Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX combination delivers extraordinary performance in Doom, with frame rates that remain playable even at 4K Ultra settings. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU proves more than capable of feeding the graphics card at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and how this pairing ranks among thousands of tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second reveal a classic performance curve as resolution increases, with the RX 7900 XTX doing the heavy lifting. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 366 FPS, which drops to 237 FPS at 1440p and further to 128 FPS at 4K. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, clearly indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs. The scaling is consistent across all settings presets, confirming that the rendering load scales predictably with pixel count.

At High settings, the frame rate drops from 269 FPS at 1080p to 174 FPS at 1440p, then to 94 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure represents a 65% drop from the 1080p result, nearly identical to the Low settings scaling. This consistency suggests that the RX 7900 XTX's 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are being utilized efficiently, with no unexpected bottlenecks appearing as resolution increases. The Ultra preset shows similar behavior, falling from 220 FPS at 1080p to 143 FPS at 1440p and 77 FPS at 4K.

The data implies that this system is primarily limited by the GPU at 4K, as the Core Ultra 5 225 with its 10 cores and 10 threads provides ample processing power. The gap between 1080p and 1440p results is larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K at every settings level, suggesting that the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities are being progressively saturated. Interestingly, the 4K Low setting at 128 FPS exceeds the 1440p Ultra result of 143 FPS, showing that settings adjustments can compensate for resolution increases more effectively than the reverse. This indicates that users prioritizing high frame rates should first lower settings before reducing resolution, as the GPU has substantial headroom at lower quality presets.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the dominant component in this configuration, as evidenced by the massive frame rate differences between settings presets. The GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Doom at any resolution tested. The 192 ROPs and 384 TMUs deliver a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s, explaining why High settings at 1080p still produce 269 FPS. The boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz allow the GPU to maintain high utilization across all tested scenarios.

The GPU's memory capacity of 24 GB is never a limiting factor in this game, as even the largest texture loads at 4K Ultra are easily accommodated. The 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 compute performance provides substantial shading power, which is reflected in the 77 FPS result at 4K Ultra. The RDNA 3.0 architecture with 6144 shading units demonstrates its efficiency in this Vulkan-based title, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution when accounting for the total pixel count. The GPU's 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs in the database's synthetic benchmarks aligns with its strong but not class-leading game performance here.

At 1080p Low, the 366 FPS result approaches the practical limits of what the CPU can feed the GPU, indicating that the RX 7900 XTX is not fully utilized at lower resolutions. The GPU's pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s translates to approximately 479 million pixels per millisecond, which is more than enough to handle 1080p (approximately 2.1 million pixels per frame) at over 200 FPS. The measured 4K Medium result of 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS shows consistent frame delivery, suggesting stable GPU clocks and no thermal throttling during the benchmark runs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Doom with this hardware. At 4K, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering 112 FPS average with a 95 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much visual quality. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 77 FPS, which remains playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 4K provides 94 FPS, representing a 22% improvement over Ultra while still maintaining high visual fidelity. For users with high-refresh-rate 4K displays, the Low preset at 128 FPS is the only option that approaches 120 FPS territory.

At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 206 FPS with a 176 FPS minimum, making it the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate gaming. The High preset at 174 FPS is also excellent, while Ultra at 143 FPS still provides a fluid experience. The 1080p results are so high that any preset is viable, with Low at 366 FPS and Ultra at 220 FPS both exceeding the refresh rates of most gaming monitors. The data suggests that the visual quality difference between Medium and High is more noticeable than the performance cost, as the frame rate drop from Medium to High at 1440p is only 32 FPS.

The minimum frame rate data is only available for Medium settings, showing 271 FPS at 1080p, 176 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that Medium settings provide the most consistent frame delivery across all resolutions, with the gap between average and minimum FPS remaining tight. This consistency is likely due to the GPU's ample memory bandwidth and compute resources, which prevent stutters during complex scenes. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1440p yielding 237 FPS offers the best responsiveness, while for immersive single-player experiences, the High preset at 4K provides the optimal balance of visuals and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data reveals the full performance envelope of this combination. At 1080p, the results range from 366 FPS at Low settings to 220 FPS at Ultra, with Medium at 319 FPS and High at 269 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 271 FPS and maximum of 367 FPS, demonstrating remarkable stability. At 1440p, the frame rates are 237 FPS (Low), 206 FPS (Medium), 174 FPS (High), and 143 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset at this resolution reports a minimum of 176 FPS and maximum of 237 FPS, showing a consistent performance window.

