Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a performance profile in Doom that is heavily dictated by resolution, with the combination ranking 2080th out of 2930 tested combos. This places it in the lower-mid tier of the database for this title, suggesting that while the hardware is capable of high refresh rates at lower resolutions, its standing drops considerably as pixel count increases. The data indicates a system that excels at 1080p and remains playable at 1440p, but the 4K results reveal a clear ceiling imposed by the graphics card.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s overall rank of 2080 out of 2930 in Doom positions it within the 29th percentile of tested systems, meaning roughly 71% of all combinations deliver higher average frame rates. This ranking reflects a fundamental imbalance in the pairing for this specific game: the CPU is a strong performer relative to its peers, while the GPU, though competent, falls behind the curve for demanding 4K scenarios. The data suggests the rank is primarily dragged down by the graphics card’s inability to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions, rather than by any CPU bottleneck. At 1080p, the system’s performance would likely place it far higher in the rankings, but the aggregate score across all resolutions pulls it down to this mid-pack position. When examining the CPU’s standalone benchmarks, it sits in the 85th percentile against all processors, with an average score of 36938, nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945) and slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018) by 0.2%. This suggests the processor is punching above its weight class, yet the GPU’s 70th percentile standing among all graphics cards (average score 24442) creates a mismatch that becomes more pronounced at 4K. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630, scores 24277, a 0.7% difference, indicating the RX 6600 XT is only marginally better than a much older, lower-tier card in synthetic tests, which foreshadows its struggles in 4K gaming.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. Its clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 10.60 TFLOPS. In Doom, the GPU’s role is decisive. At 1080p, the card’s raw compute power is sufficient to push frame rates well above 115 FPS on all settings, indicating that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the finite memory bandwidth and 8 GB VRAM capacity become increasingly strained. The 4K Ultra setting yields only 40 FPS average, which is a 79% drop from the 1080p Ultra result of 115 FPS. This dramatic falloff points directly to the GPU’s inability to handle the pixel throughput and texture data required at 4K, rather than any CPU limitation. The card’s DirectX 12 benchmark score of 61 in Passmark is particularly low, suggesting that its API-level efficiency in modern titles may be suboptimal, though Doom’s Vulkan engine can mitigate some of these issues. The 32 ray accelerators are present but not heavily utilized in this title, given that Doom (2016) does not rely on ray tracing, so the GPU’s traditional rasterization performance takes precedence.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern across the three resolutions tested. Starting at 1080p, the system achieves 192 FPS on Low, 167 FPS on Medium, 141 FPS on High, and 115 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, the averages drop to 124 FPS on Low, 108 FPS on Medium, 91 FPS on High, and 75 FPS on Ultra. This represents a 35% reduction in performance from 1080p to 1440p on the Low preset (192 to 124 FPS), and a similar proportional decline across all settings. At 4K, the performance falls off a cliff: 67 FPS on Low, 59 FPS on Medium, 49 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is much steeper, with a 46% drop on Low settings (124 to 67 FPS) and a 47% drop on Ultra (75 to 40 FPS). This non-linear degradation is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. Between 1080p and 1440p, the CPU still has headroom to feed the GPU, but beyond 1440p, the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth become saturated, causing frame rates to plummet. The fact that the gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is only 27 FPS (67 vs 40) compared to a 77 FPS gap at 1080p (192 vs 115) confirms that at 4K, the GPU is the sole bottleneck, and lowering settings yields diminishing returns. The data shows that the CPU is fully capable of keeping up at all resolutions, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 192 FPS, which is likely near the engine’s engine’s frame rate ceiling, leaving the GPU as the definitive limiting component for any resolution above 1080p.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the optimal resolution, where the system delivers an average of 192 FPS on Low and 115 FPS on Ultra, ensuring a smooth experience. At 1440p, the High preset still achieves 91 FPS, which is acceptable, but 4K should be avoided for competitive play.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945) and just 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018). It also edges out the Intel Core i9-12900T (37112) by 0.5%.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes, the data strongly indicates this. The 4K Ultra setting yields only 40 FPS, and even dropping to Low only raises that to 67 FPS, a 40% improvement, which is far less than the 67% improvement seen when dropping from Ultra to Low at 1080p (115 to 192 FPS). This confirms the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 108 FPS, while High averages 91 FPS, a difference of 17 FPS. The Medium preset also has a recorded minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS, while High has no min/max data, but the average gap suggests a noticeable visual quality trade-off.

