Doom

Doom’s performance with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 shows a clear pattern: this combination is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom for high refresh rate gaming at 1080p. The data indicates a 1686th place finish out of 2930 tested combos, which places this pairing in the lower-middle portion of the database, but the actual frame rates tell a story of a capable 1440p machine that can push past 200 FPS at 1080p with the right settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, revealing a system where the graphics card is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 211 at 1080p to 74 at 4K, a 65% reduction in performance. This steep decline is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RX 9060’s rendering workload increases dramatically with pixel count.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality settings. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average drops from 155 to 101 FPS, a 35% decrease. The subsequent jump from 1440p to 4K at High brings the frame rate down to 54 FPS, another 47% reduction. This two-step degradation highlights how quickly the GPU’s resources are consumed as resolution climbs.

Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at 4K. At 1080p, the difference between Low (211 FPS) and Ultra (127 FPS) is 84 FPS. At 4K, that gap narrows to just 29 FPS (74 vs 45), suggesting the GPU is so saturated at 4K that even lowering quality settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count burden. The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS is the weakest point in the dataset, barely hitting console-level smoothness.

The 1440p results represent the sweet spot for this combo. Medium settings deliver 119 FPS average with a minimum of 101 FPS, while High settings achieve 101 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1440p with high refresh rate monitors is well within reach, provided the user avoids the most demanding Ultra preset. The 1080p results are exceptional, with even Ultra settings producing 127 FPS and Low settings reaching 211 FPS, making this pairing excellent for competitive play where frame rates matter most.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the defining component in this system’s gaming performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Doom’s demands across all tested settings. The GPU’s 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s, explaining why the card can push past 200 FPS at 1080p Low.

The boost clock of 2990 MHz is notably high, with a game clock rated at 2400 MHz. This aggressive clocking strategy helps the card maintain competitive frame rates despite its modest transistor count of 29,700 million on a 4 nm process. The FP32 throughput of 21.43 TFLOPS places this GPU in a specific performance tier, as evidenced by its 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Benchmark results place the RX 9060 in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores a mere 0.7% higher on average. The RX 9060 also edges out the AMD Radeon RX 7700 by 1% and the AMD Radeon R9 370X by 1%, while leading the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 2.1%. This tight cluster of scores suggests the RX 9060 delivers performance squarely in the mid-range segment, and Doom’s 4K results reflect this positioning—playable but not comfortable at Ultra settings.

The GPU’s memory configuration deserves scrutiny. With 8 GB of VRAM, the card handles Doom’s textures without issue at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra setting may be pushing against memory capacity limits. The 45 FPS average at 4K Ultra, while low, shows no catastrophic stuttering in the data, indicating the memory subsystem is managing the workload adequately.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with compromises. The data shows 54 FPS at 4K High and 65 FPS at 4K Medium, while Ultra drops to 45 FPS. For smooth 4K play, Medium settings are the practical ceiling.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate play?

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves 155 FPS at High and 211 FPS at Low, making it ideal for 144Hz or even 240Hz monitors. At 1440p, High settings deliver 101 FPS, which suits 100Hz+ displays.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 9060 scores 1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7700 and matches the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti within 0.7%. It outperforms the AMD Radeon R9 370X by 1% and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 2.1%.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests no CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 211 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it hits 184 FPS. Since frame rates scale smoothly with resolution, the GPU is the limiting factor throughout.

Q: What settings provide the best balance of quality and performance at 1440p?

A: Medium settings yield 119 FPS average with a 101 FPS minimum, while High settings deliver 101 FPS. For a locked 100+ FPS experience, Medium is the safer choice.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in the database?

A: It ranks 1686th out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the 42nd percentile of all combinations tested for Doom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 9060 delivers outstanding performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 211 FPS, while Medium achieves 184 FPS with a minimum of 156 FPS and a maximum of 212 FPS. High settings drop to 155 FPS average, and Ultra remains highly playable at 127 FPS. These numbers confirm that 1080p is far from a challenge for this hardware.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decline. Low settings hit 137 FPS, Medium averages 119 FPS with a 101 FPS minimum and 137 FPS maximum, and High settings maintain 101 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 82 FPS, which is still smooth for most players but no longer matches high refresh rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. Medium settings are the best option, delivering 65 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum and 74 FPS maximum. High settings produce 54 FPS, Low settings reach 74 FPS, and Ultra drops to 45 FPS. The 4K results show that while the game remains playable, users will need to adjust expectations and settings to maintain consistent frame rates.

The pattern across all resolutions is clear: Low settings always provide the highest frame rates, with Medium and High offering progressively lower performance, and Ultra always being the most demanding. The delta between Low and Ultra is most pronounced at 1080p (84 FPS difference) and least at 4K (29 FPS difference), reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 1686 out of 2930 combinations, this pairing sits in the lower-middle tier of the database for Doom. This ranking might seem surprising given the strong 1080p and 1440p results, but it reflects the fact that many tested combos include higher-end GPUs that excel at 4K, where this system struggles.

The ranking is consistent with the GPU’s overall standing. The RX 9060 sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, and the Core Ultra 5 235 ranks at the 89th percentile among all CPUs. When combined, the system’s in-game performance is dragged down by the GPU’s mid-range positioning, even though the CPU is a high performer.

Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 9060’s average benchmark score of 16014 is nearly identical to the RTX 3060 Ti’s 16129, the R9 370X’s 15862, and the RX 7700’s 15852. This tight clustering means the combo’s rank would change little regardless of which of these GPUs were paired with the Core Ultra 5 235. The ranking is therefore more a reflection of the GPU tier than any specific pairing inefficiency.

The 1686th rank out of 2930 combos places this system in the 42nd percentile, meaning roughly 58% of tested combinations perform better in Doom. This is not a poor result—it simply indicates that most high-end systems in the database feature more powerful graphics cards capable of higher 4K frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is clearly not the limiting factor in this system. With 14 cores and 14 threads, this Arrow Lake-S processor provides more than enough processing power for Doom’s game logic and rendering commands. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures snappy response times, while the 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps feed the GPU efficiently.

The CPU’s benchmark results confirm its strength. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085 place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. The PassMark multi-thread score of 37816 and single-thread score of 4516 further demonstrate that this processor has substantial headroom for gaming workloads.

When comparing to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 235’s average benchmark score of 46062 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% higher), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, 0.1% lower), the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, 0.2% higher), and the AMD EPYC 7303 (45960, 0.2% higher). This shows the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its tier, with no anomalies.

The proof of CPU sufficiency lies in the frame rate data. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 211 FPS, which is far above typical 144Hz display refresh rates. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 127 FPS average indicates the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s output. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect the 1080p results to plateau regardless of resolution, but instead we see clear GPU scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K.

The 65W TDP and 3 nm process node make this an efficient processor, though power consumption is not the primary story here. What matters for Doom is that the Core Ultra 5 235 provides consistent, high-level performance that never constrains the RX 9060. The GPU is the component that determines this system’s ceiling, and its mid-range positioning is what ultimately limits the combo to a 1686th place ranking.