable stutter, and even Ultra’s 73 FPS is acceptable for casual play. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 35% across all presets, which is consistent with the pixel count increase from 2.07 million to 3.69 million. This resolution is a good middle ground, offering better image quality than 1080p while maintaining frame rates above 70 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low averages 66 FPS, Medium averages 57 FPS with a min of 49 and max of 66, High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The Medium preset’s min of 49 FPS means there are moments where the game dips below 50 FPS, which can disrupt gameplay in a fast-paced shooter. Low is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS, but it requires the lowest visual settings. High and Ultra are below 50 FPS, making them impractical for smooth play. The drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 46%, reflecting the doubling of pixels from 3.69 million to 8.29 million, and the GPU’s 64 ROPs cannot keep up.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the most consistent data, with min FPS recorded at every resolution: 139 at 1080p, 90 at 1440p, and 49 at 4K. This shows that Medium offers predictable performance, and the max FPS at Medium (189 at 1080p, 122 at 1440p, 66 at 4K) aligns with the averages. The Low preset has no min or max data, but its averages of 188, 122, and 66 FPS suggest it is the most stable, though visually inferior. High and Ultra also lack min/max data, but their averages of 139/113 at 1080p, 90/73 at 1440p, and 49/40 at 4K indicate a predictable decline. The data supports a clear recommendation: use Medium at 1080p or 1440p for the best balance, and only consider 4K with Low settings if resolution is a priority over visual quality.