Doom

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H powers this combo with 14 cores and 18 threads, a configuration that splits between performance and efficiency clusters under the Meteor Lake architecture. With a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, the processor sits in the mobile segment with a 28 W TDP, making it a mid-range option for laptops rather than a desktop-class part. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3, which collectively feed the 18 threads with data for the game's engine.

In Doom, a 2016 title built around id Tech 6, the CPU's role is largely to maintain a stable frame delivery pipeline rather than to push raw multi-threaded throughput. The game's Vulkan and OpenGL paths (supported by the GPU) rely on a handful of heavily optimized threads, so the 135H's single-thread performance becomes more relevant than its 18-thread count. Benchmark data shows the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1700 and a multi-core score of 11875.5, while PassMark single-thread and multithread scores come in at 3521 and 22422, respectively. These numbers place the CPU at the 81st percentile against all CPUs in the database, indicating that it is comfortably above average for compute workloads, though not a flagship.

The nearestRivals data contextualizes this further: the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H sits within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (deltaPct -0.1), the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (deltaPct -0.5), and the Intel Core i5-13500HX (deltaPct -0.6), while edging the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT by 0.5%. None of these rivals are mobile parts, which suggests the 135H's compute capability is competitive with older desktop chips, but in Doom the actual bottleneck is unlikely to be the CPU. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 95 FPS average, which is more than double the 4K High result of 24 FPS — a pattern that points to GPU limitation at higher resolutions rather than CPU constraint. Even at 1080p Ultra, where the CPU would theoretically have more headroom to expose a bottleneck, the average drops to 57 FPS, which is still far above the 4K figures, reinforcing that the 14-core processor is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The integrated graphics on the 135H (Arc Xe-LPG 96EU) are not the GPU being tested here, so they play no direct role in the measured frames. Instead, the CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s (dual-channel DDR5) feeds the system-shared GPU memory, which becomes a critical factor given the Radeon 890M's reliance on shared system memory. A dual-channel configuration is the bare minimum for integrated graphics; the data does not specify whether the test system used higher-bandwidth modules, but the measured FPS suggests adequate memory throughput for the game's demands at lower resolutions.

# GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon 890M is the graphics engine in this combo, built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture with a 4 nm process node from TSMC. The chip, codenamed Strix Point, packs 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, along with 16 ray tracing cores. Clock speeds are listed at a 400 MHz base and a 2900 MHz boost, which is a wide boost range typical of integrated graphics that scale with thermal headroom. The GPU's memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning it draws from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This is a crucial detail for Doom, because the game's texture streaming can saturate memory bandwidth at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU's compute metrics are modest: 5.939 TFLOPS FP32 and the same for FP16 (1:1), with a pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 185.6 GTexel/s. In the benchmark database, the 890M sits at the 45th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9210. Its nearest rivals are telling: the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (deltaPct -0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (deltaPct -0.7), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (deltaPct -0.9), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (deltaPct -1). These are all older discrete or lower-tier integrated parts, which places the 890M roughly at the level of a mid-range GPU from several generations ago. In Doom, the game's Vulkan renderer can exploit the 890M's 12 Ultimate (12_2) DirectX support and Vulkan 1.4, but the hardware's raw fill rate and memory bandwidth will cap performance well before the CPU becomes a concern.

The measured FPS data confirms the GPU as the primary constraint. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 95 FPS average, which is playable, but as settings rise to High (70 FPS) and Ultra (57 FPS), the drops are significant. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low delivers 61 FPS, High 45 FPS, and Ultra 37 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed — High averages only 24 FPS, and Ultra falls to 20 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low (95 to 33 FPS) is a 65% reduction, which is far steeper than what a CPU-bound system would show. This is a GPU-bound scenario across the board, with the 890M's 32 ROPs and system-shared memory acting as the limiting factors.

The 890M's 15 W TDP is remarkably low for the performance it delivers, but this also means it cannot sustain high clocks under sustained load without thermal throttling, which the data does not explicitly measure but is implied by the wide base-to-boost gap. In Doom, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the 890M still struggles at 4K, indicating that the game's higher-resolution textures and post-processing effects exceed what the shared memory bandwidth can handle.

# Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent drop as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 95 at 1080p to 61 at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 33 at 4K (a 54% reduction from 1440p). At High settings, the progression is 70 → 45 → 24 FPS, representing a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Medium settings, the numbers are 82 → 53 → 29 FPS, with min FPS values of 70, 45, and 25 respectively, and max FPS of 95, 61, and 33. At Ultra, the trend continues: 57 → 37 → 20 FPS.

These reductions are roughly proportional to the pixel count increase. Going from 1080p to 1440p increases pixels by 78%, yet the FPS drops by only about 36%, which suggests that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound at lower resolutions — some headroom exists, possibly due to CPU or memory bandwidth limits. However, going from 1440p to 4K increases pixels by 125%, and the FPS drops by roughly 50%, which is a closer match to a purely GPU-limited scenario where shader and fill-rate constraints dominate.

The data's min and max FPS values at Medium settings provide additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the min is 70 and max is 95, a 25 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the min is 45 and max is 61, a 16 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the min is 25 and max is 33, a mere 8 FPS spread. This tightening of the frame time variance as resolution rises indicates that the GPU's workload becomes more uniform at higher resolutions — likely because the bottleneck shifts entirely to the GPU's fixed-function units and memory subsystem, leaving little room for variance from CPU or driver overhead.

The implication is unambiguous: the limiting component in this combo is the AMD Radeon 890M. If the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at a given setting, since the CPU's workload does not scale with pixel count. Instead, FPS scales inversely with resolution, which is the textbook definition of GPU limitation. The CPU's 18 threads and 4.60 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient for Doom's engine, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is pushing 95 FPS.

# Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete grid of results across four settings presets and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance: Low settings produce an average of 95 FPS, Medium 82 FPS (min 70, max 95), High 70 FPS, and Ultra 57 FPS. These are all playable frame rates, with Low and Medium comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS threshold and High staying above it, while Ultra dips below 60 FPS but remains smooth enough for a single-player FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops to a less comfortable range. Low settings average 61 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS line, Medium averages 53 FPS (min 45, max 61), High drops to 45 FPS, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS. None of these results are ideal for a fast-paced shooter, but Low and Medium remain playable with some compromises. The min FPS at Medium (45) indicates that frame pacing can become inconsistent, which could be noticeable during intense combat scenes.

At 3840x2160, the combo is clearly out of its depth. Low settings average 33 FPS, Medium 29 FPS (min 25, max 33), High 24 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. All of these are below 30 FPS except for Low, which barely exceeds it. The 4K results are not playable for a genre that demands responsiveness, and even the min FPS at Medium (25) suggests significant stuttering. The spread between settings at 4K is narrow — only 13 FPS separates Low (33) from Ultra (20) — which indicates that the GPU is saturated regardless of quality preset.

Comparing settings within each resolution, the cost of moving from Low to Ultra is roughly 40% at 1080p (95 to 57 FPS), 39% at 1440p (61 to 37 FPS), and 39% at 4K (33 to 20 FPS). This consistent penalty suggests that the game's Ultra preset adds similar relative load across resolutions, likely through increased texture detail and post-processing effects. The Medium preset offers a balanced middle ground, with FPS values that sit roughly halfway between Low and High at every resolution.

# How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database's ranking of tested combos for Doom, this pairing of Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and AMD Radeon 890M ranks 2758 out of 2930 combos. This places it in the 6th percentile of all tested systems, meaning that 94% of other combos deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The rank is a strong indicator that this is a low-performance configuration for Doom, consistent with the integrated GPU and mobile CPU pairing.

The comboRankInGame field provides a direct comparison point: a rank of 2758 out of 2930 means the system is closer to the bottom of the database than the top. This is expected given that the 890M is an integrated GPU with a 45th percentile standing among all GPUs, and the CPU, while decent, is not a high-end part. The fact that the combo ranks lower than the GPU's individual percentile (45th) suggests that the shared memory architecture and thermal constraints of the mobile platform further hamper performance in a game like Doom, which benefits from discrete memory bandwidth.

The nearestRivals data for the GPU helps contextualize the ranking. The 890M's average benchmark score of 9210 is within 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273) and the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221). However, the GTX 960 is a discrete GPU with its own dedicated VRAM, which in Doom allows it to maintain higher frame rates at higher resolutions due to lower memory latency and higher bandwidth. The 890M's system-shared memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," is a significant disadvantage in a game that streams textures aggressively. This explains why the combo's in-game rank is so low despite the GPU's benchmark score being comparable to older discrete parts.

The CPU's nearestRivals also inform the analysis. The 135H's average benchmark score of 29093 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29123, deltaPct -0.1), yet in Doom, a system with a 5800X and a discrete GPU would rank far higher. This reinforces that the GPU is the primary determinant of the combo's 2758th place ranking, not the CPU.

# Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and the user's tolerance for frame rate dips. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset (82 FPS average, min 70, max 95) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. It delivers a 13% improvement over High (70 FPS) while providing a more consistent frame pacing than Ultra (57 FPS), which dips below the 60 FPS threshold. Low (95 FPS) is the only preset that exceeds 90 FPS, but the visual trade-off is significant for a game that emphasizes atmospheric lighting and texture detail.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset (61 FPS average) is the only option that stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommendation for users who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity. Medium (53 FPS, min 45) is playable but may exhibit noticeable frame drops during heavy action. High (45 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) are not recommended for a competitive FPS experience, as they introduce enough input latency to hamper reaction times.

At 3840x2160, no preset provides a playable experience. Low (33 FPS) and Medium (29 FPS) are the least bad options, but both fall below the 30 FPS threshold for playability on average, and the min FPS values (25 at Medium) indicate that stuttering will be frequent. Users with 4K displays should prioritize resolution scaling or accept that this combo is not suitable for 4K gaming in Doom.

For the best overall experience, the data points to 1080p Medium as the sweet spot. It delivers 82 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay, and the min FPS of 70 ensures that frame drops are rare. The 1080p High preset (70 FPS) is also viable if the user prefers higher visual quality, but it is more susceptible to dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes. At 1440p, Low is the only acceptable choice, while 4K should be avoided entirely with this hardware.

# FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieved in Doom?

A: The highest average FPS is 95, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Doom?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 33 (Low settings), and the Ultra preset drops to 20 FPS. All 4K results are below the 30 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X?

A: The 135H has an average benchmark score of 29093, which is 0.1% lower than the 5800X's 29123, making them statistically equivalent in compute performance.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon 890M sits at the 45th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9210.

Q: Which resolution provides the most consistent frame pacing?

A: At 1080p Medium, the min FPS is 70 and max is 95, a 25 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the spread narrows to 16 FPS (45-61), and at 4K Medium, it narrows further to 8 FPS (25-33), indicating more consistent pacing at higher resolutions but at much lower frame rates.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this combo?

A: The GPU is the clear limiting factor. FPS scales inversely with resolution (95 FPS at 1080p Low drops to 33 FPS at 4K Low), which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU's 18 threads and 4.60 GHz boost clock are sufficient for Doom's engine.