Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with 4K Ultra serving as the primary challenge. The measured data indicates that the optimal balance between visual fidelity and frame rate is achieved at Medium settings across all tested resolutions, as this preset consistently provides the highest minimum frame rates while maintaining high averages.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results show a clear pattern: the Medium preset offers the most stable experience. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 195 FPS with a recorded minimum of 166 FPS. This is only 29 FPS below the Low preset’s average of 224 FPS, yet it provides substantially better visual quality. The High preset at 1080p averages 165 FPS, which is 30 FPS lower than Medium, making Medium the superior choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, Medium again proves optimal. It averages 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High at 1440p averages 107 FPS, matching the minimum of the Medium preset. While both are playable, Medium’s higher average and identical minimum make it the safer pick for maintaining consistent frame pacing.

At 3840x2160, the choice becomes more nuanced. Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS average target, though the minimum dips slightly below. High at 4K averages 58 FPS, which is borderline for demanding scenes. The data suggests that Medium is the only 4K preset that consistently approaches 60 FPS, making it the recommended setting for 4K displays. Low at 4K averages 79 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. For users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity at 4K, Low is viable, but Medium offers the best compromise.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is directly relevant to Doom’s performance at higher resolutions. The GPU’s base clock is 2325 MHz with a boost clock of 2512 MHz, and it contains 6144 shading units. The benchmark data shows the GPU operating across a wide performance envelope, from 47 FPS at 4K Ultra to 224 FPS at 1080p Low. This 4.8x spread indicates the GPU is the primary scaling factor as settings increase.

The RTX 5070’s 80 ROPs and 192 TMUs handle Doom’s texture-heavy environments well. The measured 48 ray tracing cores are present but Doom (2016) does not utilize ray tracing, so their impact is minimal here. The GPU’s 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than sufficient for this title’s rasterization workload. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for Doom’s texture requirements at all tested settings, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates at each resolution. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 29137 and its 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs place it well above the median for this game’s demands.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals a consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 195 at 1080p to 126 at 1440p, a 35.4% decrease, then further to 68 at 4K, a 46.0% decrease from 1440p. This steep decline indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The same pattern holds for High settings: 165 FPS at 1080p, 107 at 1440p, and 58 at 4K. The ratio between 1080p and 4K at High is 2.84x, which is close to the pixel count difference of 4x, suggesting the workload scales nearly linearly with pixel count.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, dropping from 135 FPS at 1080p to 87 at 1440p and 47 at 4K. The 1080p to 4K ratio of 2.87x is nearly identical to the High preset’s ratio, confirming that resolution scaling is consistent across settings. This consistency strongly implies the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s frame production rate is sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions but the GPU cannot maintain frame times as pixel count increases. The Low preset’s 224 FPS at 1080p versus 145 at 1440p and 79 at 4K shows a 2.84x scaling from 1080p to 4K, again matching the pixel count ratio. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU begins to limit performance at Low and Medium settings, where frame rates exceed 195 FPS, but at 4K, the GPU is unequivocally the limiting component.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides an average of 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS. This offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. 1080p is smoother, but 1440p’s 126 FPS average is still well above the 60 FPS threshold and the visual upgrade is substantial.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average is 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS. This is playable but not consistently above 60 FPS. At 4K High, the average drops to 58 FPS. Users seeking a locked 60 FPS at 4K should use Medium settings or reduce to Low, which averages 79 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070’s 12 GB VRAM affect Doom performance?

A: The 12 GB GDDR7 memory is sufficient for Doom at all tested settings and resolutions. The consistent frame rates across settings indicate no VRAM-related stuttering or texture loading issues. The 672.0 GB/s bandwidth supports the high texture throughput at 4K Ultra, which averages 47 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests partial CPU limitation at 1080p Low and Medium. At Low settings, the average is 224 FPS, while at Medium it is 195 FPS. The CPU’s 14 cores and 18 threads provide adequate single-thread performance, but the 224 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low indicates the CPU is approaching its frame generation limit. At 1440p and above, the GPU becomes the bottleneck.

Q: What is the difference between Ultra and High settings in Doom?

