Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination delivers a highly playable experience in Doom, with the data showing that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. Across all tested settings, the system transitions from being heavily GPU-bound at 4K to increasingly CPU-bound at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS on lower presets. The measured results indicate a smooth scaling curve, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening as resolution decreases, which is typical for a game of this era that favors high refresh rate displays.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear division of labor between the two components. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 236 FPS, which drops to 153 FPS at 1440p and further to 83 FPS at 4K. This represents a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 1440p results show a similar pattern, with the Ultra preset delivering 92 FPS compared to 142 FPS at 1080p, a 35% drop that still maintains solid playability.

The scaling behavior changes noticeably when examining the High preset. At 1080p, the system achieves 174 FPS, which falls to 113 FPS at 1440p and 61 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 65%, consistent with the Low preset, but the absolute frame rates suggest that the CPU has more headroom at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 236 FPS result is likely approaching the CPU's practical limit for this game, given that the Core Ultra 5 225 has a boost clock of 4.90 GHz and 10 cores.

The most telling data point comes from the Medium preset, which is the only setting with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the Medium preset shows a minimum of 175 FPS and a maximum of 237 FPS, while at 1440p the range is 113 to 153 FPS, and at 4K it narrows to 61 to 83 FPS. This compression of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the variance shrinks when the render load increases. The 4K Medium result of 72 FPS average, with a 61 FPS minimum, indicates that the system can maintain a stable experience even at the highest resolution, though it hovers near the edge of 60 FPS territory.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p offers the best balance, with the High preset achieving 113 FPS and the Medium preset hitting 133 FPS. At 4K, the High preset drops to 61 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom, while 1080p exceeds 140 FPS on all presets, making it suitable for high refresh rate monitors.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at each resolution?

A: The Ultra preset consistently delivers lower frame rates than High, with the gap widening at lower resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra produces 142 FPS versus 174 FPS for High, a 22% difference. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 19% (92 vs 113 FPS), and at 4K it shrinks to 18% (50 vs 61 FPS).

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti sufficient for 4K gaming in Doom?

A: The measured results show 4K averages of 50 FPS on Ultra, 61 FPS on High, 72 FPS on Medium, and 83 FPS on Low. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 61 FPS, making it the safest choice for 4K.

Q: Can this system drive a 240Hz monitor at 1080p?

A: Only the Low preset at 1080p reaches 236 FPS, which is close to 240Hz. The Medium preset achieves 206 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 174 FPS and 142 FPS respectively. A 144Hz monitor would be fully utilized by all presets except Ultra.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945 (0% delta). It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D by 0.2% and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 by 0.4%, but leads the Intel Core i9-12900T by 0.5%. This places the CPU in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What does the combo's rank in game indicate?

A: The combination ranks 1420 out of 2930 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the middle of the distribution. This rank reflects the GPU's 59th percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU sits higher at the 85th percentile, suggesting the GPU is the weaker link for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, based on the GA104 chip with Ampere architecture, is the decisive factor in Doom's performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for this game's textures and geometry. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, delivering 14 Gbps effective, and the core operates with a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz.

The GPU's compute resources include 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, which drive a pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s. These specifications translate to 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, a figure that aligns with the observed frame rates. The RTX 3060 Ti's 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in Doom, which is a 2016 title that predates widespread ray tracing adoption.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 50 FPS. This represents the most demanding configuration tested, and the 33% performance drop from High (61 FPS) to Ultra (50 FPS) at 4K indicates that the Ultra preset's additional effects significantly tax the GPU. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in these tests, as even the highest settings at 4K do not show anomalous frame drops that would suggest memory pressure.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2626 and the Passmark G3D score of 20349 place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, scores 16014 in the average benchmark, just 0.7% behind, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M leads by 1.4%. This tight grouping confirms that the RTX 3060 Ti is a mid-range performer, which matches the observed 4K results where it struggles to maintain 60 FPS on the higher presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. The Low preset produces 236 FPS average, while Medium achieves 206 FPS with a recorded range of 175 to 237 FPS. High settings yield 174 FPS, and Ultra drops to 142 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 40% performance reduction, with each preset step costing roughly 30-40 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 175 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system rarely drops below high refresh rate territory.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings deliver 153 FPS, Medium produces 133 FPS with a range of 113 to 153 FPS, High achieves 113 FPS, and Ultra settles at 92 FPS. The 1440p results show a 40% reduction from the Low to Ultra preset, consistent with the 1080p scaling. The Medium preset's minimum of 113 FPS at 1440p is particularly notable, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS even in the most demanding moments.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings produce 83 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS with a range of 61 to 83 FPS, High drops to 61 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50 FPS. The 4K results show a 40% difference between Low and Ultra, matching the pattern seen at lower resolutions, but the absolute numbers are much closer to the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset is the only 4K configuration that guarantees a minimum above 60 FPS, with its 61 FPS floor.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the percentage difference between presets remains stable across resolutions, but the absolute frame rates compress as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 94 FPS, while at 4K it narrows to 33 FPS. This compression indicates that the GPU's rendering time dominates at higher resolutions, reducing the relative impact of preset changes.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 4K resolution, the Medium preset is the optimal choice based on the measured data. It delivers 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum, ensuring a smooth experience without dropping below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K produces 61 FPS average but lacks a recorded minimum, and the Ultra preset falls to 50 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter on standard 60Hz displays. The Low preset at 83 FPS is viable but sacrifices visual quality for a modest frame rate gain over Medium.

At 1440p, the High preset offers the best experience, achieving 113 FPS average. This provides a significant margin above 60 FPS while maintaining higher visual fidelity than Medium, which produces 133 FPS but with a minimum of 113 FPS. The Ultra preset at 92 FPS is also playable, but the 21 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual improvements for most users. The Low preset at 153 FPS is unnecessary unless targeting very high refresh rates above 144Hz.

For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset at 206 FPS is the recommended choice, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that exceeds 200 FPS. The High preset at 174 FPS is a reasonable alternative for those prioritizing image quality, while the Ultra preset at 142 FPS still provides a smooth experience. The Low preset at 236 FPS is only relevant for 240Hz displays, as the frame rate approaches the display's maximum refresh rate.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions, as it consistently delivers frame rates that are 18-20% higher than High while maintaining a safe margin above 60 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset offers diminishing returns, with performance drops of 22-28% compared to High, which may not justify the visual enhancements in a fast-paced FPS where frame rate is critical.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225, built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process node from TSMC, provides ample processing power for Doom. Its 10 cores and 10 threads run at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost to 4.90 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache, which supports the game's single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for Doom's engine. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and the Passmark single-thread score of 4412 place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. These scores indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at high frame rates, as evidenced by the 1080p results where the system achieves 236 FPS on Low settings without apparent CPU limitations.

In multi-threaded workloads, the Core Ultra 5 225 delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891, which is consistent with its mid-range positioning. The Passmark multithread score of 30459 and the physics score of 2342 further confirm that the CPU can handle the game's background tasks without bottlenecking. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945 in the average benchmark, a delta of 0%, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 225 is competitively positioned.

The CPU's role in Doom becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the 236 FPS result suggests the CPU is approaching its ceiling, as the boost clock of 4.90 GHz and 10 cores provide sufficient headroom for the game's physics and AI calculations. The 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die size contribute to the CPU's efficiency, allowing it to maintain high clock speeds under load.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that data transfer does not become a bottleneck, particularly at high frame rates where memory latency can impact performance. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 3060 Ti, although the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface is sufficient for this workload. The combination of the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's mid-range capabilities results in a balanced system where neither component severely limits the other, except at the extremes of resolution and settings.