At 4K, the results are 128 FPS (Low), 112 FPS (Medium), 94 FPS (High), and 77 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 129 FPS, which is the tightest relative range among all resolutions. This data indicates that the GPU's performance scales predictably with both resolution and settings, with no anomalous results that would suggest driver issues or thermal throttling. The difference between High and Ultra settings at each resolution is consistent, with Ultra costing approximately 15-20% performance compared to High.

The frame rate deltas between settings presets are consistent across resolutions. Moving from Low to Medium costs approximately 13% at 1080p (366 to 319 FPS), 13% at 1440p (237 to 206 FPS), and 12% at 4K (128 to 112 FPS). The jump from Medium to High costs 16% at 1080p (319 to 269 FPS), 16% at 1440p (206 to 174 FPS), and 16% at 4K (112 to 94 FPS). The Ultra preset adds another 18-19% cost over High at every resolution. This uniform scaling suggests that the game's settings adjustments affect the same GPU resources regardless of resolution, making the performance trade-offs predictable for users.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 366 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum quality?

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra preset delivers 77 FPS average, which exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much performance is lost when increasing from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The frame rate drops from 206 FPS at 2560x1440 to 112 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 46% reduction.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 95 FPS, which occurred at 3840x2160 with Medium settings.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: Ultra delivers 220 FPS while High achieves 269 FPS, meaning Ultra is approximately 18% slower but likely offers improved visual quality.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: The 366 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests the CPU may be approaching its limit, as the Core Ultra 5 225's 10 threads must process game logic and draw calls.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a supporting role in this configuration, but its performance is sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck. With 10 cores and 10 threads, this Arrow Lake-S processor provides solid multi-threaded performance for game logic and physics. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Doom's frame rendering loop. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, while the 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support provides adequate data throughput for feeding the GPU.

The CPU's benchmark results place it in the 85th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945, showing a 0% difference, while the Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018, just 0.2% higher. This indicates that the Core Ultra 5 225 is competitive with mid-range alternatives, providing ample compute power for gaming workloads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and single-core score of 3655 demonstrate strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded tasks.

In Doom, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 366 FPS result suggests the CPU is providing enough instruction throughput to keep the GPU busy, though this may be approaching the practical limit for this processor. The fact that frame rates continue to increase from 1080p to 1440p at all settings indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions. The CPU's 65W TDP allows for efficient operation without thermal constraints, ensuring consistent performance during extended gaming sessions. The lack of a multiplier unlock on this locked processor means users cannot overclock, but the stock clocks prove sufficient for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 362nd out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the top 12.4% of all systems. This ranking is impressive given the CPU's mid-range positioning, confirming that the GPU is the primary driver of game performance. The RX 7900 XTX's 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking suggests that this combination is well-matched, with the GPU providing the majority of the gaming performance while the CPU offers sufficient support.

The combo's rank of 362 indicates that only 361 other configurations produce higher frame rates in this game, likely featuring more powerful GPUs such as newer flagship models. However, the measured FPS results show that this system delivers excellent performance at all resolutions, with 4K Ultra at 77 FPS being the only result below 90 FPS. The ranking reflects that while the RX 7900 XTX is not the absolute fastest GPU available, its combination with the Core Ultra 5 225 produces a highly capable gaming system.

The data suggests that upgrading the CPU would yield minimal gains in Doom, as the GPU is clearly the limiting factor at most settings. Conversely, upgrading the GPU would provide significant improvements, particularly at 4K where the current setup delivers 94 FPS at High settings. The 2930 tested combos include a wide range of hardware configurations, and this pairing's position in the top 12.4% demonstrates that users can achieve near-flagship gaming performance with a mid-range CPU and high-end GPU. The performance per frame rate is strong across all tested settings, making this combination a solid choice for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p and smooth 4K gameplay.