A: Across all resolutions, Ultra averages are 18-19% lower than High. At 1080p, Ultra averages 135 FPS versus 165 FPS for High. At 1440p, the gap is 87 FPS versus 107 FPS. At 4K, it is 47 FPS versus 58 FPS. The consistent percentage difference suggests Ultra adds a fixed additional GPU workload, likely from increased shadow and post-processing effects.

Q: Does the combo perform better in Doom than the CPU’s synthetic benchmarks suggest?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score of 29093 places it at the 81st percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X at 29123. In Doom, the CPU is not the limiting factor at 1440p and 4K, where the GPU dominates. At 1080p, the CPU’s 18 threads handle Doom’s threading well, allowing the GPU to reach 224 FPS on Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 2056th out of 3712 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 44.6th percentile of all combinations, meaning roughly 55% of tested systems perform worse. This ranking reflects the GPU’s 82nd percentile standing among all GPUs and the CPU’s 81st percentile, with the combination sitting lower than either individual component’s percentile. This discrepancy indicates that the pairing is not perfectly optimized for Doom, likely due to the CPU’s mobile-oriented design (28 W TDP) limiting sustained performance in a desktop-like scenario.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X with a delta of -0.1% and the Intel Core i5-13500HX at -0.6%. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at +0.1% and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at +0.8%. In Doom specifically, the combo’s 2056th rank suggests that the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are adequate but not exceptional for this title, which was released in 2016 and is less demanding than modern games. The ranking also reflects that Doom is well-optimized, allowing even mid-range hardware to achieve high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The CPU has 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. Its 28 W TDP classifies it as a mobile processor, which is relevant to its sustained performance in gaming workloads. The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score is 3521, and its multithread score is 22422, placing it at the 81st percentile among all CPUs.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p Low and Medium settings. At Low, the average is 224 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s frame generation ceiling. The CPU’s 18 threads are well-suited to Doom’s multi-threaded engine, but the game’s main thread benefits from strong single-core performance, which the 4.60 GHz boost clock provides. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1700 and multi-core score of 11875.5 indicate solid performance, but the mobile TDP of 28 W may cause thermal throttling in sustained loads. The data shows that at 1440p and above, the CPU’s performance is sufficient to keep the GPU fed, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution. The CPU’s 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support provide adequate memory throughput for Doom’s streaming assets. The PassMark data compression score of 251651 and encryption score of 15026 are not directly relevant to gaming but indicate the CPU’s general computational capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo are as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 224 FPS
• Medium: Average 195 FPS, minimum 166 FPS, maximum 224 FPS
• High: Average 165 FPS
• Ultra: Average 135 FPS

At 1080p, the scaling from Low to Ultra is a 39.7% reduction in average FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 166 FPS is 71.6% of its average, indicating good frame pacing. The High preset’s 165 FPS average is nearly identical to Medium’s minimum, suggesting that High is the point where the GPU workload begins to significantly impact frame times.

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 145 FPS
• Medium: Average 126 FPS, minimum 107 FPS, maximum 145 FPS
• High: Average 107 FPS
• Ultra: Average 87 FPS

At 1440p, the scaling from Low to Ultra is a 40.0% reduction. The Medium preset’s minimum of 107 FPS exactly matches the High preset’s average, showing that Medium provides a 19 FPS advantage over High while maintaining identical worst-case performance. The Ultra preset’s 87 FPS average remains above 60 FPS, making it viable for 1440p displays.

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 79 FPS
• Medium: Average 68 FPS, minimum 58 FPS, maximum 79 FPS
• High: Average 58 FPS
• Ultra: Average 47 FPS

At 4K, the scaling from Low to Ultra is a 40.5% reduction. The Medium preset’s minimum of 58 FPS is 85.3% of its average, indicating more frame time variance at this resolution. The High preset’s 58 FPS average is below the Medium’s minimum, meaning High is less stable than Medium. The Ultra preset’s 47 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target, making it only suitable for users prioritizing visual quality over smoothness. The data shows a consistent 40% performance difference between Low and Ultra across all resolutions, confirming the GPU is the scaling bottleneck.