Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination delivers a robust but not elite experience in Doom, a 2016 FPS title. The pairing lands in the 56th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms more than half of the database’s configurations while still trailing a substantial portion of the field. With a combo rank of 1654 out of 2930 tested pairings, this system is positioned as a strong mainstream performer, capable of high refresh rate gameplay at 1080p and smooth 1440p sessions, though 4K Ultra settings push it to the edge of playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1654 out of 2930 places it squarely in the middle-upper tier of all tested configurations. This is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, but it is far from a budget compromise. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is dramatically holding the other back in this particular title. In percentage terms, the combo outperforms roughly 56.4% of all tested systems, a respectable showing for a GPU that launched in 2019 paired with a 2025 CPU.

The GPU itself sits at the 65th percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU achieves the 85th percentile among all processors. This asymmetry is telling: the RTX 2070 SUPER is the weaker link in this pairing, but it is still capable enough to deliver playable frame rates across most settings. The CPU’s high percentile suggests it has headroom to spare, which becomes evident when examining how frame rates scale with resolution and settings. The data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the Core Ultra 5 225 provides ample compute for lower-resolution, high-FPS scenarios.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2070 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 20282 is roughly 1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), 1.2% behind the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), 1.3% behind the Intel Arc B570 (20556), and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582). These deltas are small, suggesting the 2070 SUPER is competitively positioned within its performance class, though slightly outmatched by newer or differently-targeted products.

On the CPU side, the Core Ultra 5 225’s average benchmark score of 36938 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta), 0.2% ahead of the Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2% delta), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4% delta), and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5% delta). These negligible differences mean the CPU is well within the expected performance envelope for its class, offering no surprises in either direction. For Doom specifically, the CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads, combined with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, are more than sufficient to feed the GPU at most settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 212 FPS, Medium hits 184 FPS, High reaches 156 FPS, and Ultra drops to 127 FPS. All four settings produce frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold, and even the most demanding preset at 1080p remains highly playable. The sweet spot for competitive play is the Low preset, where the 212 FPS average provides a significant margin for high-refresh-rate monitors, though the Medium preset’s 184 FPS is nearly as fluid while offering improved visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the frame rate hierarchy remains consistent: Low averages 137 FPS, Medium 119 FPS, High 101 FPS, and Ultra 82 FPS. Here, the High preset is arguably the best compromise, delivering triple-digit frame rates while maintaining a higher level of graphical detail. The Ultra preset’s 82 FPS is still smooth for most players, but the gap between High and Ultra in visual quality is often less noticeable than the 19 FPS difference suggests. For 1440p gaming, High is the recommended starting point, with the option to drop to Medium if a more stable frame rate is desired.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset averages 74 FPS, Medium 65 FPS, High 55 FPS, and Ultra 45 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less desirable for a smooth experience. The Medium preset, with its 65 FPS average and a minimum of 55 FPS, is the highest quality setting that maintains a playable frame rate. However, the Low preset’s 74 FPS provides a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS at 4K. For 4K gaming, the Low or Medium presets are the only viable options, with Medium offering the best balance of visual quality and performance.

The data suggests that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with High or Ultra settings, where it can fully leverage its capabilities. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and users must compromise on visual fidelity to maintain playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the underlying bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 212 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 137 FPS, a 35.4% reduction; and at 4K Low, it falls to 74 FPS, a 65.1% reduction from 1080p. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 2070 SUPER’s rendering workload increases significantly with pixel count. The CPU, with its high single-thread performance and 4.90 GHz boost clock, is not the limiting factor at these resolutions.

The progression from 1080p to 1440p shows a moderate performance hit, while the jump to 4K is more severe. At Medium settings, the averages are 184 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result represents a 64.7% drop from 1080p Medium, nearly identical to the Low preset’s scaling. This consistency across presets indicates that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the dominant constraint at 4K, regardless of the complexity of the scene.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 156 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is a 64.7% reduction from 1080p High. The Ultra preset shows the same trend: 127 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K, a 64.6% drop. This uniform scaling across all presets strongly suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s memory bandwidth and shading units are the limiting factors at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the increased texture and buffer demands strain the memory subsystem.