Q: How does the GPU’s synthetic score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Radeon RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 24442, which is 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24277) and 1.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24170), but 0.8% lower than the Intel Arc A350M (24647).

*Q: Does the CPU’s single-thread performance help in Doom?*

A: The CPU scores 4412 in Passmark single-thread tests and 3655 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which are strong figures. This is reflected in the 1080p results, where the system reaches 192 FPS on Low, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates are presented below, showing the average FPS for each resolution and settings combination. All data is sourced from the benchmark results, with no min or max values recorded for most settings except where noted.

At 1920x1080, the system performs exceptionally well. The Low preset achieves an average of 192 FPS, with no min or max recorded. Medium averages 167 FPS, with a minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 192 FPS. High averages 141 FPS, and Ultra averages 115 FPS. These numbers indicate that the system is fully capable of driving high refresh rate monitors at this resolution, with even the Ultra preset staying well above 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains playable but begins to show strain. Low averages 124 FPS, Medium averages 108 FPS (with min 92 and max 124), High averages 91 FPS, and Ultra averages 75 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 49 FPS, compared to 77 FPS at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become a bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. Low averages 67 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS (with min 50 and max 67), High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra shrinks to just 27 FPS, and even the Low preset struggles to maintain a consistent 60 FPS, with the Medium preset’s minimum dropping to 50 FPS. This data shows that 4K gaming is only viable at the Low preset, and even then, it is marginal.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It is built on TSMC’s 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, and it supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The CPU’s L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with 192 KB of L1 and 3 MB of L2 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 25891 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3655 in single-core, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 30459 and a single-thread score of 4412. These figures place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, confirming its strong performance. In Doom, the CPU’s role is to maintain high frame rates at low resolutions, and the data shows it succeeds admirably. At 1080p Low, the system hits 192 FPS, which is likely near the engine’s limit, and even at 1440p Low, it still manages 124 FPS. The CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads are more than sufficient for Doom’s engine, which is known for being well-optimized and not heavily multi-threaded. However, the lack of hyper-threading (10 threads on 10 cores) means it cannot leverage extra threads, but this does not appear to be a limiting factor in this title. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz provides excellent single-thread performance, which is crucial for game logic and draw call processing. The data suggests that the CPU is never the bottleneck in this system, as frame rates scale predictably with resolution, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound configuration.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 115 FPS. This provides the highest visual quality while maintaining a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold and sufficient for most high refresh rate displays. If a player has a 144Hz monitor, the High preset at 141 FPS offers a better balance, sacrificing some visual fidelity for a 26 FPS increase. The Medium preset at 167 FPS and Low at 192 FPS are unnecessary unless chasing maximum refresh rates, as the visual downgrade from Ultra to High is modest.

For 1440p, the High preset at 91 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it provides a solid experience for 60Hz displays and is acceptable for 100Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 108 FPS is a better choice for players prioritizing smoothness over visuals, as the 17 FPS gain comes at a noticeable but not severe visual cost. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is still playable but may feel less responsive, and the Low preset at 124 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where frame rate is paramount.

For 4K, the situation is dire. The Low preset at 67 FPS is the only setting that approaches a playable frame rate, but it is still below the ideal 60 FPS threshold, and the Medium preset drops to 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS. The High and Ultra presets, at 49 and 40 FPS respectively, are not recommended for any serious gameplay. The data shows that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Doom, and players should either drop to 1440p or accept significant compromises in visual quality and frame rate stability. The best overall experience for this hardware is 1080p Ultra, which balances visual fidelity with a high frame rate, leveraging the CPU’s strength while masking the GPU’s weaknesses at higher resolutions.