The CPU’s role in this scaling is minimal. The Core Ultra 5 225’s performance does not degrade as resolution increases, and its 10 cores and 10 threads provide more than enough compute for Doom’s engine at any resolution. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, while at 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU could become a factor if the GPU were faster, but in this pairing, the GPU is always the limiting component.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset averages 212 FPS, with the Medium preset at 184 FPS (minimum 157 FPS, maximum 212 FPS), High at 156 FPS, and Ultra at 127 FPS. The minimum FPS for Medium (157) is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating consistent frame delivery. The gap between Low and Ultra is 85 FPS, which is substantial but expected given the visual quality differences. For users with a 144 Hz monitor, the High preset’s 156 FPS is ideal, while the Ultra preset’s 127 FPS still exceeds 120 Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. The Low preset averages 137 FPS, Medium 119 FPS (minimum 101 FPS, maximum 137 FPS), High 101 FPS, and Ultra 82 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 101 FPS is particularly notable, as it ensures a smooth experience even during intense gameplay sequences. The High preset’s 101 FPS average is exactly at the threshold for many 1440p monitors, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate displays. The Ultra preset’s 82 FPS is still playable, but the 19 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual improvements for all users.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 74 FPS, Medium 65 FPS (minimum 55 FPS, maximum 74 FPS), High 55 FPS, and Ultra 45 FPS. The Medium preset’s average of 65 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but its minimum of 55 FPS means there will be occasional dips below 60 FPS. The Low preset’s 74 FPS average provides a more comfortable margin, with no minimum FPS data recorded but the average suggesting consistent performance. The High preset’s 55 FPS and Ultra’s 45 FPS are both below the 60 FPS threshold, making them less suitable for a smooth 4K experience.

The data shows a clear performance hierarchy: 1080p is the optimal resolution for this combo, 1440p is highly playable with some settings compromises, and 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium presets to maintain playable frame rates. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS values, where available, indicate that the combo handles frame pacing well, with no extreme stutters or drops.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the TU104 chip using a 12 nm process, with 13,600 million transistors and a die size of 545 mm². It features 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, along with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU’s base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, with 14 Gbps effective speed.

In Doom, the GPU’s performance is consistent with its benchmark scores. The RTX 2070 SUPER achieves a PassMark G3D score of 18169, which places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 20282 is only 1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480) and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582). This indicates that the GPU is competitive with other mid-range offerings from its generation, though it trails newer architectures by a small margin.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Doom at 1080p and 1440p, where the game’s texture requirements are well within the GPU’s memory budget. At 4K, the increased texture detail and higher resolution buffers push the memory usage closer to the limit, which likely contributes to the significant frame rate drop observed. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is also a factor at 4K, as the GPU must move more data per frame. The boost clock of 1770 MHz provides adequate compute throughput for the game’s rendering tasks, but the GPU’s age is evident in its inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 9.062 TFLOPS and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are sufficient for Doom’s Vulkan-based engine, which is well-optimized for a wide range of hardware. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6 ensures compatibility with all modern rendering paths. The GPU’s 40 RT cores are not heavily utilized in Doom, as the game does not feature ray tracing, but they remain available for other titles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration, providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1851 and supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU.

The Core Ultra 5 225’s benchmark results are strong for its class. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 36938 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945), and slightly ahead of the Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2% delta) and Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4% delta). This places the CPU in a competitive position against other mid-range processors.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The game is not particularly CPU-intensive, and the Core Ultra 5 225’s 10 cores and 10 threads provide ample compute headroom. The high boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is important for the game’s main thread. The CPU’s 20 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, contributing to smooth frame delivery.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is sufficient for Doom, as the game does not require excessive data transfer between the CPU and system memory. The DDR5 support ensures adequate bandwidth for the GPU to fetch textures and geometry data. The CPU’s power consumption of 65 W TDP is modest, allowing for efficient operation in a wide range of systems.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the combo achieves 212 FPS, suggesting the CPU can handle very high frame rates. At 4K Ultra, where the GPU is heavily loaded, the CPU still has headroom, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across different presets at the same resolution. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking and competitive benchmark scores confirm that it is a capable partner for the RTX 2070 SUPER in this title.